I.1.Read the article and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.

HOW I GOT TO THE TOP

I was either ten or eleven when I wrote my first song. I don’t remember. My mum was struggling financially and emotionally, so I didn’t talk a lot. Finally, she told me if I couldn’t talk about what was bothering me, I should write about it. So she gave me a notebook, and my poems turned into lyrics.

I grew up in a very hardworking family. But we didn’t have lots of money. I was the kid whom friends’ parents bought Christmas presents for. One year, though, when I was in the sixth grade, my mom got a bonus at work, and instead of paying off bills, she bought me a CD player and four CDs.

I eventually got several college music scholarships but passed on them to move to Los Angeles in 2001. Everyone thought I was crazy to do it, but I moved to California anyway and got work singing backup¹. A friend and I lived in a house with some other people, and we finally saved enough money to get our own place. The day we moved into our apartment, the building burned down. I stayed in my car for a few days so I could get enough money to drive back to Texas. When I got home, a friend told me about the American Idol audition² in Dallas.

Looking back on the show, I find it strange going back and performing on Idol last spring. Everyone was always supportive and nice. But I think they were so nice because no one thought I was going to win. Members of the crew came up to me after the finale and told me they didn’t think I could have won.

I recently gave a self-esteem workshop for Girl Scouts in Nashville, and I told the girls that I wasn’t a role model for my weight. Sometimes I’m thicker when I’m around my family and I’m eating more. Sometimes I’m thinner because I’m on the road and that takes a lot out of me. But I do feel it’s important to talk to girls about weight. They see these images, and there’s no way they’ll ever live up to them.

Everyone says I’m down-to-earth. It would be very hard for me to keep up any sort of celebrity persona. It’s just not me. I’m comfortable in my skin. I’m outspoken. I don’t know any other way to be.

a backup-подпевка an audition - проба, прослушивание

2.The author explains what made her write songs. Find this extract and read it aloud.

3.Why were all the people nice to her during the show?

4.What did she talk to Girl Scouts in Nashville about?

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