Vocabulary

audition = a short performance by an actor, singer etc that someone watches to judge if they are good enough to act in a play, sing in a concert etc

unlikely = an unlikely place, person, or thing is strange and not what you would expect:

spread the word about = to tell a lot of people about something or somebody

are guilty of judging a book by its cover = to form opinions based only on how someone or something looks

Comprehension check

1. Where did Susan make her appearance? How did she become famous?

2. What role did the Internet have in Boyle's rapid rise to fame?

3. How did the press and television help Susan to come to international public attention?

4. What did the audience find so fascinating about Susan?

5. Why did Susan’s persona and appearance cause a lot of discussion and disagreement in Britain?

6. What’s next for Susan?

7. Summarise the main points of the article.

Unit 9. Middle East's first women only hotel 24 March, 2008 Reporter Frances Harrison

Reading and listening

Summary: The Middle East's first women-only hotel has opened in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. As our religious affairs reporter Frances Harrison explains women only hotels and transport services are a growing trend world wide.

C aption: Hotel in Riyadh

Report: The executive director of the Luthan Hotel and Spa says the response to the idea of a women-only hotel has been much greater and more positive than expected.

The hotel has twenty-five rooms and offers round the clock services to guests. There's a pool and spa, with yoga and fitness classes, which the hotel hopes will attract women on business trips and local women coming for fun.

This is the first spa hotel available to women all the time. Pools in other hotels are only open to women on certain fixed days or hours. And in a country where women are required by law to cover themselves in Islamic dress when in public it's a big advantage that inside the hotel they can move around uncovered as if they were at home. As the manager put it, it's like being anywhere else in the world.

Saudi tourism officials who attended the launch of the hotel encouraged other women to invest in similar hotels across the Kingdom.

Women-only hotels already exist in America, Berlin and the former Yugoslavia. And Britain, for example, has a hotel offering a floor exclusively for women while Tehran and Bombay have women only taxi services.

Vocabulary

round the clock = 24 hour-a-day

spa hotel = a hotel that offers beauty treatments and facilities

required by law=must do something because of the rules of the country

advantage = the fact of being in a better position or condition  Among the advantages of a small college is its campus life.  There isn't any advantage in leaving early. advantage over Her experience meant that she had a big advantage over her opponent.

put it = explained it

who attended the launch = who were at the opening; to launch = a. to begin (something that requires much effort) ▪ The enemy launched an attack at sunrise. ▪ She's trying to launch a new career as a singer. ▪ to launch a business ▪ launch an experiment ▪ launch a Web site

encourage = to make (someone) more determined, hopeful, or confident; to stimulate; to tell or advise (someone) to do something: Encourage each other with kind words. We want to encourage students to read more. My parents encouraged me to go back to college. encouragement =  Our aim is the encouragement of investment.  teachers who give their students a lot of encouragement

exclusively = only

Comprehension check

1. Where did the Middle East's first women-only hotel open?

2. What leisure facilities does the hotel have?

3. Where do women staying in the hotel go to improve their health and appearance by exercising and relaxing?

4. Do women-only hotels already exist in other countries?

5. Why do women-only hotels attract European women?

6. Summarise the main points of the article.

Unit 10. Smiles all around on Japan trains 31 July 2009 Reporter Roland Buerk in Tokyo

R eading and listening

Summary: In Tokyo, some of the busiest railway stations in the world have installed computerised 'smile scanners' to help employees deliver a better service.

Report: Tokyo has some of the busiest train stations in the world. But now passengers can be assured of a friendly welcome from staff no matter how many difficulties they have thanks to technology.

The computerised 'smile scanner' works by calculating the optimum shape of the lips. Those with a low score are given words of advice, such as, 'you look too serious'. The idea is that throughout the day workers are trying to have an expression on their faces which shows that they are friendly.

Although the railway company says they do not force their workers to use the smile scan system all staff at the station have used it because they want to. The employees say the scan has helped them check their facial expressions, which allowed them communicate more effectively with the customers.

So far the smile scanners have been installed at 15 train stations on the company's network. Thanks to this kind of innovation workers in a bad mood are left with few places to hide.