English is Great Support Pack 1

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/britain-great/english-great-part-1

While you listen 5. The first English book was printed about
The Britain is Great series tells you about some _______ years ago.
of the things that make Britain so great. Theres 6. Chaucer wrote the first _______ in the
a lot of fun facts and lots of good language, English language.
too. See if you can answer the questions while 7. Caxton spells the word French as both
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you watch the video. '_______ ' and 'Frenshe' on the same page.
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8. A poem which dates from _______ uses 2 for

Comprehension Task 1 - What topics do 'to' and 4 instead of 'for', just like modern SMS
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Richard and Roger talk about? Choose all the language.

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right answers.
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Language Task 1 -The nineteenth century poet

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a) the number of items in the British Library wrote "I wrote 2 you b4", instead of 'I wrote to
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b) how English has evolved over time you before'. How good is your SMS English?
c) the impact of Shakespeare on English Translate these messages into 'correct' English,
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d) the impact of the Industrial Revolution on one word in each space.

English
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e) the impact of the Internet on English 1. Luv u. C u l8r

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f) a famous printer I _______ _______ . _______ _______

or

g) the first dictionary of English _______ .

h) the first text message ever sent
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i) the versatility of English 2. Ru OK? Pls call me asap.

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_______ _______ OK? _______ call me

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_______ _______ _______ _______ .

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Comprehension Task 2 - Fill in the missing

information with words or numbers from the 3. My hols wr gr8 - & yrs?
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video. My _______ _______ _______ - _______

_______ ?
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1. The British Library has existed for over

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_______ years. 4. Wld u like dnr 2nite?

2. Every year, they have to add _______ _______ _______ like _______ _______?
kilometres of shelves to house the new items.
3. The library has _______ items from all over 5. I need 2 c u b4 I leave.
the world. I need _______ _______ _______ _______
4. A thousand years ago, English was similar to I leave .
_______ .

Page 1 of 3

The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
 English is Great Support Pack 1
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/britain-great/english-great-part-1

Language Task 2 - Richard says 'The British 5. William Caxton later _______ to print
Library's collection just keeps on growing'. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
'Keep on' is a phrasal verb that means a) came out
'continue'. Choose the best phrasal verb in b) got on
these sentences - the first six are from the c) turned up
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video. d) went on
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1. Extra shelves have to be _______ every 6. William Caxton often had to _______ how to
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year. spell words himself.

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a) built up a) call up
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b) got in b) get across

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c) made up c) make up
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d) put up d) see to
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2. The British Library is a good place to come to 7. Texts written in Old English are very hard to
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_______about the English language. read, and it can be difficult to _______ the
a) find out meaning.
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b) look up a) get into

or

c) pick up b) work out

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d) sort out c) take on

d) turn out
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3. We have documents here that _______ a

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thousand years. 8. Many changes have _______ in the English

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a) go back language since the Internet was invented.

b) date from a) broken out
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c) take on b) come about

d) turn up c) gone through
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d) got on
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4. In Shakespeare's period, printing had already

_______ . 9. You've spelt 'necessary' wrong. You've
a) come across _______ the second 's'.
b) come in a) left over
c) ended up b) missed out
d) turned out c) taken off
d) turned out
Page 2 of 3

The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
English is Great Support Pack 1
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/britain-great/english-great-part-1

Page 3 of 3
Comprehension Task 1: a; b; d; e; f; I;
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Comprehension Task 2: 1.250; 2.12; 3.150 million; 4.German; 5. 500; 6.best-seller; 7.Frensshe; 8. 1867/the nineteenth century;
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Language Task 1: 1. I love you. See you later.; 2. Are you OK? Please call as soon as possible.; 3. My holidays were great - and yours?;
4. Would you like dinner tonight?; 5. I need to see you before I leave.
Language Task 2: 1.d; 2.a; 3.a; 4.b; 5.d; 6.c; 7.b; 8.b; 9.b; 10.b

The United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
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ar
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g/
or
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last ten years - everyone understands the more

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10. SMS language has really _______ in the

common abbreviations now, even my mum!

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is
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a) broken out
b) caught on
c) grown up
d) taken up
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