TEEN®

Your English Monthly

Report

SMILESTHE ART OF

Tom Cruise

for

UPPER INTERMEDIATE

2-2010/2011

2

Glossary p. 2 - 3 combine: mix togetherearplugs: pieces of soft plastic or rubber you put inyour ears to reduce noise

grand: big or impressive in sizeloo: (informal, polite) toiletvirtual: not real, simulated

La Smala

© D

arga

ud

A Different Point of View

Mum and

Dad?

Don’t worry, theyre asleep and arewearing their earplugs*.

They won’t hear a thing.

What if Dad has to go to

the loo* in themiddle of the

night?

No problem. I have put a ‘virtual’* trip to the bathroom on the inside of his glasses.

Whoops!

I’m thirsty

I never realised how big this flat is!

Oh, he mustbe in thebathroom.

Where’s Dad?

THE NEXTDAY...

BOOM BOOM

BOOM BOOM BOOM

WOOOOSHHHBOOM

BEEEP

BOOM BOOMBOOM BOOM

BOOMBOOM BOOM BOOM

BOOM

FIIIIIII BEEEP

BOOM BOOM BOOM

BOOM

French photographer, Jean-François Rauzier, hasbecome famous for developing a new type ofphotograph called a ‘hyperphoto’. Thesehyperphotos combine* art, photography andthe latest technology in a completely new way.Rauzier’s works are collages made up ofhundreds of high-resolution photos whichtogether form disturbing versions of familiarobjects, like buildings, city squares and people.

3�round the World

Culture and Society

The Truth aboutSherlock Holmes

Report

The Art of Smiles

British Decades

The 80s – Who ShotJ.R.?

Thinking Green

S.O.F. = Save OurForests

TEEN Quiz

Superfit orSuperslob?

Playstation

TEEN People

Taylor Swift

WelcomeDear Readers, this time welook at the science and the artof smiles, find out the truthabout the world’s greatestdetective, take a trip back tothe 80s, and, in theInternational Year of theForest, we find out how wecan save our forests. Also,take our light-hearted quizand you may discover hiddensecrets about yourself!Have fun and learn loads,

Liz

In this issue look out for:

• when and if with present tense• forms of -ing and the infinitive• future tense - ‘going to’ to express intention• past continuous• nouns from verbs• future in the past• relative pronouns

info@elimagazines.com

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6

8

10

12

14

16

Contents

Answer on page 14

Hyperphotos

www.rauzier-hyperphoto.com

PHOTOSTAKENWITHTHEPOLAROIDCAMERAHAVEARANGEOFMAGICALCOLOURS.POLAROIDISANEXTRAORDINARYTECHNOLOGYBECAUSEICANGETCOLOURSFROMITTHATICAN’TGETWITHANYOTHERCAMERA

Mirror

Italian artist Maurizio Galimberti is an “instant artist”. He is one ofItaly’s most influential contemporary photographers and he usesPolaroid technology. Use a mirror to find out what he says makesPolaroid photos so special!

The photos end up looking likegigantic jigsaw puzzles. Citadelle

2, which measures 180cm x300cm and is made up of 1,500individual images, shows the firstfloor of a grand* Parisian house.You can click on the photo tozoom in and navigate your wayround this strange home.

........................................................................................................

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Coverphoto: © Getty Images

This is ‘Grammy’ - hewill tell you which partsof English grammar tolook out for.

TEEN: Common EuropeanFramework - IntermediateAdvanced (B2-C1)

Audio CD Teacher’s Notes

Culture and Society4

Sherlock is Born and Dies (Probably)Conan Doyle’s first story showing Holmes solving* his firstmurder was A Study in Scarlet (1887). Conan Doyle said thatthe initial inspiration for the character came from a doctor heworked for in Edinburgh, called Dr Joseph Bell, who used hisknowledge of medicine to help with police investigations.Holmes is helped by his good friend, Dr John Watson, who actsas a look out, decoy* and messenger. He is also Holmes’biographer.

ques

tions

;sup

erla

tives

Sherlock Holmes was ‘killed’ in 1893 in The Final Problem,when he and the evil Professor Moriarty fell over theReichenbach Falls in Switzerland, but under intensepressure from his fans, Conan Doyle brought him back tolife for some final stories. It just proves that without abody, there isn’t a murder!Conan Doyle wrote 56 short stories and 4 novels about hisheroic detective.

Forensic Science*Sherlock Holmes is a great forensic scientist. His attentionto the tiniest detail from a crime scene, often using amagnifying glass to look at traces of tobacco ash* or hair,or by careful observation of his clients, how they dress,talk and walk and so on, gives him strong clues aboutwhat happened. He uses shoe prints and marks made bycar tyres, as well as looking at fingerprints andhandwriting. Holmes criticises the way a crime scene hasbeen contaminated* by other people, especially by thepolice. While we understand the importance of thesethings today, at the time Conan Doyle was writing, thepolice were not using these techniques. Perhaps SherlockHolmes was the inspiration for modern forensic science?

Sherlock Holmes is the original, and stillour greatest, fictional detective over 120years after he was created by Scottishwriter and doctor, Sir Arthur ConanDoyle. Holmes is known for hisfrightening intelligence and his use oflogic to solve the most complicated ofmysteries. We investigate the origins ofthe great man, and separate fact fromfiction in... The Truth About SherlockHolmes.

The Truth AboutSherlock Holmes

Glossary

ash: black or grey powder produced after burning somethingcapital: (old fashioned) seriouscontaminated: not pure, eg police leaving their own fingerprints on objectsdecoy: (here) person who takes the attention of someone away from somethingdeerstalker: type of hat made from wool, with flaps to cover the earsforensic science: use of science in legal mattersinsensibly: (old fashioned) without realising it, unconsciouslysolving: find the solution to, find the truth about

5

221b Baker StreetThe most famous address in London...or is it? In A Study inScarlet, Holmes and Watson move to a flat, consisting oftwo bedrooms and Holmes’ famous study, at 221b BakerStreet in central London. However, in Conan Doyle’s time,the house numbers in Baker Street only went up to 100! In1932 a large building, owned by a bank, was given theaddress 215 to 229 Baker Street. From that time, hundredsof thousands of fans wrote to Sherlock Holmes at thisaddress. In fact the bank received so many letters that theyemployed a full-time ‘Secretary to Sherlock Holmes’ toanswer them. In 1990, the Sherlock Holmes museum, a littlefurther up Baker Street, was allowed to use the 221baddress for the first time.

The Deerstalker*Holmes’ famous hat is a style worn in the countryside,often for hunting - it keeps your ears warm! - but Holmes’hat is never described in Conan Doyle’s stories. The idea forthe Deerstalker came from the original book illustrations.Robert Downey Jr, who played Sherlock Holmes in therecent Hollywood blockbuster, did not wear a deerstalkerbecause it is a hat worn in the country and not in the town.

Read the following famous quotesfrom some of the Sherlock Holmesstories, then answer thequestions below.

“I never guess. It is a shocking habit — destructive to thelogical faculty.”

“How often have I said to you that when you haveeliminated the impossible, whatever remains, howeverimprobable, must be the truth?”

“It is a capital* mistake to theorise before one has data.Insensibly*, one begins to twist facts to suit theories,instead of theories to suit facts.”

“Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talentinstantly recognises genius.”

What do these quotes tell you aboutthe character of Sherlock Holmes?

.............................................................................................

What do they tell you about how MrHolmes sees the job of the detective?Do you agree with him?

.............................................................................................

...is often thought to be Sherlock Holmes’ mostfamous quote, but did he ever say this phrase?Holmes often remarked that his logicalconclusions were “elementary”, because for himthey were simple and obvious. However, thephrase “Elementary, my dear Watson” does notappear in any of the 60 Holmes stories!

Want to find out more? www.sherlock-holmes.orgis an international site dedicated to SherlockHolmes and Dr Watson. It has a big list of webresources about Conan Doyle’s famous detective.At www.literature.org and www.gutenberg.org,you can download and read some of the bestSherlock Holmes stories for free.

Elementary, my dear Watson...

Report

Smile TherapyScientists say that smiling is good for your health. In tests,they have discovered that when you smile your heartrate* goes down, your muscles relax and your brainworks better! Smiling also reduces pain and strengthensthe immune system*. If a mother smiles, her breast milk*is sweeter, and babies have been shown to smile evenwhile they are still in the womb. Some psychologistseven go so far as to recommend ‘smile therapy’ as agentle way of helping their patients. Smiling helps us getalong with* each other, and makes us feel good. Smilingis the key that opens the door to a better life!

The Truth Behind SmilesAccording to recent research, the best smiles are the

whe

n an

d if

with

pre

sent

tens

e;fo

rms

of -i

ng a

nd th

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finiti

ve

SMILESSmiling is good for you, it makesyou happy and helps you get onbetter with people around you.Smiling is quite simply the bestmedicine – and it’s free. We take alook at some surprising facts aboutsmiling and discover the meaningof smiles around the world.

6

most natural ones. If you look carefully you can often tell if a smile is genuineor not by seeing how quickly it appears on someone’s face. If the smileappears in less than half a second, it is probably genuine. People often smilewith their eyes as well as their mouth, in fact a genuine smile usually lights upthe whole face, with the widest smiles going all the way up to the cheeks. Didyou know that women tend to smile more often than men and they are alsobetter at working out if a smile is genuine or not?

A Brief History of SmilesSmiling is universal. All humans do it to communicate with each other, butsmiling is slightly different in different countries around the world and smilingcustoms* change through time. Although the Americans and the British sharethe same language, they tend to smile in different ways. In general, theAmericans smile showing their teeth while the British tend to keep theirmouths more closed. No one really knows why this is, but it may well havesomething to do with British reserve and, in common with many countries inthe East, such as Japan, a sense that showing all your teeth is not polite.Has a photographer ever asked you to smile for a picture? Each language usesa different word to make people smile for a photo. In Britain and Italy thatword is cheese because to say it you have to open your mouth into a smile, inSpain they say patata, in Australia it’s money and the Japanese say whisky.

A Smile is Not Just a Smile...The Mona Lisa is famous for her enigmatic* smile. But one Italian scientist hasrecently suggested that the expression on the Mona Lisa’s face reveals she hadvery high cholesterol levels with areas of subcutaneous fat in evidence! For

THE ART OFJulia Roberts

Glossary

breast milk: milk producednaturally by motherscarve: make shapes in woodetc., using a sharp tool eg knifecustoms: traditions

7

“The true meaning of karate is the ability tosmile on any and every occasion, even whentimes are difficult. If you can’t smile, youcan’t fight, but if you are smiling, do youneed to fight?” These are the words of afamous martial arts master.

Do you agree with this quote?

................................................................................................................

Can you usually work out if a smile is genuineor not?

................................................................................................................

Do you try to smile even when things aredifficult for you?

................................................................................................................

Did you know that if you laugh for 15 minutes every day youcould lose two kilos a year?

The world’s first toothbrush was invented on the OkinawaPeninsula, Japan, in around 300 AD

Smile is the title of a number of famous songs. The mostfamous of these comes from the Charlie Chaplin film, ModernTimes (1936), and it has been performed by many differentsingers since then, including Michael Jackson.

some Hollywood stars their smile really has been theirfortune. Julia Roberts shot* to international stardom forhers in Pretty Woman, the same happened to Tom Cruise.Having a good smile isn’t always cheap. If you look onlineyou can see ‘before and after’ shots of celebrity teeth –some of them must have given a lot of money to theirdentists! Recent research suggests that European explorerscoming across native art for the first time may havemisinterpreted what it meant. In the Caribbean, some 500years ago, the native people used to carve* faces showingbare teeth. When the Europeans first saw these theyimmediately saw them as grinning* devils and this mighthave influenced the way they saw the native peoplethemselves. Today, some anthropologists are asking if thosecarvings were not simply smiling...

The Enlightened SmileIn India the smile is seen as a symbol of inner peace and joy.Indian people believe that smiling strengthens your immunesystem (a fact which has recently been supported byscientific research in the West). There is even a popular formof yoga based around stimulating laughter and smilingcalled Hasyayoga.The smile is central to the character of the Buddha, in factthe Sutras, which are the teachings of the Buddha, often sayhe would smile before answering a question. He is oftenshown with a calm, soft, confident smile – the manifestationof inner peace and wisdom.

It’s a Smiley WorldThe simple smiling face on the yellow background, knownas Smiley, was the invention of American commercial artistHarvey Ball, around 1963. Smiley started life simply as anadvertising logo, but it has more recently become anintegral part of text messages on mobile phones and on theInternet. It has developed into a whole series of simple faceswhich express different emotions, known as emoticons. TheSmiley is the symbol of World Smile Day (another of HarveyBall’s great ideas) held on the 1st Friday of October eachyear to raise money for children’s charities and...to remindpeople to smile all day for at least one day in the year.

Tom Cruise

enigmatic: mysteriousget along with: be friendly withgrinning: big smile, showing teethheart rate: the speed at which your heart beatsimmune system: your body’s protection againstdisease and illnessshot: (figurative) move as fast as a bullet from a gun

WhO shOt the

The Eighties in the UK started with

high unemployment and industrial

unrest*, but by the middle of the

decade the so-called* ‘economic

miracle’, mainly in the financial

services sector, led to enormous

wealth for some. These young,

wealthy materialists became

known as yuppies*. Punk got

killed off by an increasingly

commercial music industry, and

there was a woman in charge*...

British Decades8

80s

J.R.?Margaret ThatcherPolitically, the Eighties was Margaret Thatcher’sdecade. Britain’s only female Prime Minister todate, Thatcher inspired adoration and hatred inequal measure with the British public. She wasdetermined to change the way the Britisheconomy worked. In the process she fought theTrade Unions, especially the miners, and movedfrom state ownership* of industries, such aselectricity and the railways, to full privatisation.One of the Iron Lady*’s most memorable quotestells us something of her character. “I amextraordinarily patient, provided I get my ownway in the end.” Whatever history says aboutMargaret Thatcher, under her leadership,Britain was a very different country by the endof the 80s.

Glossary

Brits: (informal) nickname forBritish peoplecattle ranching: farming cattleover wide areas of grasslandin charge: in powerinfuriating: extremelyannoyingIron Lady: nickname given toMargaret Thatcher by SovietRussia

99

Answers on page 14

1980s Film Trivia Quiz

Anything seemed possible in the 80s.Time travel was big, but so were ghosts,aliens, and mysterious, ancient legends.What films are we talking about...?

1. •• “The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a timemachine into a car, why not do it with somestyle?” Which 80s hit had a time-travelling car?

2. •• In which 80s film did two time-travellinghistory students meet Napoleon and SigmundFreud?

3. •• Who wanted to “phone home”? 4. •• “Who you gonna call?” to get rid of those

ghosts? 5. •• Who was the coolest, hat-wearing

archaeologist of the 80s? 6. •• In which film did something terrible happen to

the kids?

ownership: possession, the stateof being an ownerso-called: name given tosomething; it often means that thespeaker or writer thinks the namehas been given incorrectlytabloid press: less ‘serious’,more gossipy newspapersunrest: opposite of calmyuppies: (word made from: youngand upwardly mobile) negativenickname given to ambitious,highly paid young people

Did you know...?The newly elected leader ofthe Labour Party, Ed Miliband,was a Dallas fan when he wasa kid and he amazed visitorsto his childhood home bysolving the Rubik’s cube inunder two minutes!

DallasBut that’s enough ofthe serious stuff. In1980, the mostimportant event inthe history of theplanet had happened,we weren’t interestedin politics! What we

really wanted to know was‘Who shot J.R.?’!

Dallas was an incredibly popular soapopera based on the fictitious Ewing family from

Texas. The Ewings’ wealth came from oil and cattleranching*, the popularity of the show came from the villain

J.R. Ewing, played by Larry Hagman. When J.R. was shot by one ofhis many enemies at the end of Series 1 in March 1980, the UK,along with the rest of the world, went Dallas mad. The tabloidpress* talked of almost nothing else all summer. The episode ofDallas which was shown later in the year, when we found out whoreally had shot J.R., is still one of the most watched TV shows of alltime!

The British Film RenaissanceWhile British TV was still dominated by American shows likeDallas, something rather interesting was quietly going on in the

British film industry – theywere making some greatfilms and what’s more, theywere beginning to win bigprizes.Winning four Oscars in1981, including Best Pictureand Best OriginalScreenplay, Chariots of Firewas the fact-based story oftwo British athletes runningin the 1924 Olympics. Oneof the athletes, devoutChristian Eric Liddell, ‘ranfor God’, the other, Harold

Abrahams, a British Jew, ran to fight prejudice.This critical success led to growing confidence in British films andthere were more Oscar -winning epic films from the Brits* –Gandhi (1982), A Passage to India (1984) and A Room with a View(1986). Other great films asked questions about attitudes in Britishsociety – My Beautiful Launderette (1985) which questionedattitudes to race, My Left Foot (1989) told the story of disabledIrish artist-writer, Christy Brown, and Distant Voices, Still Lives(1989) was about working class life in 40s and 50s Britain.

Mr Rubik and His CubeThe Rubik’s Cube, invented in 1974 by Hungarian Erno Rubik, wasthe toy phenomenon of the 1980s. The toy was originallydeveloped as a way of teaching Rubik’s students about 3D models.35 years later, 350 million of the infuriating* puzzles have beensold. If you find the original 3x3x3 cube too easy (the currentworld record stands at just over 7 seconds), then you can move onto the new 4x4x4 and 5x5x5 cubes!

Nouns from Verbs

Can you make the correct nounsfrom the following verbs? Use thearticle on the 80s to help you.

adore ............................................................

hate ............................................................

lead ............................................................

own ............................................................

privatise ............................................................

past

con

tinuo

us;n

ouns

from

ver

bs

SaveOur Forests

Culture and Society12

1. How well do you look after

yourself?

a. I am too young to need to

worry about that sort of thing.

b. I take good care of myself.

c. I am going to start looking after

myself next week, I am too busy

right now.

d. Next question, please.

2. You are in a supermarket

choosing your lunch, do

you...?

a. choose your favourite sandwich

(salami, chicken and ham with

lots of mayonnaise) from the

fridge next to the salads.

b. buy a nice, fresh, organic salad.form

s of

the

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c. buy a burger from the shop

next door, I’ll have salad tomorrow.

d. Salad! What’s that?

3. You are thirsty. What do you

drink?

a. Whatever I feel like, it will make no

difference to me.

b. One litre of spring water, slowly.

c. A diet drink.

d. A high-caffeine, high-sugar drink,

I need the energy.

4. How much exercise do you do a

week?

a. I’m pretty fit, so I don’t need to do

any exercise.

b. On Mondays I go to yoga class, on

Tuesdays I go to the swimming pool,

on Wednesdays I go to the gym, on

Thursdays I ...

c. I am going to join my local

gym soon.

d. Computer games are great exercise

for your thumbs!

5. What is your ideal holiday?

a. I don’t mind, I just want to have fun

with my friends.

d. Mountain climbing in the Himalayas.

c. I lie on the beach and watch other

people swimming, windsurfing, sailing...

d. Doing as little as possible, I need a rest.

How well do you

know yourself? Take

this humorous TEEN

Quiz and discover

your true attitude to

life and health!

TEEN Quiz: Superfit

or Superslob*...?

Superfit orTEEN Quiz.

Glossary

easy come, easy go: (idiom) phrase meaning a relaxedattitude to life, not letting anything worry youlycra: artificial fabric, often used to make close-fitting sportsclothesslob: (informal, often impolite!) a lazy person, who is untidyand unclean

13

6. How do you get to school in the

mornings?

a. I don’t know, I wake up when

I get there.

b. I jog or walk.

c. I would walk, but I am always late.

d. Car, taxi, helicopter, teleport.

7. When you look at yourself in the

mirror, what do you think?

a. Hey, I look pretty good!

b. I am a perfect example of the

human race.

c. It’s very unhealthy to be too thin.

d. I don’t look at myself in the mirror.

8. What sort of clothes do you

wear?

a. I look good in everything I wear.

b. Stretch lycra*.

c. I wear clothes I feel comfortable in.

d. Whatever is lying on the floor when I

wake up in the morning.

9. Which of the following phrases

best describes your attitude to

life?

a. Life is cool.

b. Life is an exciting challenge.

c. I’ve got lots of dreams.

d. Easy come, easy go*!

Now add up your score...

a = 3 points

b = 2 points

c = 1 point

d = 0 points

Score 0-5: You are a

superslob, but

that’s great

because you

don’t care!

Score 6-10:You are full of

good intentions,

but try and make

at least some of

them happen!

Score 11- 15:You are superfit,

just make sure

you leave some

time to relax and

enjoy life.

Score 16 +:You are young

now, but one day

you will wake up

and you will be

old!

Superslob*...?

Playstation14

Have you read our report onsmiles? Use the clues below tocomplete the crossword!

Answers below

Sherlock Holmes,fact or fiction?

1. Tom Cruise is one, so is Julia Roberts.

2. Laughing will help you lose two of

these every year!

3. Smiling is good for your

......................................... .

4. In October we celebrate World

......................................... .

5. The Mona Lisa’s smile...

6. Who smile more than men?

7. Cure yourself gently with smile

......................................... .

8. Smiling is the best

......................................... .

Crossword

Smile!

Have you read our article on SherlockHolmes? Use what you found out abouthim to answer the questions below.

1. Sherlock Holmes worked with his friend Dr Joseph Bell to solve terrible crimes.

2. Sherlock Holmes lived in a house with his wife and children.

3. Sherlock Holmes’ first case was called The Woman in Black.

4. Sherlock Holmes’ greatest enemy was Professor Moriarty.

5. There are many ‘facts’ about Sherlock Holmes that aren’t true.

6. Sherlock Holmes was the first detective to use the techniques of forensic science.

T

••••••••••••

F

••••••••••••

1.

3.

2.

4.

5.

6.

7. 8.

Answers:P.3 “Photos taken with the Polaroid camera have a range of magical colours.Polaroid is an extraordinary technology becuase I can get colours from it that I can’t get with any othercamera.”P.8-9 Nouns from Verbs:adoration;hatred;leader;ownership (owneris also acceptable);privatisation;80s Film Trivia:1.Back to the Future;2.Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure;3.ET;4.Ghostbusters;5.Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford);6.Honey,I Shrunk the Kids.P.10-11True or false:1T,2T,3F,4T,5T,6F,7T.P.14 Crossword:1.celebrity,2.kilos,3.health,4.SmileDay,5.enigmatic,6.women,7.therapy,8.medicine.Sherlock Holmes:1.F,2.F,3.F,4.T,5.T,6.T.

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What does music mean to you?“Music has always been a part of my life. I moved to Nashville when I was13 and started trying to get a recording deal*. When I signed to Sony, Iwas the youngest singer-songwriter they had ever had.Music is an important part of every day for me because it is my way ofexpressing my emotions. We don’t always understand exactly how we arefeeling, but then maybe you hear a song that seems to express how youfeel and it becomes your favourite song. That is what makes music sospecial and why it is such an honour to be able to write songs that mightone day become someone’s favourite song. I hope that my music can reachout* to people wherever and whoever they are.”

Who inspired your musical career?“My grandmother, who was a professional opera singer, and countrysingers Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes. One of my biggest musical influenceshas been Shania Twain, and I love Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton. I havealways loved Country music. The first record I bought when I was 6 was analbum by LeAnn Rimes.”

What do you love doing when you are not playingor singing?“I love cooking and writing to my friends and fans. I love clothes andcowboy boots, bracelets and black-and-white photos, which I find reallypowerful. My favourite kind of people are funny, honest, kind and notafraid of showing their emotions. And I love little kids. But I have tohonest, my guitar is my best friend, because I can tell it about everythingthat happens to me.”

What the papers say...The New York Times has described Taylor as “one of the best singer-

songwriters in pop music and one of our most sophisticated countrysingers, because she is more in touch with her inner self* and heremotions than adults.” Nielsen SoundScan, which monitors musicsales, has said that “Taylor is the top-selling digital artist in musichistory.” The Academy of Country Music has “praised her music and is

enormously grateful to her for making Country music popular withyoung people”.

Facts and FiguresTaylor Swift and her music are everywhere: ringtones, videos,

magazine covers, on our TV screens and in the cinema (in CSI andin Valentine’s Day for example). She has sold millions ofdownloads, has over 76 millions contacts on her MySpacepage, and more than 164 million viewings of her YouTubechannel. Some record-breaking facts. In 2008, at a festival inNashville, Taylor signed autographs for 8 hoursconsecutively; Love story has been downloaded by morepeople than any other country song; her album, Fearless

(1999), reached number one in the ‘Top One Hundred’more quickly than any album before it and it stayed at

number one for a record 192 weeks! Not bad for atwenty-one-year-old!

TEEN People16

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Taylor Swift is one of most importantmusicians to come out of America inrecent years. She is a singer-songwriter* and actress, and she hasalready sold over 13 million recordsthroughout the world. Her music is anappealing mix of different musicalstyles, including country and pop,and she is still only 21 years old!

LifeTaylor Swift was born on 13th December 1989.She grew up on a farm with her close-knit* familymade up of mum, dad and younger brother,Austin. She started writing songs when she was10. For her it was a way of expressing theloneliness of growing up on her remote* farm, along way from friends. It was not long beforeTaylor was playing her guitar and singing in publicat karaoke clubs and festivals. When she was 11her parents agreed to take her to country-musiccapital Nashville - it was a journey that wouldchange her life.

Glossaryclose-knit: affectionate, emotionally closedeal: contractinner self: internal feelings, thoughts andemotionsreach out: (here, figurative) move towardssomeone to touch themremote: (here) far from the nearest townor village, on its ownsinger-songwriter: someone who writesand performs their own songs

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