Reading the article

Where bananas come from?
Are bananas really fruits?
Can watermalon be in the shape of cube?
What is legal name of tomatoes in the USA? Vegetable or fruit?
Which fruits are members of the Rose family?
Which juice you must not drink with medications?
What is fruit and what is vegetable?

LINK

Are traditions important?

Traditions are important because they keep cultures, families and groups of people together. They help us to understand that we are united. Traditions are passed on from generation to generation and also help better understand how have people lived before us. Help us understand the history because traditions were invented not just for fun.

Biotechnologies

Monsanto withdraws bids to grow GMO crops in Europe

By Ricardo Lopez
July 18, 2013, 9:42 a.m.

Monsanto Co. said Thursday it will largely drop its bid to grow some of its genetically modified crops in Europe.

The world's largest seed-maker has nine pending applications with the European Commission, the executive body for the European Union. A spokesman said the company plans to withdraw eight of those applications.

The requests "have been going nowhere fast for several years," said Brandon Mitchener, a spokesman for the St. Louis-based company's European entity. "There’s no end in sight ... due to political obstructionism."

Many European countries, including France, Germany and Italy, have bans in place against genetically-modified organisms. Public sentiment has been divided and intense over safety and environmental concerns related to cultivated crops that have been genetically engineered. Scientists have largely said these types of crops are safe.

The issue has long simmered in Europe. In 2007, seed-maker Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. of Johnston, Iowa, sued the European Commission, criticizing the body for failing to act quickly on approval requests to cultivate the company's crops.

A spokesperson for the European Commission declined by email to comment on Monsanto's move, but said the pending applications had been greenlighted by the commission's Food Safety Agency.

Monsanto said it will continue to focus on its conventional seed business. Mitchener said 98% of the company's seed sales come from that segment.

"The fact is Monsanto is doing quite well in Europe," he said. "Our current-long range plan does not have and need biotech in Europe."

The company said it plans to renew its approval request to cultivate MON810, the only genetically modified corn variety allowed to be commercially grown in Europe. That corn was first approved in 1998. No other application has been approved since then, Mitchener said.

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Task 1.
Multipal choice. Choose the correct answer\answers.

1. Largest seed-maker in the world has nine pending applications with the .......
1) Europe.
2) European Commission.
3) European Union.

2. European Commission is the executive body for the .......
1) European Union.
2) World's Union
3) USA

3. European Commission plans to withdraw ....... of all applications.
1) eight
2) two
3) nine

4. Brandon Mitchener is a spokesman for the ........
1) St. Louis-based company's Asia entity.
2) St. Louis-based company's European entity.
3) St. Louis-based company's Africa entity.

5. Countries such as ........ have bans in place against genetically-modified organisms.
1) France
2) Latvia
3) Germany

6. Scientists have largely said these types of crops are ...........
1) big.
2) dangerous.
3) safe.

7. The only genetically modified corn variety allowed to be commercially grown in Europe is ........
1) MON800
2) MON810
3) MON801

8. Mitchener said that the fact was Monsanto was doing quite well in .........
1) Food Safety Agency.
2) Hi-Bred International.
3) Europe.

Biotechnology

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-monsanto-gmo-crops-europe-20130718,0,1502761.story#axzz2kSI14AfT

Summary

The titel of the article is "Are Mobile Phones Taking Over Our Lives?". The author of the article is Bethan Morgan. The article is published in Britishcouncil on Friday, 14 June, 2013.

The article touches upon the problem that more than half of all people are using their phones everythere.The author writes that they use mobile phones on public transport, in a café or simply walking down the street. Further the author reports that then her smartphone broke and had to be sent off to the warehouse for repair for a week, she had to use a really old, basic phone just to keep in touch with her family and friends. All she could do on this phone was send text messages, make calls and play one game. And she loved it. She loved being free from the internet.

The author concludes that perhaps she should just go back to using the basic phone and forget she ever got her smart phone back...
In my oppinion we should use mobile phones consciously and don't forget real world.

Write a story about a kind biker who finds a hidden room.

This story took place long time ago.
There lived in America a brave biker. His name was Jimmy. He was known in many towns and states. Jimmy had traveled on his bike all around North-America and it was many times he had got into dangerous situations but he always managed to get out of them. By his nature Jimmy was a kind guy. He always helped people who needed help. Sometimes Jimmy gave the last gulp of water to his accidental companion. In a long trip in a hot valley he rescued the person, suffering from thirst himself.It is likely that for his kindness to people he was blessed by the Lord, who supported him, sending him a miraculous escape in hopeless situations.

Once, Jimmy had to ride his bike through the state of Utah. He rode along a lonesome road and only hot sun, sand and isolated cliffs surrounded him. Suddenly from behind the cliff near the road, a boy ran out waving his arms. Jimmy stopped. The boy run up to Jimmy and with tears in his eyes he started to ask Jimmy to go with him. Behind the cliff in a small cave the father of the boy was lying. He was unconscious. The boy said that bad people had brought them here. They had beaten his father demanding to say something to them, but having understood that it was useless they threw the father and his son to die without food and water. When the father regained conscience they tried to find a lake but did not find anything. They even did not see any birds and animals. Neither had they seen any person during all these days.

On the third day, the father got ill and could not go any more. After Jimmy heard a story, he asked the boy to bring some water and food from his bike. While the boy was running after the food and water, Jimmy examined the man. Jimmy took the bottle moistened the man’s face with water and then poured some water into his mouth. The man came round quickly. They gave him some food to and put the man off to sleep. Jimmy and the boy ate, too. They brought blankets from the bike and retired to rest too.

A day passed. The boy’s father was feeling better. The man said that his name was Ronnie and his son’s name was Mark. He thanked Jimmy and told him that gangsters had found out that his grandfather had had a map showing the place where robbers had concealed the gold they had looted from people and Indians. When his grandfather had died, Ronnie had got the map. But with this map people had appeared wishing to get it. When gangsters had come, Ronnie remembered the map and threw it into flame. After that the gangsters beat him and threw him and his son in the desert. For saving his life, Ronnie offered Jimmy to join them and try to find the room hidden in the mountains. Jimmy consented and they went to the Kings Peak Mountains, which were located in the North-East of the state. It took them long to find the place. In one of the caves they came across strange paintings, which took them away into the depth of the cave. When Jimmy and Ronnie had explored the paintings well, they understood that somewhere there was a hidden room. They started to tap on the walls. It took a lot of time before they found it. Suddenly , they heard hollowness behind the wall. Jimmy called Ronnie and Mark. They started to break the wall. Behind the wall they found many gold and silver adornments. They decided to take some gold to buy another bike and to come back to take the rest.

That was how Jimmy and his new friends had found the robbers’ hidden room. Jimmy helped Mark and his father to organize their household. They bought a house and a plot of land where they are likely to work up to now. As for our good biker, he just took some money and beetled of to travelling in search of new adventures.

Writing an e-mail letter

Dear teacher, Thank you for the link that you gave us today. I registered successfully and have tried to play already. I want to perticipate in games and maigt be I win something if I would try with pleasure. Best wishes, Nadja.