KITES

           No one knows who made the first kite. Some people say it was Archytas. He was interested in mathematics and lived in Greece 2400 years ago.

           But perhaps people in China flew kites long (1) ……………   then. Flying kites has always been an important part of Chinese life. The ninth day of the ninth month is a special day that is called ‘The Feast of High Flight’ and the sky is full of   kites. (2) ……………   look like fish or birds and (3) ……………   the family joins in the fun.

           Kites have a lot of different uses. Scientists used them in the 18^th century (4) ……………   learn about storms and other kinds of weather. At the end of the 19^th century, before (5) ……………   were aeroplanes, a kite that was 11 metres long carried a man 30 metres up into the air!

POSTCARDS

           Today, people like to send postcards to their friends and family. These postcards often have pictures of beaches, mountains or castles on them and you (1) ……………  write a message on the back. Many people send postcards when they are on holiday because postcards are cheap and the pictures on them are often (2) …………… than people’s own photos.

           Somebody sent the first postcard (3) …………… the end of the nineteenth century. It had a picture of a town by the sea on it. Later on, postcards had pictures showing something in the news that week, perhaps an accident (4) …………… an important person’s visit. People liked to (5) ……………  them because they did not have pictures in their newspapers then.

THE GLOBE THEATRE

           Visiting the theatre in London 400 years ago was very different from visiting a modern theatre. The building was round, there was no roof, and people got cold and wet (1) …………….. the weather was bad. The queen loved going to the Globe Theatre, by the River Thames, to see the plays of Williams Shakespeare. All the actors at that time (2) …………… men. The visitors ate, talked to (3) ……………… friends, walked about during the show, and (4) ……………… people even threw things at the actors!

           Today, it is still possible to visit the Globe Theatre. A new theatre stands in the same place (5) ………………. the river. You can enjoy a Shakespeare play there or just learn about life in the seventeenth century.