A New Invention: Shoes that Grow with a Child

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Materials

November 30, 2016

Intermediate

Exercise 1

Vocabulary

barefoot

Adverb

ˈberfʊt

not wearing anything on your feet

I’m afraid it’s too cold to go barefoot.

disease

Noun

dɪˈziːz

an illness affecting humans, animals or plants, often caused by infection

She's suffering from a serious disease.

He is looking into the cause of the disease.

Some diseases, like influenza, can pass easily from farm animals to humans.

Smoking could lead to heart disease.

This organization works to fight deadly diseases.

parasite

Noun

ˈpærəsaɪt

a small animal or plant that lives on or inside another animal or plant and gets its food from it

The tape worm is a parasite that can grow as long as ten meters inside your intestines.

creator

Noun

kriˈeɪtər

a person who has made or invented a particular thing

He is the creator of that popular TV show.

volunteer

Noun

ˌvɑːlənˈtiːr

a person who does a job without being paid for it

We need more volunteers who are willing to give blood.

A lot of volunteers gathered at the disaster area to help the victims.

reality

Noun

riːˈælɪtiː

a thing that is actually experienced or seen, in contrast to what people might imagine

They look like friends, but in reality, none of them know each other.

She has to face the harsh reality of being a single mother.

goal

Noun

goʊl

something that you hope to achieve

The company has achieved all its goals for the year.

Their goal is to win a gold medal.

His goal in life is to become successful.

Exercise 2

Article

AI Generated Audio––:–– / ––:––

A New Invention: Shoes that Grow with a Child

Children grow quickly, especially their feet.

But many families cannot buy new shoes each time a child needs them. As a result, about 300 million children around the world go barefoot. Those children risk picking up diseases and parasites.

An American man may have a solution for those barefoot kids – a shoe that grows with the child.

Kenton Lee is the creator of The Shoe That Grows.

“It grows in three places: the front, on the side, and on the back. It can last up to five years.”

The shoe comes in two sizes: small that fits children aged 4 to 9 and large for children aged 9 to 14.

Lee says he got the idea for the shoe while working as a volunteer in Kenya.

Lee says it was not easy to turn his idea into a reality.

“I kept writing down I should do this because of this or because of that. All these reasons why it really was important for me to try to make the shoes that could grow and try to help.”