8 Read the text again and answer the questions.
1 What is The World on Wheels?
2 How many countries has Albert visited?
3 Does he usually travel with someone else?
4 How does he make money when he’s travelling?
5 What advantages are there to travelling in a wheelchair?
6 Where does he want to go next?
9 Find words and phrases 1–5 in the text and match them with definitions a–e.


1 disease
a) alone

2 on his own
b) being frightened

3 fear
c) illness

4 pick someone up
d) hurt someone

5 harm
e) stop and offer someone a lift in your car

TEXTUL:
Albert Casals is a typical teenager in many ways. He likes reading science fiction books, he enjoys playing Dragon Ball and he’s interested in science. But in other ways Albert is very different. He has visited more than 26 countries alone, he’s got blue hair and he has written a book, The World on Wheels. And one more thing makes him different: Albert has been in a wheelchair since he was eight years old.
Albert is 18 and he lives in the town of Esparreguera, Barcelona. He became ill with leukaemia when he was five, but the disease hasn’t stopped him having fun. Albert has travelled around Europe and in 2007 he set off for South America. He always travels on his own, he often hitchhikes and he never takes much money. In fact, Albert took €20 with him to South America and came back six months later with the same amount! He gets money by working and doing tricks with his wheelchair. Albert has had lots of adventures. He has slept on boats and desert islands. He has learned how to repair his wheelchair himself. He has taught himself how to get on and get off buses and trains without help.
Albert wants to encourage more people in wheelchairs to copy him. ’The chair helps you to travel because it eliminates fear,’ Albert explains. ’When you hitchhike, drivers pick you up because you are not considered dangerous. And another advantage is that people talk to me because they want to meet a blue-haired boy who travels the world alone in a chair. And so I make new friends who help me.’ He says that he has learned that the world is mostly full of kind, friendly people who want to help him, not harm him. So, what’s next for Albert? University and more travel. He hasn’t been to Africa, so that could be his next journey. And his next book, of course.