Table of contents for No 476 in Speak Up

SPEAK UP IN CLASS The winter of 1924-25 was a difficult time for Nome, a town of about 1,400 people in the Arctic region of Alaska. The town was suffering an outbreak1 of the bacterial disease2 diphtheria. The disease had already killed four children, and many more would die if they didn’t receive the necessary medication, diphtheria antitoxin. A LIFE-SAVING PLAN The necessary quantity of antitoxin was available in the Alaskan city of Anchorage. However, it couldn’t be delivered to Nome by road or air because of adverse weather conditions. So, the people of Alaska transported it as far as possible from Anchorage by rail, to the town of Nenana. They then organised for dog sled3 teams to transport it by relay race4 675 miles [1,086 kilometres] west from there to…

Sometimes, less really is more. Which is how the Mini became Britain’s favourite car, with 5.5 million sold. Manufactured from August 1959 to October 2000, it revolutionised the motor industry with its combination of style, innovation, economy and sense of fun. SUEZ CRISIS Necessity, it is said, is the mother of invention. In 1956, the Suez Crisis limited British access to fuel and oil. Petrol rationing, which had ended after World War Two, was briefly reintroduced. With the increased demand for small, cheaper cars, the British Motor Corporation (BMC) set up a new project called ADO15. Greek-British motor engineer Alexander (Alec) Issigonis was asked to lead the design team. DREAMS COME TRUE Issigonis was born in the Ottoman port city of Smyrna (now in Turkey) in 1906. His father was…

Donald Trump’s desire to seize1 control of Greenland and the Panama Canal is being shaped in part by a force that he has sought2 to deny even exists – the climate crisis. Last week, Trump ramped up3 his demands that the United States annex both Greenland and the Panama Canal, refusing to rule out4 economic or even military interventions to take them and threatening “very high” tariffs5 upon Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory, if it opposes him. “We need them for economic security,” Trump said. “The Panama Canal is vital to our country, it’s being operated by China. China! We gave the Panama Canal to Panama, not China.” The US president added that Greenland was required for “national security purposes” and that Denmark “should give it up6.”…

Ask anyone to name the most famous rock bands or popular singers of the last seventy years and the chances are1 that many of the names you’ll hear will be British. Music is a core2 part of the British identity and a major contributor to the UK economy. And yet3, in recent years, music tuition4 has been disappearing from school curriculums. So where will tomorrow’s musicians come from? MUSIC LESSONS The UK is the second biggest exporter of music on the planet. Before the pandemic, music production generated £5.8 billion a year for the economy and supported over 200,000 jobs. High-quality music tuition used to be free for schoolchildren. During World War Two teams of peripatetic (or itinerant) music teachers travelled between local schools providing free or low-cost instrument lessons…

Good afternoon, you’ve reached Globex Ltd.1 How can I help? Oh, hello. Could you put me through to Jack Smith, please? Of course! Who may I say is calling? It’s John, his main2 supplier 3 in the south. Alright, hold, please! … He’s not at his desk right now. Would you like to try later? When will he be back? Let me look at his agenda. Ah, he’s in meetings all day until 5pm. Oh, I’ll be heading home then. Would you like to leave a message? Yes, please. Can you tell him I’m trying to get hold of him? And ask him to call me tomorrow on my mobile? No problem. Does he have your number? Yes, he does. Thanks for your help. You’re welcome. Have a nice day. You, too.…

ARTÍCULOS POR NIVELES 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-INTERMEDIATEB1 LOWER INTERMEDIATEB2 UPPER INTERMEDIATEC1 ADVANCEDC2 PROFICIENCY GLOSARIO 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. A towering1 figure in British history, Queen Victoria was actually a diminutive figure, just one metre fifty GLOSSARY 1 towering: imponente2 to rule: gobernar3 to number: ascender, sumar EXPLAINS Los textos subrayados en amarillo indican que la frase requiere de una explicación más extensa, como referencias históricas o culturales, frases hechas, proverbios o argot. Encontrarás la explicación al final del artículo. SPEAK UP IN…

When Prince Charles and Camilla married on 9 April 2005, the scandal of the illicit affair they had conducted while both still wed to their respective spouses, Princess Diana and Andrew Parker-Bowles, remained the hallmark1 of their relationship. Tellingly2, the understated3 civil ceremony did not take place on royal grounds. Instead, the couple tied the knot4 at Windsor Guildhall5, which is situated just outside the entrance to Windsor Castle, the royal family’s Berkshire residence, some twenty-five miles away from central London. INTIMATE AFFAIR With just twenty-eight guests6, including Camilla’s ex-husband, their children, Tom and Laura Parker-Bowles, and Princes William and Harry, the wedding was devoid7 of the pomp and ceremony that had defined the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana on 29 July 1981, which was televised and seen…

Last year, director Sam Mendes announced his plan to make four separate films about The Beatles - one from each band member’s perspective. While in Mendes’ films actors will play the parts, this is not the first time that The Beatles have appeared on screen. Between 1964 and 1970, the Fabulous Four made five feature films. In addition, the promo films for their singles were credited with anticipating music videos and the rise of MTV in the 1980s. The group finally broke up in 1970, but there has been a flood1 of films, documentaries and biopics since then. Here are five of the most famous: 1. A Hard Day’s Night (Richard Lester, 1964) The feature film debut of The Beatles, made in a mock-documentary2 style right at the beginning of…

SPEAK UP IN CLASS Jack London was one of the world’s most prolific and best-selling authors of the early 20th century. The Sea-Wolf, published in 1904, is a thrilling1 nautical adventure combining themes of naturalism, romance and the Darwinian drive for survival2. The novel describes the battle of wills3 between Humphrey Van Weyden, an educated literary critic, and Wolf Larsen, a brutal sea captain. DROWNING When his boat sinks4 in San Francisco Bay, Van Weyden fears he will drown5. Rescued by a passing ship, the ominously6 named Ghost, he finds himself questioned by the ship’s captain. Expecting to be put safely to shore7, Van Weyden is instead given an ultimatum by Larsen: “ ‘What do you do for a living?’ ... ‘I–I am a gentleman.’ [...] ‘Who feeds you?’…

UNIT 1 Page 8 B1 LEVEL April Fools’ Day SOLUTIONS PAGE 74 1.1 VOCABULARY ► Match numbers ( 1 - 9 ) and letters ( a - i ) to obtain expressions used in the article. 1.2 TRUE OR FALSE? ► Read the article and decide whether the following statements are true ( T ) or false ( F ). 1.3 VOCABULARY ► Insert the vowels to complete the following nouns used in the article. 1) hnr .............................................. 2) msqrd .............................................. 3) mckry .............................................. 4) vdnc .............................................. 5) srvnt .............................................. 6) glmps .............................................. 7) cck .............................................. 8) mntn .............................................. 9) nblmn .............................................. 10) trty .............................................. 11) trdtn .............................................. 12) prnk .............................................. 13) rfrnc .............................................. 14) cnfsn .............................................. 15) fld…

SPEAK UP IN CLASS April Fools’1 Day, which occurs on 1 April in many countries around the world, is a day for jokes and pranks2, but nobody knows for sure how it started. However, there are several theories of its origins. One theory connects the day to the joyful3 ancient Roman festival Hilaria, celebrated on 25 March in honour of Cybele, the Mother of Gods, with games, masquerades, and mockery4 to welcome the arrival of spring. Other festivals, such as the twoday Hindu Holi, the Persian Sizdah Bedar, and the Jewish Purim, also focus on joy and fun during spring. However, there is no solid evidence linking5 April Fools’ Day to these so-called ‘renewal festivals’. A common trait6 of these festivals is that during these events, the social order is…

The international appeal of the Oxford v. Cambridge Boat Race lies1 in its long history of almost two hundred years and the renown2 of both universities as pioneering and prestigious educational institutions. Another factor that makes the Boat Race special is that those competing are all amateurs. All students who participate are simply committed3 to their sport and willing4 to make sacrifices to gain one of the eight rowing seats5. Oxford post-grad student Sian Dennett hopes to be awarded6 one of these seats in the upcoming race, slated7 for 13 April 2025. As she explained, each of the rowers in the boat has a different role. Sian Dennett: The stroke8 seat is the person who’s setting the rhythm for the crew, and the seven seat, who’s sat behind them, is…

When Maxwell Quinn stepped out1 of the November chill2 into Clandestino, a bar in Manhattan’s Chinatown favoured by a young, fashionable crowd, he quickly passed over the sparkling wines3, dirty martinis and Lagunitas IPA. “Can I get a Guinness?” he said. He wasted no time. Before the foam4 could settle5, he raised the glass to his lips and tilted his head back6. He began to chug7. Quinn, thirty-six, was ‘splitting8 the ‘G’,’ an online trend in which drinkers gulp9 Guinness with the hopes that the horizon between the stout10 and the foam falls in the middle of the ‘G’ on a branded11 pint glass. In some corners of the internet, it seems like everyone — the Jonas Brothers, John Cena, your cousin — is splitting the ‘G.’ Guinness, once synonymous…

Hey, pretty lady,” said the message on Mayah’s app, referring to her online name PrettyLady. She smiled. It was a message from MysteryMan. “Hey, handsome man,” she responded. She had no idea if MysteryMan was handsome or not. She had never met him in person. She had connected with him on a community forum and now they were chatting online every night. “Where’s the old man tonight?” asked MysteryMan, referring to Mayah’s husband, Bernard. “Oh who knows?” typed1 Mayah. “I heard him come in from work but he went directly into his office. He doesn’t even come to talk to me anymore.” “My wife doesn’t talk to me either,” admitted MysteryMan. “It’s like we’ve forgotten how to talk to each other.” “Same,” said Mayah. “I think he finds me boring…