Alexandra NechitaAlexandra Nechita

Alexandra Nechita
Alexandra Nechita is thirteen and she is called “the new Picasso”. She paints large pictures in cubist style and sells them for between $ 10,000 and $ 80,000. She was bom in Romania but now she lives in Los Angeles with her family. She could paint very well when she was only four but her parents couldn’t understand her pictures. Alexandra says: “I paint how I feel. Sometimes I’m happy and sometimes sad. I can’t stop painting”. Every day after school she does her homework, plays with her little brother, and then paints for two or three hours until bedtime. Alexandra doesn’t spend her money, she saves it: ‘We were very poor when we were first in America. We couldn’t buy many things, but now I can buy a big house for my family and we can travel the world. Last year we were in London, Paris, and Rome. It was fantastic!’


Lukas Vondracek
Ten-year old Lukas Vondracek is very shy, but every year he travels the world and meets hundreds of people. Lukas is a brilliant pianist and he gives lots of concerts. Last year he was in Washington, Chicago, and London. He is sometimes called “the new Mozart”. He says, “I’m shy but I love giving concerts.” Lukas was bom in Opava in the Czech Republic but now he lives with his parents in Vienna, where he practices the piano six hours a day. He goes to school two days a week. Lukas could read music before he could read books. Now he can write music, too. Lukas doesn’t just play the piano; he plays football and ice hockey. He says, “Mozart was poor and he couldn’t play football, so I’m not like him at all.”

Mattie Smith
Mattie Smith is 91 years old. She lives alone in Atlanta, Georgia. She starts her day at 7.30. First she has bath, next she cleans the house, and then she sits outside on her verandah and thinks about her past life. Then she writes poems about it. Mattie was never at school. She lived with her mother and four sisters,she started ưork when she was eight. She worked in the cotton fields from 6.00 in the morning to 10.00 at night. She couldn’t read or write but she could think, and she created poems in her head. When she was young, there was no time for learning, but her children, they all learnt to read and write. And when did she learn to read and write? She didn’t learn until she was 86, and she has three books of poems.

George Washington
George Washington was the first President of the United States. He
became President in 1789, eight years after the American War of Independence.
He was bom in Virginia. His family owned a big farm and had slaves. George didn’t have much education. During his life lie had three jobs: fie was a farmer, a soldier, and'a politician. He loved the life of a farmer. He grew tobacco and owned horses. He worked hard but he also liked dancing and going to the theatre. In 1759 he married a widow called Martha Custis. They were happy together, but didn’t have any children. He was Commander-in-Chief of die army and fought the British in the war of Independence. When the war ended in 1781 he was happy to go back to. the farm, but his country wanted him to be President. Finally, in 1789, he-became President, and gave his name to the new capital city.

Margaret Thatcher
Margaret was the first woman prime minister in Europe. She became Prime Minister of Britain in 1979. She was bom above a shop in the small English town of Grantham. Her father, Alfred Roberts, was a grocer. He worked very hard for little money. Margaret also worked hard, and she went to Oxford University, where she studied chemistry. In 1951 she married Denis Thatcher, a rich businessman. They had twins, a girl and a boy. The love of the life was politics. She didn’t have much time for other interests. She said she only needed four hours’ sleep a night. She became a politician inl959, leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, and Prime Minister of Britain four years after that. She had a strong personality A lot of people were afraid of her, and she was called “The Iron Lady”.

Food around the world
The kind of food we eat depends on which part of the world we live in, or which part of our country we live in. For example, in the south Of China they eat rice, but in the north they eat noodles. In Scandinavia, they eat a lot of herrings, and the Portuguese love sardines. But in central Europe, away from the sea, people don’t eat so much fish; they eat more meat and sausages. In Germany and Poland there are hundreds of different kinds of sausages. Nowadays it is possible to transport food easily from one part of the world to the other. We can eat what we like, when we like, at any time of the year. Our bananas come from the Caribbean or Africa; our rice comes from India or the USA; our strawberries come from Chile or Spain. Food is very big business. But people in, poor countries are still hungry, and people in rich countries eat too much.

New Orleans
New Orleans is the .largest city in Louisiana, USA. It stands on the banks of the Mississippi River and is a busy port and tourist centre. Its population of about 555,000 is very cosmopolitan, with immigrants from many countries. In 1682 the French named Louisiana after the French King Louis XIV. They built New Orleans in 1718. In 1762 Louis XV gave it to his cousin Carlos of Spain. Then, in 1800, it became French again until Napoleon sold it to the USA in 1803_ The French Quarter in New Orleans still has many old buildings and excellent restaurants. New Orleans is the home of jazz. Jazz is a mixture of
blues, dance songs and hymns. Black musicians started to play jazz in the late 19th century. Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton came from the city. New Orleans is most famous for its jazz, but it also has a philharmonic orchestra.

Vienna
Vienna, or Wien in German, is the capital of Austria. It stands on the banks of the River Danube and is the gateway between east and west Europe. Its music, theatres, museums, and parks make it a popular tourist centre. It has a population of over 1,500,000. Vienna has a rich history. Its university opened in 1356, and is one of the oldest in Europe. From 1558 to 1806 it was the centre of the Holy Roman Empire and it became an important culture centre for art and learning in the 18th and 19th centuries. The famous psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud, lived and worked there. Vienna was the music capital of the world for many centuries, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and the Strauss family all came to work here. It is now the home of one of the world’s most famous orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic. Its State opera House is also world famous.

Liverpool
Liverpool is Britain’s second biggest port, after London. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey in north -west England. It is an important passenger port for travel to Ireland and many Irish immigrants live there. It has a population of nearly 500,000. King John named Liverpool in 1207. The city grew bigger in the 18th century, when it became an important trade centre for sugar, spices, and slaves between Africa, Britain, the Americas, and the West Indies. Liverpool’s most famous musicians are the Beatles. In the 1960s this British rock group was popular all over the world. They had 30 top ten hits. They were all bom in Liverpool and started the group there in 1959. They first played at a night club called the Cavern and then travelled the world.

Dorita
I have classes in English at La Guardia Community College. I’m in a class with eight students. They’re all from different countries: Japan, Brazil, Switzerland, Poland, and Italy. Our teacher’s name is Isabel. She’s very nice and a very good teacher. I live in an apartment with two America girls, Annie and Mamie Kass. They are sisters. Mamie’s eighteen and a student. They are very friendly, but it isn’t easy to understand them. They speak very fast. New York is very big, very exciting but very expensive! The subway isn’t difficult to use and it’s cheap. It’s very cold now but Central Park is lovely in the snow. I’m very happy here.

The man with thirteen jobs
Seumas McSporran is a vey busy man. He is 60 years old and he has thirteen jobs. He is a postman, a policeman, a fireman, a taxi driver, a school- bus driver, a boatman, an ambulance man, an accountant, a petrol attendant, a barman, and an undertaker. Also, he and his wife, Margaret, have a shop and a small hotel. Seumas lives and works on the island of Gigha in the west of Scotland. Only 120 people live on Gigha but in summer 150 tourists come by boat every day. Every weekday Seumas gets up at 6.00 and makes breakfast for the hotel guests. At 8.00 he drives the island’s children to school. At 9.00 he collects the post from the boat and delivers it to all the houses on the island. He also delivers the beer to the island’s only pub. Then he helps Margaret in the shop.
Bobbi’s weekdays

My weekends are fast and exciting. My weekdays are fast and domestic. I have two sons Dylan, 7, and Dakota, 5. Every morning I get up one hour before them, at 6.00 and I go to the gym. I go home and I make breakfast, then I take them to school. On Mondays, I always go shopping. I buy all the food for the week. I often cook dinner in the evenings, but not every day because I don’t like cooking. Fortunately, my husband, Don, love cooking. On Tuesdays and j Thursdays I visit my father. He lives on the next block. Every afternoon I pick up the kids from school. In the evenings, Don and I usually cook but sometimes I we visit our friends. We never go out on Friday evenings because I start work so I early on Saturdays.

All Wheeler
All Wheeler comes from Canada. The country has long, cold winters and I short, hot summers. He has a holiday home near a lake, so in summer he goes I sailing a lot and he plays baseball. But in winter he often plays ice hockey and goes ice-skating. His favourite season is autumn, or fall, as they say in the North America. He loves the colours of the trees - red,