Cambridge English Empower A2 READING PLUS

Unit 1 Meeting people

1 SPEAKING
a Ask and answer the questions with a partner.
1 How do you usually talk to your friends … ?
• by phone • Skype / FaceTime • other
• in person • on social media
2 Is it easier to meet new people in person or on social
media? Why?
b Find words or phrases with these meanings.
1 people you know (Toni’s post)
2 from the area where you are (Toni’s post)
3 take you to interesting places (Simone’s comment)
4 to say something that’s true (Martin’s comment)
5 meet (Chris’s comment)

2 READING c Choose the best ending for the sentences.

1 Toni Perez …
a wants to visit London one day.
BETTER READING: SCANNING b thinks Chris is a man’s name.
Sometimes you need to scan (look at the text quickly) to find c doesn’t want to meet Chris.
specific information. In the text on page 2, you could scan to 2 Tom Schulz …
find out how many people there are in the conversation. a speaks only German.
b is on holiday in London.
1 Scan the conversation on social media on page 2 c is the husband of a singer.
and answer the questions. 3 Chris Cross …
a is from Ireland.
a How many different people (apart from Toni)
b teaches people how to ski.
comment on Toni’s post?
c is a good friend of Martin Teal.
b How did the design of the text help you to find
4 Martin Teal …
the answer?
a is very quiet and not very friendly.
b knows a person with the surname Cross.
c wasn’t very popular on the ski course.
a Read the conversation on page 2 and answer the
questions. 3 SPEAKING
Who … ?
1 says he went skiing a Ask and answer the questions with a partner.
2 knows a man who lives in London Do you … ?
3 says she’s travelling somewhere 1 use social media to get help from friends
4 plays a musical instrument 2 post photos when you travel
5 works with tourists 3 like to have somebody local to show you around a new city
6 likes Christina Cross

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 Unit 1

Profile   Wall   Friends   Chat   Games

Toni Perez added 1 new photo

5 mins

Off on my travels!
Hi everybody. This is me at the airport on
my way to London! Does anybody have
any contacts in London? It would be nice to
meet somebody local!

Like Comment Share

Ariel Dante I know someone in London. His name’s Tom Schulz. He’s from Austria,
but he works in London. He’s really cool, speaks English, French and German, and
he’s a brilliant guitar player. He’s married to a famous Brazilian singer. But I think
he’s on holiday at the moment so maybe he isn’t in London.

Toni Perez Oh, what a pity!

Simone Blanc I know somebody you could contact. My friend Chris lives in London.

Toni Perez Chris? What’s he like?

Simone Blanc She. She’s a woman! She’s fantastic – very warm and friendly.
She works in the British Museum, actually. She’s brilliant – she speaks about five
languages. She knows a lot about the history of London. I’m sure she would be
happy to show you around.

Toni Perez That would be great! What’s her surname?

Simone Blanc Her surname’s Cross. You can message her here: Chris Cross

Martin Teal Cross? That’s strange. I know an Irish woman in London with the
same surname. But her first name’s Tina. We were on a skiing course together
last winter. I think she’s a tour guide, but I can’t understand why – she’s very quiet
and she isn’t very friendly. She wasn’t very popular on the course, to be honest!

Simone Blanc Wait a minute – Tina Cross? From Ireland? I think it’s the same
person. Her full name is Christina Cross. Her friends call her Chris, but some
people call her Tina. She works as a tour guide in the British Museum.

Chris Cross Yes, that’s me. Nice to hear from you again, Martin Teal! Thanks
for your kind words, Simone Blanc! I’d love to get together with you in London,
Toni Perez. Send me a message when you get here!

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Cambridge English Empower A2
Unit 2 Queuing
1 SPEAKING
a Ask and answer the questions with a partner.
1 These people are waiting in a queue. Do you mind queuing?
2 What do you do while you’re waiting?
2 READING
BETTER READING: SKIMMING
It’s often useful to skim a text (read the text quickly to get
a general idea of what it’s about), before you spend time
reading more carefully. We skim a text when we’re not sure
whether or not to read it. If we decide it looks interesting or
useful, we then read it again more carefully.
Skim texts A and B on page 2. Match one text to Harry and
the other to Emma.
  Harry: ‘I don’t have much time.’
  Emma: ‘I’m looking for work at the moment.’
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Unit 2
READING PLUS
a Read text A on page 2 again. Which of these things do
you know that Matt does in queues? How do you know?
eat   ​read   ​listen to music   ​
watch films   ​
sit   ​draw pictures
b Read text B. Decide if the sentences are true or false.
1 People who use IQ4U think it’s good.
2 IQ4U can get a new passport for you.
3 If you use IQ4U, you don’t have to queue to buy things.
4 IQ4U will deliver things to your home for free.
5 IQ4U customers don’t like waiting in queues.
c Find words in the texts with these meanings.
1 To get money for the work you do
2 Something to put power into your phone or tablet
3 A page with questions about your personal information
4 Believe somebody; not worry that somebody is bad
5 Take something to an address for someone
6 Money for the bus, train, etc.
7 A job you can pay people to do for you
3 SPEAKING
a Ask and answer the questions with a partner.
1 Would you use the IQ4U service? Why / Why not?
2 Do you think the IQ4U service would work in your country?
Why / Why not?
3 Do you know any other unusual services like this one?
1
 Unit 2
A B
IO4U.com IO4U.com
Wanted: TIRED OF
Professional queuer QUEUES?
Contact IQ4U.com (“I queue for you”).
Meet Matt Hayes.

He gets money for doing Who are we?

nothing.
Be like Matt – Come and IO4U.com is the first queuing service in the city.
work for IO4U.com! No You can trust us – our customers are always
experience happy to give us five stars, and we want to keep
Earn up to
needed. it that way!
£150 a day.
Here’s what Matt says about it: What can we do for you?
‘Everybody hates waiting in queues, right? But it’s
all about being ready for it. I always take a tablet
with some movies, plus a charger, a picnic, a good
Service 1: Wait & Call
book and a beach chair. It’s not so different from
This is good when you need a
being at home – and you get money for it. What’s
not to like?’ new passport, for example. We
take your place in the queue.
When we are near the front of
Simply log on to IQ4U and fill out the form! the queue, we call you to come
and do your business.

Service 2: Stand & Deliver

This is good for concert
tickets or new technology
products. We stand in the
queue, buy your ticket or
new phone and then take it
to your address.

How much does it cost?

You pay £20 for the first hour and £15 for
each hour after that, plus travel costs for our
Stand & Deliver service.

Our promise to you

We get what we wait for, or you don’t pay!
What customers have said about IO4U.com

‘For me, queuing is terrible, like a slow

death. IQ4U gives me my life back!’

‘When a guy from IQ4U arrives with my

ticket in his hand and a sleeping bag under
his arm, I know it’s a good service.’

‘Why did it take so long for somebody

to start the IQ4U service?!’

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 Unit 3
Cambridge English Empower A2 READING PLUS
Unit 3 Tourism
1 SPEAKING
a Look at the pictures and answer the questions
with a partner.
c
1 Where are these places? Why do millions
of tourists take photos of them? b
2 What is the typical picture postcard image
of your country?

The Blue Mosque

The Statue of Liberty

2 READING

BETTER READING: PREDICTION

You can read more easily when you have an idea of what
the text will be about. The title and pictures can help
predict this.

Look at the title of the text and the photo with its caption
on page 2. What do you think this text will be about? Tick ✓
two of the topics below. Now skim (read the text quickly) to
see if your ideas are correct.
1   Italy from north to south
2   The daily life of a gondolier
3   What gondoliers think of their customers
4   The history of Venice Airport
The Eiffel Tower
c Find words in the text with these meanings.
1 Not big from side to side. (paragraph 1)
2 A tool for taking photos of yourself with a smartphone.
(paragraph 2)
3 A document you need to become a gondolier. (paragraph 3)

4 Things which tourists buy to remember a place. (paragraph

4)
a Read the text again. Match paragraphs 1–4 with topics 5 Large numbers of people. (paragraph 4)
a–d below. Were your predictions in exercise 2 correct?
a   The gondoliers of Venice d Choose the best endings for the sentences.
b   Marco and his gondola 1 Marco …
c   The city and the tourists a is famous. c likes taking photos.
d   Marco’s job and the customers b is careful with his gondola.
2 Marco’s customers …
b Answer the questions. a are all very nice. c often sing.
Who or what … ? b are always dangerous.
1 cost 50,000 euros 3 Gondoliers have to …
2 sings Italian songs a pass an exam. b be Italian. c be men.
3 got her licence in 2010 4 The streets of Venice are …
4 usually fail the exam a full of normal shops. c full of tourists.
5 sells things for tourists b good to walk along.

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Interview with
A gondola on a canal in Venice
a gondolier
1 Everybody wants a photo of Marco, but
not because he’s famous. It’s because of
the boat he owns – the typical boat of
3 There are around 450 licensed gondolas in Venice
Venice, a gondola. He spends each day
going along the narrow canals of the
city, but he never hits the walls. ‘I don’t
want to damage the gondola,’ he says. ‘It
cost 50,000 euros!’
2
‘Do you enjoy your job?,’ I ask. ‘It’s all
I know’, Marco replies. His father was
a gondolier, and Marco learned how to
move a gondola around Venice a long
4
time before he learnt to drive a car. I
ask him about his customers. ‘They’re
a mix of people – some are very nice,
others are crazy,’ he says. ‘They always
use their selfie sticks to take photos, and
they sometimes get in the way of other
boats – it’s quite dangerous, actually.
And they often start singing Italian songs
like O Sole Mio while we’re going along
the canal. What a terrible noise!’
3 SPEAKING
a Ask and answer the questions with a partner.
1 What do you think it would be like to live in a place with a lot
of tourists?
2 Do you prefer crowded or quiet places?
3 Do you like meeting new people? Why / Why not?
Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE
Unit 3
by Emma J Tang
today. However, we don’t see any women gondoliers,
so I ask Marco about this. ‘There’s one’, he says. ‘Her
name’s Giorgia, and she got her licence in 2010.’ I’m
a bit surprised there is only one woman gondolier,
but Marco doesn’t understand either. ‘I don’t know
why there aren’t more,’ he says. ‘I know that women
sometimes try to get a licence, but they usually fail
the exam.’ He explains that the exam is very difficult,
including knowing about the weather, finding places in
the city, knowing about history and speaking foreign
languages. ‘But I don’t suppose it’s more difficult for a
woman than it is for a man,’ he adds.
I want to know what Marco thinks of his home city,
Venice. ‘It’s crazy,’ he says. ‘You can’t walk along the
streets easily anymore because of the crowds. So many
people! And it’s hard to find a normal shop – most of
them only sell souvenirs for tourists.’ When he has a
few days free, Marco always goes to the mountains.
‘It’s nice just to walk normally,’ he says. But then he
always returns to Venice and the tourists. ‘Tourists,’
he says, ‘We can’t live with them, but we can’t live
without them!’
2
Cambridge English Empower A2 READING PLUS
Unit 4 Food
1 SPEAKING 2 READING
a What is your favourite dish? Tell a partner. Talk a Look at the pictures in the text below and on page 2.
about … Which of these foods do you think are dangerous? Why?
• What it’s made from (e.g. rice, chicken, eggs)
• Why you like it b Read the text. Was any of the information surprising?
Why / Why not?

Death in a Dish!
How do you like your food? Tasty? Healthy? Interesting?
Cheap and easy to prepare? Or maybe you’d like a bit
more than that – maybe you’d like it to be dangerous too?
If you’re one of these people, then a dish of pufferfish
is the food for you! It’s a strange animal and looks like a
swimming football. But more about that later. First let’s
have a look at some more common dangerous foods.

Red meat
It’s not going to kill you immediately, but it’s
often full of salt and fat. And if you eat too much
of it, you increase the amount of bad cholesterol
in your blood, you increase your blood pressure
and you put yourself in danger of heart
disease. That’s why people who don’t like to eat
dangerously go for healthier food like salad. But
that’s not completely safe either.

Salad
This is maybe the most dangerous food
there is, and that’s because it can be covered
with bacteria such as salmonella. Greens
such as lettuce go through many hands on
their journey from the field to your plate,
and they’re not always clean hands!

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 Unit 4

Mushrooms
We all knew about this one already, right? There are some
very dangerous mushrooms out there. You know the amanita
mushroom, for example – it’s got a lovely red top with white
spots on it? That’s one to stay away from unless you want to make
yourself really ill. But there are of course lots of mushrooms which
are good and safe to eat. If you want something that’s definitely
dangerous, then let’s return to the pufferfish.

Pufferfish
Our swimming football is a very popular dish in
Japan, but some parts of the fish contain a very
strong poison called tetrodotoxin, 1,200 times more
dangerous than cyanide. You don’t need to eat a lot
of it – one fish can kill 30 people! You need special
training to prepare pufferfish safely. The dangerous
parts must be cut out very carefully. This means that
a meal of fugu (its name in Japanese) can be very
expensive. They say it’s delicious, but there is a price
to pay – and not only in money. Each year around
50 people have to go to hospital after eating it, and
some of them die. So over to you – if someone offers
you a dish of fugu, what will you do?

d Find one true sentence below. Correct the false

BETTER READING: sentences.
GUESSING THE MEANING OF SPECIALIST WORDS
1 Eating red meat gives you heart disease.
No matter how well you speak a language, there will be 2 Salad is bad for you.
words you don’t know. These will sometimes be specialist 3 Amanita mushrooms are safe to eat.
words, for example science or technology words. You can still 4 All mushrooms are dangerous.
understand the text, but you will need to guess what kind 5 A dish of pufferfish is expensive.
of thing the word refers to. Looking at other words before or 6 Eating pufferfish will kill you.
after the specialist word can help.
3 SPEAKING
Find these science words in the text on page 1. Read
carefully the sentences where you find them and decide
what the words are examples of.
a The text begins and ends with questions. Ask and
answer them with a partner.
amanita   ​cholesterol   ​
cyanide   ​
salmonella   ​ 1 How do you like your food? Tasty? Healthy? Interesting?
tetrodotoxin Cheap and easy to prepare?
2 If someone offers you a dish of fugu, what will you do?

c For each sentence, answer the question, ‘What is it?’

1 It looks like a swimming football.
2 It puts you in danger of heart disease.
3 It may be covered in bacteria.
4 It’s red and white.
5 It’s more dangerous than cyanide.
6 It can kill 30 people.

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Cambridge English Empower A2
Unit 5 Shopping
1 SPEAKING
a What do you know about Canada and the city of
Montreal? Talk about some of these things:
• location • buildings • language
• climate • people
MONTREAL’S
Underground City
1 No trip to Montreal would be complete without a visit
to the underground city, or RÉSO as it’s known. It’s used
by half a million people every day and is the largest
complex of its kind in Canada, or the rest of world. So
what is it, and what can you do there?
2 What is RÉSO?
RÉSO is 32 kilometres of tunnels which join together
office buildings, shopping malls, art centres, concert
halls and university buildings. There are bus, train and
metro stations serving the complex. Although it’s called
an underground city, some of the tunnels are on or
above the ground – it would be more correct to call it an
indoor pedestrian complex. But being indoors is a good
thing in a town where winter temperatures can drop
below –30°C!
3 Shopping
You can easily spend a day shopping in RÉSO. There
are over 2,000 shops, including two large department
stores. If you need to break for a meal, there are 200
restaurants. There are even hotels if you want to make
your shopping trip longer!
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READING PLUS
2 READING
a Read the text. What kind of book do you think it
comes from?
4 Entertainment
There are 40 cinemas to choose between as well as
concert halls and art exhibitions from the most important
Montreal museums. There is also a hockey arena and a
library, and if you want to continue later into the evening,
there are a number of nightclubs.
5 Business
With around 1,200 offices as well as a lot of banks, three
exhibition halls and a conference centre, RÉSO is really
the main part of Montreal’s central business district.
6 Visiting RÉSO
Tourists will be very surprised by this network of tunnels
which connects the whole of downtown Montreal.
The best way to get there is underground – there are a
number of different metro stations, and the most popular
is McGill. But it’s easy to get lost down here, so be sure
to carry a map. One thing you won’t need is a coat – the
temperature is always comfortable and it never rains!
1
 Unit 5

b Find these numbers in the text on page 1. What do they

refer to?
BETTER READING:
1 half a million 3 –30 5 40 INCREASING READING SPEED
2 32 4 2,000 6 1,200
When we read, we usually focus on the content words (for
example, verbs, nouns, adverbs and adjectives), and we
c Answer the questions.
don’t focus on the function words, such as auxiliary verbs
1 Why is it a good idea to visit RÉSO in the Canadian winter? and articles. This helps us to read quickly.
2 Why is the phrase ‘underground city’ not completely correct?
3 What sport can you play in RÉSO? 1 Do the reading tasks below.
4 Does RÉSO close at night? How do you know?
• Read paragraphs 1 and 2 of the text on page 1
5 What is ‘McGill’?
and time yourself. Calculate your words-per-minute
6 Why don’t you need an umbrella to walk there?
reading speed (there are 134 words).
• Work in pairs. Underline the content words in
d Find words with these meanings.
paragraphs 3 and 4. Then read the paragraphs,
1 A large building or group of buildings with many parts. focusing on the underlined words and time yourselves.
(paragraph 1) Calculate your reading speed (there are 93 words).
2 A person on foot, not in a car. (paragraph 2) • Repeat with paragraphs 5 and 6 – this time without
3 A big shop with different areas selling different things. underlining content words, just focusing on them, and
(paragraph 3) again calculate your words-per-minute reading speed
4 Long corridors, usually under the ground. (paragraph 2) (there are 106 words).
5 Places to meet and dance at night. (paragraph 4)
6 Places for very large business meetings. (paragraph 5)
7 A display of artworks or other things. (paragraph 4)
8 Something like a spider’s web. (paragraph 6)
3 SPEAKING
a Ask and answer the questions with a partner.
1 There are flats in RÉSO. Would you like to live in one? Why /
Why not?
2 Do you prefer markets, shops, shopping centres or online
shopping? Why?

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Cambridge English Empower A2 READING PLUS
Unit 6 Different brother
1 SPEAKING 2 READING
a Ask and answer the question with a partner. a Look at the title of the text below. What do you think
1 Do you think siblings (brothers and sisters) usually get on the article will be about?
well together? Why / Why not?   The ways that girls and boys are different
  How to be a good parent (mother or father)
  Why siblings don’t usually have the same personalities
  The life and career of the writer’s brother

Why is
my brother
so different
from me?
by Darius Collins

1 My brother and I share the same parents. We grew up

in the same house. We had the same hobbies as kids –
we both bought guitars, we both wore the shirts of our
favourite football teams, we both spent time building
models. Now, as adults, we look a bit like each other,
but that’s all. In terms of personality, we’re completely
different. I’m single, self-employed and you’ll never see
me wearing a suit and tie. My brother is married with kids
and a conventional job and has over a hundred ties. So
what happened?

2 According to research, it is quite common for brothers

or sisters to look the same but have very different
personalities. In fact, siblings have the same personality
in only 20% of cases. There are a number of possible
reasons.

3 One possible reason is that siblings compare themselves

with one another. So, let’s say for example that you were
5 There is a big difference between being an oldest or
youngest child, according to research. People say that the
oldest child is usually more hard-working and does better
quite good at sport as a child, but your sister was very at school. The oldest child usually gets a better job. They
good at it. In that case, you perhaps saw yourself as say that the youngest child is more fun-loving and creative.
not being very good at sport and you lost interest in it. The youngest child may choose a more unusual career.
Perhaps after that you chose a different interest instead,
such as art.
6 Which brings us back to me and my brother. For us,
research seems to be wrong. I am the oldest child, but I

4 Another possible reason is that the family you grew up in

is actually very different from the family your brother or
sister grew up in. If you were the first born child, then with
you your parents had to learn how to be parents from zero.
They were probably quite strict. If you were the child born
last, your parents already knew how to look after children.
They were probably more easy-going with you.
chose a more unusual life. My brother is the youngest, but
he worked harder at school and got a better, more ‘normal’
job. He got married and had children. I became an artist
and never bought a house. So you see – research can tell
us what most people do, not what all people do. But my
brother is very different from me, so at least the research
got that right!

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 Unit 6

b Read the article and check your prediction from d Choose the best endings for the sentences.
exercise 2a. 1 The writer and his brother …
a look different.
b have the same hobbies.
BETTER READING: SKIMMING TO IDENTIFY c had guitars when they were children.
THE MAIN IDEA IN A PARAGRAPH 2 In 80% of cases, siblings …
a have different personalities.
When you’re reading, it isn’t always necessary for you to
b have the same personality.
understand every detail – you just need to understand the
c look the same.
main idea, or gist, of the text. We can also use this strategy
3 When they have their first baby, parents …
to identify the main ideas in each paragraph.
a already know how to look after a child.
1 What is the gist of each paragraph in the text? b learn how to look after a child.
Match paragraphs 1–6 with topics a–f below. c are usually easy-going.
4 The youngest sibling usually …
a   Strict or easy-going parents a works harder.
b   Research isn’t always right. b gets a conventional job.
c   My brother and I are different. c does something more unusual.
d   The differences between first and last child 5 The writer …
e   Siblings compare their abilities. a is an uncle.
f   Research on the personalities of siblings b is a parent.
c has a conventional job.

c Find words in the text with these meanings. 3 SPEAKING

1 the opposite of married
a Ask and answer the questions with a partner.
2 the past tense of wear
3 the opposite of easy-going 1 Do you have siblings? Compare yourself with them. Think
4 the past tense of buy about appearance, jobs, interests and personality.
5 the opposite of serious 2 If you don’t have siblings, what are the advantages and
6 the past tense of know disadvantages of being an only child?
7 the opposite of conventional

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Cambridge English Empower A2
READING PLUS
Unit 7 Travel
1 READING c

a Look at the travel b

photos from two different
places. Where do you
think they are? Why?

BETTER READING: INFERRING

Sometimes you can get ideas from a text which are not
explicitly stated. Answer the questions below about
both blog post writers. Say yes, no or I don’t know and
give your reasons.

Do you think the writer … ?

1 planned the trip carefully
b Read the blog posts on page 2 quickly. Were you right Javiera Alexis
about the photos?
2 lives in the country they are describing
Javiera Alexis
c Read the blog posts again and find words and phrases
for the things in the photos. 3 travelled alone
Javiera Alexis
d Read the blog posts again more carefully and decide if 4 is a sociable person
the sentences are true or false. If they are false, Javiera Alexis
say why.
1 Javiera travelled to Quito in order to visit the Galapagos
Islands. e Find the words below in the blog posts. Use the context
False. She decided to go to the Galapagos while she was to guess the meaning. Underline words that help you.
in Quito, not before.
2 Most penguins live south of the equator. goggles   ​ancient   ​
wildlife   ​
stopover   ​
3 The sea lions weren’t interested in Javiera. delicious   ​
lakeside
4 Alexis was able to talk to other passengers because
goggles
he speaks Russian.
swimming with goggles so that I could see under the water
5 Building the track across the Amur River was difficult.
6 Alexis didn’t go all the way to the end of the railway.
f Would you like to go on one of these trips? Why /
why not? Can you think of another interesting travel
idea? Compare with a partner.
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 Unit 7

Ancient tortoises, swimming lizards and cool sharks

Javiera M

The Galapagos Islands are a dream holiday for animal lovers like me, and so when my brother and I had
the chance to visit last July, we took it. We were in Quito, Ecuador, and the islands were just a short flight
away. I wasn’t disappointed – it was like being in a TV wildlife programme. The animals there aren’t afraid
of people, and they don’t mind if you stand right next to them. We saw the famous giant tortoises. Some
of them are ancient – over 150 years old! There are penguins too – this is the only place in the northern
hemisphere where they live. I loved the ugly marine iguanas. This is also the only place in the world with
lizards that can swim. But my favourite part of the trip was swimming with goggles so that I could see
under the water. The baby sea lions were so friendly – they actually come and play with you. One time while
I was in the water, I saw a group of sharks a few metres below me. I didn’t want them to see me, so I didn’t
move, but I was terrified. Fortunately, they weren’t interested in me!

Following the last tsar’s tracks Alexis V

I once took a trip across Russia on the Trans-Siberian railway, from Moscow to the Pacific Ocean. That’s
a very long train ride – 9,200 km, across eight time zones! It takes seven days non-stop, but it took me
longer because I had a stopover for a few days. I speak a little Russian, so I could talk to some of the other
passengers. I learned about the history of the railway. The work was started in 1891 by the last tsar and
finished 20 years later – the last piece to be finished was the bridge over the Amur River. That was a big
engineering challenge! When the Communists came to power, the tsar was transported as a prisoner on the
same railway he built! I broke the journey for a few days beside the deepest lake in the world, Lake Baikal. I
stayed in a lakeside village. There was a café, really just a room in one of the colourful wooden houses, and
some people were playing folk music there. I had my violin with me so I joined in. They invited me to a party
the next day. We played music, and we cooked and ate delicious fresh fish on the beach. It was the best part
of the whole trip!

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Cambridge English Empower A2
READING PLUS
Unit 8 Fantastic sports
1 SPEAKING
b
a Do you (or anyone you know) do any outdoor sports
or activities? Tell a partner. If no, would you like to do
any outdoor sports?

2 READING
a Read the article on page 2. Match the sports with
these pictures a–d.
  mermaiding   skeleton
  BASE jumping   urban free climbing

a d

BETTER READING: INTENSIVE READING

Sometimes we need to read a text very carefully in order to
understand or remember as much detail as possible.
b Read the article again and answer the questions.
Which sport … ? Read the first paragraph of the article very carefully. Note
1 can you do without having special clothes down everything you can remember about mermaids and
2 doesn’t take you to high places mermaiding in as much detail as possible.
3 is part of an international competition
4 starts with falling
5 do you usually do in winter
6 is not like anything an animal does
d Use your own ideas to answer the questions. Compare
7 do people normally do in cities
your ideas with a partner.
8 takes you to a place with no air 1 In mermaiding, why can’t you breathe sometimes?
2 In BASE jumping, what happens if you don’t have a
c Find words in the article with these meanings. parachute?
1 animal 3 In skeleton, how do you stop?
2 not real 4 In urban free climbing, why don’t the police stop the climber
3 taking air into your body before the top?
4 clothes which help you fly
5 the ‘arms’ of birds; they use them to fly
3 SPEAKING
6 a piece of equipment to make you fall more slowly
a Ask and answer the questions with a partner.
7 with your head going before your body 1 Which of the sports in the text would you like to try?
8 strong, not afraid 2 What other dangerous sports do you know? Have you tried
9 connected to the city, not the countryside any of them?
10 very tall buildings 3 Why do people do dangerous sports?

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 Unit 8

BORED OF BEING JUST A REGULAR HUMAN?

Look at these strange and fantastic sports!

Swim like a fish: ‘Mermaiding’

A mermaid is a sea creature in old stories, with a woman’s upper body
but the tail of a fish. Mermaids may be imaginary, but the sport of
mermaiding is real. In this sport, you simply have to swim with your
legs together in a big fishtail made of plastic. There’s a skill to being a
mermaid – you have to be able to swim like a fish. You also have to be
able to go for a long time without breathing.

Fly like a bird: ‘BASE jumping’

For this sport, you need a ‘wingsuit’. This is something you wear which
can turn you into a bird. You just need to find a very high place to jump
from. This can be out of a plane or from a mountaintop. It helps if you
aren’t too afraid of high places! When you’re falling, you’ll be able to
open your arms and legs to make wings and fly away. It’s a great feeling
– there’s nothing like it. But make sure you’ve got a parachute – if not,
your flight won’t end well!

Go like lightning: ‘Skeleton’

In this sport, you lie on a board and go down a hill or mountain on a
road of ice, head-first at 130 km/h. The board, and the sport, is called
a ‘skeleton’. You wear a special hat and suit to make you go faster. You
have to be brave, because when you start you can’t stop. You go as fast
as lightning, and there’s no way of making the board go more slowly.
Skeleton became an Olympic sport in 2002.

Climb like a spider: ‘Urban free climbing’

Our tallest buildings have walls of metal and glass – who could climb
something like that? But there are people who can do it – Alain
‘Spiderman’ Robert, for example. This Frenchman can climb just about
anything, and without the help of any special equipment. He is able
to climb some of the most famous skyscrapers, including the world’s
tallest – the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. His main problem is that free climbing
of buildings is not allowed in most countries, and the police are often
waiting for him at the top!

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Cambridge English Empower A2
Unit 9 Airport shopping
1 SPEAKING
a Look at the photo and the caption and answer the
questions.
1 Do you think the things at duty-free shops are cheaper than
at normal shops?
2 Do you ever buy things at duty-free shops? Why / Why not?
WiseWallet
Guide to Airport Shopping
1 Airport security takes a long time, right? So when
you finally arrive at the departure lounge, what
do you want to do? Well, it seems that for most of
us, the answer is ‘spend’. According to research, in
the first 60 minutes after getting through security,
passengers are usually in a buying mood. That’s
why businesses call this the ‘golden hour’ – it’s a
golden opportunity for them to sell! We travellers
need to know about their tricks, so here’s our
WiseWallet guide.
2 Airport departure areas are getting more and
more like shopping centres, and make no mistake
– everything is planned. The path they make you
take through the duty-free shop is winding: they
know that will make us spend more. The reason is
that in airports, we buy what we see – we don’t go
in with a shopping list. We see something, we like it
and decide to buy it. A winding path means we see
more of the things on sale.
The joy of duty-free – but is it really cheaper?
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READING PLUS
2 READING
a Read the article and match paragraphs 1–5 with titles
a–e below.
a   Souvenir shopping
b   Is it really cheaper at the airport?
c   The first hour in the departure lounge
d   The path through the shop
e   The busy shops
3 Why do people buy at duty-free shops anyway? You
think you’re getting something cheap, but the fact is a
lot of those things are cheaper outside the airport or
online. Just because a sales assistant tells you their
product is cheap, that doesn’t mean it’s cheap, right?
We WiseWallet readers are too clever for that!
4 Airport shops are usually placed together in groups
so that it feels something like a high street. According
to research, people shop more in busy places, and of
course that’s exactly what airport businesses want us
to do. So now you know.
5 And last but not least, there’s this old trick: make
the customer believe it’s their last opportunity to
get something good. You can see a lot of cheese in
Amsterdam airport, chocolate in Zurich and coffee
in Rio de Janeiro. It’s your last opportunity to buy
something special to remember the city by, so the
price is sky-high. Luckily, WiseWallet readers bought
their souvenirs before coming to the airport, right?
1
 Unit 9

b Read the article again and find the words and phrases c Read the text again and decide if the sentences below
below. Match them with meanings 1–8. are true or false. Correct the false sentences.
1 People often spend more money than normal while they’re
tricks   ​winding   ​make no mistake   ​ fake   ​ waiting for a plane.
high street   ​last but not least   ​souvenirs   ​ 2 Travellers call the first 60 minutes after security the
the price is sky-high ‘golden hour’.
3 Passengers don’t usually go to airport shops to buy
1 final important point
something they planned to buy in advance.
2 it’s very expensive
4 Most things are less expensive in duty-free shops.
3 know what is true and what isn’t
5 The airport is a good place to buy cheese in Amsterdam.
4 where the important shops are in a town centre
5 something tourists buy to remember a holiday 3 SPEAKING
6 not straight
7 false, not real
a Ask and answer the questions with a partner.
8 clever ways to make you do something
1 Do you enjoy air travel?
2 How do you spend time at airports?
3 Are you a careful shopper?
BETTER READING:
IDENTIFYING THE WRITER’S ATTITUDE
You can often guess how the writer feels about the topic,
even if he or she does not write it clearly.

Which option do you think best describes the writer’s

attitude? Underline sentences in the text which support
your answer.
The writer …
1 doesn’t like the way airport departure areas are
changing in recent years.
2 thinks airports are much more interesting now than
they used to be.
3 thinks airport shopping is a good way to pass the
time waiting for a flight.
4 thinks most passengers are too clever to pay the
high prices of airport shops.

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Cambridge English Empower A2
READING PLUS
Unit 10 The Amazon online
1 VOCABULARY c Find the words below in the text and match them with
meanings 1–5.
a What do the letters WWW stand for? What do you know
charity   ​
destroying   ​government   ​
mine   ​traditional
about it?
1 the group of people who run a country
b Look at the words below. Which theme are they 2 damaging, breaking
connected to: rainforest or technology? Write r or t. 3 connected with the old, local ways of doing things
Check in a dictionary.
4 a group that gives help where it is needed
canoe   ​digital age   ​online   ​hut   ​satellite   ​
5 a place where people take something valuable from deep
selfie   ​
tribe   ​village
in the ground

2 READING d Choose the best endings for the sentences.

1 Amazon tribes are starting to go online …
a Read the article on page 2 quickly. Does the writer a but they aren’t posting selfies.
think the Internet is good or bad for people in the b and they’re using the Internet to get satellite equipment.
Amazon villages? c and some of them are using the Internet to keep the
rainforest safe.
2 The people working in the Suriname goldmines …
b Read the article again and match paragraphs 1–4 with
a didn’t want the police to find them.
titles a–d below.
b used GPS technology to map the rainforest.
a   A difficult journey c were in danger from the people of the Trio tribe.
b   Amazon tribes on the Internet 3 The digital technology arrived in the Waura village …
c   Fighting the farmers a very late at night.
d   Against the goldmines b and began a very long journey.
c by river.
4 The Waura are using the Internet …
BETTER READING: PRONOUN REFERENCE a to share information with the large farms.
Good readers need to understand what the pronouns in a b to get help from the government.
text refer to. It is essential to follow the links across the text c to learn about the problems of the rainforest.
created by pronouns.
3 SPEAKING
Find the highlighted pronouns in the text. What do they
refer to? a Ask and answer the questions with a partner.
a they (paragraph 1) d it (paragraph 3, line 3) 1 How do you use the Internet?
b They (paragraph 2) e it (paragraph 3, line 4) 2 What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Internet?
c them (paragraph 2) f this (paragraph 4)

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THE AMAZON GOES ONLINE
1 Ittheis World
sometimes surprising to learn of the places that
Wide Web reaches, and of the different
ways people use it in those places. There are tribes
in the Amazon who have very little contact with
the outside world. This is the strangest place to
find people using the Internet. But some of them
are online, and they are using the Web in the most
interesting ways. With the help of charities such as
the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), tribes are
getting Internet access through satellite equipment
and computers, and they aren’t just posting selfies.
Some of them are using the Web to fight against
companies that are destroying the forest.
2 Inonline
one project, ACT put the Trio tribe in Suriname
and gave them GPS technology to map
their land. At that time, the greatest danger to
their rainforest home came from people coming to
find gold. Gold mining wasn’t allowed there, but
those people were able to work without the police
knowing. But the tribe knew the forest better than
the police. They found the mines and the paths
leading to them and used GPS to put them on the
map. In one case, a goldmine was closed as a result.
Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE
Unit 10
3 More recently, in the Xingu Reserve in Brazil,
ACT helped the Waura tribe to get connected to
the Internet. Getting the satellite equipment to
the village was a problem. It is hard to imagine a
more difficult journey – it began with a very long
trip by road and then by canoe down the river.
But when it finally arrived, the villagers had a
party with food, music and dancing late into
the night. Now, their new digital age technology
is sitting inside a traditional wooden hut – a
strange mix of new and old.
4 Some of the Waura are using Facebook to record
their traditional way of life for the future. But
they are also using the Internet to fight against
people who are destroying their rainforest, just
like the Trio tribe in Suriname. They are using
the Web to share information about the large
farms which are moving onto their land. By
doing this, they hope that the government in
Brasilia will learn about the problem and do
something to help them. Perhaps the Internet
can help to save the rainforest.
2
Cambridge English Empower A2
Unit 11 Films
1 VOCABULARY
a Look at the words below and talk to your partner
about what they mean. Match them with meanings 1–8.
action   ​actors   ​the big screen   ​
cinema   ​
location   ​movie   ​producer   ​ western
1 the people you see in films
2 the boss of a film project
3 another word for ‘film’
4 a film with cowboys
5 a real place where a film or a scene is filmed
6 a public place where you pay to watch films
7 what happens in a film; the movements of the actors
8 a big white wall that you see the film on; films at the cinema
rather than at home
2 READING
BETTER READING: TOPIC SENTENCES
The first sentence in each paragraph is called the topic
sentence, and it often gives you an introduction to what the
paragraph will be about.
Read the topic sentences of the four paragraphs in the
article on page 2 and match the paragraphs with a–d.
a   Famous westerns made in Spain
b   How people’s tastes change in the world of films
c   The return of the cinema
d   Movie sets in the desert
Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE
READING PLUS
a Read the article on page 2 and answer the question.
1 What is the Spanish Hollywood?
b Answer the questions.
1 Why did people stop going to the cinema in the years after
the 1960s?
2 Why are cowboy films called westerns?
3 Why did they film westerns near Almeria in Spain?
4 Why are the films Lawrence of Arabia and Cleopatra
mentioned?
5 What film sets did the film producers build?
6 Why is it surprising that cinema is becoming popular again?
c Find phrases in the text on page 2 with these meanings.
1 The west of the USA, when it was still a dangerous place
(paragraph 2)
2 People who go to see films (paragraph 2)
3 Well-known and loved old films (paragraph 3)
4 Places made specially for filming a movie (paragraph 3)
5 Towns which look dead, with nobody around (paragraph 3)
6 A noun from popular (paragraph 4)
7 A noun from entertain (paragraph 4)
1
 Unit 11
v

The Spanish Hollywood

by Ella Millen
1 In the movie business, fashions come and go, just as
in other areas of life. Take the traditional cinemas, for
example. In the 1960s, 70s and 80s there was a big fall in
3 This Spanish desert has been the location for
other kinds of film too. In the classic movies
Lawrence of Arabia and Cleopatra, it was the
the number of cinemas. This was because at this time, deserts of the Middle East. But mostly, it was
more and more people got televisions, videos and then used for westerns. The producers built cowboy
DVDs. Old cinema buildings were empty and forgotten. towns and Mexican villages specially for the
It’s not just the places where we see films that have films, and now these film sets are slowly
changed, but also the kinds of films we want to see. Take disappearing into the sand. Today they are like
the western, for example – the old cowboy films from the ghost towns, and it feels very strange to walk
American west. This was the most popular type of film around them.
for half of the last century; now, most people have
forgotten it.
4 Sometimes dying fashions come back again,
and in recent years there has been a new rise

2 The desert around Almeria in southeast Spain has a

strange connection with the golden years of the western.
It is a wild place, with dry mountains. There is very little
in the popularity of cinemas. Today there are
so many ways of finding entertainment on our
small screens, but something makes people
water and nothing grows. It looks just like the Wild want to watch films on the big screen again. But
West, and for this reason, it was the location for many will westerns ever get popular in the future? I
of the most famous westerns ever made – For a Few don’t think so, but you never know – perhaps the
Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with Spanish Hollywood will live again!
the great western actor Clint Eastwood are just two
examples. Moviegoers thought they were seeing the
deserts of Arizona or Mexico, but really the action was all
happening in Spain. It was the Spanish Hollywood.

3 SPEAKING
a Ask and answer the questions with a partner.
1 How often do you go to the cinema?
2 Have you seen any / many westerns?
3 What kind of films do you like or dislike?

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Cambridge English Empower A2
READING PLUS
Unit 12 Too many tourists
1 SPEAKING
a Look at the photos on page 2 and answer the
questions with a partner.
1 Have you seen any of these views before?
2 What other classic views around the world can you think of?

2 READING
a Read the article. Would you like to visit any of these
places? Why / Why not?

BETTER READING: READ AND MAKE NOTES

Sometimes you need to study texts to collect information. To help you, it can be useful to make short notes of
the important points.

1 Read the article and make notes in the table below.

Macchu Picchu Santorini Pulpit Rock Bath
1 Country Norway
2 What’s there? Inca city
3 A big number 2,000 years ago
4 A problem visitors from cruise ships
5 The result laws to stop climbers

b Find the words and phrases below in the text on page 2. d Read the comments by Lorraine and Andy in
Use the context to guess the meaning. exercise 2a. What decisions have they made
for the future? Do you agree with them?
annoy   ​spectacular   ​enormous   ​cruise ships   ​
laws   ​
open-topped tour bus   ​hot springs 3 SPEAKING
c Choose the best ending for the sentences. a Ask and answer the questions with a
1 In these places, the visitors themselves are sometimes annoyed by … partner.
a the number of tourists. 1 Do you like being a tourist and seeing all the
b the way the places advertise themselves. famous sights and views in the places you visit?
c the locals. 2 Do you have any bad experiences of being in a
2 The Incas built Macchu Picchu … place with too many tourists?
a over a period of 600 years.
b 2,500 metres away from a mountaintop.
c using large rocks which they cut and moved.
3 The main town in Santorini …
a is on a popular beach.
b has a view which is beautiful and famous.
c is the place where many cruise ships begin their journey.
4 There is a problem with tourists at Pulpit Rock because …
a they do dangerous things.
b they get in the way of the climbers and BASE jumpers.
c they cause accidents to other visitors.
5 The city of Bath has that name because …
a people get a shower on the tour bus.
b there are natural swimming pools of hot water.
c the Romans built baths there.

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 Unit 12

Too Many Tourists

There’s money to be made in tourism, and places often advertise themselves to make people want to visit. But
you can get too much of a good thing, and visitor numbers are sometimes so high that they annoy the locals and
even the visitors themselves. Here are a few places where there are just too many tourists.

Everybody wants to put themselves in this spectacular photo.

This city on a mountaintop at 2,500 metres is one of the
new seven Wonders of the World. The enormous stones of the
buildings were cut and moved by the Incas 600 years ago,
without the help of any machines. So many tourists go there that
UNESCO has put it on a list of places in danger. From 2019, all
foreign visitors will have to have a guide and follow certain paths
through the site.

This classic view of Santorini shows the white buildings of the

main town, nearly 600 metres above the blue waters of the
Aegean Sea. It is built on the top of an old volcano. When the
number of visitors arriving off cruise ships reached 10,000
a day, beautiful Santorini knew it was time to do something.
From now on, there’s going to be a daily limit of 8,000 visitors.

Tourists have put themselves in danger for this view in Norway.

Known as Pulpit Rock, this spectacular rock 600 metres above
the fjord is popular with climbers, BASE jumpers and tourists,
too. Because of the number of accidents and emergencies,
locals are asking for laws to stop people climbing to this spot.

Tourists sometimes annoy the local people. In this city, there

have been times when locals have given the tourists a shower
as they passed in the open-topped tour bus. And funnily
enough, this city is called Bath! However, the real reason for
this name is historical. There are hot springs here, and when
the Romans were in Britain nearly 2,000 years ago, they built
the large baths that give the city its name.

Do you know any places that have too many tourists? Use the comments to tell us what you think!

I love travelling, but I’m not going to visit any of the really famous tourist hot spots any more.
Last year, we went to Ephesus in Turkey, and there were long queues to get to see the main
sites. What’s the point?
Lorraine S, Manchester, England

I live in a really spectacular place in Scotland. The sunsets are amazing, and the beaches are
fantastic. But nobody has heard of it, and so we don’t get many visitors. That’s how I like it, so I’m
not going to tell you where it is!
Andy P, Near Mallaig, Scotland

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