Listen to some news from Tiny Texts and choose the best heading A-H for each one. There are two headings you do not need to use.
A - Gender differences
B - Give someone an inch and they'll take a mile
C - Helping save the world
D - Honesty rewarded
E - In danger of going moneyless
F - Less is more
G - Sticks or carrots
H - Travelling back in time
Source: Tiny Texts
Photo: Tiny Texts
1
If you visit a café and the staff are rude you can choose not to go back, but what happens when it’s the customers who are impolite? A French Café has decided to reward polite customers and punish rude ones by implementing some unusual coffee price variations. According to the menu board, ‘a coffee’ costs €7 while ‘a coffee, please’ costs a more affordable €4.50. Of course, there’s an even cheaper option: ‘hello, can I have a coffee, please?’ will cost you just €1.40. Sometimes it pays to be polite and if you are in a bad mood you can always choose another café.
2
According to a recent report, British women admit that they are no good at parking. Nearly a third change their driving plans to avoid parking in a tight space. Only one in ten men admit to doing so. Women also took 20 seconds longer than men to park an expensive Audi during an experiment at a German university. While some studies suggest that men are better at spatial tasks because of the way their brains work, it could also be true that women lack confidence rather than ability. There is some promising news, however: the 2012 national parking championship in Germany was won by a woman.
3
A Canadian family has decided to spend a year living as if it was 1986. Blair McMillan was concerned that his kids spent too much time indoors with technology. He wanted them to experience what it was like when he was growing up. That means no I-pods, mobile phones or Internet. If they need information, they have to go to the library and look up an encyclopaedia. For entertainment, they have a VHS player to watch movies and cassette tapes to listen to. When travelling, they use only paper maps and have to wait to have their photos developed. The family dress in vintage clothes, have 80’s hairdos and the dad has a true Magnum PI moustache. So far, Blair says his family talk more and are much closer.
4
A recent survey by the National Association of Professional Organizers reveals that 54% of Americans feel overwhelmed by clutter and 78% have no idea what to do with it. According to psychologists, people accumulate things because they are unhappy but having too many possessions brings stress and more unhappiness. Minimalists say you can live better if you focus only on what’s really important and get rid of your excess stuff. You can donate things you don’t need to charity. Minimalism is not new. Some of the ancient Greek philosophers were advocates, as were Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy. There may be more joy in owning less than in constantly accumulating more.
5
Coldplay are paying the price for their flashing wristbands. The gadgets, which are given out to everyone in the audience on their latest tour are costing them a fortune. The idea was originally suggested by a fan. They are radio controlled and light up in synchronised patterns creating an amazing light show. Chris Martin and his band are trying to figure out a way to keep up this crucial part of their concert without going broke. One idea was to ask their fans to hand them back at the end of the gig. However, the band’s lawyers have advised against this as it could lead to legal problems if someone picks up a contagious condition like Herpes. There were 40,000 people at the London show, so their profits were slashed. Nevertheless, the band say the wristbands are going to stay.
6
For most people, stealing shampoo or soap from a hotel room is not a serious crime. Some even think it’s OK to help themselves to the towels. A couple of newlyweds from Oregon, U.S.A went a little too far. They tried to steal everything including the sheets, pillows and paintings. However, they didn’t get away with it. Staff grew suspicious when the two guests refused to settle the bill for a pay-per-view movie by saying their room didn’t have a TV. When a member of staff went to check the room, he found that the TV was, in fact, missing. That’s because it was with the rest of the stolen goods in the trunk of their car.
KEY:
1G 2A 3H 4F 5E 6B
