Table of contents for No 452 in Speak Up

THIS MONTH George is a popular name in England. So far1 there have been six King Georges, and one of the Beatles was also called George: George Harrison, of course. George is a popular name because St. George is the country’s patron saint. His feast day2 is on April 23rd, the same day as Shakespeare’s birthday. St. George’s Day is a big day for the English, even if it’s probably not as important as St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) is for the Irish. FACT AND FICTION When you think about it, St. George is a strange choice for an English patron saint. St. Patrick was a missionary in Ireland, but St. George never went to England. He was a Roman soldier who was tortured and martyred in Palestine in 303…

CULTURE Every year, on the first Monday of May, the world’s most glamorous celebrities get together1 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (or the Met) on Fifth Avenue in New York for a gala organised by prestigious fashion magazine Vogue. First introduced in 1948 as a midnight supper2, the red-carpet3 event raises money4 for the Met’s Costume Institute. THE LEWISOHN SISTERS The Costume Institute was founded as an independent museum in 1937. It was led by the Neighborhood Playhouse5, a drama company founded by two sisters, Irene and Alice Lewisohn. They wished to foment creative engagement6 around acting, theatre production, costume and stage design7. In 1946, with the financial support of the fashion industry, the Costume Institute merged8 with the Met. Today, the Institute holds9 a collection of more than…

In 1835, the editor1 of The Sun newspaper in New York, Richard Adams Locke, decided to play a trick2 on his readers. An intelligent man with many scientific interests, Locke was angry with the astronomers of the day who frequently published pseudo-scientific articles about the inhabitants of other planets. At the time, most astronomers were religious and argued3 that God would never have created other heavenly bodies4 without populating them. Locke published a series of articles claiming that the Moon was covered in mountains, lakes and rivers and inhabited by a variety of marvellous creatures. Locke cited the work of prominent British astronomer and inventor Sir John Herschel as his source5 and stated6 that Herschel had glimpsed7 the lunar landscape through his remarkable8 new telescope. PEOPLE ON THE MOON Unfortunately,…

Born in New York in 1843, Henry James was a renowned1 author and a forerunner2 of literary modernism, a prominent movement intent on3 reinventing literature to reflect a rapidly-changing world. He lived in England for many years and travelled across Europe, producing fiction and travel journalism about Americans in Europe and Europeans in America. In 1878 James published the novel Daisy Miller to great acclaim4. In 1881 he produced the novel considered to be his masterpiece5, The Portrait of a Lady. Set mostly in England and in Italy — one of James’ favourite locations — The Portrait of a Lady is a story about love, hidden motives and betrayal6, and an exploration of shifting7 power dynamics in relationships. INDEPENDENCE Isabel Archer is a young, beautiful and intelligent American. She travels…

ARTÍCULOS POR NIVELES DE DIFICULTAD Todos nuestros artículos se presentan con un código de color para indicar el nivel de dificultad del inglés empleado de acuerdo con la Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. A2 PRE-INTERMEDIATE B1 LOWER INTERMEDIATE B2 UPPER INTERMEDIATE C1 ADVANCED C2 PROFICIENCY GLOSARIO ADAPTADO Encontrarás el vocabulario más relevante de cada artículo indicado con un número en el color correspondiente a su nivel de dificultad y su traducción en el glosario adjunto. G in and tonic is arguably1 Britain’s favourite drink GLOSSARY 1 arguably: posiblemente 2 to skyrocket: dispararse VERSIÓN DIGITAL Adicionalmente, puedes suscribirte a Speak Up Digital, la versión digital de la revista Speak Up. Con ella podrás acceder a todos los artículos, audios y ejercicios directamente en nuestra app, disponible para Android y…

We've never been closer1 to global annihilation. That’s according to2 the Doomsday3 Clock, which is a symbolic representation of how close we are to destroying the world through nuclear war, the global climate emergency and disruptive technology. On the clock, midnight represents a hypothetical global catastrophe, and the number of minutes and seconds we are to midnight shows how close we are to such an event4. This January we moved from one hundred to ninety seconds to midnight — the closest to annihilation we’ve ever been! WHO SETS THE CLOCK? The Doomsday Clock was introduced in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. This US non-profit organisation5 was founded after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the same scientists that helped develop6 the world’s first nuclear weapons7.…

It’s an important year for Warner Bros., the film and entertainment studio that introduced the Looney Tunes characters to the world and produced some of the greatest films of all time, including the Harry Potter and the Matrix series. Founded on 4 April 1923 in Hollywood, California, this year the studio is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an epic line-up1 of events. MAKING HISTORY Warner Bros. was founded by four brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner. The siblings2 began their careers by travelling through Ohio and Pennsylvania showing movies to people. They then began acquiring movie theatres and moved on3 to work in film distribution and in production of their own films. In 1918 they relocated to California, making history just five years later by founding Warner Bros. Entertainment…

TECHNOLOGY SPEAK UP IN CLASS Fifty years ago, an event took place1 that would transform the way we live. On 3 April 1973, the very first mobile phone call was made, heralding2 a new era of global, continuous connectivity. Motorola engineer Martin ‘Marty’ Cooper was walking on New York’s Sixth Avenue when he called rival inventor Joel Engel of Bell Laboratories at AT&T. He informed Engel that he was calling from a portable3 telephone. Engel responded with silence, but history was made. SHOEBOX PHONE At the time, car phones already existed, but were powered4 by heavy equipment that had to be stored5 in the boot6. This mobile prototype, named the DynaTAC (short for ‘dynamic adaptive7 total area coverage’), could be carried around8, but was still the size of a shoebox.…

1 Blake Lively 2018 The actor embodied Met Gala theme ‘Heavenly Bodies: The Catholic Imagination’ with a Versace gown1 in which burgundy2 meets gold and a tight3 underdress4 is covered by a voluptuous outer skirt with an extremely long tail. The combination of colours recalled the Byzantine era, while the shapes of Lively’s gown were influenced by both the Renaissance and the Baroque period: it was in the time between these two eras that the female hourglass figure5 became central to fashion. This choice allowed the actor to wear a particularly sensual look. 2 Claire Danes 2016 This pale blue dress by Zac Posen featured a wide skirt and a fibre optics mechanism which caused it to shine in the dark. Very tight in the waist6, this dress…

CONSIDERING THAT A TYPICAL AMERICANO CONTAINS MORE than a hundred biologically active ingredients other than caffeine, what do you know about the drug you are glugging two or three times a day? Coffee. Go-juice1. Liquid gold. The one with all the psychoactive properties. Once used by Sufi mystics as an aid2 to concentration during religious rituals, it’s now one of the most ubiquitous drinks on the planet: we get through3 about 2bn4 cups a day. It is also one of the most valued and consumed drinks. One particularly sought-after5 blend6, Black Ivory, which is produced by encouraging elephants to digest arabica berries7, retails8 at more than £2,000 a kilogram, while coffee-making championships attract thousands of spectators. But what does it actually do to you? You might have a vague…

In 1985, Australia’s Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock) was returned to the First Nations people1. Around that time, Peter Garrett, the politically-active vocalist of Australian rock band Midnight Oil, visited an exhibition on the theme of fascism in Italy during the Second World War. He was told that partisans often used the phrase “How could you sleep when beds are burning?” and saw similarities with the fate2 of displaced indigenous tribes in his native Australia. Beds Are Burning is a plea3 for justice that was written while the band toured Australia’s desert and island communities, performing4 with local musicians. Described as a song about the nation’s greatest shame5, the lyrics paint a vivid picture of the desolate life lived in the Outback6. The song is almost entirely in the…

SPEAK UP IN CLASS A cucumber1 sandwich might sound bland2 to some, but Britons absolutely love them! This English staple3 is usually served as a light snack and almost always made with sliced4 white bread. In films and plays such as Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, this elegant sandwich is often used to identify upper-class5 people. But who came up with6 the idea of slicing cucumber and putting it in a sandwich? COOL AS A CUCUMBER Cucumbers are an ancient vegetable that have been grown in India for around three thousand years. They were probably brought7 to Europe by the Romans, and are documented to have been harvested8 in England since the 14th century. It is said that the 16th-century queen Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife,…

TOP BRITS SPEAK UP IN CLASS Known to millions of fans around the world as The Little Tramp1, Charlie Chaplin rose to worldwide fame2 in the era of silent movies. His incredible gifts3 as a comic performer would make him the most famous film icon in history. His life is also an extraordinary rags-to-riches tale. BORN INTO POVERTY Chaplin was born in London on 16 April 1889. His parents were desperately poor music hall entertainers. Not yet ten4, he had to look after himself when his father died and his mother became mentally ill. He took to5 the stage, where he discovered his genius as an entertainer. AMERICAN TOUR After touring the US with a vaudeville company, he was offered a film contract. In a stroke of genius6, he invented…

Anglesey is an island off the northwest coast1 of Wales. It resurfaced more than thirteen thousand years ago after years of glaciation spent under an ice cap2 550 metres high. A part of Wales, it is famous for its ancient historical sites and its beautiful coastline. The island is home to no less than the earliest evidence of life on Earth, which has been preserved as calcified microbes. These helped increase the world’s oxygen content and were critical to the evolution of more advanced forms of life on our planet. HUNTERS TO FARMERS Around eight thousand years ago, the first hunter-gatherers3 arrived on the island. Three thousand years later, they were followed by the first farmers, who left behind Neolithic burial mounds4. Around 300 BC5, the Celts arrived, making the…

At the time of its invasion by the Roman Empire in 43 AD1, Britain was a patchwork2 of territories dominated by various tribes. A number of tribal leaders retained their power, becoming client kings of Emperor Claudius, paying taxes3 to Rome and allowing the military access to their land. As the new Roman occupation expanded in Britain, many of these members of the native aristocracy were influenced by Roman culture: they owned Roman goods4, adopted Roman habits, and sometimes even sent their sons to Rome to be educated. BETRAYAL One such tribal leader was Prasutagus, chief of the Iceni5 tribe of Norfolk in the east of England. Under Emperor Claudius’s rule the Iceni regarded themselves6 as allies7 of Rome, but by the time of Prasutagus’s death, Emperor Nero ruled8 the…

Help! I need your advice1 on what to wear to the gala next week. Oh, you lucky thing! I wish2 I could go. I wish you could, too. And you have more fashion sense than me. Rubbish! What did you have in mind? Well, it’s a black tie event and the theme is ‘nature’, so maybe something green. Hmm, yes, but perhaps you could wear something natural, too, like flowers. Oh, you are so clever3! I could weave4 flowers into my updo5. Sounds good! And your dress, should it be floor-length? Yes, paired6 with stilettoes. Will you come shopping with me? Yes, it’s been ages since our last spree! Great, I’m so excited! What’s your husband wearing? A tux, of course. Men have it so easy! NOW LET’S REVIEW THE…

ENTERTAINMENT The Emmy-winning HBO series that centres on the nasty1 if relatable2 Roy dynasty is back! Succession, now in its fourth season, is an epic satire about power, wealth and family. The cast is headed by Shakespearean actor Brian Cox, who plays fearsome3 Scottish-American patriarch Logan Roy. WAYSTAR ROYCO Roy is an aging media mogul4 and the founder, owner and CEO of global conglomerate Waystar RoyCo. He has four grown-up children: the eldest, Connor, has an American mother; the three younger siblings, Kendall, Siobhan and her twin, Roman, are the product of Logan’s marriage to frosty5 English aristocrat Caroline. These three work for Roy, and compete for prominence when their father’s health takes a turn for the worse6. AMERICAN & BRITISH The series is set in Manhattan, New York and…

The lift1 was broken again! Angrily I struggled up2 to the eighth floor with my bags of shopping. The stairwell3 stank4 of stale5 cooking odours, probably urine and something like burnt plastic. I really had to find a new flat, but it would be hard to get something as cheap in this part of town. “Look at you, darlink, sweating like a pig. You need more exercise!” My Romanian neighbour Mrs. Popescu grinned6 at me from her doorway7, her huge body wrapped8 in one of her flowered negligees9. “Oh bugger off10, Ylenia!” Mrs. Popescu was the only neighbour I knew. Enormously overweight11, with a dry sense of humour, she particularly enjoyed laughing at me. But she was a warm, friendly person who always called me ‘darlink’. I only ever saw…

Dating back to the first half of the 17th century, the common English idiom ‘the pot calling the kettle black’ may be an adaptation of a Spanish proverb. It means a situation in which somebody accuses someone else of a fault which the accuser also has, whether unknowingly or with the intention of deliberately discrediting the other person or defending oneself against a claim of wrongdoing by that person. The earliest appearance of the idiom is in Thomas Shelton’s 1620 translation of the epic Spanish novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (published in two volumes between 1605 and 1615). It appears as a response by the protagonist to his servant Sancho Panza’s constant criticisms, which Don Quijote feels are hypocritical. Panza is compared to a pan that accuses a…