R EADI N G. a Read the article quickly

a Read the article quickly. What two functions does Rob Law's invention have?

Dragons' Den reject celebrates huge sales of 'worthless' invention

Less than a year ago the judges on the reality programme Dragons' Den rejected his invention. Now inventor Rob Law is having the last laugh after a product considered 'worthless' on the BBC television programme for young entrepreneurs has proved a huge commercial hit.

Mr Law, 29, from Bath, spent 11 years

- and £17,000 of his own money - refining his design for a wheelie suitcase which doubles up as a child's ride-on toy. The plastic Trunki case is designed to allow youngsters aged three to six to take their

own bag on holiday - and to sit on it when they are tired. But when Mr Law

appeared on Dragons' Den last September, he was given a hard time by the famously unfriendly panel of investors.

Businessman Theo Paphitis ridiculed the product after managing to pull off one of the straps. His colleague Deborah Meadon, head of a holiday firm, declared bluntly that there was no market for the case. And the notoriously brusque tele-communications tycoon Peter Jones declared: 'I meet people like you all the time -you think you have something. I tell you, you don't.' The

panel declined Mr Law's offer to give up I 0 per cent of his new company in return

for a £ 100,000 investment - an offer which valued the firm at £1 million.

However, it now appears that the experts were wrong. After a succession of positive press reviews, Mr Law has sold 85,000 of his Trunki suitcases. It is marketed in 22 countries via a network of distributors.

Retailing at £25, it has proved a hit at several high street stores. Mr Law said: 'When I went on to the programme I was full of confidence that I was going to get the investment I needed. But thty were rude

and obnoxious and just focused on the strap, which was actually something that was quite easily fixed. I was terrified that by appearing on the programme I may have ruined my company before it had even started. But afterwards we had loads of hits on the website from people who said they thought

it was a brilliant idea. Now I am absolutely delighted to have proved the Dragons wrong. It just goes to show you should never give up.'

Mr Law also revealed that during filming he managed to sell two of the suitcases to Australian panellist Richard Farleigh, who wanted to invest £100,000 in return for half of the company. But Mr Law rejected the deal. He declined to say exactly how much the company -which is 100 per cent owned by him -is now worth, but said that it was more than £1 million. •

b Read the text again and choose a, b, or c.

I The Dragons' Den judges

a thought Rob Law's invention was funny. b didn't like his invention.

c thought his invention would be a commercial success.

2 Peter Jones thought that

a he had met Rob before.

b other people had had a similar idea. c Rob hadn't had a very good idea.

3 Rob wanted the judges

a to give him £ 100,000 for a 10 per cent share of his company. b to give him £1 million for his company.

c to buy £100,000 worth of suitcases.

4 Rob felt that the judges

a could have fixed the strap on his case.

b only looked at one feature of his suitcase. c ruined his company.

5 One of the judges

a invested in the company. b bought half the company. c bought his product.

c Underline five words you don't know. Use your dictionary to look up their meaning and pronunciation.

3 VOC ABUL ARY science

a Complete the sentences with a word made from the words in bold.

1 I always knew, right from the start, that I wanted to be a scientist.

science

2 Factories manufacturing plastics produce a lot of __ waste. chemistry

3 My daughter's best subject at school is. biologist

4 One of the most controversial issues of our time is _ engineering. gene

5 is a mystery to me. I failed every exam I ever took. physicist

b Match each verb to a suitable noun.

Ido a a machine

2 make b a theory

3 The motorcyclist was going so fast he nearly ___ me over.

4 The car left the road andinto a tree.

3 prove

4 invent

5 develop

6 do

c an experiment d research

e a discovery

f a drug

5 We'll have to through the last points at this meeting as we don't have much time.

More Words to Learn

c Complete the sentences with the correct form of a

verb phrase from b.

I Scientists have been trying for years to develop_ a d rug

that will cure the common cold.

2 A company has__ which can prepare and cook meals for you.

3 Researchers__an important

__ completely by accident last month. 4 The students in their chemistry

class, but it went horribly wrong!

5 It took a long time for Darwin to __ hisof evolution.

6 Many scientists have into why we are living longer.

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