Unit 20                                                  Life Is Beautiful!

Lessons 1-2

A. Listen and read.

It's a beautiful spring day. Maria gets up early. She feels happy. She knows that it's a nice day because she

 puts her hand on the glass of the window. It is very warm. She opens the window and the singing of the birds fills the room. She can smell the flowers outside her home. They smell 

sweet and fresh. After Maria gets dressed and has her breakfast, she puts her books in her bag. She is ready for school.

Maria is a lot like any other students in her neighborhood. She goes to school and likes to be with her friends. But Maria cannot see the beautiful spring day. She cannot see the flowers, the blue sky, or the singing birds. She cannot see the new green leaves on the tress. She can

opt see these

 because she is visually impaired. She has been unable to see since she was born.

Lessons 3-4

But Maria is happy. She goes to school everyday. She can learn the information because she reads Braille. Braille is a script that uses raised dots. Each letter is made from dots. People move their fingers across the raised dots to read. Maria learned to read Braille as a young child. Her books at school are in Braille. She enjoys reading poems and history. Maria's teacher says that she is a good learner.

B. Read the story again. Choose the best answer.

1 Maria cannot see because... 

  a. it is dark.                        b. she is visually impaired.

  c. she doesn't feel well.

2 Maria knows it is a warm day because...

a. the birds are singing.             b. her friends tell her.

c. she feels the glass of the window.

3 At school, Maria learns a lot of information by...

a. reading books in Braille script.        b. having her friends read to her.

c. listening to the teacher read.

4 If she goes to university, Maria will probably study...

a. history.                      b. math’s.

c. science

Lessons 5-6

C. Listen and read.

Maria hopes to go to university one day. Her teachers think that she can. Maria wants to set up a school of her own so that she c

an teach visually impaired children. Before this, Maria wants to be a writer. She wants to write a book about her feelings and experiences. She wants to show other impaired people that they can do amazing things in their lives! Google

D. Read the story again. Answer the questions. 

1 Why does Maria want to set up a school?

2 What kind of book does Maria want to write?

3 Why does she want to write this book?

E. Pairwork. Talk about Maria's goals for the future. How do you 

    think she will help people?

Lessons 7-8

F. Read the job descriptions. Complete the sentences with a 

    word from the box.

1 A                                works in a school. Children learn how to 

  read and write from this person.

2 A                               studies computer science and

  can fix computers.

3 A                                them to become healthy. looks after ill

  people and helps

4 A                               around the world.

5 A                               fly’s planes. He or she travels

  grows crops, such as rice. We get our food from 

  this person. 

6 A                                buys and sells things in Bangladesh

   or in other countries.

G. Pairwork. Talk about the jobs in Activity F. Which 

    job would you like to do? Why?

A: I would like to be a pilot. I would like to visit other countries. 

B: I would like to be a teacher. I would like to work with children.

H. Write three sentences about what you would like to do in

    the future. Use the information from Activity F.

  Example: I would like to be a doctor. I would like to 

                    help sick children. I would like to help them 

                    to become healthy.