There are people in this world who have incredible abilities that seem to break the laws of nature. Here are three real-life superheroes who have amazed the world with their talents.
Wim Hof, also known as ‘The Iceman’, is a Dutch man who has broken the limits of what humans can do in low temperatures. He has set several world records for his ability to deal with freezing temperatures, including the longest ice bath and longest full-body contact with ice, although those records have been broken many times. Wim has developed a method of breathing that allows him to control his body temperature and survive extreme cold. He has run a full marathon in the Arctic Circle and almost reached the peak of Mount Everest in just shoes and shorts in 2007!
Daniel Tammet, from the UK, is often called ‘The Human Calculator’, due to his incredible abilities to do maths. Daniel can solve complicated mathematical problems in his head at lightning speed. Daniel also has an amazing language learning ability. He can speak a wide variety of different languages, including Icelandic, which he took just one week to learn! He has even written three books about his life and talents.
Stephen Wiltshire. aka. 'The Human Camera’, is a British artist with an incredible ability to draw detailed pictures of cities from memory. Wiltshire can take a brief helicopter ride over a city and perfectly recreate the view in his drawings. He has drawn famous cities like New York. Rome, and Tokyo, and his artwork has appeared in galleries around the world.
These three individuals have shown that human beings can do extraordinary things beyond what we can imagine. Their talents can inspire us to think differently about the world around us and encourage us to achieve great things, even when they might seem impossible!
(Adapted from Bright Students` Book)

People in the UK enjoy fewer years of good health before they die than the citizens of most comparable European countries as well as Australia and Canada, a major report shows. While life expectancy has improved by 4.2 years in the UK over the two decades, other countries have improved faster. In 2010, Spain topped the league. Its people could expect 70.9 years of healthy life - before disease and disability began to take a toll. Second came Italy, with 70.2 years and third was Australia, on 70.1 years. In the UK, we can expect 68.6 healthy years of life.
Hunt said the UK was a long way behind its global counterparts and called for action by local health commissioners to tackle the five big killers - cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory and liver diseases. Drinking and drug use have been the main issues behind the worsening of the UK's ranking in early deaths among adults aged 20-54. In 2010, drugs were the sixth leading cause of death in this age group and alcohol was 18th - up from 32nd and 43rd place respectively 20 years earlier.
Hunt will on Tuesday announce a strategy to tackle cardiovascular disease, which he says could save 30,000 lives a year. "Despite real progress in cutting deaths, we remain a poor relative to our global cousins on many measures of health, something I want to change," he said. "For too long we have been lagging behind and I want the reformed health system to take up this challenge and turn this shocking underperformance around.” However, the problem is only in part to do with hospital care - much of it is about the way we live. Our diet, our drinking and continuing smoking habits all play a part, which assumes its responsibilities on 1 April.
(https://www.theguardian.com)

Marcel Bich, a French manufacturer of traditional ink pens, was the man turning the ballpoint pen into an item that today almost anyone can afford. Bich was shocked at the poor quality of the ballpoint pens that were available, and also at their high cost. However, he recognised that the ballpoint was a firmly established invention, and he decided to design a cheap pen that worked well and would be commercially successful.
Bich went to the Biro brothers and asked them if he could use the design of their original invention in one of his own pens. In return, he offered to pay them every time he sold a pen. Then, for two years, Bich studied the detailed construction of every ballpoint pen that was being sold, often working with a microscope.
By 1950, he was ready to introduce his new wonder: a plastic pen with a clear barrel that wrote smoothly, did not leak and only cost a few cents. He called it the 'Bic Cristal'. The ballpoint pen had finally become a practical writing instrument. The public liked it immediately, and today it is as common as the pencil. In Britain, they are still called Biros, and many Bic models also say 'Biro' on the side of the pen, to remind people of their original inventors.
Bich became extremely wealthy thanks to his invention, which had worldwide appeal. Over the next 60 years his company, Société Bic, opened factories all over the world and expanded its range of inexpensive products. Today, Bic is as famous for its lighters and razors as it is for its pens, and you can even buy a Bic mobile phone.
(Adapted from Complete IELTS Workbook by Rawdon Wyatt)