VERA 8 – Reading – 4

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Charmain is a speaker’s daughter. She loves eating and reading – and these seem tobe the only things she can do untll, one day, she has to look after her Great Uncle William’s house. Great Uncle William
is a wizard1 and all sorts of strange and wonderful people and creatures2 live with him.

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Great Uncle William’s house is full of surprises. There is only one door and it can lead to one of many different places: the bedroom, the kitchen, a castle or a royal palace.

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When Charmain opens that door, she finds a dog, a young wizard and a box of the king’s documents. This leads her to all sorts of adventures with a dangerous monster and some strange blue creatures. This book is fun!

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Diana Wynne Jones is a well-known writer offantasy stories. She studied English at Oxford University. She lives in Bristol, England, with her husband. They have three sons. She has written a number of popular books.

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Diana Wynne Jones‘ first book Charmed Life (1977) won a children’s book award and Howl’s Moving Castle was made into a film in 2004. She has also written some short stories.

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lf you liked Harry Potter, you’ll love this book! You can order it online ($12 plus costs for posting), or at your local bookshop. Buy now! 

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Please:

• Stay on trails.
• Keep bikes on roads. They are considered vehicles.
• Keep pets on a leash in parking areas or in your vehicle.
• Camp only in campground.

Remember:

• Always carry water.
• No climbing on the bridges.
• Watch for lightning and flash floods.
• Observe natural and cultural material in place and do not collect artifacts. Remain outside structures and do not walk on or near fragile walls.

For your safety this trail may be closed during the winter months due to ice and snow.

Read a visitor’s blog about the Golden Gate Bridge, then fill in the table below in one to five words or using numbers. With sizes, you must include the feet, metres or miles, for example. Write numbers where possible.

The Golden Gate Bridge

If you go to San Francisco, you must visit the Golden Gate Bridge. It took 4 years to build and opened in 1937. The total length of the bridge is 1.7 miles. About 41 million vehicles cross the bridge every year.

You can walk across the bridge during the day from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m. but you are not allowed to walk across it during the night when it is dark. But walking across the bridge, rather than driving across it, gives you a better idea of how big it is. The sea, for example, is 67 metres below you and from the middle of the bridge there’s a fantastic view of San Francisco. Because the sea is cold and the air around the bay is warm, the tops of the two towers are often in clouds.

The best view of the bridge is from the beach on the west side of it. From there you can see how beautiful the bridge is as it curves into the hills on the northern side of the bay. You can also see just how tall the bridge is from the beach; it’s 227 metres from the water to the top of it.

At King George’s School we like our pupils to wear school uniform. We no longer have the traditional one where the pupils wore jackets, shirts with ties, grey trousers and black shoes – even the girls. We talked with parents and pupils about a new uniform that everyone would like and then we introduced it. It was very successful. Our uniform is now an attractive light grey polo shirt, black trousers or skirt and black shoes.

Our pupils like their new uniform because it looks modern and, of course, they needn’t worry about fashions; they can keep their expensive clothes for when they are out of school. For parents, our school uniform is very cheap to buy. Finally we like our new uniform because our pupils look nice in it and when they are out of school on trips, it is very easy to see where they are.

I hope that you will continue to support the school in its school uniform policy.

The announcement is an invitation …