The Art of Travel by Alain De Botton Awakening Early on That First

Source A: The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton

Awakening early on that first morning, I slipped on the dressing gown provided and went out on to the veranda. In the dawn light the sky was a pale grey-blue and, after the rustlings of the night before, all the creatures and even the wind seemed in deep sleep. It was as quiet as a library.

Beyond the hotel room stretched a wide beach which was covered at first with coconut trees and then sloped unhindered towards the sea. I climbed over the veranda’s low railings and walked across the sand. Nature was at her most benevolent. It was as if, in creating this small horseshoe bay, she had chosen to atone for her ill-temper in other regions and decided to display only her munificence. The trees provided shade and milk, the floor of the sea was lined with shells, the sand was powdery and the colour of sun- ripened wheat, and the air – even in the shade – had an enveloping, profound warmth to it so unlike the fragility of northern European heat, always prone to cede, even in midsummer, to a more assertive, proprietary chill.

I found a deck chair at the edge of the sea. I could hear small lapping sounds beside me, as if a kindly monster was taking discreet sips of water from a large goblet. A few birds were waking up and beginning to career through the air in maximal excitement.

Behind me, the raffia roofs of the hotel bungalows were visible through gaps in the trees. Before me was a view that I recognised from the brochure: the beach stretched away in a gentle curve towards the tip of the bay, behind it were jungle-covered hills and the first row of coconut trees inclined irregularly towards the turquoise sea, as though some of them were craning their necks to catch a better angle of the sun. Yet this description only imperfectly reflects what occurred within me that morning, for my attention was in truth far more fractured and confused than the foregoing paragraphs suggest.

I may have noticed a few birds careering through the air in excitement, but my awareness of them was weakened by a number of other, incongruous and unrelated elements, among these, a sore throat that I had developed during the flight, a worry at not having informed a colleague that I would be away, a pressure across both temples and a rising need to visit the bathroom. A momentous but until then overlooked fact was making its first appearance: that I had inadvertently brought myself with me to the island. It is easy to forget ourselves when we contemplate pictorial and verbal descriptions of places. At home, as my eyes had panned over photographs of Barbados, there were no reminders that those eyes were intimately tied to a body and mind which would travel with me wherever I went and that might, over time, assert their presence in ways which would threaten or even negate the purpose of what the eyes had come there to see. At home, I would concentrate on pictures of a hotel room, a beach or a sky and ignore the complex creature in which this observation was taking place and for whom this was only a small part of a larger, more multi-faceted task of living.

1. Find the dictionary definitions for the following words: Benevolent Munificence Profound Cede 2. What type of trees are on the edge of the jungle? (1)

3. What reasons does the writer give for his lack of interest in the bird? (2)

4. How does the writer persuade us that travelling is thrilling? (10) You should comment on: - What is said; - How it is said.

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Elizabeth Day has been sent to report on the 2005 Glastonbury Festival for a Sunday newspaper. Source B: Are we having fun yet? by Elizabeth Day (2005)

Anton is standing knee-deep in tea-coloured water. He is covered in a slippery layer of dark brown mud, like a gleaming otter emerging from a river-bed. The occasional empty bottle of Somerset cider wafts past his legs, carried away by the current. "I mean," he says, with a broad smile and a strange, staring look in his dilated eyes, "where else but Glastonbury would you find all this?" He sweeps his arm in a grandiose arc, encompassing a scene of near-total devastation. In one field, a series of tents has lost its moorings in a recent thunderstorm and is floating down the hillside. The tents are being chased by a group of shivering, half-naked people who look like the survivors of a terrible natural disaster. When I was told that The Sunday Telegraph was sending me to experience Glastonbury for the first time, my initial reaction was one of undiluted horror. Still, I thought, at least the weather was good. England was in the grip of a heat wave. But then the rains came: six hours of uninterrupted thunderstorm in the early hours of Friday morning. When I arrived later that day, there was a polite drizzle. By yesterday, the rain had given way to an overcast sky, the colour of exhaled cigarette smoke. The mud, however, remained, and the only way to get around the 900-acre site was - like Anton - to resign oneself to getting very dirty indeed.

Everything else might have been damp, but the crowd remained impressively good-humoured throughout. "It's a very safe, family-friendly atmosphere," says Ed Thaw, a music student from London. “This is my sixth time at Glastonbury and I've never had any trouble." Indeed, on my train to Castle Cary, the carriages are crammed with well-spoken degree students sipping Pimms2 and making polite chit- chat. The acts for 2005 included Coldplay, Elvis Costello and the American rock band The Killers, who brought a touch of salubriousness to the proceedings by performing in tuxedo3 jackets and glitter. But Glastonbury has still managed to preserve a healthy degree of wackiness. In the Lost Vagueness area, a 1950s-style diner comes complete with fancy-dress rock 'n' roll dancers and a constant stream of Elvis songs. The Chapel of Love and Loathing has a disc jockey booth disguised as a church organ. Apparently, couples can get married here. Outside, a man wearing a huge pink Afro-wig4 is twirling round and round in bare feet. "What happened to your shoes?" I ask. "They got washed away with my tent," he says, cheerily.

Bizarrely, everyone seems to be having a brilliant time and there are broad grins wherever I look. In fact, it's almost nice, this Glastonbury thing.

1. Find the dictionary definitions for the following words: Dilated Grandiose Undiluted Salubriousness 2. What animal does Anton resemble? (1)

3. How does the weather change in paragraph one? (2)

4. How does the writer describe the acts in 2005 that give an air of ‘wackiness’? (10) You should comment on: - What is said; - How it is said.

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Emma Watson was encouraged not to use the word 'feminism' during UN 'HeForShe' speech 'If women are terrified to use the word, how on earth are men supposed to start using it?' Emma Watson has revealed she was advised not to use the word ‘feminism’ during her ground- breaking ‘HeForShe’ speech at the United Nations. The Regression actress claimed people recommended she steer clear of the word when writing what is now considered to be one of the most feminist speeches in recent years. “I was encouraged not to use the word ‘feminism’ because people felt that it was alienating and separating and the whole idea of the speech was to include as many people as possible," she told Porter Magazine. However, this advice fell on deaf ears and Watson said the words ‘feminism’ and ‘feminist’ six times during her 12-minute speech calling on men and boys to join the fight for gender equality. A large portion of her speech focused on the use of the word feminism and questioned why it has become an “unpopular” and “uncomfortable” one. The actress said: “I thought long and hard and ultimately felt that it was just the right thing to do. If women are terrified to use the word, how on earth are men supposed to start using it?” Watson’s speech at the UN headquarters in New York has been viewed almost over 1.5 million times on Youtube. During the speech, she called on men to champion women’s issues and also highlighted the problems they can develop because of the pressures to be stereotypically masculine.

Watson, who was appointed a UN goodwill ambassador for women in 2014, campaigns for women's issues around the world. Earlier this year she interviewed campaigner Malala Yousafzai, who said she only started identifying as a feminist after watching the 25-year-old's speech. “Because so many women design and make the clothes we wear, it’s primarily the working conditions of women that are affected by the decisions we make, so fashion is a feminist issue.”

1. Find the dictionary definitions for the following words: Feminism Steer Alienating Ultimately 2. Which word did Watson state women were afraid to use? (1)

3. What reasons does the writer suggest Watson was given not to use the word ‘feminism’ within her speech? (2)

4. How does the writer present opinions about feminism in this article? (10) You should comment on: - What is said; - How it is said.

………………………………………………………………………………………... SOUTHWARK NEWS, 7/5/15 AMELIA BURR

PECKHAM BOYS GANG CONVERT TELLS OF KILLINGS, ROBBERIES AND DOING TIME

New book reveals all about the story of a young footballer's career lost to gang crime

Robert Kasanga was about to take his first step out of gang life and into a football career as he prepared to go on the pitch to play for Ashford Town’s first team. Then his phone rang and he was told his friend and fellow Peckham Boys gang member had been stabbed and lay fighting for his life in hospital. The next week would see an innocent schoolboy gunned down in his bed and Robert arrested for his murder as his life spiralled out of control. At the height of a gang-led crime spree in Peckham in 2007, fifteen-year-old Michael Dosunmu was murdered in a tragic case of mistaken identity. After carrying out a spate of security van robberies, the Peckham Boys had started turning on each other as they scrambled to get their fair share of the proceeds. Twenty-one-year-old Javarie Crighton was stabbed to death in a row over the money on February 3 2007 and days later two ‘soldiers’ went to take their revenge. As Orando Madden had already confessed to the Crighton murder, they targeted his friend, Hakeem Dosunmu. They got the wrong bedroom and his younger brother, who was not involved in gang life in any way, was shot several times with a Mac-10 sub-machine gun while he slept.

The next day aspiring footballer Robert, who was 20-years-old at the time, got a call which turned his world upside down – saying someone had named him as the prime suspect. Robert had been involved in the robberies and was good friends with Crighton so he had motive enough and before long he was arrested and taken into Walworth police station for questioning. “When I found out Javarie had been murdered…. I broke down in tears and all the lads from the first team were consoling me in the dressing room. “I thought to myself this is a dangerous situation and then a couple of days later Michael got killed and I was arrested – everything was spiralling.” With his involvement in the robberies hanging over him, Robert was in deep trouble but he had a strong alibi and was ultimately cleared of being involved in the murder.

A month later he did another cash in transit robbery which led to his first stint in prison. Robert spent nearly eight years inside in the end for different robberies but says he put his time to good use, writing a fictionalised account of his gang life, getting a degree and warning other inmates against being in a gang. “While I was in prison I met so many talented kids – just wasted. When you’re good at something stick to it otherwise in the end you’re going to end up dead or in prison,” said Robert, now 28-years-old. “I should’ve been a footballer so of course I regret it. I wasted my life but at least now I’m trying to make the most of my situation.” Robert says there weren’t many choices growing up in Peckham where young people turned to a life of gang crime in their droves. He said:“In that sort of area, everyone wants a name. If you haven’t got a name you’re a nobody. My brother had a name so I followed in his footsteps. I used to look up to him and I wanted to be in with the cool kids. “I say in the book – all the time I was thinking ‘you should be doing something good’ – but the lure of money and the fast life was too strong.” ‘The life I live not the life I chose’ – is now available in two parts from Amazon for just under £10.

1. Find the dictionary definitions for the following words:

Spiralled, Spate, Aspiring,

2. When was 15-year-old Michael Dosunmu murdered? (1)

3. Why was Robert a prime suspect for the murder? (2)

4. What does Robert say about growing up in Peckham? (10)

You should comment on:

- What is said;

- How it is said.

………………………………………………………………………………………... Taken from the Daily Mail Online, February 10th, 2014 Nuisance beggar caught with £800 in his pocket for just three days scrounging....and police say he's not even homeless!

A beggar that police believe isn't even homeless has boasted of raising £800 in just three days. The unidentified man was found to be carrying the substantial sum of money when officers arrested him in Nottingham city centre on an unrelated matter on February 4th, but they were forced to let him keep the cash when they could find no evidence to prove he had obtained it illegally.

Nottinghamshire Police now fears the man could be one of 10 'hardcore' beggars operating in the city, none of who are thought to be genuinely homeless or in need of help. Police officers originally arrested the unidentified man last week after he failed to turn up at Lincolnshire Court on an unrelated matter. Upon searching him they discovered a haul of £800 in notes and coins in his pockets. Police said that although the man is well known as a prolific beggar, they were forced to hand the money back to him as he had been arrested for something else and it could not be proven that he had broken any law in obtaining it. The man was later released without charge.

A police spokeswoman told Mail Online: 'As far as we know the man isn't actually homeless. He is just sitting shivering and people feel sorry for him. If he doesn't actually ask for money, he hasn't broken the law.'

She added: 'People will just feel sorry for him and say 'here's a tenner mate'. That's what we believe to be happening. The money may have been taken away for safe-keeping after his arrest but it will definitely be handed back to him, if it hasn't been already,' she went on to say. Officers say the large sum of money suggests the man may be one of a group of all-British 'hardcore' beggars they fear are operating in the city. Speaking to the Nottingham Post, Chief Inspector Shaun Ostle of Nottinghamshire Police said: 'This shows they are basically conning people. He said it was three days' work. Finding that amount of money on someone like that doesn't surprise us any more – which is perhaps the more worrying thing, really'. Mr Ostle says he believes some of the group have been posing as Big Issue sellers in the city, adding: 'They have been stopped before with similar amounts on them. It just shows that when some of these people ask for money it is just a scam. People need to understand they are being conned.' He went on to say: 'These people have more than enough so that they don't needA3 a) toHow go much on begging. money has the beggar raised in three days? (1)

The news comes just months after another man boasted to police of making £700 a week while begging in Nottinghamb) How do police city centre.believe the He individual is said to has have obtained used a the taxi money? to travel (2) between begging hotspots and was given so much food by members of the public that he had to throw vast quantities of it away. The Nottinghamshire Police spokeswoman said: 'The message here really is not to give to people on the street. A4 What do you think and feel about the writer’s views towards the homeless? (10) ThereYou should are plenty comment of options on: available to people, through charities and hostels. If you give to people on the street you really- haveWhat no isidea said; who that money is going to,' she added. - How it is said.

1. Find the definitions of the following words: Nuisance Substantial Prolific Boasted 2. How much money has the beggar raised in three days? (1)

3. How do police believe the individual has obtained the money? (2)

4. ‘The writer builds up the shocking reality of fake homelessness extremely well.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement? (10) You should comment on: - What is said; - How it is said.