Task 1. Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.

Many people think mushrooms are plants, but they are neither plants nor animals. They are, however, living things that need food to stay alive. They particularly love damp forests. Mushrooms are one of the world's natural cleaners. When a plant or an animal dies, mushrooms help to break it down, clearing the forest of rotten things. If mushrooms didn't exist, Earth would be buried in several feet of rotten junk and life on the planet would soon disappear.

Not all mushrooms look like the ones that you eat. There are many different types, and they come in all shapes, sizes and colours. In fact, people learnt to gather mushrooms and eat them a long time ago. Mushrooms are a great source of nutrients. Still, not all mushrooms are edible. Some mushrooms are very poisonous. They are often brightly coloured to warn animals not to eat them. People often call poisonous mushrooms toadstools.