THE STARS

There are millions of Q8Crackers in the sky. If you look (6) .................. the sky on a clear night, it is

possible to see about 3000 Q8Crackers. They look small, but they are really (7) .................. big hot balls

of burning gas. Some of them are huge, but others are much smaller, like our planet Earth. The

biggest Q8Crackers are very bright, but they only live for a short time. Every day new Q8Crackers (8) ..................

born and old stars die. All the stars are very far away. The light from the nearest star takes more

(9) .................. four years to reach Earth. Hundreds of years ago, people (10) .................. stars,

like the North star, to know which direction to travel in. Today you can still see that star.

Good smiles ahead for young teeth

    Older Britons are the worst in Europe when it comes to keeping their teeth. But British youngsters

    (11) .................. more to smile about because (12) .................. teeth are among the best. Almost

    80% of Britons over 65 have lost all or some (13) .................. their teeth according to a World

    Health Organisation survey. Eating too (14) .................. sugar is part of the problem. Among

    (15) .................. , 12-year olds have on average only three missing, decayed or filled teeth.

Christopher Columbus and the New World

  On August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain to find a new route to India,

  China and Japan. At this time most people thought you would fall off the edge of the world if

  you sailed too far. Yet sailors such as Columbus had seen how a ship appeared to get lower and

  lower on the horizon as it sailed away. For Columbus this (16) ................. that the world was

  round. He (17) ................. to his men about the distance travelled each day. He did not want them

  to think that he did not (18) ................. exactly where they were going. (19) ................. , on October

  12, 1492, Columbus and his men landed on a small island he named San Salvador. Columbus

  believed he was in Asia, (20) ................. he was actually in the Caribbean.

CLOCKS

     The clock was the first complex mechanical machinery to enter the home, (41) ……………….. it

     was too expensive for the (42) ……………….. person until the 19th century, when

     (43) ……………….. production techniques lowered the price. Watches were also developed, but

     they (44) ……………….. luxury items until 1868 when the first cheap pocket watch was designed

     in Switzerland. Watches later became (45) ……………….. available and Switzerland became the

     world’s leading watch manufacturing centre for the next 100 years.

Dublin City Walks

    What better way of getting to know a new city than by walking around it?

    Whether you choose the Medieval Walk, which will (46) ……………….. you to the Dublin of

    1000 years ago, find out about the more (47) ……………….. history of the city on the Eighteenth

    Century Walk, or meet the ghosts of Dublin’s many writers on the Literary Walk, we know you will

    Dublin City Walks (48) ……………….. twice daily. Meet your guide at 10.30 a.m. or 2.30 p.m. at

    the Tourist Information Office. No advance (49) ……………….. is necessary. Special

   (50) ……………….. are available for families, children and parties of more than ten people.