Teatime

Tea is one of the world's (1) _________________ popular beverages.

According to a legend, it originated in China thousands of years (2)
_________________, when leaves from a tea bush fell (3)
_________________ a hot water pot of the Chinese emperor.
At first, only wealthy British families (4) _________________ able to afford
drinking tea, which was brought from India by merchants and traders.
Some people even locked it up to prevent it from (5) _________________
stolen.
There are many ways to drink tea. (6) _________________ most people just
drink their tea pure, others add milk or a lemon. The most common forms
are black and green tea. Vanilla or fruit flavouring (7) _________________
often added to tea to give it a special taste. Some people brew their tea in
convenient tea bags, others pour boiling (8) _________________ over
crushed tea leaves.
Tea drinking has a long tradition in Britain. Every Briton (9)
_________________ about 5 cups of tea per day, or about 1,700 cups a year
– the largest per capita consumption in the (10) _________________.
Traditional afternoon teatime goes back to the 19th century. Many families
celebrate this custom in an exclusive way, with expensive china and silver
spoons.
Tea has a stimulating effect on your body, because it contains more
caffeine than coffee. It is great for those who are afraid of putting on too
much weight as it has only 4 calories per cup.
Mobile Phones
Some time ago, if we wanted to call someone, we had to be at home to do so. There were
public phones in the street, but it was often difficult to find (1) _________________ that was
working. Sometimes there were long queues before it was your turn to use them. In
addition, you had to bring a lot of coins to (2) _____________ for the calls. As a result, people
didn't phone their friends as often (3) _________ they do today.

Today's mobile phones allow us to talk with friends and family (4) _____________ we are on
the move. They (5) _____________ dramatically changed the life we lead. Before the age of
the mobile phone, parents would sit around worried when their children would be coming
home. There (6) _____________ no quick calls to say that there would be more guests for
dinner. We left notes on fridges or desks to communicate messages.

However, mobile phones have also had a negative (7) _____________ on our lives. We often
don't realize that we have lost something very valuable: our privacy. Today, our friends and
family can get in touch with us wherever and whenever they want to. We can never get (8)
_____________ from them.

The way people communicate with each other is completely different now. It's not so easy
to sit in a café and have a casual conversation without (9) _____________ interrupted by a
phone call every few minutes. Most people don't see anything wrong in having a long
conversation on their mobile phone while forgetting about the person they are sitting (10)
_____________ to.

A solution would be to leave our mobile phones at home or turn them off completely. But
nobody does that. Most people are afraid of missing something important if they don't have
their phones with them at all times.
Becoming an adult is a very important phase in every person's (1)
______________ . However, when this happens can be very different
depending (2) ______________ where you live or which culture you (3)
______________ from. Most countries have laws on when adolescents are
allowed to do certain things.
In the US, for example, adulthood starts at the age of 16, when a person
can get employment or a driving licence. Even though American
youngsters have the right to vote at 18, they can't legally drink alcohol (4)
______________ they reach the age of 21.
In some countries of Central and South America, girls celebrate their 15th
birthday, which marks their rise to womanhood. Families often (5)
______________ church services with their 15-year old daughters and
afterwards have parties with many guests.
In Japan young men and women transfer to adulthood at 20, when they are
(6) ____________ to vote and drink alcohol. The Japanese even have a
special day for this event (7) ______________ "Coming-of-Age Day", the
second Monday of January. On this day, the new adults celebrate (8)
______________ their families and attend speeches given by politicians.
Until recently young people in Saudi Arabia (9) ______________ considered
adults at the age of 15 - a time when they started showing physical signs
(10) ______________ becoming an adult. However, a few years ago the
country raised this age to 18