Lesson D M ak in g an impression

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.. - Reading í• -Readirig tip

Before you read a factual piece, ask
A What kinds of cultural activities are avallable in yourself questions like_What is it?
your area ? Where is it? Who does 1t? Then sean
Have you ever participated in any of them? Tell
the class. the text to see if you can find ·

~ Read the article. How does El Sistem~ benefit youn answers.

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Vienez I h · ary . ..
ue a as a revolut,on and 1nsp mng mus,.c educ . h' h ~im~ to improve the lives of
disadyaotaqec/ r.hildren and their families. El Sistema - at,on program, w 1c ~ . .
meaning "the system" - is a total-im~ers,on 1
that brings children together to play mus pr~gram
ic every day. Preschool children sit on their moth
play rhythm games, or play with paper instrumen ers ~nee s to s,ng,
ts that they make themselves. At age five, child stªrt to
play a real instrument, which is a thrilling expe ren
rience for them. As soon as the children are go~d
teach t~e youn_ger ones. Toe program is, highl enough, they
y ~l~~ ttifJ 11 By high school, students a_ r~ tackllng sorne of the
most difficult p1eces of classical music. However,
committed; they practice after school every day
e
\ program is demanding, and participants need
to be
:'-, , '- (
and on weekends.
H• •

There are now sorne 500 or so orchestras throu

ghout th~ country,·sorne
of which perform internationally. Many of the
young musicians have even
become professionals. El Sistema graduates
include conductors of the
Venice Opera and Los Angeles Philharmonic
and the Berlín Philharmor:,ic's
youngest player eyer. Acc¡:ording to British cond
uctor Sir Simon Rattle,
"There is nothing more important in the world
of music than what is
happening in Venezuela." These young musicians
must surely be motivating -.
role models2 for other young people in their hom
e country.
However, music wasn't the primary goal when
the program began in 1975 with just 11 students
garage. El Sistema's founder, José Antonio Abre in a
u, was interested in "human development," or
through music. Abreu's slogan, "Tocar y Luch socia l action
ar," (Play and Struggle) describes his hope that
playing music together helps children overcom learning and
e academic, social, and economic obstacles.
violin in a child's hands, that child will never "lf you puta
hold a gun, " he is quoted as saying. lnterestin
the program's funding comes from social servi gly,· go percent of
ce agencies rather than cultural organizations
El Sistema has made an amazing difference : Sinc e 1975 ,
in many lives . Two million graduates have beco
musicians, and according to Abreu , they are me skille d
resilient, flourishing citizens, as well. More than
including the United States, Austria, and India 25 coun tries,
, have since copied El Sistema's groundbreakin
g3 model4.
1 total-immersion: constant involvement
in an activity 3 groundbreaking: completely new
2 role model: someone that other people
respect and copy 4 model: type of program

e
..... Read six people's comments about El Sistema. Are their impressions correct? Write Yes or No.
Find evidence in the article to support your
answer.
1. A program like that can't really work. 1mean, they can't teach them to play adva
nced pieces. _H_Q_
2. The children must spend hours practicing. ~
3. Sir Simon Rattle must be really impressed with the program. ~
4. sorne of the students may come from wealthy families. Ye.s
They must get a lot of their money from arts
5. and music organizations. rJ o
Programs like that can't work in other countries
6. , though . ~ o
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fl Listening and speaking People maki ng a difference
th e
A Look at the people and the organizations they are involved with. Can you guess what
organizations do?

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Janine Licare
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Arn Chorn-Pond
Ardena Gojan i

1. Klds Saving the Ralnforest 2. Cambodlan Living Arts 3. The lnternational Book Project
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List~n to t~ree conv~rsations about the people and organ izatio ns above. Write three
thing s
each organ izatio n does. Were your guesses correct?
C »
~> Listen again. How does each student plan to get involved with the organ izatio n?
4.18
Ta~e notes. Tell the class which program you would choose to get involv ed in.
About l
vou
D Group work Think of a volunteer project you could start. Who would it help? What would it do?
Pres~nt your program to the class. Choose two programs to suppo rt.
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:=i,.ae:ing A Read the article. What does "child procligy " mean?
O someone under the age of 15 0a child with a special talent O a child who is famous

We often hear stories of parents 1Nho push their

lf.1 Mozart wrote his first minuet at age si:c Cellist
;;, i Yo-Yo Ma first performecl in public at the age of
~ five; Wiiliam James Siclis raacl Homer in Greek at
.~ . i
~-¡ age tour ancl was the youngest person ever to
';;_-:j, ' attend Harvard University at 11. Ukrainian chess
:. : player Sergey Karjakin bacarne the youngest
J international grand master at 12. Pablo Picasso
r] first public!y exhibited his paintings at age ·13.
1
-~ Many parents may hope for a genius child, but
~- 1 there can be a price to pay. Sorne child prodigies
µ never experience a normal chilclhoocl, otten
f; beca~se it's difficult for thern to make friends, ancl
~ they suffer socially. Sorne genius children even
r¡1 have mental breakdowns atan early age, and
; gifted chilcf athletes or musicians can be
~ permanently injurecl from practicin:;:¡ too hard .
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children too hard. However, sorne experts say that ~
for the most part, "pushy parent" is an unfair lab&I:
Parents don't push prodigies, procligies push \'1
parents. Many gi~ecl children quickly become
borecl with school ancl homework that is too ea2,,¡. ,t
For these kicls, school is frustrating, and they ri2k
losing interest in it aitogether. lt's better to E~low ~
these children to skip grades, experts say, than t0
let them become disappointed in school. ~
Are prodigies born, orare they created? The short
answer is: we don't know. Certainly, many parents ~
of gifted chilclren provide a stimulating environment: ·
They reacl to their chilclren atan early age, take ,:,
them to museums and concerts, ancl give them a
lot of independence. But experts aclvise parents A
not to be disappointed if their child isn't an early
genius. Mozart was a child procligy; Einstein was ,
not. But the worlcl is still arnazed by them both .
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B Find a word or e;<pression j ¡-; the article for each m22ning below.

·1. go to, orbe present at (a place oran el/ent) (paragraph 1) attend

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,!.., psychologica! problems (paragraph 2) to ot1¼ 1 br-eoKdow n_s
3. talented; exceptional (paragraph 3) <3 ¡.{' ~ed
4. interesting; encouraging you to learn (paragraph L1) S, 'NI ulo..\. 1'1'1<?)
C Read the article again. Then answer the questions.

1. Who's the youngest prodigy mer.tioned in the article?

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=i -:: :-~;,,;ting A Read the letter from a parent to a school
principal. Circle the expressions that give lmpressions
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'? or opinions. Underline the statements that are stated a~ act.

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Dear Dr. Evans, ·

studen t, an~ e is
_My chíÚís enrolled in your school.~ e is a very gifted
ínqly frustra_'t!J_d ~nd anxious :
bored in his cfasses.€_ seems to me thilJ,e Is becoming increa?
·- - , -- ·· ' hís
because he has lost iritere st in school. l.as
more dífficu ft clas ses ~
y_ear hís grades are slíppíw.-...~.;.¡;;...;..==.:..;.;.::~_.,, e needs to take
·1· . . Can you hef¡YJ?
... ~ h e is not finJíng h!s curren t cfasses chaflengíng enDugh
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JL.Write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper about one of the topics below or your own idea.
Use the expressions from part A.
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~ There aren't enough leisure facilities for local teens. '""~· rec,ª• '· \

• We ne.ed healthierfood options in schools. lo.,..,1 1... 5" ' ".J ...i.,,
✓- There 'stoom uchlit teronc itystre ets. >x~Gs,.a.
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