Cycling

I have been cycling for years. I love cycling in the summer when there’s plenty of daylight after work. The countryside around Oxford is great for cycling - not too many hills and nice quiet roads. It’s great exercise and also really good thinking time. I’ve been learning how to cross-country ski for a year. I’ve done a lot of downhill skiing but cross-country is completely different. I prefer it because there are fewer people around you and you can ski to some really beautiful places. I think somewhere like Scandinavia is the best place to do it. I have a friend from Norway who lives in the UK and we often go away together at weekends and on holiday. We’ve been friends for about five years. I met her on a mountaineering course and we’ve been good friends ever since. We have a lot of similar interests. My bicycle is a very important possession. I’ve had it for about five years and have cycled thousands of kilometres on it - it’s a good friend! I belong to the British Mountaineering Council, mainly because you get good discounts on equipment and clothing and also because they do the best insurance for people who do lots of activities in the mountains. I’ve been a member since 2004. I drive a BMW. It’s not really my sort of car, I mean I wouldn’t have bought it myself, but it used to be my parents’ and they gave it to me. It’s great because it’s got quite a powerful engine so is fun to drive and it’s big enough to get two bicycles in the back. The main problem with it though is that it costs a fortune to run. I’ve had it for two years now and I really notice how much I’ve been spending on petrol.

Read the text and give its short summary:

Good manners

I think you should move away from other people when you’re talking on a mobile - it’s good manners. And you shouldn’t play noisy games or talk really loudly if you’re on a bus or a train or somewhere where there are lots of people nearby. It doesn’t really bother me, but some people find it very annoying.

As far as I know, you mustn’t use a mobile at all in a car, whether you’re moving or not, even for text messages - it’s against the law. So is using your mobile at a petrol station, and you have to turn your mobile off on planes too. Switching off your mobile in class is just good manners, you should definitely do that. It’s really annoying for everyone when someone’s phone rings in the middle of something, and it’s even worse if they answer it. And making personal calls in public - well, it depends. I suppose people shouldn’t do it, but it can be very interesting to listen to!

Read the text and give its short summary:

A pessimist plays a pessimist

Dr Gregory House, the main character in the hit TV series House M.D., is famous for being a pessimist. But it is not only Dr House who is a pessimist. Hugh Laurie, the actor who plays him, is a pessimist too. Laurie never thought that House M.D. was going to be a success. Even after seven series he still feels pessimistic about it. He said in a recent interview, ‘If we do a bad show next week, they’ll say, “That’s it. No more.” It’ll just stop. I am of course someone who is constantly expecting a plane to drop on my head, if not today then tomorrow.’

Like Dr House, Laurie is also a talented musician and is passionate about the blues. He recently went to New Orleans to record an album in which he plays 15 of his favourite songs. But of course he doesn’t think that people will like it.

When he was asked on a TV show why he was so pessimistic about life, Laurie said it was because he is Scottish. ‘I definitely think that’s where it comes from.’

Because of his reputation as a pessimist, people always talk to him about positive thinking. He says that complete strangers come up to him in the street and say ‘Cheer up, mate, it’ll never happen!

Read the text and give its short summary: