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Podcasts – Themes – Agriculture
Introduction
Download the LearnEnglish Themes podcast. You’ll find more information on this page:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-podcasts-themes.htm
This support pack contains the following materials:

• the article that you can listen to in the podcast
• an optional comprehension activity based on the article
• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (agriculture).
Read the article
Iguana farming
When you think of animal farming, cows, sheep, Behaviour: Iguanas are diurnal, meaning that
goats, horses, pigs, chickens and ducks probably they are awake during the day. They are also
come to mind. cold-blooded, which means they do not produce
their own body heat. In other words, if it is cold,
Most people are aware that nowadays many the iguana is cold too. So to stay warm, green
types of fish are also farmed - in Europe at least iguanas bask in the sun, lying on warm rocks as
15 different types. What is more, so-called they soak up the sun's heat.
"alternative farming" has come to a lot of people's
notice, and a quick search on the Internet can Source: The Wild Ones Animal Index
come up with sites about the farming of ostriches,
llamas, deer, kangaroos, bison and even Iguanas or cattle?
crocodiles. But what about farming lizards? And The green iguana, also known as "bamboo
not only for their skins, to make into shoes or chicken" or "chicken of the tree", has been used
handbags, but for food? as a source of food in Central and South America
for up to 7000 years. However, in many of the
The green iguana regions where they are indigenous, a
combination of factors has meant that they are
Physical Appearance: Full-grown green iguanas now listed as an endangered species.
are usually between four and six feet, although
they have been known to grow up to seven feet Firstly, the iguanas' behaviour does not help their
long. This includes the tail, however, which can cause. When an iguana feels threatened, its
make up about half the body length and, in natural reaction is to drop out of a tree and into
addition to its green colour, has black stripes. water below, where it will wait for the threat to
Green iguanas, not surprisingly, are green in pass. But humans are more intelligent than other
colour, but can be found in many different shades predators, and will go into the water, where it is
ranging from bright green, to a dull, greyish- easy to catch the iguanas.
green. Their skin is rough, with a set of pointy
scales along the iguana's back. Green iguanas Secondly, the best catch for a hunter is a
have long fingers and claws to help them climb pregnant female. Consequently, the number of
and grasp. female iguanas that are of reproductive age has
been greatly reduced.
Geographic Range: The green iguana is found
over a large geographic area, from Mexico to Added to these factors is the problem of
southern Brazil and Paraguay, as well as on the deforestation. In some parts of Central and South
Caribbean Islands. America, such as the vast pampas of Argentina,
the natural habitat is ideal for farming cattle.
Habitat: Iguanas live in tropical rainforest areas, However, in many other areas, forest must be
generally in lower altitudes in areas near water cleared to provide pastures for the cattle to graze.
sources, such as rivers or streams. They spend Cutting down forests, as environmentalists are
most of their time high in the forest canopy, about well aware, can have devastating effects, such as
40-50 feet above the ground. erosion, reduced water resources and a decrease
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The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
in soil fertility. It has also contributed decisively to hectare. Iguana chow is a mixture of broken rice,
the sharp fall in the iguana population. meat, bone, and fish meal, papayas, mangos,
bananas, avocados, as well as a variety of leaves
If estimates are true that iguanas can yield as and flowers. Smallholders can erect simple
much protein per unit area as cattle, then it feeding stations and keep them stocked with
seems to make good sense to concentrate on the table scraps or weedy vegetation. This makes for
restoration and protection of tropical forests for low-cost production before the iguanas reach
food and habitat, and farm the native iguanas harvesting size."
rather than the intruding cattle.
Source: Iguana Farming - A Source of Food and a
How to farm iguanas Method of Tropical Forest Preservation
"The key elements of iguana farming are
reproduction in captivity, controlled incubation, Where are iguanas being farmed?
and raising hatchlings in captivity. Once the The pioneer of iguana farming is Dr Dagmar
hatchlings are seven months old, they are Werner, a German herpetologist, who founded
released into forested areas on farms, where they the Pro Iguana Verde Foundation. She is
grow to harvestable size in two additional years. currently working with six Panamanian
communities, and is involving others in Costa
To create the farms, enclosures are constructed Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala. Countries that
using sheet-metal walls sunk 30 cm into the have expressed interest in her program include El
ground. Inside, the animals sleep in shelters Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia and Venezuela.
made of bamboo and other vegetation. Each
shelter has an adjustable entrance slit through The Foundation has set up "Iguana Park" near
which young lizards can slither, but predators, Orotina in Costa Rica, which is both an eco-
which are usually larger, cannot. Most enclosures tourism facility and a place to demonstrate and
are set on stilts and food is served in the shade undertake further research on the sustainable
underneath. With this system, 20 to 60 young use of forests.
iguanas are kept in a 10 square metre area. The
iguana farms also include an artificial nest In Belize, the Belize Zoo started its Iguana
consisting of a "tunnel" leading to a sand-filled, Breeding Program, designed so the typical
egg-laying chamber. Both tunnel and chamber Belizean could raise iguanas for food.
are made of predator-safe material and are easily And in the La Mosquitia rainforest in Honduras,
accessible by the farmer. there is an Iguana Vigilantes group, whose motto
Artificial nests increase the number of hatched is "The iguana is our heritage, our future. We
eggs and their survival rate to 90%, versus 50% have to take care of it."
in the wild. Using food supplements (iguana With initiatives like these, we can only hope that
chow), it is estimated that the population can be the future of iguana farming is assured.
maintained at 6 to 10 times the level possible in a
rainforest, or around 50 adult iguanas per
After reading
Exercise 1
Below are 10 statements about the text. Decide if each statement is True or False.
1. The author thinks that many people will be surprised that lizards are farmed.
2. Green iguanas are well equipped for life in trees.
3. Iguanas are cold, even if they are in the sun.
4. Iguanas behaviour can protect them against less intelligent predators.
5. Iguanas are suited to the habitat of the pampas.
6. Iguanas may be able to earn farmers as much from the same area of land as cows.
7. Iguanas are ready for "harvesting" in two years.
8. Young iguanas can escape from predators by entering the shelters.
9. Artificial nests allow twice as many hatchlings to survive than in the wild.
10. The author is hopeful that iguana farming has a bright future.
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More activities on this topic

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of agriculture at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-agriculture.htm
• Word game: Practise the names of farm animals and other words related to farms.
• Story: Animal Farm. This satirical novel by George Orwell is ostensibly about a group of animals
who oust the humans from the farm they live on and run it themselves, only to have it corrupted into
a brutal tyranny.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about agriculture.
• There are also 2 agriculture-related cartoons and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to Exercise 1: 1. True (T); 2. T; 3. False (F); 4. T; 5. F; 6. T; 7. F; 8. T; 9. F; 10. T
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Wild animals
Introduction

• The article that you can listen to in the podcast
• An optional comprehension activity based on the article
• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (animals).
Read the article: Wild animal trivia

Bears giraffe's neck to stop the blood rushing to its
At the end of last century, every tenth house in head when it bends down. Giraffes make no
St Petersburg would have at least one pet bear noise and show affection by pressing their
cub during the season. Lord Byron kept a pet necks together. The giraffe gives birth standing
bear when he was at Cambridge University. up, which means that the first experience of
Bears have been observed to climb telegraph each baby giraffe is a fall to earth from a height
poles in their search for honey, mistaking the of about 6 feet (1.83 metres). The neck of the
buzzing sound for that of bees. Bears have giraffe has seven vertebrae, the same number
been taught to play basketball. Dr Leon Smith, as in the human neck.
their coach, commented: “Food is now Hippopotamuses
secondary to the thrill of making a score”. In the Nigerian Navy, there are twenty ships all
According to Mexican folklore, it is dangerous of whose names mean ‘hippopotamus’ in
for a woman to catch sight of a bear in a zoo various dialects of the country. Hippos can run
while she is pregnant, because her baby could faster than men. They give birth underwater,
take the form of the bear. Eskimo women never and the first act of the newborn is to float to the
comb their hair on the day a polar bear is to be surface for its first breath of air. Hungary
killed. All polar bears are left-handed. exports more hippos than any other European
Elephants country. Hippos cannot swim.
The elephant may be distinguished from other Monkeys and apes
animals by its knee joints, which are much lower Art school examiners in Pretoria, South Africa,
down than in most hoofed creatures. It is thus once gave a pass mark to a chimpanzee’s
able to bend its hind legs in the fashion of a drawings which had been submitted as a joke
kneeling man. Ivan the Terrible put an elephant by a student. According to the United States
to death because it bowed down before him. customs office at Baltimore, “paint placed on a
The African elephant sleeps in a standing canvas by a sub-human animal” is not a work of
position. The elephant needs only two hours art and therefore cannot be allowed to enter
sleep a day. The elephant cannot jump, but is their country free of duty. This was decided in
the only animal apart from man that has been 1950 when an attempt was made to import
taught to stand on its head. It is forbidden to paintings produced at London Zoo by the
lead an elephant through the approach tunnels chimpanzee artist Congo. They were heading
of London’s Heathrow Airport. In Milwaukee, pet for an exhibition of monkey art. A customs
elephants must be kept on a lead when taken spokesman commented, however, “If we did not
for a walk on public streets. know they were produced by an animal we
Giraffes would have thought they were good modern
Giraffes’ milk is seven times richer in protein art”. The gorilla sleeps for fourteen hours a day,
than cow’s milk. Their hearts weigh about 25 lb. is a vegetarian, and has no hair on its chest.
(11.4 kgs.) and their blood pressure is two or Gorillas never snore. Chimpanzees often greet
three times that of man, which is quite one another by shaking hands.
necessary considering how high the blood must (Source: The Ultimate Irrelevant Encyclopaedia by
be pumped. There is a unique valve in a Bill Hartson and Jill Dawson).
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Podcasts – Themes – Wild animals
After reading
Apart from the main reading skills (skimming, scanning, intensive and extensive reading) there are
other skills that a reader must acquire. One of these is the ability to infer information, or to read
between the lines. This involves making use of clues (syntactic, logical and cultural) to discover the
meaning of unknown elements. The activity that follows is designed to help you develop this skill.
Exercise 1
Answer the 10 questions below by “reading between the lines” of the text.
1) Which animal seems best suited to praying?

2) Which animal would do best in the Olympic stadium?
3) Which animal causes people to look worse than usual?
4) Which animal offended a dictator?
5) Which animal would be most welcome in a library?
6) Which animal is the laziest?
7) Which animal could get a shock when it is hungry?
8) Which animal has special protection when having a drink?
9) Which animal seems poorly adapted to its natural habitat?
10) Which animal would be easiest to sleep with?

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of animals at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-animals.htm
• Magazine articles: There are 12 articles, including creepy crawlies; flea circuses; iguana
farming and sea monsters.
• Word games: There are 28 word games, including animal idioms; animal noises; venomous
animals and zoo puzzle.
• Stories: There are 8 stories, including Aesop’s fables; Chinese zodiac; The Dinosaur in Jake’s
Garage and The Hunting Bird.
• Poems: There are 6 poems, including The cat that walked by himself; Danger in the Wet; The
Tyger and Wolf poetry.
• Trivia: The following trivia topics are available for this theme: animal conservation; biodiversity;
creepy crawlies; dinosaurs and pets.
• There are also more than 30 animals-related cartoons, and the following sets of carefully selected
external links: animal conservation; biodiversity; creepy crawlies; dinosaurs and pets.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. elephant ("It is thus able to bend its hind legs in the fashion of a
kneeling man."); 2. hippo ("Hippos can run faster than men." [It is not the bear, because basketball is not played
in the Olympic stadium]); 3. (polar) bear ("Eskimo women never comb their hair on the day a polar bear is to be
killed."); 4. elephant ("Ivan the Terrible put an elephant to death because it bowed down before him."); 5. giraffe
("Giraffes make no noise."); 6. gorilla ("The gorilla sleeps for fourteen hours a day."); 7. bear ("Bears have been
observed to climb telegraph poles in their search for honey, mistaking the buzzing sound for that of bees."); 8.
giraffe ("There is a unique valve in a giraffe's neck to stop the blood rushing to its head when it bends down.");
9. hippo ("Hippos cannot swim."); 10. gorilla ("Gorillas never snore.")
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Assassination
Introduction

• An optional language activity based on the article
• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (assassination).
Read the article
Assassination
by Richard Sidaway
My heart burnt within me with indignation and BC. The father of Alexander the Great, Phillip of
grief; we could think of nothing else. All night long Macedon, received his coup de grâce in similar
we had only snatches of sleep, waking up fashion a century later. The word itself is
perpetually to the sense of a great shock and supposed to derive from an 11th century religious
grief. Every one is feeling the same. I never knew sect in Iran called the Assassins or Hashishim,
so universal a feeling. who saw it as their duty to eliminate enemies in
this way, their name coming possibly from their
This was the reaction of Elizabeth Gaskell, an habit of eating hashish.
English writer, on hearing of the shooting of US
President Abraham Lincoln in 1865; but it could Headcount
well describe the feelings of millions on Throughout history, political or religious
November 22nd 1963 when another US president succession has often been a bloody affair. In
fell victim to an assassin’s bullet. The event so virtually every society, the phenomenon repeats
etched itself into the collective memory that years itself. In the United States, four presidents have
after people could remember exactly where they been assassinated, most recently of course John
were and what they were doing when they heard F Kennedy on that day in Dallas, Texas in 1963.
the news. There are few other types of historical In Russia three Tsars have perished in the same
moment that affect so many people in quite this way. In Italy seven Popes, in Egypt, one
way. President and two Prime Ministers, in France
three kings, including the last…or was that
When in Rome merely execution?
Back in the days of the Roman Empire, being the
top dog was just as risky a business and Little triggers
assassination was an occupational hazard. If you So what exactly constitutes an assassination?
take a look at the long list of emperors who met The word always implies the murder of someone
their death at the hands of others, you wonder important, usually involved in politics. And the
what made the job so attractive. In the period assassin is sometimes doing it for money, but
between 284 and 41 BC, more than half of the 40 more often for a cause. The Anarchists of late
or so emperors came to a premature and violent 19th century Europe saw it as a legitimate political
end while in office, often at the hands of the weapon which would cause the downfall of the
soldiers who were supposed to protect them - whole ruling hierarchy: President Carnot of
from Heliogabalus down to Claudius and Julius France, the Empress of Austria, and King
Caesar, not forgetting Caligula this very week in Umberto I of Italy were all sacrificed to this
AD 41. philosophy, although the edifice refused to
crumble. Political extremists of the Far Left
Where it all began followed the same path in Italy and Germany in
The earliest known examples of assassination the 1970s. At certain points in history, however,
may be in Iran, where three Kings were done such acts can set off a far larger chain of
away with after palace intrigue in the 5th century violence, as occurred after the slaying of the
Page 1 of 3
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austro-Hungary in services played in the death in 1961 of Patrice
1914 or the Prime Minister of Rwanda in 1994. Lumumba, PM of Congo.
Give us the tools…

And how has the assassin plied his trade? In
ancient times, the knife was favoured for a quick
end and poisoning for a slower lingering death,
while in modern times it is usually the gun, but
not only. The bomb, the plane crash, the ice-pick
and the exploding cigar have all been employed.
And as for that infamous Russian personal
lifestyle coach, Rasputin, poisoning, shooting,
beating and drowning were all apparently
necessary before he finally gave up the ghost.
The ones that got away

Which brings me to the subject of assassinations
that failed. Cuba’s Fidel Castro must hold the
Democratisation of death record for the political leader who has survived
The demise of absolute rulers in the 20th century the most attempts to get rid of him. He has
hasn’t put an end to this type of selective killing. employed a food taster for decades as did
Prime Minister was just as dangerous a position Roman emperors of old. In England, one plot that
to occupy as king or emperor before it; failed to kill King James I and the entire
Afghanistan, Burundi, India, Israel, Japan, parliament in 1605 is still commemorated to this
Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Rumania, South day every November with fireworks and bonfires
Africa, and Sri Lanka are among the nations that to symbolise the explosives the conspirators tried
have had at least one PM assassinated at some to use.
point. A certain ruler of the United Kingdom
narrowly escaped death from a bomb meant for Inexplicable
her in 1984. And what about those public figures who were
targeted out of the blue? I have always thought it
Fair game? rather bizarre that anyone would want to murder
Political activists are also seen as legitimate John Lennon or Andy Warhol, not to mention Olof
targets for assassination by those who disagree Palme, the Prime Minister, and recently Anna
with their views. Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther Lindh, the Foreign Minister, of Sweden, one of
King and Chico Mendes immediately spring to the world’s most peaceful societies. It just goes to
mind. More recently, it is powerful men in the show you don’t have to be a tyrant or involved in
world of business and law who have become a power struggle to be the victim of a madman.
prey to the dedicated assassin. In Europe, since
the 1980s, German industrialists, Greek ship The grassy knoll and the patsy
owners, Spanish bank directors and Italian One persistent feature of assassinations are the
judges have all been bumped off. conspiracy theories that go with them - did the
marksman really act alone? Conspiracies are not
Hidden hands difficult to construct. Ask yourself who would have
Other states are sometimes involved in wanted the victim dead and then collect a few
assassination by proxy: a prime example being facts about the crime that don’t quite tally. Add in
SS leader Heydrich in Czechoslovakia during the obvious point that high-ranking figures are
WWII, killed by resistance fighters on the orders often involved with the secret services and have
of the UK government intelligence service. The access to sensitive information that ordinary
involvement of foreign powers is suspected but citizens are not allowed to see, and you have
still unproven in other cases: Salvador Allende, yourself a very fertile mixture which can keep
Prime Minister of Chile and Samora Machel, those with an active imagination busy for years .
President of Mozambique, are but two; Belgium
has now apologised for the part its intelligence
Page 2 of 3
By the content of their character

Whatever the true circumstances surrounding Like anybody, I would like to live a long life.
their death, many high profile figures live on long Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned
after they are taken from us in so sudden and about that now. I just want to do God's will. And
shocking a manner. I leave you with the he’s allowed me to go to the mountain. And I've
portentous words of Martin Luther King spoken looked over, and I've seen the promised land! I
on the night before he died. His life is now may not get there with you, but I want you to
celebrated in the USA by a public holiday on the know tonight that we as a people will get to the
third Monday of January every year. promised land.
After reading
Exercise 1
Death is referred to in many ways in the article. Can you match up the beginnings of the 10 expressions
in the left-hand column with the ends in the right-hand column?
1. Fall to a premature/violent end

2. Meet bumped off
3. Come your coup de grace
4. be done from us
5. Receive rid of
6. Be taken victim to
7. Become away with
8. Be the ghost
9. give up your death
10. Get prey to

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of assassination at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-assassination.htm
• Word games: Idioms with 'kill'. Practise idiomatic expressions using the word 'kill' by completing
a jigsaw puzzle.
• Story: A Small Family Business. “One last job”, thought Jack Robino. “One last job, then I’ll finally
retire.” Jack knew that it was time to give up working and go and collect his pension like other
people of his age. But would his last job work out?
• History: The following articles are available: Aldo Moro killing, Malcom X killing, Oswald killing,
Pope killing attempt, Rabin killing, Reagan killing attempt, Robert Kennedy killing, Sadat killing
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about assassination.
• There is also an assassination-related cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to activity 1: 1. fall victim to; 2. meet your death; 3. come to a premature/violent end; 4. be
done away with; 5. receive your coup de grace; 6. be taken from us; 7. become prey to; 8. be bumped
off; 9. give up the ghost; 10. get rid of
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Podcasts – Themes – Board Games
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (board games).
Read the article
Little Wooden Armies

by Keith Sands
1500 years ago and date of birth are still a mystery. India, China,
A king in India named Kaid, who had built a huge Persia, Greece? Nobody knows.
empire, was sick at heart. He called his minister, What is definitely true in the story is the point
Sassa, to him and said : “Day and night I think Sassa was making with his rice. Chess is pretty
about my past battles, I dream of conquests and much infinite. We don’t know the number of
invasions, I can’t sleep for thinking about possible games even today, when a
imaginary wars and victories. But I have no more supercomputer can beat the World Champion.
enemies, and it is a sin to make war without There’s an Indian proverb: “Chess is a lake in
cause. What can I do to regain my peace of which a mosquito can bathe - and an elephant
mind?” can drown”.
The minister thought of a game which he had Children like to command a little wooden army,
learnt from a Greek soldier. He taught the rules to and even adults like to play Napoleon. That’s how
the king, who found the game so engrossing, they get started. Later, players realize the
such a perfect substitute for war, that he was a technical complexity and finally, they see the
happy man again. He asked Sassa: game’s awesome artistic beauty. It’s a unique
“How can I reward you? Gold? Jewels? Perhaps combination of war game, sport, science and art.
you want to marry one of my daughters? Choose A mirror of history
anything you like.” But Sassa said :
In its long journey around the world, chess has
“Take a grain of rice and place it on the first borrowed from the cultures that took it in. The
square of the board. Put two grains on the West plays with bishops, knights and queens,
second square. Keep going, doubling the number because they were powerful people in medieval
of grains each time, until you have covered all the Europe when chess became popular. But in the
64 squares on the board.” East, including Russia, these pieces are named
At first they laughed at Sassa for his modesty and the elephant, horse and ferz (minister), as in
simplicity. But then they discovered that the rice Indian Chaturanga.
would exceed all the wealth in the known world. Chess moved west but it also moved East, and
A mystery its Eastern versions - Chinese Xaing-pi and
Japanese Shigo – also reflect history. In Shigo,
The game, if you haven’t guessed, was chess. some of the pieces can even change sides, like
It’s interesting that in all the various legends of mercenary soldiers in the age of the Samurai.
chess’s origins the game is always said to come
from somewhere else. Chess has a number of The players, too, reflect the spirit of their times.
known ancestors– the four-player Indian game Anatoly Karpov, who dominated the game in the
Chaturanga among them – but its ultimate place 1970s, played Cold War chess - Iron Curtain
chess. He was slow and defensive but almost
Page 1 of 3
impossible to beat. Garry Kasparov took the title the board and smashed his opponent on the
from him in 1985, on the eve of great changes in head with it. Boards were made of stone in those
the USSR. He played Gorbachev chess, days. Ouch.
perestroika chess. Radical solutions to problems,
and risky moves with unpredictable results. His Grandmasters have called it “a blood sport”, “like
style was like a breath of fresh air. a fight to the death with broken bottles” and “very
dangerous – you have to kill people.”
If you agree with the old saying that life is too

short for chess, play blitz chess. Five minutes on
the clock. Non-players think chess is slow and
boring, but blitz is a high adrenaline sport. And as
aggressive as any martial art. In parks in Russia,
where they gather in summer to play blitz, the
players don’t just take pieces, they knock them
off the board onto the ground. And in the classic
game, even world championship players have
been known to kick each other under the table.
From the boxing ring to the chess board
With all this aggression, and the stories of

An extreme sport? nervous breakdowns among chess players, it’s
worth remembering that chess can heal as well
In my passion for chess, I’m in good company. as harm. My own favourite chess story is that of
Charlemagne, King Henry II, Napoleon, Tolstoy, John Healy. His autobiography, The Grass
Rousseau, Nabokov and Che Guevara. Chess Arena, was made into a great film by the BBC.
players all. Healy was a failed boxer who became the most
serious kind of alcoholic. He became homeless.
The French artist Marcel Duchamps took his The bottle nearly killed him. But in prison, he
obsession further. He took three years off from discovered chess, and managed to give up
art to become a chess master, and played for drinking completely. He is now a successful
France in the Chess Olympiad. He was prouder chess player, journalist and writer.
of his chess mastery than all his artistic
achievements. Healy is played in the film by the British actor
Mark Rylance. It’s the performance of a lifetime –
With all these kings, artists and writers playing chess makes surprisingly good cinema. There is
chess, you might get the idea that chess is the a moving scene where Healy tries to find the
ultimate civilized pursuit. But you’d be wrong. words to describe how his life has changed. “It’s
like boxing again…but not with fists… with the
A Scandinavian manuscript, 900 years old, tells mind.” King Kaid, fighting his imaginary battles,
of how one player, who lost a game, picked up would surely have recognized him.
After reading:
Exercise 1: Decide if each of the 14 statements about the text are True or False.
1. King Kaid was a successful warrior. 8. Karpov and Kasparov had very different
2. Sassa was a simple person. styles of play.
3. The story proves that chess came from India. 9. Marcel Duchamp gave up chess to make art.
4. We don’t know the number of possible chess 10. Chess doesn’t have to be a slow game.
games even now. 11. There’s a lot of aggression in chess.
5. People like chess for different reasons. 12. Chess drove John Healy to drink.
6. In Russia, one of the pieces is a bishop. 13. Mark Rylance acts very well in the film.
7. Shigo is exactly the same as chess. 14. It’s impossible to make a good film about
chess.
Page 2 of 3

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of board games at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-board-games.htm
• Word game: Board games. Match the names of 10 different board games to descriptions of them.
• Story: A Game of Go. Two people sit down opposite each other to play a game. Between them is a
large wooden board. One of the players is an old man. He is now 89 years old. He has spent all of
his life playing this game, which is called Go. The other person is a young woman. The young
woman has only been playing Go for three years.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about board games.
• There is also a board game-related cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity:
1. True (T); 2. False (F); 3. F; 4. T; 5. T; 6. F; 7. F; 8. T; 9. F; 10. T; 11. T; 12. F; 13. T; 14. F
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Old Age
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (old age).
Read the article
Building Bridges
by Linda Baxter
Being old is when you know all the answers but combining a residential home for the elderly with
nobody asks you the questions. a crèche/nursery school in the same building.
(Anonymous) The children and the residents eat lunch together
and share activities such as music, painting,
Six months before she died, my grandmother gardening, and caring for the pets which the
moved into an old people's home and I visited her residents are encouraged to keep. In the
there when I was in Britain. She was sitting in the afternoons, the residents enjoy reading or telling
living room with about fifteen other residents, stories to the children, and if a child is feeling sad
mostly women, half of them asleep. The room or tired, there is always a kind lap to sit on and a
was clean and warm, with flowers and pictures, cuddle. There are trips out and birthday parties
and the care assistants were kind and cheerful. too.
'The Weakest Link' was on the television ('to keep
their brains active' one of the assistants said), The advantages are enormous for everyone
and the only other sound was snoring and concerned. The children are happy because they
embarrassing digestive noises. People only get a lot more individual attention, and respond
moved when they needed to be helped to the well because someone has time for them. They
bathroom. It was depressing. Gran talked a lot also learn that old people are not 'different' or
about how much she missed seeing her frightening in any way. And of course, they see
grandchildren (my nieces aged 7 and 5), but I illness and death and learn to accept them. The
knew from my sister that they hated going to visit residents are happy because they feel useful and
her there, and to be perfectly honest, I couldn't needed. They are more active and more
wait to get away myself. interested in life when the children are around
and they take more interest in their appearance
too. And the staff are happy because they see
an improvement in the physical and psychological
health of the residents and have an army of
assistants to help with the children.
Nowadays there is less and less contact between

the old the young. There are many reasons for
this, including the breakdown of the extended
family, working parents with no time to care for
ageing relations, families that have moved away,
and smaller flats with no room for grandparents.
But the result is the same - increasing numbers of
children without grandparents and old people
who have no contact with children. And more old
So I was interested to read a newspaper article people who are lonely and feel useless, along
about a new concept in old people's homes in with more and more families with young children
France. The idea is simple, but revolutionary -
Page 1 of 3
who desperately need more support. It's a major losing their sight. The young people help with
problem in many societies. practical things such as writing letters, reading
bank statements and helping with shopping, and
That's why intergenerational programmes, the older people can pass on their knowledge
designed to bring the old and the young together, and experience to their young visitors. For
are growing in popularity all over the world, example, a retired judge may be paired with a
supported by UNESCO and other local and teenager who wants to study law. Lasting
international organisations. There are examples friendships often develop.
of successful initiatives all over the world. Using
young people to teach IT skills to older people is But it isn't only the individuals concerned who
one obvious example. Using old people as gain from intergenerational activities. The
volunteer assistants in schools is another, advantages to society are enormous too. If older
perhaps reading with children who need extra people can understand and accept the youth of
attention. There are schemes which involve older today, and vice versa, there will be less conflict in
people visiting families who are having problems, a community. In a world where the number of old
maybe looking after the children for a while to people is increasing, we need as much
give the tired mother a break. Or 'adopt a understanding and tolerance as possible.
grandparent' schemes in which children write Modern Western society has isolated people into
letters or visit a lonely old person in their area. age groups and now we need to rediscover what
There are even holiday companies that specialise 'community' really means. And we can use the
in holidays for children and grandparents strengths of one generation to help another.
together. One successful scheme in London Then perhaps getting old won't be such a
pairs young volunteers with old people who are depressing prospect after all.
After reading
Exercise 1: For each of the 5 questions below choose the best answer, depending on the information in
the text above.
1. What was wrong with the home that the writer's grandmother was in?
a) The old people weren't looked after properly.
b) Children weren't allowed to visit.
c) The residents had no stimulation.
2. What was the new concept that the writer read about in the newspaper?
a) Old people being allowed to keep pets.
b) A nursery school inside an old people's home.
c) Children visiting old people for lunch and birthdays.
3. Who benefits from this new type of old people's home?

a) The staff.
b) The staff and the old people.
c) The staff, the old people and the children.
4. What does the writer think is a major problem in society today?

a) The breakdown of the extended family.
b) There isn't much contact between the old and the young.
c) Old people are lonely.
5. Why are intergenerational activities important nowadays?

a) There will be more old people in the future.
b) Western communities are isolated.
c) Old people don't like young people.
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You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of old age at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-old-age.htm
• Word game: Idioms with "Old". Do a jigsaw puzzle and learn different idiomatic expressions that
include the word "old".
• Poem: The Seven Ages of Man. The famous lines from Shakespeare's play As You Like It.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about old age.
• There is also a cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. c); 2. b); 3. c); 4. b); 5. a)
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Canada
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (Canada).
Read the article
Great films that aren’t really about Canada

by John Kuti
Like most people I suppose, I know the USA 165 people are killed by guns every year, in the
from watching American films. I think my view of United States 11,127.
Canada is nearly the same, the only problem is
that you can’t see much of Canada in American Is violence caused by unemployment? Well
films. Marilyn Monroe became a star after the that’s higher in Canada.
1953 film “Niagara”. In it, she visits the falls on
her honeymoon and plans to kill her husband.
Like in that film, Canada for me is a place that
starts somewhere on the other side of that
enormous waterfall.
From Toronto you can drive to Niagara Falls in

about 2 hours. It lies between Lake Erie and
Lake Ontario on the border between The United
States and Canada. There are lots of fun things
to do there. If you are interested in the waterfall
itself you might like to go on “The journey
behind the fall” a tunnel in the rock behind the
water. The place is also popular with lovers. Is it caused by having lots of guns? In Canada
Actually the tradition of honeymoon journeys there are about 10 million families and about 7
was started as a way to promote Niagara Falls million guns. They are a nation of hunters.
as a tourist destination. The spot also attracts
crazy people who want to throw themselves Guns are easy to buy in The States – but the
over the edge. These days it’s not bad if you same seems to be true in Canada too.
like casinos. The latest one to open is called
Fallsview casino, which, they say, is more The film doesn’t exactly solve the mystery, but it
luxurious and sophisticated than the Casino seems to have something to do with politics.
Niagara.
Mahowny, the main character in the other film,
I have a two-sided DVD which is my main is Canadian, and the film is based on the real
source of information for this article. There’s a story of the biggest fraud ever committed in
film called “Bowling For Columbine” on one Canada. It begins with a very short shot of a
side, and on the other “Owning Mahowny”. huge powerful waterfall, if you watch to the end
of the film and still remember those first few
Bowling for Columbine is a film about the United seconds you might realise that this is Niagara
States. More specifically about a mysterious Falls. Mahowny is being interviewed by a
something that makes it such a violent society. psychotherapist, and the words come up on the
Canada appears for comparison. In Canada screen “Based on real events in Toronto, 1980-
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Canada
82”… but then we go right back to the beginning they are going to get married – but he spends
of the story. Mahowny works in a bank, and the whole time in the casino. He doesn’t care
seems to be doing well, but we quickly learn about anything except the results of his bets.
that he has serious problems. He can’t stop
gambling, and he’s getting further and further On Mahoney’s last trip to the States he flies with
into debt. the ladies from the casino. One of them says
Niagara Falls looks “just fantastic”.
Instead of trying to save and pay back the
money, he starts flying to Atlantic City and “I’ve never been” he says, “I guess I don’t want
gambling his bank’s money in a casino. Of to use up all of Canada too soon.”
course this doesn’t help. He takes more and
more from the bank. It’s a sad and painful Of course in the end he goes to prison, but
process to watch. He is unpleasant to everyone, there is some hope for the future, if not exactly
especially his girlfriend. She waits for him at a happy ending. He takes his girlfriend to
home and he always disappoints her. He takes Niagara Falls.
her for a weekend in Las Vegas and she thinks
After reading
Exercise
Choose one of the 7 prepositions from the box to complete each of the sentences:
for back up with about into by
1. The hero was interviewed ……… a psychotherapist.

2. He was getting further and further ……… debt.
3. He would never be able to pay the money ……….
4. Does this film have anything to do ……… Canada?
5. Canada is enormous...you can never use it ……….
6. He doesn't seem to care ……… his girlfriend.
7. The film starts at the end of the story, then it goes ……… to the beginning.
8. Maybe violence is caused ……… unemployment
9. The place is popular ……… lovers.
10. A lot of people are killed ……… guns in America.
11. Canada appears ……… comparison.
12. Of course they use their guns ……… hunting.
13. It begins ……… a shot of a waterfall.
14. Words come ……… on the screen

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of refugees at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-canada.htm
• Word game: Canadian English. Match words in Canadian English to their equivalents in British English.
• Poem: Canada. Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts was the first Canadian to be knighted for his work as a
writer. According to one source: "Those of his poetical compositions that are distinctively Canadian are
regarded as being specially excellent”.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about Canada.
• There is also a Canada-related cartoon, a poll, and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to exercise:
1.by; 2.into; 3.back; 4.with; 5.up; 6.about; 7.back; 8.by; 9. with; 10. by; 11. for; 12. for; 13. with; 14. up
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Christmas
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (Christmas).
Read the article
Christmas – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

by Keith Sands
Christmas is one of those holidays which means of 1970s rock. Played endlessly in British pubs
very different things to different people. and on the radio through December. It is the
musical equivalent of jumping up and down with
It can be a spiritual time, a family time, a time for heavy boots on and trying to drink beer at the
giving, a time for partying or a time for just over- same time. I remember once, at a Christmas
eating... Most people (in those countries where it party, picking up my can of beer and taking a sip
is the main religious festival of the year) find - to find out someone had used the can as an
something to enjoy about Christmas, whether ashtray. And this song is the theme tune of that
they are Christians or not. But hasn’t Christmas in kind of party.
the consumer age become just a bit too big? And Replace with: The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s
a lot too commercial? Fairytale of New York: a great, soulful Christmas
song.
I think so. The secret of a good Christmas is to be
selective. Here is my personal list of the things
Christmas (at any rate, Christmas in Britain)
would be infinitely better without. Let’s get rid
of….
Plastic Christmas trees

Fussy people don’t like trees that drop their
needles on the carpet. Surely, in the age of
vacuum cleaners, this is not a problem any
more? Worst of all are those plastic trees that
come with their own decorations already
attached, so depriving children of the great
pleasure of hanging the decorations themselves.
Replace with: Real fir trees, from sustainable
forests. Bing Crosby’s White Christmas
While we’re on the subject of Christmas songs,
Fairy lights that don’t work let’s not forget that this sentimental 1950s tune is
We have sent people to the moon. Computers the biggest selling single of all time. It’s ideal for
have changed our lives. On the Internet, huge falling asleep in an armchair but finally just too
amounts of information travel all over the world at nostalgic. And very annoying.
the speed of light. So it shouldn’t be too difficult to Replace with: Silent Night, a beautiful German
put a few coloured light bulbs in a row, so they carol known all over the world.
last until New Year without breaking down.
Replace with: Candles. And fireproof fir trees. Office parties
Doesn’t a computer decorated with tinsel, and an
Slade’s "Merry Christmas Everybody" office with paper chains hanging from the ceiling,
A stomping, two-chord song from the dark days look just a tiny bit depressing? And office
Page 1 of 3
Christmas parties are worse. Under the influence Turkey with Cranberry Sauce
of cheap wine in paper coffee-cups, strange In Britain, the usual Christmas dinner is turkey
things happen with the photocopier. Rude with cranberry sauce – although ultra-
messages are faxed to clients. Most people can’t traditionalists may prefer goose. Cranberry sauce
relax in the office. And those that can will is basically a kind of jam. We don’t put jam on
probably do something they’ll regret later. meat at other times of year, so why at Christmas?
Replace with: an extra afternoon off work. Replace with: No cranberry sauce.
British Christmas Weather Consumerism

In Richard Curtis films (like the recent hit "Love, You know what I mean. Adverts for toys on
Actually"), it always snows at Christmas in children’s TV. Department stores which put out
London. The city is covered with a beautiful white Christmas decorations as early as September.
blanket, the perfect setting for a romantic happy The stress of Christmas shopping. Everywhere
ending. What’s the reality of Christmas weather in the message is spend, spend, spend. Christmas
the South of England? Grey skies with a good is a Christian religious festival, to celebrate the
chance of cold drizzle in the late afternoon. birth of Jesus Christ. It’s not just an excuse for
Replace with: Russian Christmas weather. making money.
Replace with: Midnight carols at church, peace
TV on earth, and goodwill to all men.
It’s a fact that we spend more time in front of the
TV at Christmas than at any other time of year. So that’s my advice. Avoid these things and you’ll
The TV schedules are filled with old films, have a good chance of having a truly Merry
comedy “Christmas Specials”, soap operas with Christmas. Which is what I wish you now. And a
Christmas-related plots, and of course hundreds happy new year.
of adverts. Switch it off and visit your relatives
instead.
Replace with: log fires, board games.
After reading
Exercise 1
Below are 11 statements about the text. For each one decide if it is True or False.
1. The writer doesn’t like Christmas.

2. He doesn’t like the commercialisation of Christmas.
3. It’s not really difficult to clean up the needles from a real tree.
4. He is impressed by the technology of fairy lights.
5. He doesn’t like any Christmas songs.
6. He mentions two kinds of party he doesn’t like.
7. He thinks the film ‘Love Actually’ is realistic.
8. Christmas should be a time for visiting your family.
9. He thinks Cranberry sauce goes well with turkey.
10. He enjoys Christmas shopping.
11. He seems to prefer a rather traditional Christmas.
Page 2 of 3

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of Christmas at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-christmas.htm
• Magazine article: Christmas Past or Christmas Presents. “Christmas is a time of many
traditions which haven’t changed in centuries but its meaning has changed for me as I have got
older”.
• Word game: Christmas jokes. Match the questions and answers to get the Christmas jokes
• Game: Run Santa Run! In this fun Christmas game, you control Santa, making him jump and duck
to avoid obstacles. See how far you can get him to run without getting knocked over!
• Story: A Christmas Carol. This story by Charles Dickens is a Victorian morality tale of an old and
bitter miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, who undergoes a profound experience of redemption.
• Story: The Christmas the Lights Went Out : Five people, whose lives interrelate, live the build up
to Christmas in different ways in different places. A sudden blackout changes their lives forever ...
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about Christmas.
• There are also 2 Christmas-related cartoons, a poll and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity:
1. False (F); 2. True (T); 3. T; 4. F; 5. F; 6. T; 7. F; 8. T; 9. F; 10. F; 11. T
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Classical Music
Introduction

• an optional language activity based on the article
• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (classical music).
Read the article
Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about Mozart

Among composers of the classical period, the concerning the formation of musical taste in rats.
most prolific was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart A group of experimental rats were played Mozart
(1756-91) of Austria, who wrote c. 1,000 operas, all day long during their infancy. They heard The
operettas, symphonies, violin sonatas, Magic Flute, the Fifth Violin Concerto K.219, and
divertimenti, serenades, motets. Concertos for two symphonies (unspecified), each four times a
piano and many other instruments, string day. In later life these rats grew up preferring
quartets, other chamber music masses and Mozart to Schoenberg, given the choice. Sceptics
litanies, of which only 70 were published before might claim that any with taste would do so
he died at the age of 35. His opera La Clemenza anyway.
di Tito (1791) was written in 18 days, and the Research shows that newborn babies enjoy
symphonic masterpieces, Symphony No. 39 in E Mozart and Vivaldi but tend to sleep through any
flat major, Symphony No. 40 in G minor and Beethoven which may be played at them.
Symphony No. 41 in C major (the Jupiter), were
reputedly written in the space of 42 days in 1788. Mozart was a keen and skilful billiards player.
His overture Don Giovanni was written in full Haydn once tore the cloth on Mozart’s billiard
score at one sitting in Prague in 1787 and table. Coincidentally, the invention of the game of
finished on the day of its opening performance. billiards dates back to 1591, exactly 200 years
before the death of Mozart.
The longest interval between the known
composition of a piece by a major composer and Mozart had a slight deformity of his left ear,
its performance in the manner intended is from 3 usually kept covered by his wig.
March 1791 until 9 October 1982 (over 191
years), in the case of Mozart’s Organ Piece for a The principal theme of the last movement of
Clock, a fugue fantasy in F min (K 608), arranged Mozart's Piano Concerto K.453 was suggested to
by the organ builders Wm. Hill & Son and the composer by a tune whistled by his pet
Norman & Beard Ltd. at Glyndebourne, Great starling. The bird also knew his Concerto no. 17,
Britain. for Mozart had devoted some idle moments to
teaching the bird the principal theme of the last
In what is believed to be the largest-ever movement, a theme that is, admittedly, rather
recording project devoted to a single composer, chirpy and bird-like in nature. Yet the starling was
180 compact discs containing the complete set of an imperfect student. One note it sang wrong
authenticated works by Mozart were produced by every time and, according to the composer,
Philips Classics for release in 1990/91 to another note was consistently held too long. It
commemorate the bicentennial of the composer’s seems that even the example of the concerto's
death. The complete set comprises over 200 creator was insufficient to convince Mozart's
hours of music and would occupy 6.5 feet (1.98 starling to sing the piece exactly as written. On
metres) of shelving. May 27, 1784 a strange funeral was held. As
usual, hymns were sung at the graveside. Then
Source: Guinness World Records Mozart recited a poem he'd penned. Finally, the
Researchers at University College, Cardiff, in composer's pet starling was laid to rest.
1970 announced an important discovery
Page 1 of 3
If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing slowly. The Mozart effect refers to disputed scientific
Though Mozart had only 35 years of life in which studies that test a theory suggesting that classical
to compose all his works, the task of cataloguing music increases brain activity more positively
these 624 or so pieces of music took Ludwig von than other kinds of music, and that listening to
Kochel twelve years. certain kinds of complex music may induce a
short-lived (fifteen minute) improvement in the
Gustav Mahler’s last word before he died was performance of certain kinds of mental tasks
“Mozart”. known as "spatio-temporal reasoning". Two
pieces of Mozart's music; Sonata for Two Pianos
Source: The Ultimate Irrelevant Encyclopaedia in D Major (K. 448) and Piano Concerto No. 23
by Bill Hartson & Jill Dawson, George Allen & (K. 488), were found to have this effect, giving it
Unwin, 1984 its name. Later research also suggested that K.
“Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" 448 can reduce the number of seizures in people
is an anagram (a word or phrase made by using with epilepsy.
the letters of another word or phrase in a different In the frequently playful letters of his youth
order) of "Among us a grand maestro of opera, Mozart sometimes would spell his name
waltz music” backwards, viz., Mozart Wolfgang or Trazom.
“Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart” is an anagram of “A More often he would sign letters 'Mzt'.
famous German waltz god” and “Gorgeous waltz The Mozartkugel (English: Mozart ball), known
fan, madam” and “Zealous, warm 'n' mad faggot” originally as the “Mozartbonbon”, was created by
and “Warm gazes to a manful god” the Salzburg confectioner Paul Fürst in 1890 and
“Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Fürst
is an anagram of "Common arts as opera, waltz, still produces the original Salzburg Mozartkugeln
fugue: I am so grand!" by hand according to the original recipe and only
sells them in its shops or over its website. As the
“Johannes Chrystostomus Wolfgangus Fürst confectionary does not own a trademark for
Theophilus ‘Amadeus’ Mozart” is an anagram of Mozartkugeln, there are numerous imitation
“Just some Austrian. (Composed many half-hour products, most of which are produced using
songs/waltzes, though!)” industrial techniques.
Source: Anagram Genius Source: Wikipedia
After reading
Exercise 1
Below are 11 events from the article, but they are in the wrong chronological order. Decide which is the
correct order.
1. 180 compact discs containing the complete set of authenticated works by Mozart were produced
by Philips Classics.
2. A funeral was held for Mozart's pet starling.
3. Mozart died.
4. Mozart reputedly wrote the symphonic masterpieces (No. 39, 40 and 41) in 42 days.
5. Mozart was born.
6. Mozart wrote his opera La Clemenza di Tito in 18 days.
7. Mozart's Organ Piece for a Clock was finally performed in the manner intended.
8. Mozart's overture Don Giovanni was written in full score at one sitting in Prague.
9. Researchers at University College, Cardiff, announced an important discovery concerning the
formation of musical taste in rats.
10. The game of billiards was invented.
11. The Mozartkugel cake was created by the Salzburg confectioner Paul F
Page 2 of 3

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of Classical Music at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-classical-music.htm
• Word game: Orchestra. Read the text describing the positions of the different instruments, sections
and other components of an orchestra and put the names in the correct places.
• Story: A perfectly fair business deal. Hobbes-Smith collects antique musical instruments. At a
music festival in Italy, he sees a valuable violin which he wants to add to his collection. Is the owner
prepared to sell it? Read this story and find out.
• Story: The Comeback. When the once-great opera singer Fausto Ruiz returns to the place where
he was born, things do not work out as he had expected ...
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about classical music.
• There are also two classical music-related cartoons, and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: The correct chronological order is: 10; 5; 2; 8; 4; 6; 3; 11; 9; 7; 1
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – The Commonwealth
Introduction

• an optional general knowledge activity
• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (the Commonwealth).
Read the article
The Commonwealth
March 11th is Commonwealth Day, but what The member states all use English as a common
exactly is the Commonwealth? working language, and have similar legal and
education systems. The countries support each
Where is the Commonwealth, and who lives
other in their aims to reduce poverty, prejudice,
there?
ignorance and disease, and to promote human
The Commonwealth is a group of 54 countries, rights and social development.
spread all over the globe, north to south, east to
Historically, the modern Commonwealth is a
west. The countries range in size from the tiny
product of the British Empire, and began in the
island of Nauru in the Pacific ocean (which is so
late 1940s, after India and Pakistan gained
small that it doesn't have a capital), to Canada,
independence. As more and more countries took
the largest territory in the world. Both rich and
charge of their own affairs in the 1950s and
poor countries are members - the GDP of
1960s, many were attracted to the aims and
Singapore is about 200 times that of Sierra
values of the Commonwealth, resulting in the
Leone. Over one and a half billion people (a
family of nations seen today.
quarter of the world's population) live in the
Commonwealth, and between them represent Activities and events
nearly every religion, race and political system on
The Commonwealth is active in a huge number of
the planet.
areas, including ecology, health and economics,
providing and sharing information, training and
expertise to further the aims of the organisation.
The Heads of Government Meeting is held every
two years, where the leaders of the member
states get together to discuss current issues.
Commonwealth Day is held in the second week
of March every year, where Commonwealth
citizens, particularly children, have a chance to
celebrate their friendship. The Commonwealth
also hosts sporting and arts events. There is an
annual writers prize, which has been won in
previous years by famous authors such as Peter
Carey and Louis de Bernieres, and a yearly arts
What is the Commonwealth? and crafts competition. Perhaps the most well-
known event sponsored by the organisation is the
Hot and cold, rich and poor, wet and dry, island Commonwealth Games, which is held every four
and land-locked, the list of opposites used to years in one of the member countries. The
describe the countries which make up the games have gained the nickname 'the Friendly
Commonwealth seems endless. Just what do Games' because of their reputation for good-
they all have in common? natured competitiveness.
Page 1 of 3
After reading
Exercise 1
In the second table below are the names of six countries in the Commonwealth. In the first table are
these countries’capital cities, populations (in 2006, according to Wikipedia) and the year each country
joined the organization. Do you know or can you guess which information goes in each box?
Capital cities Populations Joining year

Funafuti 11,000 1962
Kingston 400,000 1964
Maseru 1.8 million 1965
Singapore 2.7 million 1966
Valletta 4.4 million 1978
Yaounde 15.7 million 1995
Cameroon Jamaica Lesotho Singapore Tuvaulu Malta

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of the Commonwealth at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-commonwealth.htm
• Magazine articles: Articles about the following countries in the Commonwealth: Australia; Canada;
India; Kenya; New Zealand; Nigeria; Papua New Guinea; South Africa.
• Word games: The following word games are available for this theme: Australian English; Canadian
English; Indian and Pakistani English; Kenyan wildlife; New Zealand English; South African
English; Tok Pisin (New Guinea); West African and Jamaican English.
• Story: Australia -The Dreamtime is the central, unifying theme in Australian Aboriginal mythology. It
describes the process of the world being called into being. The Australian Aboriginal culture is based on
nature in every aspect. Most of their mythological heroes are animals common in Australia.
• Story: New Zealand. Dame Ngaio Marsh, one of New Zealand’s most remarkable and charismatic
women, was world-renowned as a leading crime fiction writer. In this activity, compare the plots of some
of her different crime stories.
• Story: Nigeria - A Visitor to the Star. Anna Winter pulled on her Gucci sunglasses and sprayed herself
with the extra-strength mosquito repellent she had bought in the airport. Anna thought her job was very
difficult, and she told everybody about this. How could she be a front-line, award-winning, adventurous
journalist if she had to stay in bad hotels and eat bad food?
• Story: Papua New Guinea. This folk story involves a masalai (a large ugly cannibal, similar to an ogre).
• Story: South Africa - Coetzee's novels. Read synopses of some of the novels of Nobel prize winning
writer, South African J.M. Coetzee, and then compare them.
• Poem: Australia - Mulga Bill's Bicycle - a funny ballad by one of Australia’s favourite poets, ‘Banjo’
Paterson.
Page 2 of 3
• Poem: Canada. Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts was the first Canadian to be knighted for his work
as a writer. According to one source: "Those of his poetical compositions that are distinctively Canadian
are regarded as being specially excellent”.
• Poem: India. Tagore, the author of this poem, once said "To study a banyan tree, you not only must
know its main stem in its own soil, but also must trace the growth of its greatness in the further soil, for
then you can know the true nature of its vitality".
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about the following countries in the Commonwealth:
Australia; Canada; India; Kenya; New Zealand; Nigeria; Papua New Guinea; South Africa.
• History: India. Bhopal massacre; Black Hole of Calcutta.
• History: South Africa. Mandela trial; Mandela released; Apartheid repeal.
• History: Uganda. Amin coup; Operation Entebbe
• There are also cartoons related to all of these countries and some carefully selected external links for
each country.
Answers to general knowledge activity:
Cameroon Jamaica Lesotho Singapore Tuvaulu Malta

Yaounde Kingston Maseru Singapore Funafuti Valletta
15.7 million 2.7 million 1.8 million 4.4 million 11,000 400,000
1995 1962 1966 1965 1978 1964
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Computers
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (computers).
Read the article
Girls’ games
by Nik Peachey
Computer games have been criticised for quite Girlz, Women Gamers and Game Gal offer game
some time over a whole range of issues. Some reviews, articles, discussion forums and even
people say they are overly violent and encourage employment opportunities for women interested
violent behaviour particularly in children. Others in becoming part of the rapidly expanding games
say that they make children hyperactive, industry. The games are reviewed by women
unsociable and are bad for their eyes. Some from a very female perspective. Some rate the
have even attributed falling standards of literacy games from one to ten across a range of criteria
and a lack of interest in reading on them. Now, which include the appearance of the female
however, it seems that computer games have characters, the degree of intelligence attributed to
also become a feminist issue. them in the game and even the marketing attitude
adopted by the company. The sites are obviously
Game manufacturers have, for some time, been looking for games that move away from the very
looking to increase the number of female game male dominated and violent nature of the majority
players. The vast majority of computer games still of computer games. Many of them review games
sell to a mainly male market. Perhaps this is that are more constructive and developmental.
because the violent nature of many of the games Although the common fantasy themes of knights,
appeals more to males or perhaps because many witches and goblins still exist within these games,
of the main characters in the games are male. the aims are often very different. Instead of
Manufacturers' attempts to produce more female destroying opposing armies the aim of the game
characters and so increase their share of the can be to make peace with them.
female gaming market have met with serious
criticism from many women's groups.
Whilst heroines such as Lara Croft of the Tomb

Raider game are seen as providing positive role
models of strong women, many believe that the
character's unrealistic Barbie like proportions are
subconsciously setting unattainable standards in
the minds of young women. Perhaps a stronger
criticism is that although many games now
include female characters, their role is often
secondary and they support the main, male,
action characters within the games. Of course the
nature of many of the games remains violent and
destructive and this in itself could well continue to
put off female gamers. With this increased degree of awareness and
involvement from women in the games industry
There are now, however, a number of web sites many positive changes could be made that could
springing up on the World Wide Web to help encourage more women and young girls to
women deal with this issue. Sites such as Game
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Computers
become enthusiastic about technology and what the more positive values promoted by these more
it has to offer them. Perhaps we may even find feminine role models, after all Tomb Raider is still
more male gamers moving away from the one of the most popular computer games on the
traditional violent and destructive games towards market, but perhaps that's too much to ask.
After reading
Exercise 1
Each of the sentences below summarises one of the paragraphs from the text. Can you put them in the
correct order?
1. Criticisms of the way women are portrayed in computer games.
2. Attempts by manufacturers to encourage more women to buy computer games.
3. Ways in which women are influencing change in the production of computer games.
4. Common criticisms of computer games.
5. The possible outcomes of a more feminine approach to game design.

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of computers refugees at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-computers.htm
• UK Culture: The gaming issue, in which we take a look at the role of the UK in the computer
gaming industry and the design and technological developments the UK is responsible for.
• Magazine articles: There are 3 other articles: Information society, Technophobia and Viral
marketing.
• Word game: Internet abbreviations. Type in the missing information to see what different
abbreviations mean.
• Poems: There are 2 poems: Eye Halve a Spelling Chequer and The Good Old Days.
• Trivia: The following trivia topics are available for this theme: computer games, information
society and technophobia.
• Science: cubed - Balance-controlled computer, Cubic computer, Fast fingerprinting,
Intelligent interiors, Movie makers and Virtual London.
• There are also 3 computer-related cartoons, and the following sets of carefully selected external
links: computer games, information society, search engines and technophobia.
Answers to comprehension activity: The correct order is 4; 2; 1; 3; 5
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Cooperatives
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (cooperatives).
Read the article
How to start a cooperative and change the world

by John Kuti
The pioneers of cooperation going to be long and difficult. The pioneers began
with 28 members who each paid a subscription of
The idea of the co-operative is one of the greatest 2 pence a week. I think it was important that they
British inventions. To be more exact, it all began all knew and trusted each other, and that all of
with a small shop in Toad Lane, Rochdale in them had the same problems. They had to collect
Lancashire. enough to rent a shop, their first project, at ten
At the time of the “Rochdale pioneers” (the 1840’s) pounds a year. The records of early meetings
there were a number of suggestions as to how the show that they discussed how to spend every
lives of ordinary people could be improved: penny. If you calculate with old money there are
240 pence in a pound, so they had to be patient
1. Teetotalism: One simple answer was that their and start small.
problems all came from drinking alcohol. All they
had to do was stop drinking and keep the money
for their families.
2. Chartism: Another opinion was the argument for

democracy. The supporters of this view said that
when everybody had the vote, the laws that kept
poor people poor while the rich got richer would be
changed.
3. Cooperation: the opinion that won… to work

with the laws as they were and the very little
money that they had.
People can easily work together for a short time.

Examples of co-operation without money changing
hands are everywhere, and often it’s the only way Credits for the poor
for the poorest people to achieve anything. It was impossible for the pioneers to borrow any
Neighbours in slums might agree to clean out a money to begin their project. They tried to get
drain, in a remote village they can set up a rota for advances from their employers but this was
bringing water. It’s easy to understand how unsuccessful and caused the members a lot of
everyone benefits from this sort of agreement, but problems at work because they got a reputation as
the Rochdale pioneers wanted to do more than radicals and trouble-makers. More recent
that. They wanted to create an alternative to experience, like the success of the Grameen Bank
capitalism, a way of organising their lives which in Bangladesh, shows that a very small amount of
would completely change their situation and, money can be a vital start for the very poor.
finally, change the world.
The Rochdale pioneers were against credit on
How to start principle, and at the time, maybe they were right.
The process of setting up your cooperative is Other similar projects ran into problems because
Page 1 of 3
they couldn’t make the interest payments on This means making things that low-income people
loans. Maybe the pioneers discussed and thought need and use. In 1840s Rochdale it was difficult
about their expenses more seriously because they for workers to buy even basic foods. Nowadays
had saved every penny of it themselves. The maybe the problems are furniture, shoes or a taxi
pioneers didn't want to give credit in their business service. Cooperatives also work successfully to
either. Customers in their shop had to pay on the give housing and banking services in poor areas.
spot in cash. At that time, a lot of other shops
offered credit to poor customers and took the 3. Do not link the cooperative with any religious or
payment when the workers received their wages. political views
The co-operators agreed to let people discuss any
Have cooperatives changed the world? question at their meetings, but the organisation
Nowadays, there are examples of very big and itself did not depend on any religious or political
successful cooperatives: a lot of people in Britain ideas. This seems to have helped the society to
do their shopping in John Lewis or Co-op survive. New members wanted to join because of
supermarkets. A lot of people in Spain do theirs in the practical benefits of buying from the shop.
Eroski. Unfortunately they haven’t changed the Anyone could join and it wasn’t important what
world, and I think this is mainly because they have political or religious opinions they had. It also
not followed their own principles. They only share meant that when the members disagreed about
a small part of their profits, they do not work theoretical issues, it did not affect the
especially to provide things that poor people need organisation.
or limit themselves to their local neighbourhoods.
It seems that their success as business 4. Use some resources for education
organisations has made them less radical and less From the very start, the pioneers wanted to put a
effective as tools of development. proportion of their profits into an educational fund.
This, in time, became a library and a news-room
Five principles of the co-op movement which can on the first floor above the shop. The Mondragon
still change the world: group of cooperatives, which began in Spain
1. Start with the most essential products about 100 years later, started with a school which
When the first cooperative shop opened in taught practical subjects like mechanics and
Rochdale on 21st December 1844 there were only electronics.
four items on sale: flour, butter, sugar and
oatmeal. As the business grew they added 5. Share the profits
tobacco and tea, and later meat, books and Members of the coop paid in a weekly sum of 2
magazines were sold on another floor of the pence, which later rose to three. However these
building. payments made them the owners of the shop and
they received money back, five percent interest on
2. Produce and sell things within your own the money plus their share of any profit the shop
community made.
Glossary
benefit (v): to receive good things rota (n): a timetable which divides work among
capitalism (n): the economic system where profits several people.
belong to the owner of a business. set up (v): to organise / to arrange.
drain (n): a channel or pipe for taking away dirty share (v): to divide so that each person receives a
water. certain portion.
interest (n): the extra money you have to pay slum (n): a poor part of a city, often without basic
back if you borrow money from a bank. services.
issue (n): question or problem. subscription (n): a payment for a specific period,
item (n): thing. made every week or every month for example.
low-income (adj): receiving very little money. vital (adj): very important, something which you
profit (n): the money that a business makes, its must have.
income minus all its costs. vote (v): (verb) to show your opinion in a
remote (adj): far away from other places. democratic process.
rent (v): to pay for using something for a particular
period e.g. a building or a car.
Page 2 of 3
After reading
Exercise 1
Below are 10 questions or statements about the text. For each one, choose the best answer, based on the
information in the text.
1. What countries were the Rochdale Pioneers 6. The Chartists wanted to:
from? (a) give poor people the right to vote
(a) Spain (b) stop poor people drinking alcohol
(b) Britain (c) stop poor people borrowing money in shops
(c) Bangladesh
7. The teetotallers wanted to:
(a) give poor people the right to vote
2. What countries are the Mondragon group from? (b) stop poor people drinking alcohol
(a) Spain (c) stop poor people borrowing money in shops
(b) Britain
(c) Bangladesh 8. In the text, which phrases beginning with "ON"
means “immediately and in the same place”?
(a) on principle
3. What countries is the Grameen Bank from? (b) on the spot
(a) Spain (c) on sale
(b) Britain
(c) Bangladesh 9. In the text, which phrases beginning with "ON"
means “you can buy it”?
4. The rent for the first shop in Rochdale was: (a) on principle
(a) ten pounds a week (b) on the spot
(b) ten pounds a month (c) on sale
(c) ten pounds a year
10. In the text, which phrases beginning with "ON"
means “because of a moral or philosophical
5. The Rochdale pioneers wanted to: opinion”?
(a) give poor people the right to vote (a) on principle
(b) stop poor people drinking alcohol (b) on the spot
(c) stop poor people borrowing money in shops (c) on sale

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of cooperatives at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-cooperatives.htm
• Word game: "Sharing" idioms. This jigsaw puzzle practises idiomatic expressions that use words
related to sharing.
• Story: Animal Farm. This satirical novel by George Orwell is ostensibly about a group of animals who
oust the humans from the farm they live on and run it themselves, only to have it corrupted into a brutal
tyranny.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about cooperatives.
• There is also a cooperatives-related cartoon, and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1.b; 2.a; 3.c; 4.c; 5.c; 6.a; 7.b; 8.b; 9. c; 10. a
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Festivals
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (festivals).
Read the article
Crazy festivals
There are many famous festivals around the canoes to beer-can Viking warships (complete
world. The Carnivals in Rio de Janeiro and with fire hoses) during this off-the-wall regatta.
Venice, Munich's Oktoberfest and London's Festival of Snakes, Abruzzo, Italy
Notting Hill Carnival are three examples.
"Each year in the tiny hamlet of Cocullo,
There are, however, festivals going on surrounded by some of Italy's most
somewhere in the world every day of the year. undomesticated forests, the villagers prove their
These range from very large events which involve devotion by getting down and dirty with as many
whole cities to local celebrations in tiny villages or fork-tongued reptiles as they can."
neighbourhoods of towns or cities. We have
selected a few of the more unusual, colourful Henley-on-Todd Regatta: Alice Springs,
festivals from around the world. Northern Territory, Australia
Australia Day Cockroach Races: Brisbane, "This multi-event program attracts many local and
Queensland, Australia international participants from the audience who
often finish up on world TV news paddling canoes
"Racing is simple....the races are held in a with sand shovels and in land lubber events like
circular track and roaches are then let go from an filling empty 44 gallon drums with sand. The
upturned bucket in the middle...first to the edge is Henley-on-Todd is run entirely on a volunteer
a winner. Things are made a little more difficult in basis by the three Rotary Clubs based in the
the steeplechase events where a circular fence Alice. The entire proceeds - over a million dollars
(garden hose) is used to enhance the spectacle in the 30 plus years of the event - are allocated to
and test the roach talent." local, national and international humanitarian
Canberra Sled Dog Classic: Canberra, projects."
Australian Capital Territory, Australia International Cherry Pit Spitting Contest: Eau
Dog sledding is one of the fastest growing sports Claire, MI, USA
on the east coast of Australia. As there's no snow "A nutritious sport - is there a better way to
(the trail is earth and sand and is smooth and dispose of the pit once you have eaten the
wide with a few hills and turns), the sleds have cherry? Entrants eat a cherry and then spit the pit
wheels instead of runners, but the excitement is as far as possible on a blacktop surface. The pit
the same. that goes the farthest including the roll is the
Darwin Beer Can Regatta: Darwin, Northern champ."
Territory, Australia Interstate Mullet Toss: Pensacola, Florida,
This local charity event brings together great USA
engineers and great drinkers. Participants "Pensacola locals and tourists alike have been
construct everything from life-size beer-can trying to perfect the art of mullet-tossing for more
than 15 years. Ok -- so what exactly is a mullet?
Page 1 of 3
A mullet is a bottom-feeding, saltwater fish that represent the last day of the old year, the day of
people go nuts about every April. Competitors transition, and the first day of the New Year.
from far and wide come to the Florida and These are days of cleaning the houses and the
Alabama border town for this head-to-head body, days of merry making, and renewal.
competition to see who, while standing on the Nothing evil has to be taken into the New Year.
Florida side, can toss the one and a half pound Formerly one sprinkled or spilled a bit of scented
fish into the Alabama side the farthest. Prizes are water over the hands or shoulders of elders and
awarded and all entries receive a free T-shirt friends to ask them forgiveness for coarse or
exclaiming, "Dear Ma, thanks for the college wicked speaking. But in modern times these
education!" More than 300 pounds of mullet are traditions, which still are held in family
used each year. Sounds like a lot of fish? They celebrations, are hidden behind water battles
are recycled! After contestants throw their fish fought out for days in the streets of every town
they must retrieve it, and if it's not too mangled and city over the country.
they put it back in the bucket. Other festivities
include the Mullet Man Triathlon, Mullet Swing The New Straits Times Million Ringgit Charity
Golf Classic, Ms. Mullet Bikini Contest, a wet T- Duck Race: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
shirt contest, volleyball, skeet shooting, a keg
toss, three bandstands and seven bar stations." Thirteen years ago, Eric Schechter and his
friends were brainstorming to find new ways of
La Tomatina: Bunol, Spain raising money for local charities when they came
up with the idea of rubber duck races. The event,
"The tomato battle is in honor of Saint Luis crazy as it may sound, involves racing "cool"
Beltran, the patron saint of Bunol. Residents and rubber ducks down a local waterway and having
visitors take part in a tomato-throwing battle that members of the community "adopt" the ducks for
decimates more than 88,000 pounds of tomatoes. a chance to win valuable donated prizes, possibly
This wacky event began with a serious aim as a even $1 million bucks.
symbolic protest against Franco. But the
Tomatina is now firmly entrenched as an amusing Wife Carrying World Championships:
way to end the summer." Sonkajarvi, Finland
Mighty Mud Mania: Scottsdale, Arizona, USA "The idea of the Wife Carrying Competition is
Sonkajärvi's very own and, in spite of its
"Children's dreams really do come true in the City humorous aspects, it has deep roots in the local
of Scottsdale. Children aged 1 to 13, get to history. In the late 1800's there was in the area a
participate in a mud race to end all mud races. brigand called Rosvo-Ronkainen, who is said to
During the running of the Mighty Mud Obstacle have accepted in his troops only those men who
course, several mud pits strategically placed, proved their worth on a challenging track. In
provide wet and really dirty obstacles as kids those days, it was also a common practice to
compete for the fastest time in each heat. There steal women from the neighbouring villages."
are also mud puddle pools for the tiny tots, and a
mini mud course for those six and younger. In World Bog Snorkeling Championships and
addition, Mighty Mudway features water and mud Mountain Bike Bog Leaping: Llanwrtyd Wells,
games. There are also water slides, sandcastle Wales
buildings and fun for all ages. Moms and dads,
remember to send your kids out with old clothes "It's the muckiest dip you've ever taken! Swim two
and shoes that lace up or Velcro closures. And lengths of a bog wearing a snorkel, or jump on a
have no fear, Rural Metro Fire Department is on mountain bike and leap the bogs over a 20-mile
hand to literally hose down the muddy children." course. If bog snorkeling's your game, get ready
to flounder your way through 120 yards of peat
Songkran Festival, Thailand bog in the quickest possible time. Your attire? A
snorkel and flippers, of course. Uhhh - and
What better way to celebrate the "start of the maybe some swim trunks. And you can't use any
return of rains" than with a country-wide water conventional swimming strokes. This battle of
fight? Thais celebrate their festival officially from wills in a dirty, smelly, wet Welsh peat bog trench
April 13th until April 15th. These three days is not for the faint of heart! If you'd rather be
Page 2 of 3
above the bog (though there's no guarantee you bike-in-a-bog maneuvering abilities! Following
won't end up in it), try taking your mountain bike your adventures, kind folks are on hand to hose
through 20 miles of boggy terrain, in the bog- you down. Goodness knows, you'll need it!
leaping event. It's your chance to show off your Happy bogging!"
After reading
Exercise 1
In the box are the names of the 13 places mentioned in the article. Below is one question about each
place. Can you match the names to the questions?
Abruzzo Alice Springs Brisbane Bunol Canberra Scottsdale

Darwin Eau Claire Kuala Lumpur Llanwrtyd Wells Pensacola Sonkajarvi
Thailand
1. Where are animals thrown?

2. Where are boats propelled in any unusual manner?
3. Where are the racing craft made of unusual material?
4. Where do insects compete against each other?
5. Where do lots of young people get very dirty?
6. Where do most people get wet?
7. Where is it not as cold as it usually is for this type of racing?
8. Where is part of something eaten and the other part spat out?
9. Where is there an event that began a long time ago as a test of merit?
10. Where is there an event that started with a serious purpose but has turned into a fun party?
11. Where do people race children's toys?
12. Where is there religious worship involving animals?
13. Where would you not get so dirty if you were a good rider (or lucky)?

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of festivals at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-festivals.htm
• Word games: There are two word games: Party idioms jigsaw puzzle and Carnival wordsquare.
• Poem: Night’s Mardi Gras. In this poem Edward J. Wheeler compares the night to the Mardi Gras,
where nothing is quite what it seems ...
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about festivals.
• There is also a festival-related cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. Pensacola; 2. Alice Springs; 3. Darwin; 4. Brisbane; 5. Scottsdale; 6.
Thailand; 7. Canberra; 8. Eau Claire; 9. Sonkajarvi; 10. Bunol; 11. Kuala Lumpur; 12. Abruzzo; 13. Llanwrtyd
Wells
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Home
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (home).
Read the article
Danger! Bird bath!

by Andy Baxter
We all know that chainsaws are very dangerous - danger was your wellington boots: 5,615
in Britain 1,207 people had to visit hospitals after accidents.
accidents with chainsaws in 1999. However, in In films, people always hide from danger in the
the same year, 16,662 people – more than twelve bathroom, but that’s a dangerous option in real
times as many - were injured by their sofa! life. Toilet-roll holders alone accounted for 329
In June 2001, the New Scientist reported that “its victims, while 787 people had to confront their
favourite government report” had been published sponge or loofah, and there were 73 talcum
by Britain's Department of Trade and Industry. powder victims. But beware the clothes basket,
This was the annual Home and Leisure Accident which claimed 3,421 victims nationwide.
Surveillance System report for 1999. The report But it was in the kitchen that most people got
looks at what people said had made them go to injured. Tea cosies – woollen covers for tea pots
accident departments in certain British hospitals. to keep the tea hot – caused 37 injuries,
It then uses these figures to estimate causes of compared with 20 the previous year; while
accidents over the whole country. placemat accidents were up from 157 to 165.
Some of the most harmless things prove to be Vegetables caused 13,132 incidents, while 91
extremely dangerous: accidents were caused by bread bins.
Clothes: the Times (07 June 2001) reported that The deadly nature of these common household
there were 5,945 trouser accidents (compared objects becomes clearer when you compare it
with only 5,137 the previous year). Socks and with items people normally think are dangerous.
tights caused 10,773 accidents. Most of these Only 329 injuries were caused by meat cleavers,
accidents were people falling over because they and only 439 caused by rat or mouse poison.
were getting dressed too fast, and many other How can we explain all these horrors hiding in
people fell over clothes left on the floor (you see, our homes? Perhaps the figures are explained by
your mother was right when she told you to tidy the fact that most of the injured people were
up your bedroom!) children under five. And we all know that young
Meanwhile, the garden also took its revenge. children on wobbly legs will go to places and
Tree trunks caused 1,810 accidents, and bird insert their fingers in places that even Lara Croft
baths went on the rampage, attacking 311 people would have thought twice about risking…
- up from 117 victims in 1998. But the biggest
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Home
After reading
Exercise 1
Below are 11 statements about the text. For each one, decide if it is True or False.
1. Chainsaws caused many times more accidents than sofas.
2. The New Scientists didn't like the Home and Leisure Accident Surveillance System report.
3. The figures for causes of accidents are not very accurate.
4. More people were hurt getting dressed than tripping over clothes left on the floor.
5. The author thinks mothers give good advice.
6. Bird baths actually attack people.
7. Wellington boots are more dangerous than trousers.
8. Many people in films get hurt by clothes baskets.
9. More people got hurt in their kitchens than anywhere else.
10. Common household objects caused more injuries than items people normally think are
dangerous.
11. Lara Croft thinks twice as much as children about having accidents.

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of home at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-home.htm
• UK Culture: The Housing Issue. We reveal a country that is living in the 21st Century, a nation that
is adopting modern, energy-saving materials, technology and ideas.
• Magazine articles: There are 2 other articles: Black sheep and the mysterious Uncle Bob and
IKEA.
• Word games: There are 10 word games, including apartment game; everyday activities;
household appliances and tools.
• Stories: There are 3 stories: Names; The Untied Nations and Where Home Is.
• Poems: There are 2 (sets of) poems: Family poetry and A glass of wine.
• Trivia: The following trivia topic is available for this theme: family.
• Science: cubed - Domestic LEDs and Intelligent interiors.
• There are also 3 home-related cartoons, and carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. False (F); 2. F; 3. True (T); 4. T; 5. T; 6. F; 7. F; 8. F; 9. T;
10. T; 11. F
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Disasters
Introduction

• An optional vocabulary activity based on the article
• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (disasters).
Read the article
Natural disasters
by John Russell
Natural disasters take many different forms and Where do volcanoes happen?
can happen without warning. Earthquakes,
floods, volcanoes, drought, typhoons and Volcanoes happen where the earth’s crust is thin
hurricanes are all natural disasters. - lava, dust and gases burst out (erupt) from
beneath the earth. They can rise into a massive
The earthquake of 26 December 2004 resulted in cone shape - like a mountain and erupt, or they
one of the worst natural disasters in living can be so violent that they just explode directly
memory. It was a massive underwater quake and from the earth with no warning. There are 1511
occurred in the Indian Ocean. This caused a ‘active’ volcanoes in the world. This means that
huge tidal-wave (a tsunami) to cross the Indian they may still be dangerous. In 1985 the massive
Ocean. It destroyed coastlines, communities and Colombian volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupted.
brought death and destruction to many people. The lava melted a glacier and sent tones of mud
Thousands of people were killed as the wave down the town of Armero below. Twenty
travelled miles across the ocean to distant thousand people died.
beaches. Whole families were swept out to sea or
drowned as the sea invaded the land. The
survivors need fresh water, food and shelter as
well as medical help. People from all over the
world are giving lots of money so that towns and
villages can be rebuilt.
Why do earthquakes happen?
The surface of the earth has not always looked

as it does today; it is moving continuously
(although very slowly) and has done so for
billions of years. This is one cause of
earthquakes, when one section the earth
(tectonic plate) collides with another. Scientists
can predict where (but not when) this might Can we predict earthquakes and volcanoes?
happen and the area between plates is called a
fault line. On one fault line in Kobe, Japan in Natural disasters like volcanoes are often
1923 over 200,000 people were killed. However, unpredictable. We regularly do not know when
earthquakes do not always happen on fault lines, they might happen, or even where they will
which is why they are so dangerous and happen. In the future, scientists may be able to
unpredictable. watch and predict events before they happen.
Page 1 of 3
This could save many lives. In South America, …..and too little?
scientists predicted the eruption of Popocatépetl.
Tens of thousands of people were safely moved Another kind of natural disaster is a drought. This
just before the biggest eruption of the volcano for happens when there is no water, when it doesn’t
a thousand years. No one was hurt. rain for a long time and rivers dry up. Plants,
animals and even humans die as a result of
What is the difference between a Hurricane drought, for we all need water to live. Many
and a Tornado? countries today suffer from drought. This causes
crops to fail, animal to die and sadly, people to
Hurricanes are extremely strong storms and often starve.
happen in the Caribbean. They cause high winds,
huge waves, and heavy flooding and can be Which is the most dangerous natural
hundreds of miles across. In 1998, Hurricane disaster?
Gilbert produced 160 mile an hour winds. It killed
318 people, and destroyed much of Jamaica. All the disasters mentioned above are very
Tornadoes or ‘twisters’ are very strong spinning dangerous and continue to kill thousands of
winds. They can move objects as big as a car people each year, but they are nowhere near the
and can blow buildings down. These are very most dangerous disaster to ever happen on
common in West Africa and certain areas of the earth. One type of event in earth’s history has
USA. regularly killed millions of beings; asteroid
impacts. About once every million years the earth
Can too much rain cause problems? is hit by a piece of rock and ice from space large
enough to cause massive destruction (including
Floods happen in many countries after very earthquakes, volcanoes and ice ages) and
heavy rainfall. When rain pours for weeks at a sometimes to kill entire species. 65 million years
time, rivers overflow and people and property can ago more than half the earth’s species were killed
be trapped or simply washed away. Since 1998, by such an impact (including all the dinosaurs).
more than 30 people have drowned in floods in
Britain. Flooding in Bangladesh caused 1300 Disasters on the earth may seem dangerous, but
deaths in 1989, another natural disaster. the biggest threat to humans is likely to come
from space.
After reading
Exercise 1: Match the words from the table with the correct definitions.
Active Asteroid Cone Drought Fault line

Impact Lava Overflow Tectonic plates Tornado
1. Sections of the earth’s surface

2. Hot liquid that erupts from volcanoes
3. A very fast spinning wind
4. When it doesn’t rain for a very long time
5. Places on the earth where earthquakes are more common
6. One type of shape for a volcano
7. When there is too much water in a river
8. When a comet hits the earth with great force
9. When a volcano still has the possibility to erupt
10. A large piece of rock and ice floating in space
Page 2 of 3

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of disasters at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-natural-disasters.htm
• Word games: Natural disasters x 2. Do you know the difference between a hurricane and a
typhoon?
• Poem: The Tay Bridge Disaster The most famous poem from the worst poet in the English
language!
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about disasters.
• There are also a disaster-related cartoon, a poll, and carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. Tectonic plates; 2. Lava; 3. Tornado; 4. Drought; 5. Fault line;
6. Cone; 7. Overflow; 8. Impact; 9. Active; 10. Asteroid
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – ESP
Introduction

• a vocabulary activity based on the article
• an activity on word-building
• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (extra sensory perception).
Read the article
ESP (Extra sensory perception)

by Katherine Bilsborough
ESP or Extra Sensory Perception is a catch-all occurrence; hearing the telephone ring and
expression for the alleged ability of certain people knowing who will be on the other end of the line
to receive transmitted thoughts from others, to or cases of coincidence that seem to be too
transmit their own thoughts, to see what will extreme to be accidental.
happen in the future or to be able to move objects
from one place to another without physically Over the years there have been numerous ESP
touching them. These special people are called experiments conducted by serious scientists in
psychics or sensitives. Some believe that we all serious institutions. Joseph Banks Rhine, a
have this ability to some degree but that most of botanist at Duke University published a famous
us choose not to develop it. book in 1934 called “Extra-Sensory perception” in
which he claimed to have overwhelming evidence
Some people are happy to believe in ESP while of ESP. However, other scientists have been
others are firm disbelievers. Parapsychologists unable to duplicate his results since, which has
who are dedicated to scientifically studying the resulted in the book losing much of its original
claims that are made, lend a certain seriousness credibility and fame.
to the subject. They have identified four distinct
types of ESP:
Clairvoyance describes the act of being able to

obtain knowledge of a person or event without
the use of the normal senses.
Telepathy is the process by which a person is
able to read another person’s thoughts without
the use of any of the normal senses.
Psychokinesis is the ability to influence a
physical object just by thinking about it.
Precognition is the term applied when
somebody is able to foresee future events.
Many people are sceptical about ESP. Alongside

the existence of documented evidence there are The Ganzfield experiments are considered to
plenty of claims that have turned out to be have been the most carefully scrutinised ESP
fraudulent. For most people it is difficult to accept experiments. Alleged psychics had their eyes
such claims without having had first hand covered and ears blocked while a “sender”
experience. The lack of scientific evidence is attempted to transmit messages. Later the
another factor to take into account. On the other psychics would compare the messages received
hand, most of us have, at some time, to the original messages sent out. There was a
experienced a seemingly inexplicable great deal of excitement and interest at the time
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – ESP
but the research failed to produce convincing dedicated to the topic; magazines, journals, web
results. sites, television and radio programmes. Some of
the most successful films in recent years have
One of the strongest criticisms against ESP is fuelled interest among the younger generations
that in order for it to exist, the fundamental laws who are starting to ask the same questions and
of physics would necessarily have to be broken. to look for explanations for the same phenomena
as their parents and grandparents before them.
Human beings are attracted to the whole Who knows? One day we might just find these
spectrum of supernatural phenomena. ESP will answers because one thing is certain: “The truth
always continue to fascinate. This becomes clear is out there!”
when we see how much of the media is
After reading
Exercise 1
Find a word in the text that means :
1. claimed to be true
2. get
3. predict
4. dishonest
5. proof
6. examined
7. range
8. basic
Exercise 2: Wordbuilding.
Look at the nouns below, write the related verbs and then check your ansers by looking back at the text.
1. belief
2. choice
3. dedication
4. identification
5. description
6. application
7. acceptance
8. scrutiny

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-esp.htm
• Game: Magic gopher - Let the amazing magic gopher read your mind!
• Story: The Chrysalids - The story of David, who is telepathic in an imaginary future time when mutations are
considered to be evil.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about ESP.
• Science: cubed. Mind reader: brain scanning technique maps brain signals to predict our intentions.
• There is also an ESP-related cartoon, a poll, and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to activities:
Activity 1: 1. alleged; 2. obtain; 3. foresee; 4. fraudulent; 5. evidence; 6. scrutinised; 7. spectrum; 8. fundamental
Activity 2: 1. believe; 2. choose; 3. dedicate; 4. identify; 5. describe; 6. apply 7. accept; 8. scrutinise
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Food
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (food).
Read the article
Food
by Julie Bray
When I was at school, our teacher told the class Lettuce or milk can make you sleepy.
“You are what you eat.” My friends and I would To stop feeling sleepy you should eat peanuts or
laugh and call each other ‘hamburger’ and dried fish.
‘biscuits’. Our teacher was trying to show us the To keep your teeth clean you should eat apples
importance of eating the right food to stay often.
healthy. Garlic helps you not to catch a cold.
This was a few decades ago when there were big Everyone has their own advice to give, which
campaigns to make British people healthier. We they have read about or have been told by older
decided to throw out our chip pan which we had relatives. Some of these pieces of advice seem
used until then to make chips every day for to contradict each other.
dinner. We replaced our chips with boiled
potatoes. We also started using semi-skimmed Eating chocolate makes you fat and gives you
milk instead of whole milk in our cups of tea and spots.
bowls of cornflakes. At first I felt like I was eating Chocolate contains the essential minerals iron
my cornflakes in water and my potatoes had no and magnesium
taste at all. But after a while I started to prefer
healthier food because I felt stronger and I didn’t What we need to figure out is what type of
get sick so often. chocolate to eat to get the benefits and how
much of it to eat. We can do this by reading the
Japanese people are reputed to be the healthiest list of ingredients on the chocolate bar wrapper.
in the world because of the food they eat. The Exactly how much real chocolate is in there? And
healthiest Japanese people eat rice and fish and how much of that do we need to eat to get the
vegetables every day. They drink green tea or benefits of the minerals it contains?
water when they’re thirsty, and snack on dried
fish, fruit or gingko nuts. The traditional Future restaurants might be named after the
Japanese diet is famous for helping you to live a physical or emotional state they hope to create.
longer and healthier life. Their menus will list the benefits of each dish and
drink. Some restaurants have already started
So we have proof that you become what you eat. this concept, and list the nutritional content of
Can you tell what your friends eat just by looking their dishes on the menus.
at them? When you know the effects of different
types of food, you can use your knowledge well Let’s take the restaurant ‘Winners’ as an
and eat what you want to become. example. Their menu would list dishes
specifically designed to help you win sports
Food has an impact on our physical and competitions. There would be Night-before
emotional health. Have you ever heard any of the Vegetable lasagne, a pasta dish with extra layers
following advice? of spinach pasta for slow-burning energy, rich
tomato sauce full of vitamin C and soft, easy-to-
Page 1 of 3
digest vegetables. All this would be topped with So what’s going to happen to hamburgers and
a little fresh cheese – just enough to help you get biscuits? Will the concept of eating food because
a good night’s sleep, but not enough to give you it’s tasty go out of fashion? Of course not! Junk
nightmares! food is also changing. If ice-cream is not good for
children, can’t we give them fat-free, sugar-free
Or you could choose the Go-faster salad, which tofu ice-cream? Unhealthy food is going out of
is a large bowl of mixed raw vegetables in a light fashion, so brands are changing. We are told not
salad dressing, giving you energy without making to drink cola because of the sugar and caffeine
you gain weight. The vegetables are carefully content so cola companies are making sugar-free
chosen to include plenty of natural vitamins and and caffeine-free drinks. We are told dried fruit is
minerals. a healthier snack than biscuits so some biscuit
companies are making biscuits with added
What kind of dishes do you think would be on the vitamins. Snacks might soon be changing their
menu at the ‘Clever Café’ (which sells food that’s names to “Skinglow” and “Chocomineral”! So in
good for your brain)? the future you might be able to eat your way to
your idea of perfection!
After reading
Exercise: For each of the 7 questions below choose the best answer, depending on the information in the
text above.
1. Why did the teacher say “You are what you eat”?
a) Because we can be eaten.
b) Because our food affects us.
c) Because it is important to make your own food.
2. Why did the author stop drinking whole milk?

a) Because she wanted to drink milk with less fat.
b) Because she only wanted half a glass.
c) Because it tasted bad.
3. Why are Japanese people said to be the healthiest in the world?

a) Because their parents were healthy.
b) Because they don’t drink milk.
c) Because of their traditional diet.
4. What should we read if we want to know how much real chocolate is in a chocolate bar?
a) The newspaper
b) The list of ingredients
c) The recipe
5. If you have an important exam but you only want to sleep, what should you eat?
a) Dried fish
b) The exam paper
c) Lettuce
6. Why should we eat chocolate?

a) Because it gives you spots.
b) Because it has good minerals in it.
c) Because it melts in your mouth.
7. How does the author think junk food will change in the future?
a) It will get bigger.
b) It will have added vitamins and minerals.
c) It will be cheaper.
Page 2 of 3

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of food at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-food.htm
• UK Culture: Food. In this issue we take a look at food. Long derided as bland and overcooked, the
UK now boasts some of the finest restaurants in the world and the transformation of what and how
we eat has been phenomenal.
• Magazine articles: There is another article: Food "Do we live to eat or eat to live? That is the
question."
• Word games: There are 5 word games: Food & drink idioms; Staple foods; Vegetables; Recipe
and Restaurant.
• Story: The Chaplet. In this amusing story by Saki find out what happens when two big egos - one
belonging to a chef and the other to an orchestra conductor - meet head on!
• Poems: Food poetry. 10 short poems about food from famous and not so famous poets, and an
activity in which you compare them.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about food.
• There are also 5 food-related cartoons, a poll, and carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. b); 2. a); 3. c); 4. b); 5. a); 6. b); 7. b)
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Gambling
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (gambling).
Read the article
Gambling
by Richard Sidaway
Human beings have spent large amounts of Which city earns the most from gambling? – Las
money trying to beat the laws of probability for Vegas, of course. Before gaming was legalized
centuries. More than thirty countries currently there in the 1930s it was a small desert town;
have legalized gambling in the form of national today it has 35 million visitors and earns seven
lotteries or private casinos. In the last ten years and a half thousand million dollars from its
this addictive pastime has been generating casinos every year. What do they do with the
millions more via the internet. profits? Build hotels, it seems – the world’s
biggest is the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino with
So how do you become a successful gambler? – 5,005 rooms. In fact somebody estimated it would
back in 1873, engineer Joseph Jaggers won take one person 329 years to sleep in every hotel
$300,000 dollars in three days at the casino in room in Vegas.
Monte Carlo by noticing that the mechanical
faults in their roulette wheels made certain
numbers come up more often than others. More
recently, an Australian wrote a software
programme to help him spot winners on the
horses in Hong Kong and has supposedly won
$150 million over the last 20 years.
What’s the biggest lottery jackpot ever? – the

record is currently $350 million, won by two
people in the USA in May 2000. This, of course,
is peanuts. It costs $444 million a year just to
keep an aircraft carrier in the water…The biggest
single win on a national lottery was $314.9 million
in the Powerball game in 2002 by a man who had
already made a fortune in the sewer business. What’s the least successful bet? – politician and
Another American won $39.7 million from a slot fraudster Horatio Bottomley went to Belgium in
machine in a Las Vegas casino in 2003 after 1914 and bought all six horses in a race. He also
putting in about $100 worth of coins. The lucky paid the jockeys to cross the finishing line in a
man had actually only gone to watch a basketball particular order. Then he put huge amounts of
match. money on all the horses. Unfortunately, the race
meeting was by the sea and a mist came in and
Why do lotteries exist? – often to make money for covered the entire course. The jockeys couldn’t
the state. The Chinese had a lottery over 2000 see each other and the judges couldn’t make out
years ago to raise money to build the Great Wall. who had won. Bottomley lost a fortune.
King James I of England set one up to finance
the new colony of Virginia in America in the 17th What’s the longest-running bet? There was a ten-
century. The British Museum in London was also year bet between writer Paul Ehrlich and
built this way. businessman Julian Simon that the price of
certain metals would be higher in 1990 than in
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Gambling
1980. Ehrlich lost when copper, chrome, nickel, businessman bet a British investor $100,000 that
tin and tungsten dropped in price. Simon was it was not possible to walk around the world
trying to make the point that the world is not without being recognised. A certain Harry
heading for catastrophe and that we are not using Bensley agreed to take up the challenge. He had
up the world’s resources as Ehrlich had to wear an iron mask for the whole trip and pay
predicted. He refused, however, to agree to a his way by selling pictures of himself. While
second bet that in the following ten years there travelling, he also had to find a woman who
would be an increase in greenhouse gases and would marry him, to push a pram and carry only
AIDS victims and a decrease in tropical one change of underwear! He set off from
rainforests, agricultural land and human sperm London in January 1908 and was arrested a few
counts. miles down the road for selling postcards without
a licence. He supposedly got most of the way
What’s the strangest bet ever made? Here’s one round the world and was in Italy on his way home
which started a hundred years ago in a London in 1914 when the First World War broke out and
club, presumably after a certain amount of he had to call the whole thing off.
alcohol had been taken. An American
After reading
Exercise 1
All the phrasal verbs in the left-hand column below appear in the article. Match a verb on the left with its
meaning on the right
Phrasal verb Meaning

1. come up a. accept
2. set up b. go in the direction of
3. make out c. appear
4. head for d. cancel
5. take up e. start/establish
6. set off f. start suddenly
7. break out g. see/distinguish
8. call off h. start on a journey

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of gambling at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-gambling.htm
• Article: Gambling. The National Lottery, Scratch Cards, Fruit Machines, Bingo, Casinos, The
Football Pools, Horse Racing, Raffle Tickets, Stocks and Shares ... Easy ways to get rich quick? Or
just different ways to throw away your money?
• Word games: Horse racing reading puzzle. The race is ending, but which horses finish in which
places? Read the text and work it out!
• Poem: Tom Beatty - this poem by Edgar Lee Masters from his acclaimed Spoon River Anthology
compares gambling and life.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about gambling.
• There is also a gambling-related cartoon, a poll, and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to activity 1: 1. c; 2. e; 3. g; 4. b; 5. a; 6. h; 7. f; 8. d.
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Human Rights
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (human rights).
Read the article
Human Rights for Great Apes?
Sunday afternoon at the zoo. Chimpanzees, and the other great apes - gorillas,
orangutans and bonobos (pygmy chimps) - are
"Eh, guys! Have a look at this lot!" shouts a youth always one of the favourite attractions in any zoo.
with cropped hair, braces and big black boots. There seems little doubt that the main reason for
He's swinging a large bottle of beer in one hand. this is because they are so similar to us, and the
"The chimps! Check them out!" says one of his more "human" their behaviour, the more the
friends. visitors to the zoo enjoy themselves.
There are six of them who swagger over and lean
out over the railings above the chimpanzee pit. It is this similarity with humans that has
They roar with laughter, passing the bottle from persuaded a group called the Great Ape Project
one to another. (GAP) to campaign for these animals to be
"Have a look at this guy. He wants a drink." afforded "human rights". In their Declaration on
One of the larger chimps has come over to squat Great Apes, GAP says that the great apes are
immediately below them and is holding out its "(genetically) the closest relatives of our species.
hand as if begging. They also have mental capacities and an
"Throw him the bottle!" emotional life sufficient to justify inclusion within
"Yeah! Give him a drink!" the community of equals."
One of the youths drops the bottle down towards
the chimp, who deftly catches it before it can The declaration calls for three rights to be
shatter on the concrete floor of the pit. The granted to great apes:
youths shake all over with laughter.
"Have one on us, fatface!" The Right to Life
The chimpanzee looks directly into the eyes of "The lives of members of the community of
this last youth as it calmly pours the rest of the equals are to be protected. Members of the
beer into the ditch in front of it. The youths don't community of equals may not be killed except in
quite know how to react. Without taking its gaze very strictly defined circumstances, for example,
off the youths, the chimp then places the bottle self-defence."
neatly in the ditch, shakes its head in a worried The Protection of Individual Liberty
sort of way, and makes a noise that sounds like "Members of the community of equals are not to
"tut, tut, tut". The youths are shocked into silence. be arbitrarily deprived of their liberty; if they
They turn and leave without a word, and it is only should be imprisoned without due legal process,
when they have gone some distance away that they have the right to immediate release."
they fall back into their normal bad behaviour.
I described that scene some years ago, because The Prohibition of Torture
I had been struck by the fact that the young men "The deliberate infliction of severe pain on a
at the chimpanzee pit had been behaving so member of the community of equals, either
badly - like "animals" - and the chimp who took wantonly or for an alleged benefit to others, is
the bottle seemed, frankly, to behave in a far regarded as torture, and is wrong."
more civil and intelligent manner than the youths.
Page 1 of 3
The campaign has resulted in legislation in the scenario, to say the least, to imagine that all great
New Zealand parliament which could mean that apes in all zoos could have the right to immediate
great apes would become the first animals in the release!
world with basic rights that would be protected by
the law: the right to life, the right not to suffer Yet another argument by those who do not
cruel or degrading treatment, and the right not to support GAP, is that the human-like qualities of
take part in most scientific experiments. the great apes have been exaggerated for
political reasons, and that this has led people to
Not everybody is happy with this idea, however. exaggerate the similarities between humans and
Scientists who use apes and other animals for other great apes, and to ignore the differences.
medical and other scientific research fear that this
is just the first stage in a process that will lead to In a fascinating article entitled "What It Really
a ban on using all animals for research. Means To Be 99% Chimpanzee", Jonathan
Marks from the Department of Anthropology at
The GAP declaration claims to "provide ethical the University of California deconstructs the fact
argument, based on scientific evidence about the that humans and apes are over 98% genetically
capacities of chimpanzees, gorillas and identical.
orangutans" for attributing "human" rights to great
apes. But if we compare the capacities of As part of his arguments he points out that,
humans and great apes, then why not the although a human and a daffodil share common
capacities of great apes and monkeys, monkeys ancestry and their DNA matches more than 25%
and lemurs, and so on until mice or even insects of the time, it is plainly ridiculous to claim that we
are granted "human rights". This is not as foolish are one-quarter daffodils.
as it might sound - there are many instances of
groups of people being excluded from He goes on to demonstrate that, if looked at from
fundamental human rights. How long ago, for one angle, it is true that we are phylogenetically*
example, did women not have the right to vote? apes. However, if looked at from another angle,
we are also phylogenetically fish! As the author
The GAP declaration also states that members of writes: "Doesn't sound quite so profound now,
the community of equals have the right to does it?"
immediate release if they should be imprisoned
* phylogenetic = relating to the evolutionary
without due legal process. It is a worrying development of any plant or animal species
After reading
Exercise 1
Below are 8 questions about the article. For each one choose the best answer, depending on the
1. Why did the author describe the scene in the zoo?

a. Because the youths were behaving badly?
b. Because the chimp behaved civilly and intelligently?
c. Because the humans were behaving like animals and the animals like humans?
2. The author says that visitors to zoos always like great apes because:
a. They are one of the favourite attractions in any zoo?
b. They are so similar to humans?
c. They go to the zoo to enjoy themselves?
3. The Declaration on Great Apes says that these animals should be afforded "human rights"
because :
a. They have sufficient characteristics to include them as our equals?
b. Mentally and emotionally, they are our equals?
c. They are closely related to our species?
Page 2 of 3
4. According to the declaration, which of the following three statements is NOT true?
a. There may be reasons why members of the community of equals may be killed.
b. Any member of the community of equals who is put in prison should be immediately released.
c. It is always wrong to inflict pain on purpose on a member of the community of equals.
5. Legislation in the New Zealand parliament could mean that:

a. Great apes could be represented in court to protect their rights?
b. Great apes have all the same rights as humans?
c. Great apes would be the first animals to be protected by law?
6. The author is worried because:

a. He thinks that great apes will soon have the right to vote?
b. He doesn't like mice and insects?
c. He doesn't know what the limits of the declaration are?
7. The author:
a. Thinks we should let all the great apes out of the zoo?
b. Is worried about what would happen if all the great apes were let free?
c. Believes that all great apes should be locked up?
8. What is the point that Jonathon Marks is trying to make in his article?
a. Humans are less than one-quarter daffodil?
b. Humans are as similar to fish as they are to great apes?
c. Being 98% genetically identical is not what it seems on the surface?
d. Apes and fish are phylogenetically similar?

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of human rights at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-human-rights.htm
• Word games: Human Rights. Match words and expressions related to human rights to their
definitions.
• Story: Where Home Is. This poignant story is about refugees in a place where they don't belong.
They spend time listening to sad, sad songs and wondering if they will ever go home.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about human rights.
• There is also a human-rights-related cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to activity 1: 1. c; 2. b; 3. a; 4. b; 5. a; 6. c; 7. b; 8. c.
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Hallowe'en
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (Hallowe’en).
Read the article
Hallowe'en is a popular festival in many countries people's houses, asking for sweets. This game is
all over the world, and every year it seems to get called “Trick or Treat’.
bigger. It's getting dark earlier and it's starting to Witches
get cold. Christmas is still a long way away. We
need something to cheer us up and take our Hallowe'en wouldn't be fun without witches.
minds off the fact that winter is nearly here. Find Witches have always been part of popular
out some more about the traditional festival of folklore. Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" opens
Hallowe'en. with three witches. A witch was someone -
usually a woman - who had special powers and
The origins of the name had dealings with the devil. The American town,
The festival of Hallowe'en has its roots in Celtic Salem, in the state of Massachusetts, is famous
and Roman traditions. Over 2,000 years ago the for the "witchcraft trials", which took place there in
Celts in Britain, Ireland and parts of France 1692.
celebrated Samhain to mark the beginning of Pumpkins
winter. When the Romans invaded, they merged
this with Feralia, their celebration of the passing The pumpkin has become a symbol of
of the dead. As Christianity spread, the Church Hallowe'en. People empty a pumpkin, cut a face
tried to replace these pagan feasts with official into the side, and put a candle inside to make a
Church holy days. One of these was November lamp. It's known as a Jack O' Lantern, from an
1. It was called All Saints Day, or "All Hallows", Irish legend about a man called Jack, who made
and October 31 was known as "All Hallows' Eve", a deal with the devil.
and then Hallowe'en.
Animals
Hallowe'en traditions
Black cats, frogs, mice and spiders are just some
In the past there was a tradition called "souling". of the animals associated with Hallowe'en.
Poor people went around houses asking for food. Generally, the more unpleasant the animal, the
In exchange, they promised to say prayers for the stronger the Hallowe'en connection. Nocturnal
dead. People no longer go souling, but the habit animals like bats are particular favourites, and if,
has been transformed into a modern Hallowe'en as is the case with vampire bats, they like
game for children in America, who dress up as drinking blood, they are high on the Hallowe'en
ghosts, witches and monsters and go around list.
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Hallowe'en
After reading
Exercise 1
For each of the 7 questions below decide if it is True or False.
1. Hallowe'en is liked by many people.

2. The Celts celebrated Samhain at the end of autumn.
3. The Church thought pagan feasts were holy days.
4. Only poor people play "Trick or Treat'.
5. Witches are a modern invention.
6. Jack O'Lantern was another name for the devil.
7. Animals that live at night are popular symbols of Hallowe'en.

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of Hallowe’en at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-halloween.htm
• Word game: Hallowe'en. Match words related to Hallowe'en to their meanings.
• Spelloween: Test your spelling with this spooky game.
• Story: King of the Pumpkins: A young boy and his cat go in search of the King of the Pumpkins, to
try and find out what - if anything - is true about his mother's stories.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about Hallowe’en.
• There is also a cartoon and carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. True (T); 2. T; 3. False (F); 4. F; 5. F; 6. F; 7. T
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Health
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (health).
Read the article

An HIV / AIDS success story
by Linda Baxter
Number of people living with HIV/AIDS in 2004: as a taboo subject. This wasn't easy. Speaking
39.4 million openly about the use of condoms means
Deaths from Aids in 2004: 4.9 million accepting that people may have sex outside of
Children (under 15) with Aids by end of 2004: 2.2 marriage. Religious leaders spoke about
million HIV/AIDS and condoms in the mosques. They
Source: http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm still talked about sexual abstinence and fidelity as
the best way to avoid becoming infected, but they
The West African Republic of Senegal has a also recommended condoms for those people
population of 10 million (95% Muslim) and there who were not going to abstain from sex.
are about 80,000 cases of HIV/AIDS in the
country. It seems like a large number but in fact,
at about 2% of the population, it's very low in
comparison to other countries. And this
percentage rate has not increased for the last ten
years. The United Nations recognises this
success and has named Senegal, the
Philippines, Thailand, and Uganda, as countries
which have done the most to fight HIV/AIDS.
How has Senegal achieved this?

The political stability of the country over the past
few decades has been an important factor. But
what other things may have contributed to this
success story? The National Plan
The National Plan to Fight HIV/AIDS was already
Social and religious values
in operation in 1987, less than a year after the
There is no doubt that social and religious values
first cases were diagnosed in Senegal. Its aim
are an important factor. The Senegalese culture
was information, education and prevention and it
is traditional and religious belief is strong. This
was the first such campaign in Africa. A
means that there is less sexual activity outside of
compulsory class was introduced into the national
marriage than in many societies. And many
curriculum in schools. Private companies were
young people still believe in the traditional values
encouraged to hold classes for their workers. The
of no sex before marriage and being faithful to
government gave the campaign strong support
your husband or wife.
and a regular budget and the religious leaders
Breaking the silence became strong supporters too. Senegal has a
Many nations in the world have strong religious long tradition of local community organisations
and social values, but the Senegalese and there were marches and workshops all over
government decided early on that the subject of the country. High-risk groups such as sex
HIV/AIDS must be discussed openly. Political, workers, soldiers and lorry drivers were specially
religious and community leaders could not treat it targeted. Women were particularly important in
Page 1 of 3
this process. Senegal recognised that women and respected all over the world. Professor
need more than education and condoms. They Souleymane Mboup, is a world-renowned AIDS
need to have the economic and social power to researcher. He is most famous for his work on
say 'No' to unprotected sex. Many young, popular documenting HIV2, a strain of the AIDS virus
musicians also became involved in the campaign which is common in West Africa. Professor
reaching young people all over the country. Mboup is in charge of his country's National AIDS
Programme. He co-ordinates the Convention of
Sex workers Research between Senegal and Harvard
Prostitution was legalised in Senegal in the University in the United States. He also works
1960s. Sex workers were registered and had to with the African AIDS Research Network.
have regular medical check-ups. Anyone who
was suffering from a sexually transmitted disease The future
was treated free of charge. This system gave So far so good, but Senegal itself knows that it
Senegal two big advantages in the war on still has a long way to go. The biggest challenge
HIV/AIDS. Firstly, it wasn't too difficult to extend is to hold on to what has already been achieved.
the system of testing and treatment to HIV/AIDS. Many experts are afraid that this initial success
And secondly, the fact that sex workers were will spread a false sense of security and people
registered and known to the authorities meant will become less careful. One problem is that
that it was easy to reach them with education Senegal is a regional crossroads. Many men go
programmes. Many prostitutes themselves to work in neighbouring countries and return
became involved in educating other women, and infected with the virus. There is still a great deal
distributing free condoms. Twenty years ago of poverty in the country and many people cannot
fewer than 1 million condoms were used in read or write. HIV/AIDS grows well in these
Senegal. Now the figure is more than 10 million. conditions. Large numbers of prostitutes are
working secretly without registration. Many sex
Safe blood workers cannot afford to refuse customers who
In 1970, Senegal began testing all the donated don't wear condoms. And if women had more
blood in its blood banks. So, unlike many economic power they would not have to turn to
Western countries, infected blood transfusions prostitution to feed their families in the first place.
never caused the spread of the virus.
So Senegal must continue with the work. And
International scientists maybe we can all learn a little from what the
Senegal has HIV/AIDS scientists who are known country has achieved so far.
After reading
Exercise 1
Choose the correct answer to each of the following 8 questions about the text.
1. What 'success' does the United Nations recognise in Senegal?

(a) The country has been politically stable for ten years.
(b) The country has a low rate of HIV/AIDS infection.
(c) The population hasn't increased for ten years.
2. Which of these sentences is true about the Senegalese way of life?

(a) There are no prostitutes.
(b) People don't have sex if they aren't married.
(c) Traditional values are very strong.
3. What did the religious leaders do?

(a) They accepted that people may have sex outside of marriage.
(b) They treated HIV/AIDS as a taboo subject.
(c) They said that using condoms was the best way to avoid infection.
Page 2 of 3
4. When did the National Plan to Fight HIV/AIDS start?

(a) Soon after the first Senegalese people were infected.
(b) When religious leaders started talking about HIV/AIDS.
(c) When the national curriculum was changed.
5. Why do women need more social and economic power?

(a) So that they can educate their children about HIV/AIDS.
(b) So that they can choose whether or not to have sex.
(c) So that they can distribute condoms.
6. How did the registration of sex workers help in the fight against HIV/AIDS?
(a) The sex workers had regular medical check-ups.
(b) The sex workers all used condoms.
(c) The sex workers started an education programme.
7. Who is Professor Mboup?

(a) A professor at Harvard University.
(b) A medical doctor.
(c) A scientist who studies HIV/AIDS.
8. What is the biggest danger in Senegal for the future?

(a) People will forget that HIV/AIDS is still a danger.
(b) The government will stop registering sex workers.
(c) People will stop using condoms.

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of health at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-health.htm
• Word game: Health. Practise phrasal verbs connected with health and illness.
• Word game: Medical services puns. A pun is an amusing use of a word or phrase which has
several meanings or which sounds like another word. Match the beginnings and ends of sentences
to make puns.
• Poem: On Chloris Being Ill: In this poem (written as a song), the great Scottish poet Robert Burns
laments the illness of his loved one.
• Science: cubed. Artificial breathing:
A prosthetic lung mimicking our natural lungs could save lives.
• Science: cubed. Bandaging skin cancer:
Affordable light-emitting bandage offers easier treatment for common skin cancers.
• Science: cubed. Cancer eating superbugs.
Gene technology could be the key to turning a harmful superbug into a lifesaver.
• Science: cubed. Heart of hope:
Growing replacement heart valve tissue from stem cells gives hope to heart patients.
• Science: cubed. Hospital robots:
A new Scottish hospital plans to employ a staff of super-efficient robots.
• Science: cubed. Rhythm of life:
Measuring the ‘heartbeat’ of living cells offers a safer approach to drug testing.
• Science: cubed. Robodoc:
A new surgical robot, the i-Snake, could be a surgeon’s hands and eyes.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about health.
• There is also 7 health-related cartoons, a poll and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. (b); 2. (c); 3. (a); 4. (a); 5. (b); 6. (a); 7. (c); 8. (a)
Page 3 of 3
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (human rights).
Read the article
Human Rights for Great Apes?
Sunday afternoon at the zoo. Chimpanzees, and the other great apes - gorillas,
orangutans and bonobos (pygmy chimps) - are
"Eh, guys! Have a look at this lot!" shouts a youth always one of the favourite attractions in any zoo.
with cropped hair, braces and big black boots. There seems little doubt that the main reason for
He's swinging a large bottle of beer in one hand. this is because they are so similar to us, and the
"The chimps! Check them out!" says one of his more "human" their behaviour, the more the
friends. visitors to the zoo enjoy themselves.
There are six of them who swagger over and lean
out over the railings above the chimpanzee pit. It is this similarity with humans that has
They roar with laughter, passing the bottle from persuaded a group called the Great Ape Project
one to another. (GAP) to campaign for these animals to be
"Have a look at this guy. He wants a drink." afforded "human rights". In their Declaration on
One of the larger chimps has come over to squat Great Apes, GAP says that the great apes are
immediately below them and is holding out its "(genetically) the closest relatives of our species.
hand as if begging. They also have mental capacities and an
"Throw him the bottle!" emotional life sufficient to justify inclusion within
"Yeah! Give him a drink!" the community of equals."
One of the youths drops the bottle down towards
the chimp, who deftly catches it before it can The declaration calls for three rights to be
shatter on the concrete floor of the pit. The granted to great apes:
youths shake all over with laughter.
"Have one on us, fatface!" The Right to Life
The chimpanzee looks directly into the eyes of "The lives of members of the community of
this last youth as it calmly pours the rest of the equals are to be protected. Members of the
beer into the ditch in front of it. The youths don't community of equals may not be killed except in
quite know how to react. Without taking its gaze very strictly defined circumstances, for example,
off the youths, the chimp then places the bottle self-defence."
neatly in the ditch, shakes its head in a worried The Protection of Individual Liberty
sort of way, and makes a noise that sounds like "Members of the community of equals are not to
"tut, tut, tut". The youths are shocked into silence. be arbitrarily deprived of their liberty; if they
They turn and leave without a word, and it is only should be imprisoned without due legal process,
when they have gone some distance away that they have the right to immediate release."
they fall back into their normal bad behaviour.
I described that scene some years ago, because The Prohibition of Torture
I had been struck by the fact that the young men "The deliberate infliction of severe pain on a
at the chimpanzee pit had been behaving so member of the community of equals, either
badly - like "animals" - and the chimp who took wantonly or for an alleged benefit to others, is
the bottle seemed, frankly, to behave in a far regarded as torture, and is wrong."
more civil and intelligent manner than the youths.
Page 1 of 3
The campaign has resulted in legislation in the scenario, to say the least, to imagine that all great
New Zealand parliament which could mean that apes in all zoos could have the right to immediate
great apes would become the first animals in the release!
world with basic rights that would be protected by
the law: the right to life, the right not to suffer Yet another argument by those who do not
cruel or degrading treatment, and the right not to support GAP, is that the human-like qualities of
take part in most scientific experiments. the great apes have been exaggerated for
political reasons, and that this has led people to
Not everybody is happy with this idea, however. exaggerate the similarities between humans and
Scientists who use apes and other animals for other great apes, and to ignore the differences.
medical and other scientific research fear that this
is just the first stage in a process that will lead to In a fascinating article entitled "What It Really
a ban on using all animals for research. Means To Be 99% Chimpanzee", Jonathan
Marks from the Department of Anthropology at
The GAP declaration claims to "provide ethical the University of California deconstructs the fact
argument, based on scientific evidence about the that humans and apes are over 98% genetically
capacities of chimpanzees, gorillas and identical.
orangutans" for attributing "human" rights to great
apes. But if we compare the capacities of As part of his arguments he points out that,
humans and great apes, then why not the although a human and a daffodil share common
capacities of great apes and monkeys, monkeys ancestry and their DNA matches more than 25%
and lemurs, and so on until mice or even insects of the time, it is plainly ridiculous to claim that we
are granted "human rights". This is not as foolish are one-quarter daffodils.
as it might sound - there are many instances of
groups of people being excluded from He goes on to demonstrate that, if looked at from
fundamental human rights. How long ago, for one angle, it is true that we are phylogenetically*
example, did women not have the right to vote? apes. However, if looked at from another angle,
we are also phylogenetically fish! As the author
The GAP declaration also states that members of writes: "Doesn't sound quite so profound now,
the community of equals have the right to does it?"
immediate release if they should be imprisoned
* phylogenetic = relating to the evolutionary
without due legal process. It is a worrying development of any plant or animal species
After reading
Exercise 1
Below are 8 questions about the article. For each one choose the best answer, depending on the
1. Why did the author describe the scene in the zoo?

a. Because the youths were behaving badly?
b. Because the chimp behaved civilly and intelligently?
c. Because the humans were behaving like animals and the animals like humans?
2. The author says that visitors to zoos always like great apes because:
a. They are one of the favourite attractions in any zoo?
b. They are so similar to humans?
c. They go to the zoo to enjoy themselves?
3. The Declaration on Great Apes says that these animals should be afforded "human rights"
because :
a. They have sufficient characteristics to include them as our equals?
b. Mentally and emotionally, they are our equals?
c. They are closely related to our species?
Page 2 of 3
4. According to the declaration, which of the following three statements is NOT true?
a. There may be reasons why members of the community of equals may be killed.
b. Any member of the community of equals who is put in prison should be immediately released.
c. It is always wrong to inflict pain on purpose on a member of the community of equals.
5. Legislation in the New Zealand parliament could mean that:

a. Great apes could be represented in court to protect their rights?
b. Great apes have all the same rights as humans?
c. Great apes would be the first animals to be protected by law?
6. The author is worried because:

a. He thinks that great apes will soon have the right to vote?
b. He doesn't like mice and insects?
c. He doesn't know what the limits of the declaration are?
7. The author:
a. Thinks we should let all the great apes out of the zoo?
b. Is worried about what would happen if all the great apes were let free?
c. Believes that all great apes should be locked up?
8. What is the point that Jonathon Marks is trying to make in his article?
a. Humans are less than one-quarter daffodil?
b. Humans are as similar to fish as they are to great apes?
c. Being 98% genetically identical is not what it seems on the surface?
d. Apes and fish are phylogenetically similar?

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of human rights at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-human-rights.htm
• Word games: Human Rights. Match words and expressions related to human rights to their
definitions.
• Story: Where Home Is. This poignant story is about refugees in a place where they don't belong.
They spend time listening to sad, sad songs and wondering if they will ever go home.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about human rights.
• There is also a human-rights-related cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to activity 1: 1. c; 2. b; 3. a; 4. b; 5. a; 6. c; 7. b; 8. c.
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Ireland
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (Ireland).
Read the article
Saint Patrick’s Day

by Dave Collett
St. Patrick is the patron saint and national apostle human, he will reveal where he hides his pot of
of Ireland. He was born in the fourth century and gold. On this day, pictures of shamrocks and
is famous for bringing Christianity into Ireland. St. leprechauns are hung everywhere. Some people
Patrick’s Day is a very well known Irish national even dress up as leprechauns complete with their
holiday, which is celebrated not only in Ireland big green hats!
but all around the world. It falls on the 17th of The village of Blarney is situated northwest of the
March. Irish city of Cork. Blarney comes from the Irish
word ‘An blarna’, meaning the plain. Blarney
History of St. Patrick Castle is a very famous castle in this village and
is 90 feet tall. The world famous Blarney Stone is
St. Patrick was born to wealthy parents in the late
on the top story. It is said that if one kisses this
fourth century. Until the age of 16, he thought of
stone, one will be given the gift of eloquence,
himself as a pagan. He was kidnapped and sold
meaning to have beautiful speaking abilities.
as a slave at this age by Irish marauders. It was
Nowadays, the word blarney means the ability to
during this capture that he turned to God.
influence and coax with fair words and soft
He managed to escape after being a slave for six speech without offending.
years and then studied in a monastery in Gaul for
12 years. This was when he knew that his
‘calling’ was to try and convert all the pagans in
Ireland to Christianity.
St. Patrick went around Ireland founding
monasteries and successfully converting the
people to Christianity. The Celtic Druids were
very unhappy with him and tried to arrest him
several times but he always managed to escape.
After 30 years of being a missionary in Ireland, he
finally settled down in a place called County
Down. He died on the 17th of March, AD 461.
Legend and Folklore

Legend also says that St. Patrick could raise
Shamrocks, leprechauns and the Blarney Stone
people from the dead. He is well-known for
are associated with St. Patrick’s Day. Shamrocks
driving the snakes out of Ireland, although many
are three-leaved clovers found growing in
people dispute how true this is! Another great
patches on grass. You are thought to be lucky if
story was how he used the shamrock, with its
you find a four-leaved clover, so do keep it if you
three leaves, to explain the Holy Trinity (the
ever come across one!
Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost) to his
Leprechauns are little Irish fairies, and they are followers.
thought to work as shoe-makers for other fairies.
The Irish say that if a leprechaun is caught by a
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Ireland
What Do People Do on St. Patrick’s Day? Irish Proverbs

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated world-wide with The Irish have many proverbs but here are some
people dancing and singing in Irish pubs, favourites.
watching the St. Patrick’s Day parade, drinking • Better the coldness of a friend than the
‘green’ beer, wearing green clothes and just sweetness of an enemy.
generally having a good time. Children in Ireland • Be nice to them on the way up. You might
have a tradition of pinching their friends who don’t meet them all on the way down.
wear green on this day!
• Let your anger set with the sun and not rise
again with it.
Traditional Food and Drink on St. Patrick’s
Day
Irish Humour
Bacon and cabbage is what most people have on
this day. Another popular dish is Irish soda bread The Irish are famous for their jokes and good
and potato pancakes. Irish pub owners go crazy nature. Here’s an example:
on this day, putting green food colouring into their Definition of an Irish husband:
beers and traditional Irish Guinness Stout is a sell He hasn’t kissed his wife in 20 years but he will
out in all Irish pubs! People also drink lots of Irish kill any man who does!
coffee, which is made with warm whiskey, sugar, Now that you know almost everything about St.
coffee and topped off with cream. Sounds Patrick’s Day, go out on March the 17th and
delicious? It is! enjoy yourselves! Why not try and spot a
leprechaun or two to find your pot of gold…?
Whatever it may be, don’t forget to wear green on
this special day!
After reading
Exercise 1
Decide if each of the following 8 questions is True are False.
1. Before the Fourth Century the people of Ireland knew a lot about Christianity.
2. St. Patrick is famous for introducing Christianity to Ireland.
3. St. Patrick was a slave all his life.
4. Four-leaved clovers are very easy to find.
5. The Irish believe that leprechauns like to catch humans and steal their money.
6. People kiss the Blarney stone because they believe it will help them become beautiful speakers.
7. Irish coffee is made with alcohol.
8. On St. Patrick’s Day people usually dress in green.

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of Ireland at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-ireland.htm
• Word game: Ireland. Do this jigsaw puzzle and find out about different things associated with
Ireland.
• Poem: An Irish Airman Foresees His Death. This poem graphically illustrates how it felt to be an
Irishman fighting for the Allies,
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about Ireland.
• There is also an Ireland-related cartoon, a poll and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. False (F); 2. True (T); 3. F; 4. F; 5. F; 6. T; 7. T; 8. T
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Jokes
Introduction

• an optional activity based on the theme of the article
• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (jokes).
Read the article

Jokes
by John Russell
“It is better to be silent and be thought a fool, than It can also be based around different meanings
to speak and remove all doubt.” Mark Twain for the same sound (homophonic).
(famous humorist)
Why didn’t the perfume arrive? Because it wasn’t
Jokes come in all shapes and sizes. This article scent.
looks at just a few of these shapes and sizes and
gives a few tips to those of you who like telling
jokes.
According to the dictionary, a joke is “something

that makes you laugh”. This is a very short
definition for something that can make you laugh,
cry, feel angry, or sad, scream or shout. They can
be about anything in the universe, from jobs to
relationships, from nationalities to animals. They
can also make you think very hard or laugh
immediately.
From the one liner…

A pun can also be used in a shaggy dog story.
The difference between stupidity and genius is This is a very long joke that usually finishes with
that genius has its limits. (Einstein) a punch line (the climax of a joke) that uses a
play on words. Some people argue that a shaggy
… to jokes about computers… dog story is just a long joke.
I use my cat’s name as my computer password. A man and a woman were involved in a terrible
Unfortunately I have to change the password car crash, but amazingly neither of them was
every month so now my cat’s called czc-x9ig- injured. After climbing out of their separate cars
pol9! and looking at each other the woman finally said.
“The fact that neither of us was hurt must be a
… humour is something that connects all sign that we were meant to meet each other, and
countries and nationalities. were meant to be friends.” The man, still
shocked, nodded his head in agreement.
A very common type of joke in English is a pun or Just at that moment an unopened bottle of
a play on words. This can be based around whiskey rolled out of the woman’s car and she
different meanings for the same spelling said “again this must be a sign that we were
(homographic); meant to ‘toast’ our friendship with a drink.”
The man (by this point needing a drink) took hold
He’s the senior teacher. He’s over 70! of the bottle and drank a few mouthfuls. He gave
(How many different meanings of 'senior' are it back to the woman and asked “aren’t you going
there?)
Page 1 of 3
to have any?” The woman (wiping her fingerprints Doctor: I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news and
off the bottle) shook her head and replied. “You some very bad news for you.
know…I think I’ll just wait for the police to arrive Patient: What’s the bad news?
before I drink anything” Doctor: You have 24 hours to live.
Patient: And the very bad news?
Many jokes also have a darker side. People Doctor: I should have told you yesterday.
laugh about other peoples’ misfortunes and
problems, and about difficult relationships: Never announce a joke “I know a very funny
joke…” or tell anyone you know a story that will
Husband: Pack your bags. I’ve won the lottery. make them laugh. It will never be as funny as you
Wife: Wonderful! Shall we go to Las Vegas or want it to be. Tell the joke without introductions.
Monte Carlo?
Husband: I don’t care where you go… just pack To be happy with a husband you have to
your bags and get out of my house! understand him a little and love him a lot. To be
A lot of jokes also involve using another person happy with a wife you have to love her a lot and
as a victim – as the focus of the joke – often a not try to understand her at all!
stupid person. This can be another nationality,
sex, religion, or just a person who has blonde The timing of a joke is also very important. Don’t
hair. rush towards the punch line, the joke should build
up a little tension………… and a little
How did the Blonde hurt herself drinking milk? more…………… and then a pause………and
The cow fell on her. then a strong punch line. Your punch line could
also be something that surprises, something your
Death and other depressing topics are also very audience doesn’t expect.
common subjects for jokes; this kind of humour is
called black humour. In the same way, if your audience have to think a
little before they understand the joke, they may
When asked in class how they would like to die, appreciate it more. Try this one (how many
one student said to the teacher "I'd like to die different meanings of change can you think of?):
peacefully in my sleep - like my Uncle…….not
screaming in terror - like the passengers on his Change is inevitable…………….. except from a
bus." drinks machine.
How to tell a good joke? Finally, topical jokes (jokes about events now)
There are a few things to remember when you tell are funnier than jokes about events in the past.
a joke: How many people would laugh now at a Margaret
Firstly, remember who you’re telling the joke to. Thatcher joke, or a joke about the Berlin Wall
Choose a subject that your audience can coming down? But there are thousands of
appreciate – young people won’t find jokes about Gordon Brown jokes or funny Internet sites about
economics funny. However, economics students current events.
may.
Be careful not to offend people by mistake, a joke In the end, it’s up to you what you find funny. And
about Doctors or sick people may be funny, but even if you can’t tell jokes very well you can still
not to a Doctor or a sick person. enjoy them.
Page 2 of 3
After reading
Exercise 1
Below on the left are the first parts of 10 jokes. On the right there are the second parts.
Can you match the first and second parts?
1 Why don't blind people go parachuting? a ... or they won't go to yours.
2 You should always go to other peoples b ... there are enough problems with
funerals… today.
3 What do you call the Cuban symphony c A machine designed specially to eat
orchestra after a tour of the USA? your socks.
4 How do you make milk powder? d A string quartet.
5 What did the apple say to the worm? e Because it scares their guide dogs.
6 Why was the little Egyptian boy sad? f Because Toes Go In First.
7 What is the definition of a washing g Great big holes all across Australia.
machine?
8 Why do stupid people have TGIF written h His daddy was a Mummy.
on their shoes?
9 What do you get if you mix a kangaroo i Push a cow out of a plane.
with an elephant?
10 Why worry about tomorrow ... j You bore me.

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of jokes at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-jokes.htm
• Magazine article: The funniest jokes in the world. "Recently, a group of scientists and
psychologists decided to try and find out what the funniest joke in the world was. This was
obviously going to be a difficult task, as no two people ever really agree about what is funny and
what is not – especially when they are from different countries."
• Word game: Famous riddles: Why did the chicken cross the road? Why do birds fly south in the
winter? Find out here!
• Story: Three Jokes. Have you heard the one about the chicken and the frog? How about the one
about the firing squad? And the one about the parrot who didn't want to talk? In this activity you
have to 'tell' the jokes yourself.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about jokes.
• There is also a joke-related cartoon, a poll, and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to activity: 1. e); 2. a); 3. d); 4. i); 5. j); 6. h); 7. c); 8. f); 9. g); 10. b)
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Languages
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (languages).
Read the article
The Meaning of Tingo

by Chris Rose
I recently found a book by the writer Adam Jacot Japanese, for example, may have given us
de Boinod called The Meaning Of Tingo. As a manga to describe a particular style of comic
native speaker of English, I was a bit confused. I book, but the English have not yet adopted the
had never heard of this word “tingo”, and was useful expression katahara itai - laughing so
curious about the title of the book. much that your stomach hurts. The Japanese, it
As I soon found out, even if you are not a native seems, have many such useful words – another
speaker, then going to your dictionary and one for example, is bakku-shan - a girl who
looking up the word “tingo” will not help. In fact, appears pretty from behind but not from the front.
you probably won’t find the word “tingo” there at Have you ever wanted to say that in merely one
all, and not least because of the fact that “tingo” word? Now you can.
is not an English word. “Tingo”, it seems, is one As well as Japanese, it seems that German is
of very many words which cannot be translated also a useful language. German often makes
into English – or at least one of those words “compound words” – one or more words joined
which are very difficult to try and translate into together to make a new word. Putzfimmel, for
English, or even into your own native language. example, is a mania for cleaning while
Backpfeifengesicht apparently describes the kind
The book The Meaning of Tingo is a kind of of face that people want to hit.
dictionary, but perhaps a dictionary you will not
find useful in the same way that your usual Jacot de Boinod’s book is not only amusing, but,
dictionary is. The Meaning of Tingo is a list of he claims, shows that way in which a language is
words from languages all over the world which inextricably linked to the culture in which it is
have very specific, not to say very unusual, spoken. Is it really true, then, that in Germany
meanings. there are a lot of people who have faces which
other people want to punch? Or that Japan has
English is a language that has always been more than its share of of bakku-shan? The reader
omnivorous, taking words from other languages may not at first be convinced by this, but when
to enrich its own vocabulary. English has taken you read that Hawaiians have 108 words for
the words pyjamas from Hindi to describe the sweet potato, 65 for fishing nets and 47 for
loose clothes you may wear when you go to bed, banana (simply because in Hawaii there are
croissant from French to describe a particular indeed 108 different kinds of sweet potato, 65
kind of sweet bread roll, or catastrophe from fishing nets and 47 different types of banana), it
Greek to describe a particularly bad event, or makes more sense. Albanians are famous for
angst from German to describe a particular their moustaches – and indeed the Albanian
mixture of fear and anger. And these are just a language contains 27 different words for
few of the many examples of words that English “moustache”- madh, for example, is a bushy
has made its own. moustache, posht is a moustache hanging down
However, it is interesting to look at words that at the ends while a fshes is a long moustache
even a greedy language such as English has not with short hairs. People from Holland and
(at least yet) made its own. Belgium appear to be more fun-loving. Dutch has
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Languages
a word uitwaaien - “walking in windy weather for have to work with an aviador - a government
fun”, while people in the Netherlands apparently employee who only shows up on payday.
often go to plimpplampplettere. What are they
doing? Just think about the sound – they are So, what exactly does “tingo” mean then? Well, to
skimming stones on water. find that out, you’ll just have to find the book. No,
not really! It's from the Pascuense language of
Easter Island, meaning "to borrow objects from a
friend's house, one by one, until there's nothing
left".
POSTSCRIPT
Some reviewers of the book have said that it

contains a number of mistakes. For example, the
etymology, or explanation of where words come
from. They have also said that many definitions
lack explanation, which suggests that his
research is really quite superficial. Perhaps most
importantly, one reviewer noted that de Boinod
writes that the word “papa” is used to mean
“father” in 70% of all languages in the world. This
More evidence of this link between language and seems interesting, but then the reviewer points
culture can be seen in the words which different out that seeing as there are more than 6 000
languages have for jobs which exist only in their languages in the world (a fact which de Boinod
cultures. Some of these jobs are pretty unusual: a includes), this means that he must have looked at
koshatnik in Russian is a dealer in stolen cats, around 4,200 languages – when he says that he
while Spanish speakers in central America often looked at only 270 dictionaries!
After reading
Exercise 1: Decide if each of the 8 statements about the text is True or False.
1. The writer says that English is a language which takes words from other languages and makes them
its own.
2. The writer thinks it is logical that there are so many words for “sweet potato” in the Hawaiian
language.
3. You have to read the book to find out what “tingo” actually means.
4. Some critics call into question the academic validity of the book.
5. The Meaning of Tingo is a dictionary.
6. The writer of the article was confused at first.
7. The writer of the article thinks that the book The Meaning of Tingo is useless.
8. The writer of the book thinks that there isn’t a connection between language and culture.

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of languages at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-languages.htm
• Magazine article: Cornish: "In the first lesson of any language course you'll probably learn a mini
dialogue like this. You'll find the translation at the end of this article, but can you guess what it means?"
• Word game: Foreign words. There are many words we use in English that come from or are adapted
from other languages. Match words to their languages of origin.
• Story: Funny Signs. Sometimes speakers of other languages do their best to try and help English
speakers by making signs in English. The results are sometimes surprising, to say the least!
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about languages.
• There is also a languages-related cartoon, a poll and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. True (T); 2. T; 3. False (F); 4. T; 5. F, 6. T; 7. F; 8. F
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Literacy
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (literacy).
Read the article
Illiteracy
by Linda Baxter
I’ve written this article and you’re reading it. So Other people say that you are illiterate if you think
we are members of the same club. We’re both that you are illiterate. In other words, if you feel
literate - we can read and write. And we both that you can't read or write as well as you would
probably feel that literacy is essential to our lives. like to.
But millions of people all over the world are
illiterate. Even in industrialised western If you live in a society where most people are
countries, such as the UK and the USA, literate then you will feel ashamed or
approximately 20% of the population have 'low embarrassed and avoid situations in which you
literacy levels'. But what exactly does that have to read or write. The father of a friend of
mean? mine finally admitted to his family that he couldn't
read when he was 45 years old. He bought the
My parents both left school at 14. They could newspaper every day and pretended to read it -
read and write, but except for a quick look at the and believe it or not, his family had no idea.
daily newspaper, reading and writing didn't play a
big part in their lives. There were very few books Literacy in the past
in the house. My mother was amazed because
the woman who lived next door always wrote a We often forget that writing is a recent invention.
list of what she needed before she went to the Many years ago, the word 'literate' meant being
supermarket. Why couldn't she remember? We able to communicate well in speaking, in other
laughed about that for weeks. Our family didn't words what we now call 'articulate'. Story telling
write lists! And when I was only 14 years old my was an important activity in the past and still is
father gave me an important letter that he'd today in some societies. Reading was often a co-
written to the bank and asked me to check it for operative activity - someone would read aloud to
grammar and spelling mistakes. And there were a group, often from a religious text such as the
quite a lot. He never usually wrote letters or Koran or the Bible.
postcards or even Christmas cards. So when he
had to write he wasn't comfortable or confident. Only a hundred years ago, in the United States,
Does that mean that my father had a 'low level of you were considered to be literate if you could
literacy'? I don't think so. sign your name to a piece of paper. It was an
important skill. You were not allowed to vote if
What is illiteracy? you couldn't sign the voting register, so literacy
was connected with political rights, and many
There are lots of different definitions of literacy. people were excluded from the democratic
Some experts define it as having the reading and process.
writing skills that you need to be independent in
your everyday life. So, for example, if you can Nowadays we see reading and writing as being
read instructions, write a cheque, fill in a form, - connected, but that wasn't so in the past. Many
anything that you need to do in everyday life - people could read, but not write. Writing was a
then you are 'functionally literate'. skilled profession. If you needed something
written then you paid an expert to write it for you.
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Literacy
And of course, rich and important people have find jobs, even when reading and writing are not
always employed people to write things for them. necessary for the work.
Important company bosses dictated letters to
their secretaries or personal assistants. And now World-wide statistics show that literacy problems
with new computer software you can dictate are associated with poverty and a lack of political
directly to your computer. power. More women than men are illiterate.
Illiterate people have worse health, bigger
Is literacy important? families and are more likely to go to prison. So
literacy campaigns must be a good thing. But
Being illiterate can have a big effect on people's don't forget that an illiterate person, or someone
lives. For example, a study in the UK showed with a low level of literacy, isn't necessarily stupid
that people who write and spell badly are seen as or ignorant - and may not be unhappy at all.
careless, immature and unreliable, and often Knowledge and wisdom isn't only found in writing.
unintelligent. So it is more difficult for them to
After reading
Exercise 1
For each of the 8 questions choose the best answer.
1. What are the literacy statistics in industrialised 5. What did the word 'literate' mean many years
western countries? ago?
a. 20% of the population can't read or write. a. Being able to read a religious book.
b. 20 % of the population can't read or write very b. Being able to remember stories.
well. c. Being articulate.
c. 20% of the population can read but can't write.
6. How was literacy defined in the United States a
2. Why didn't the writer's mother write a list when hundred years ago?
she went to the supermarket? a. Being able to sign your name.
a. She couldn't read and write. b. Being able to read but not write.
b. She could remember what she needed to buy. c. Being able to dictate a letter to someone else.
c. She didn't like writing.
7. What did the study in the UK show?
3. How did the writer help her father with important a. That intelligent people are usually good at writing
letters? and spelling.
a. She wrote them for him. b. That bad writing and spelling give a negative
b. She typed them for him. impression of your personality.
c. She corrected them for him. c. That most jobs today involve reading and writing.
4. What does 'functionally literate' mean? 8. Why does the writer think that literacy
a. You can read and write well enough to do the campaigns are 'a good thing'?
things that you need to do. a. They can fight illness and poverty.
b. You would like to be able to read and write better. b. Illiterate people are unhappy.
c. You can read as well as everyone else in your c. We learn everything from reading.
society.

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of literacy at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-literacy.htm
• Word games: There are two word games: Practise idiomatic expressions using the word 'read' and also
phrasal verbs using the word 'write'.
• Poem: Pronunciation. This clever and amusing poem explains why English pronunciation is so very difficult.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about literacy.
• There is also a literacy-related cartoons and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. b; 2. b; 3. c; 4. a; 5. c; 6. a; 7. b; 8. a
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Space
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (space).
Read the article

The moon
Lazy moon, come out soon. You can make me nights when there is a full moon. No study has a
happy, if you will. found significant increase, however. Some
believe the lunar cycle and the human menstrual
As the brightest and biggest thing in the night cycle are linked, and that women are influenced
sky, the moon has inspired music, poetry and by the phases of the moon. Pure coincidence.
stories for centuries. Federico Garcia Lorca wrote The lunar cycle is regular - every 29.5 days -
a ballad about it. Debussy composed a piece for while women’s are slightly shorter and start at
piano. Frank Sinatra wanted someone to fly him different times.
there.
Another belief is that the pull of the moon’s
Mythological explanations gravity has an influence on people like it does on
the sea. However, the tides are only affected by
Many peoples and civilisations have made the the moon because they combine with the force of
moon part of their beliefs. In Hinduism, it contains the earth as it spins. Someone estimated that a
soma, a drink that gives the gods immortality. mosquito has more gravitational effect on us than
When the Maoris look at the moon, they see a the moon.
woman holding a bucket who they call Rona. She
controls the tides and makes rain when she is
angry by pouring the water out. The Inuit think the
moon chases his sister the sun across the sky.
He becomes thin, like a crescent, because he
forgets to eat while he is running. In parts of
Europe, people believed a full moon made people
mad. The word lunacy comes from the name of
the Roman Goddess, Luna.
Marking time
In the Muslim year, Ramadan begins when the

new moon appears. Christians count fourteen
days after the first full moon of the Spring
Equinox and celebrate Easter on the next
Sunday. The Chinese have a moon festival in And I’m sorry to say that the Great Wall of China
autumn when people read and write poetry and is not visible from the moon. But you can see it
eat moon cakes- small and round with sweets from a satellite in orbit around the earth.
inside. In Thailand, people send boats down the
river with candles in them under the full moon Moon landings
during Loy Krathong.
In July 1969, it took about seventy hours to get
Mistaken beliefs there by rocket. All the computing power they
People will tell you that crime rises and the used then now exists inside just one personal
number of suicides and traffic accidents go up on computer!
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Space
Everyone knows that there is no air on the moon Some people don’t believe anybody has been to
and very little gravity. But it is a hostile the moon at all. They think it was all simulated in
environment to humans in other ways. Like a a desert or a film studio. But then thirteen per
desert, it gets very hot during the day (130ºC) cent of adults in the USA still believe that part of
and very cold at night (minus118ºC), which is the moon is made of cheese…
why you need a space suit.
Mortal remains
A total of twelve men have walked on the moon.
Their footprints are still there because there’s no Do you want to be buried on the moon? Only one
wind or water to obliterate them. One astronaut, person has; Eugene Merle Shoemaker, one of
Alan Sheppard, hit a golf ball that went 800 the original brains behind the US Space program.
metres because of the lack of gravity. His ashes were put there after he died in 1997.
Presumably, it’s still there too. Scientists think that the moon itself is the remains
of a collision between the earth and another
planet, but its exact origins are still a mystery.
After reading
Exercise 1
In the box are 7 numbers that are referred to in the article. Can you match the numbers to the
explanations?
70 29.5 -118 800 13 1.5 1969
Explanation
1. The temperature of the moon at night
2. The number of hours it takes to reach the moon from earth
3. The number of seconds it takes light to travel from the moon to the earth
4. The year men first walked on the moon
5. The distance in metres an astronaut hit a golf ball on the moon
6. The percentage of adults in the USA who think the moon is made of cheese
7. The number of days it takes for the moon to complete a full cycle

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of space at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-space.htm
• Articles: There are two more articles: Space and Wormholes.
• Word games: There are two word games: Solar system riddle and Science fiction gapfilling.
• Poem: Star-gazers. In this interesting poem William Wordsworth explores what goes through people's
minds when they look at the stars through a telescope.
• History: There are four history articles: Challenger explodes, Manned space flight, Moon landing
and US-USSR space link-up.
• Science: There are four cubed articles: Asteroid explorer, Moon rocket, Smart dust, and Stereo sun.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about space.
• There are also two space-related cartoons and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. -118; 2. 70; 3. 1.5; 4. 1969; 5. 800; 6. 13; 7. 29
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Names
Introduction

• an optional vocabulary activity based on the article
• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (Names).
Read the article
Names
by Katherine Bilsborough
Shakespeare told us that a rose, by any other 1. Jack
name, would smell as sweet. But is that true? Are 2. Joshua
names important? Are you happy with the name 3. Thomas
that you were given as a baby? And how do you 4. James
choose a name for your own children when they 5. Daniel
come along? 6. Oliver
7. Benjamin
Humans have been using names since 8. Samuel
prehistoric times but although all cultures use 9. William
names, the ways that we have of naming our 10. Joseph
children differ from place to place. In some places
people have just a single name while in others It appears that parents are more adventurous
the naming process is far more complex. when it comes to naming daughters. Boys names
Sometimes our names carry information about tend to be more traditional and favourites change
our family roots or even, in the case of some less frequently. Jack has topped the list for the
African cultures, the order in which each sibling is past nine years and shows no sign of moving.
born. The etymology of names (the linguistic
origin or meaning) is a subject which has
fascinated us for generations. Another interesting
aspect of names is why people choose to give
their child one name and not another and why
certain names become popular at particular
moments in time.
In 2004 the top ten names for girls born in the

United Kingdom were:
1. Emily
2. Ellie
3. Chloe
4. Jessica
5. Sophie
A fairly recent trend in choosing a name has
6. Megan
meant that there are now generations of young
7. Lucy
people named after musicians, film stars and
8. Olivia
even designer clothes labels. Kylie is one of the
9. Charlotte
most popular girls names at the moment and last
10. Hannah
year in the UK alone, 221 babies were named
For boys, the top names were: Shakira after the Columbian singer. Following the
success of “The Matrix”, fans started calling their
Page 1 of 3
children Morpheus and Trinity after the lead Guggi, the actor Sean Penn’s son is called
characters. And, if that isn’t bad enough, there Hopper and film director Robert Rodriguez has
are around three hundred American teenagers three sons; Rebel, Rocket and Racer. How do
called Armani. you think these children feel? When David
Bowie’s son Zowie Bowie was old enough, he
Colours have also entered the naming arena with rebelled against his father’s choice of name and
Pink, Ruby and Scarlet popular choices for girls changed it to Joey.
and Blue and Grey for boys. And what about the
current craze for calling your child after a town or There is little to be done about the name you
city? When David Beckham called his child were given as a child but maybe we ought to
Brooklyn, 105 other parents followed the craze think more carefully about the names we choose
and called their children; boys and girls alike, to give future generations. It would be sad to
Brooklyn too. Other “place” names that are think that names that have been good enough for
popular are Adelaide and Devon. Kings, Queens, heroes and heroines throughout
history will lose out to passing trends or short
Beckham is not the only celebrity who has lived crazes. So, let’s have more Georges,
chosen to give his children unusual names. Bono, Henrys, Katherines and Annes and less Hilfigers,
of U2 fame called his son Elijah Bob Patricius Khakis, Chelseas and Pinks!
After reading
Exercise 1
Below are 8 statements about the text. Decide if each one is True or False.
1 Names have been around for thousands of years.

2 Some African names tell us whether the person is a first-born child.
3 In the UK parents are more adventurous when they choose a name for a boy.
4 Jack has become a popular name in the UK in the last year.
5 Hundreds of American boys are named after a fashion designer.
6 Blue is a popular girl's name.
7 There are both boys and girls called Brooklyn.
8 Zowie Bowie was unhappy with his name.
Exercise 2
In the table are 8 adjectives from the text. Below are the definitions of these adjectives. Match the
adjectives and their definitions.
adventurous complex current important

interesting popular traditional unusual
1. keen to try new or exciting things

2. happening or existing now
3. not normal, common or ordinary
4. having a major effect on someone or something
5. related to or based on very old customs, beliefs or stories
6. to describe an activity, place or thing that many people like
7. with a lot of details making it difficult to understand
8. to describe something that makes you want to know more about it
Page 2 of 3

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of names at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-names.htm
• Word game: Names. Do a jigsaw puzzle and practise idioms that contain the word 'name'.
• Story: Names: Naming houses? Naming babies? It's sometimes not as straightforward as it seems
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about names.
• There is also a name-related cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1.True (T); 2. T; 3. False (F); 4. F; 5. T; 6. F; 7. T; 8. T
Answers to vocabulary activity: 1. adventurous; 2. current; 3. unusual; 4. important; 5. traditional; 6.
popular; 7. complex; 8. interesting
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – New Zealand
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (New Zealand).
Read the article
New Zealand: two islands where old meets new

by Claire Powell
Talking to friends from New Zealand while writing In 1975, the government established the Waitangi
this article confirmed New Zealand’s place at the Tribunal, to clarify the Treaty and honour it as a
top of my ‘Must Visit’ list! Tucked away in the relevant and living document. Now the New
Pacific Ocean, here the sun seems to slip more Zealand government has a large Maori
slowly across the sky, perhaps thanks to Maui, a representation, and Maori rights have been
legendary Maori demi-god, whose magic fishing recovered.
net caught the sun, allowing Maui to ask it to
make the days longer. A few years ago, in the north island, a road was
being built. Maoris objected to the road going
The first New Zealanders were the Maoris, who through a lake, where there was a ‘taniwha’ (a
travelled there by boat about ten thousand years legendary water monster). The government bent
ago. Maori legend has it that Maui magically the road around the lake, preserving not only the
fished New Zealand’s north island up out of the ‘taniwha’ but also a stunning natural area.
sea. The south island was his canoe. When you
look at a map of the north island, it looks like a
fish.
With Maui were his brothers, who promised to

stay on the canoe while Maui dived down into the
sea to thank the gods for his discovery. While
waiting, the brothers got greedy, and started
trying to divide up the land by beating the fish.
When Maui came up and stopped them, the fish
had changed shape – which is how the north
island got its valleys and mountains.
‘New Zealand’ in Maori is ‘He Aoteroa’ which

means ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’. When the
Traditionally community-minded, Maoris lived
Maoris travelled by boat to the islands, they
close together, with extended family living
crossed what must have seemed like a never-
nearby. Now, many Maoris are again buying
ending ocean. The first thing they saw for a long
houses together to recreate these communities.
time was a long white cloud on the horizon, over
The houses may not be old, but they are
New Zealand, hence the name.
decorated with traditional paintings and carvings,
Centuries later, Europeans arrived. Unfortunately, and in front of the ‘marae’ (meeting house) is a
the relationship between these settlers and the space where visitors can be welcomed into the
Maoris was difficult. In 1840, the British and the house traditionally.
Maoris signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which
A visitor is ‘sung’ onto the ‘marae’, clearing a
detailed land and fishing rights. Poorly translated
spiritual pathway for a peaceful meeting between
into Maori, the Treaty was misinterpreted, often
host and guest. The Maori greeting is a ‘hongi’,
unfairly for the Maoris.
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – New Zealand
where, as well as holding hands, you press noses language is very similar to Japanese, and the
together – meaning you share breath, and, if your Japanese can often say Maori words more
foreheads are also pressed together, you share convincingly than the average non-Maori New
minds as well. Zealander.
New Zealand is a very developed, industrialised Interestingly, New Zealand English also has its’
country, where western and Maori cultures and own vibrant language! New Zealand slang is
peoples have integrated so much that Maori different to British and American slang, and even
traditions were in danger of dying out. different to Australian. My favourites are ‘chilli
bin’; nothing to do with spicy food, but New
Both Maoris and non-Maoris realised the Zealand slang for a cool box, and ‘give it some
importance of preserving Maori culture. Maoris jandal’, meaning ‘put your foot down on the
began re-teaching their children traditional Maori accelerator and speed up’ (‘jandals’ are plastic
crafts. Recently, Maori language became a core shoes -‘flip flops’ in the UK and ‘thongs’ in
school subject. Many New Zealanders encourage Australia!). Now I must rattle my dags (hurry up)
this development, recognising that Maori because today I’m off tramping (walking) in the
language is an integral part of New Zealand’s bush (countryside). See you later! And in Maori –
culture. Aroha nui!
The Maoris probably originated from around
Japan, as the pronunciation of the Maori
After reading
Exercise 1
Decide if each of the 10 statements below about the text is True or False.
1. New Zealand is a country made up of two islands.

2. European settlers came long after the arrival of the Maoris in New Zealand.
3. According to Maori legend, the south island was fished out of the sea by Maui.
4. The north island has many mountains and valleys.
5. The treaty of Waitangi was written in the eighteenth century.
6. Many Maoris hold positions in New Zealand government.
7. 'Marae' is Maori for a traditional meeting house.
8. With 'hongi', the traditional Maori greeting, you shake hands.
9. In order to keep the Maori language alive, children learn it at school.
10. New Zealand English slang is sometimes different to slang in other English-speaking countries.

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of New Zealand at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-new-zealand.htm
• Word game: New Zealand English. Match words and expressions in British English to their New
Zealand English equivalents.
• Story: Dame Ngaio Marsh, one of New Zealand’s most remarkable and charismatic women, was
world-renowned as a leading crime fiction writer. In this activity, compare the plots of some of her
different crime stories.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about New Zealand.
• There is also a New Zealand-related cartoon, and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. True (T); 2. T; 3. False (F); 4. T; 5. F; 6. T; 7. T; 8. F; 9. T; 10. T
Page 2 of 2
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (old age).
Read the article
Building Bridges
by Linda Baxter
Being old is when you know all the answers but combining a residential home for the elderly with
nobody asks you the questions. a crèche/nursery school in the same building.
(Anonymous) The children and the residents eat lunch together
and share activities such as music, painting,
Six months before she died, my grandmother gardening, and caring for the pets which the
moved into an old people's home and I visited her residents are encouraged to keep. In the
there when I was in Britain. She was sitting in the afternoons, the residents enjoy reading or telling
living room with about fifteen other residents, stories to the children, and if a child is feeling sad
mostly women, half of them asleep. The room or tired, there is always a kind lap to sit on and a
was clean and warm, with flowers and pictures, cuddle. There are trips out and birthday parties
and the care assistants were kind and cheerful. too.
'The Weakest Link' was on the television ('to keep
their brains active' one of the assistants said), The advantages are enormous for everyone
and the only other sound was snoring and concerned. The children are happy because they
embarrassing digestive noises. People only get a lot more individual attention, and respond
moved when they needed to be helped to the well because someone has time for them. They
bathroom. It was depressing. Gran talked a lot also learn that old people are not 'different' or
about how much she missed seeing her frightening in any way. And of course, they see
grandchildren (my nieces aged 7 and 5), but I illness and death and learn to accept them. The
knew from my sister that they hated going to visit residents are happy because they feel useful and
her there, and to be perfectly honest, I couldn't needed. They are more active and more
wait to get away myself. interested in life when the children are around
and they take more interest in their appearance
too. And the staff are happy because they see
an improvement in the physical and psychological
health of the residents and have an army of
assistants to help with the children.
Nowadays there is less and less contact between

the old the young. There are many reasons for
this, including the breakdown of the extended
family, working parents with no time to care for
ageing relations, families that have moved away,
and smaller flats with no room for grandparents.
But the result is the same - increasing numbers of
children without grandparents and old people
who have no contact with children. And more old
So I was interested to read a newspaper article people who are lonely and feel useless, along
about a new concept in old people's homes in with more and more families with young children
France. The idea is simple, but revolutionary -
Page 1 of 3
who desperately need more support. It's a major losing their sight. The young people help with
problem in many societies. practical things such as writing letters, reading
bank statements and helping with shopping, and
That's why intergenerational programmes, the older people can pass on their knowledge
designed to bring the old and the young together, and experience to their young visitors. For
are growing in popularity all over the world, example, a retired judge may be paired with a
supported by UNESCO and other local and teenager who wants to study law. Lasting
international organisations. There are examples friendships often develop.
of successful initiatives all over the world. Using
young people to teach IT skills to older people is But it isn't only the individuals concerned who
one obvious example. Using old people as gain from intergenerational activities. The
volunteer assistants in schools is another, advantages to society are enormous too. If older
perhaps reading with children who need extra people can understand and accept the youth of
attention. There are schemes which involve older today, and vice versa, there will be less conflict in
people visiting families who are having problems, a community. In a world where the number of old
maybe looking after the children for a while to people is increasing, we need as much
give the tired mother a break. Or 'adopt a understanding and tolerance as possible.
grandparent' schemes in which children write Modern Western society has isolated people into
letters or visit a lonely old person in their area. age groups and now we need to rediscover what
There are even holiday companies that specialise 'community' really means. And we can use the
in holidays for children and grandparents strengths of one generation to help another.
together. One successful scheme in London Then perhaps getting old won't be such a
pairs young volunteers with old people who are depressing prospect after all.
After reading
Exercise 1: For each of the 5 questions below choose the best answer, depending on the information in
the text above.
1. What was wrong with the home that the writer's grandmother was in?
a) The old people weren't looked after properly.
b) Children weren't allowed to visit.
c) The residents had no stimulation.
2. What was the new concept that the writer read about in the newspaper?
a) Old people being allowed to keep pets.
b) A nursery school inside an old people's home.
c) Children visiting old people for lunch and birthdays.
3. Who benefits from this new type of old people's home?

a) The staff.
b) The staff and the old people.
c) The staff, the old people and the children.
4. What does the writer think is a major problem in society today?

a) The breakdown of the extended family.
b) There isn't much contact between the old and the young.
c) Old people are lonely.
5. Why are intergenerational activities important nowadays?

a) There will be more old people in the future.
b) Western communities are isolated.
c) Old people don't like young people.
Page 2 of 3

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of old age at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-old-age.htm
• Word game: Idioms with "Old". Do a jigsaw puzzle and learn different idiomatic expressions that
include the word "old".
• Poem: The Seven Ages of Man. The famous lines from Shakespeare's play As You Like It.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about old age.
• There is also a cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. c); 2. b); 3. c); 4. b); 5. a)
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – The Olympic Games
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (Olympic Games).
Read the article
The Olympic Games: then and now

by Craig Duncan
In 2004 the Olympic Games returned to its home At the start of the games, every competitor had to
in Greece, where it began around 3000 years swear an oath that they were a free citizen of
ago. The first recorded Olympic festival took Greece who had committed no sacrilege against
place in 776 BC. Similar festivals had been the gods. In today’s Olympics, one athlete takes
organised for at least two or three centuries prior an oath on behalf of all the competitors, although
to this, but 776 BC saw the start of a regular of course it is a little different to the ancient Greek
festival which was to take place every Olympiad, oath. Today, competitors promise that they shall
or four year period. abide by the rules of the games, will act in an
honourable and sportsmanlike manner, and not
In ancient Greece citizens of different city states use any performance-enhancing drugs. Cheating,
could not always travel freely around the country, though, is almost as old as the games itself:
but during the Olympics the various rulers agreed records of the ancient Greek games are riddled
truces so as that their citizens could attend the with tales of athletes paying off their competitors,
Olympics without problems. Sport was only one and of boxers fixing the results of their fights. In
part of the festival; there were also ritual ancient Greece, though, there weren’t many ways
sacrifices, poetry readings, exhibitions of an athlete could cheat in a race: maybe take a
sculpture and trade fairs. It was a festival which shortcut, or borrow a horse. By the time of the St
celebrated on the one hand the Greek gods, and Louis Olympics in 1904, more modern means
on the other hand the abilities of the Greek were available. The original “winner” of the 1904
people. Olympic marathon, Fred Lorz, was disqualified
after it was revealed that he had travelled half the
The early athletic competitions were only running distance in a car. The man later declared the
races, but later other sports such as boxing and official winner, Thomas Hicks, wasn’t much
wrestling came to be included. It was not simply a better: he was carried across the finishing line by
matter of professional athletes arriving and two of his trainers. Hicks’s trainers had tried to
entering the competitions; for one thing, there enhance his running ability by feeding him a mix
were no professional athletes! All the competitors of egg whites, strychnine and brandy. This early
were ordinary Greek citizens who felt that they attempt at a performance-enhancing drug was
were among the best in their chosen sports. rather unsuccessful, as it left Hicks drunk and
Anyone wishing to compete had to arrive four incapable. The trick of having two men carrying
weeks early, and undergo a full month of training. him, though, seems to have worked.
It wasn’t only physical training, either: would-be
competitors had to prove that they were morally The motivation for cheating hasn’t changed much
and spiritually suitable to compete. Even if at all. Today, athletes compete primarily for the
someone was physically fit enough, they couldn’t honour of being awarded a gold medal, but also
compete unless the judges thought they were of for the enormous amounts of lucrative corporate
the right moral fibre. Curiously, all sportsmen sponsorship bestowed upon top sportspeople.
competed nude – it was widely believed that Similarly, while ancient Greek athletes were
wearing clothes slowed an athlete down! officially only competing for the honour of being
Page 1 of 3
awarded a symbolic olive branch, winners were politicians of the time felt that nations were no
usually sponsored by their city state, receiving a longer competing primarily in sport, but in
large sum of money, or a new home, or a lengthy agriculture and manufacturing. It was decided,
tax holiday. then, that these new Olympics ought to be as
much about competing in industry as in sport.
As mentioned earlier, the connection between The sports events were highly popular, but in
sport and business hasn’t changed much. Even terms of funding and regularity were of a lower
in the earliest Olympics, sporting competition priority than the commercial side, which
went alongside trade fairs and business deals. concentrated on the demonstration of agricultural
This was acknowledged in 19th century Greece and industrial inventions.
when the first modern attempts were made to
revive the Olympics. The “Zappian Olympics”, as However, the sporting side of the games were
they became known after wealthy organiser hugely popular with the public, and the level of
Evangelos Zappas, were the bridge between the support meant that, in Athens in 1896, the
ancient and modern Olympics, and took place in Olympics as we know them began. Despite the
Greece between 1859 and 1875. It was the first occasional shambles of the sort we saw in St
real international sporting competition, but Louis in 1904, it has continued from strength to
officially it was about far more than sport. Greek strength since then.
After reading
Exercise 1
1. The Zappian Olympics were:

(a) a 19th century attempt to revive the Olympic Games
(b) a huge Frank Zappa concert
(c) a competition between ancient Greek city states
(d) a series of marathons
2. The 1904 Olympic marathon was eventually won by:

(a) a man in a car
(b) a drunk man who was carried across the finishing line
(c) Evangelos Zappas
(d) one of the competitors’ trainers
3. In ancient Greece, an Olympic winner might receive:

(a) an olive branch
(b) a tax holiday
(c) a sum of money
(d) all of the above
4. An “Olympiad” is:
(a) a promise not to cheat
(b) a type of ancient vehicle
(c) a four year period
(d) a festival
5. The ancient Olympics attracted competitors from:

(a) all over the world
(b) Athens
(c) all over Europe
(d) all over Ancient Greece
Page 2 of 3

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of the Olympics at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-olympics-summer.htm
• Magazine article: The Olympics. "Winning the Olympics is not about the medal. It is about how you
feel, deep inside, at the moment of victory…it is about the unbelievable attraction of history."
(Matthew Pinsent: - Olympic Gold Medal Winner (Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000).
• Word game: Olympic events (x 4) Match names and descriptions of different Olympic sports.
• Story: Athletes of the Ancient Olympic Games. Read short biographies of 5 great athletes from
the Ancient Olympics and do an activity in which you compare the information in them.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about the Olympic Games.
• There are also 2 Olympic-related cartoons, a poll and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. (a); 2. (b); 3. (d); 4. (c); 5. (d)
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Peace
Introduction
• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (peace).
Read the article
Symbols of Peace
by Linda Baxter
The concept of peace is a very important one in tradition, the rainbow is a common symbol for
cultures all over the world. Think about how we marriage because the colours represent the
greet people. In some languages, the phrases union of yin and yang. Nowadays the rainbow is
for greetings contain the word for peace. In some used by many popular movements for peace and
cultures we greet people by shaking hands or the environment, representing the possibility of a
with another gesture to show that we are not better world in the future and promising sunshine
carrying weapons - that we come in peace. And after the rain.
there are certain symbols which people in very
different cutures recognise as representing
peace. Let's look at the origins of a few of them.
The dove
The dove has been a symbol of peace and
innocence for thousands of years in many
different cultures. In ancient Greek mythology it
was a symbol of love and the renewal of life. In
ancient Japan a dove carrying a sword
symbolised the end of war.
There was a tradition in Europe that if a dove flew
around a house where someone was dying then
their soul would be at peace. And there are
legends which say that the devil can turn himself
into any bird except for a dove. In Christian art,
Mistletoe
the dove was used to symbolise the Holy Ghost
This plant was sacred in many cultures, generally
and was often painted above Christ's head.
representing peace and love. Most people know
But it was Pablo Picasso who made the dove a
of the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe at
modern symbol of peace when he used it on a
Christmas time, which probably comes from
poster for the World Peace Congress in 1949.
Scandinavian mythology. The goddess Freya's
son was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe, so,
The rainbow
in honour of him, she declared that it would
The rainbow is another ancient and universal
always be a symbol of peace. It was often hung
symbol, often representing the connection
in doorways as a sign of friendship.
between human beings and their gods. In Greek
The ancient Druids believed that hanging
mythology it was associated with Iris, the
mistletoe in your doorway protected you from evil
goddess who brought messages from the gods
spirits. Tribes would stop fighting for a period of
on Mount Olympus. In Scandinavian mythology
time if they found a tree with mistletoe. But you
the rainbow was a bridge between the gods and
will never see mistletoe in a Christian church - it
the earth. In the Bible a rainbow showed Noah
is banned because of its associations with pagan
that the Biblical flood was finally over, and that
religion and superstition.
God had forgiven his people. In the Chinese
Page 1 of 3
The olive branch One well-known example is the United Nations

The olive tree has always been a valuable source symbol.
of food and oil. In Greek mythology, the goddess
Athene gave the olive tree to the people of The ankh
Athens, who showed their gratitude by naming The ankh is an ancient symbol which was
the city after her. But no one knows for sure adopted by the hippie movement in the 1960s to
when or why it began to symbolise peace. There represent peace and love. It was found in many
is probably a connection with ancient Greece. Asian cultures, but is generally associated with
Wars between states were suspended during the ancient Egypt. It represented life and immortality.
Olympic Games, and the winners were given Egyptians were buried with an ankh, so that they
crowns of olive branches. The symbolism may could continue to live in the 'afterworld'. The
come from the fact that the olive tree takes a long symbol was also found along the sides of the
time to produce fruit, so olives could only be Nile, which gave life to the people. They believed
cultivated successfully in long periods of peace. that the ankh could control the flow of the river
Whatever the history, the olive branch is a part of and make sure that there was always enough
many modern flags symbolising peace and unity. water.
After reading - Exercise 1

In the first box are 2 or 3 facts about each of the peace symbols. Can you match the facts to the peace
symbols in the second box?
could keep evil spirits away explains how a city got its name
is a Christian symbol of forgiveness is also a symbol for marriage
is associated with Pablo Picasso is never seen in Christian churches
is often seen in paintings of Christ is often seen on flags
symbolised immortality symbolises hope for the future
was used in the entrance to your house was used near a river
was used to represent peace in the 1960s
1. the dove
2. the rainbow
3. mistletoe
4. the olive branch
5. the ankh
Page 2 of 3

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of peace at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-peace.htm
• Article: Peacekeeping: Wherever there is conflict in the world and enemies have agreed to let a
third party or neutral force come in to try and maintain the peace, it is usually the familiar blue
helmets of the United Nations that we see on the scene.
• Word game: Peace symbols. Match pictures of peace symbols with their names.
• Story: The Robe of Peace. Johnny Bellchambers was the flashiest dresser in all of New York.
Then, suddenly, he disappeared into thin air. In this amusing story by O. Henry you find out what
happened to him.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about peace.
• There is also a peace-related cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. the dove = is often seen in paintings of Christ; is associated
with Pablo Picasso 2. the rainbow = is also a symbol for marriage; symbolises hope for the future; is a
Christian symbol of forgiveness 3. mistletoe = is never seen in Christian churches; was used in the
entrance to your house; could keep evil spirits away 4. the olive branch = is often seen on flags;
explains how a city got its name 5. the ankh = symbolised immortality; was used to represent peace in
the 1960s; was used near a river
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Pilgrims
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (Pilgrims).
Read the article
Pilgrims
by Claire Powell and Dave Collett
Who were the pilgrims? Atlantic. The crossing was smooth at first but
then came many storms, which damaged the
There are many legends surrounding the ship. Two people died on board and one baby,
pilgrims. In fact they were real people: English named Oceanus, was born. Eventually after 66
men and women who wanted to escape the days of travelling the emigrants arrived in Cape
religious controversies and economic problems of Cod in southeastern Massachusetts. The pilgrims
their time by emigrating to America. chose to stay here as it was too late to go to the
northern part of Virginia.
The pilgrim story begins in England in the 16th
century. A congregation of religious dissidents in The first winter
Nottinghamshire believed the Church of England
did not act in accordance with the teachings of The pilgrims went ashore to explore the
the Bible so they established a church of their wilderness. They had carried a small boat in
own in 1606. At that time the church and state sections below decks on the Mayflower, and this
were one, so being a separatist was considered had to be assembled before groups could go and
an act of treason. The congregation had no explore the coastline. Exploration began with a
choice but to leave their motherland. They fled to small group of sixteen men. They discovered a
the city of Leiden in Holland where they could buried cache of corn and a kettle, signs that the
worship as they liked. native Americans had a camp there.
Unfortunately life was hard there, so they decided Later on, in December, the pilgrims discovered a
to emigrate to the English colonies in North sheltered bay, called Plymouth Harbour, a place
America, then known as ‘Virginia’. Other pilgrims which was protected and good for them to live
also came for the economic opportunity although permanently. Their first winter was much colder
they remained loyal to their national church. than the English winters they had experienced
before, but all the same, the pilgrims continued
Finance exploring. They found a native American burial
The voyage and settlement was financed by a ground and unoccupied homes. After a cold night
group of English investors known as the camping, the pilgrims came face to face with the
‘merchant adventurers’. They formed a native Americans at dawn. The pilgrims fled back
partnership with the colonists whereby the to their boat and sailed home to Plymouth
merchants agreed to risk their money, and the Harbour.
settlers to invest their labour for seven years.
Land and livestock were jointly owned and the The pilgrims began building houses, but the
company would dissolve and divide its assets weather conditions were terrible, meaning that
after the seven years. the building took longer to complete. Some of the
thatched houses caught fire, due to pilgrims
Departure to New England cooking and trying to keep warm. The pilgrims
On September 6, 1620, aboard a ship called the sheltered from the snowstorms in the Mayflower
Mayflower, 102 passengers set sail across the ship. About half the group died from the bitter
Page 1 of 3
cold and from malnutrition, although happily, a would be able to live peacefully together.
baby, Peregrine, was also born. The pilgrims Massosoit, the regional leader of the
persevered and finally finished their village in Wampanoag also visited the pilgrims and they
February. exchanged gifts. They signed a peace treaty,
which would last for over 50 years.
The native Americans met the pilgrims on March
16th. A native American, Samoset, from present The first Thanksgiving festival was held in the
day Maine, welcomed the pilgrims in English. autumn of 1621, and Massasoit was invited.
Samoset had learnt English from fishermen. He Together, they celebrated the harvest and the
explained how previous explorers had kidnapped success of their peace with feasting and dancing.
some native Americans, and said he hoped they This festival is now a public holiday in the USA.
Glossary
assemble (v): to build or make something.

assets (n): (in business) buildings, equipment and land owned by a company.
cache (n): a hidden store.
controversy (n): a lot of argument or disagreement about something, usually because it affects or is
important to many people.
dawn (n): when the sun rises in the morning.
dissident (n): a person who publicly disagrees with and criticises their government.
dissolve (v): to end an official organisation or legal arrangement.
flee, fled (v): to run away from something / somebody.
loyal (adj): not changing your friendship, support for a person or an organisation.
malnutrition (n): a poor condition of health caused by a lack of food or a lack of the right type of food.
merchant (n): a person whose job is to buy and sell products in large amounts, especially by trading
with other countries.
persevere (v): to continue to work hard at something, even if it is very difficult.
separatist (n): someone who is a member of a racial, religious or other group. within a country who
believes that this group should be independent.
thatched house (n): a house where the roof is made of dried straw or thick grass.
treason (n): (the crime of) lack of loyalty to your country, especially by helping its enemies or attempting
to defeat its government.
unoccupied (adj): an adjective describing an empty place that nobody lives in.
After reading
Exercise 1
Below are 10 events from the article, but they are in the wrong order. Can you put them in the right
order?
a) A baby, called Oceanus, was born.

b) A peace treaty was signed on March 16th.
c) The first Thanksgiving took place in the Autumn of 1621.
d) They arrived at Cape Cod in south-eastern Massachusetts.
e) They built a small boat to explore the coastline.
f) They discovered a sheltered bay which they called Plymouth Harbour.
g) They found empty houses and a burial ground.
h) They left England, and went to Holland.
i) They met native Americans at dawn.
j) They set sail on the Mayflower from Holland.
Page 2 of 3

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of Pilgrims at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-pilgrims.htm
• Word game: Holy places. Match the names of religions to the names of their holy places, the
locations of these, and the name of a monument which can be found there.
• Story: In my father's footsteps: Today was a pilgrimage. Today – for Andy – was a day like going
to Rome, or sick people to Lourdes, or the people walking to Santiago de Compostela, or even
Mecca. But Andy is a different type of pilgrim ...
• In History: Mecca deaths
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about pilgrims.
• There is also a pilgrim-related cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. (h); 2. (j); 3. (a); 4. (d); 5. (e); 6. (f); 7. (g); 8. (i); 9. (b); 10. (c)
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Topics – Refugees
Introduction
• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (refugees).
Read the article
Refugees
by Claire Powell and Dave Collett
What is a Refugee? refugees might not be genuine. Also, the fact that
A refugee, defined by the United Nations, is a the country they flee to is culturally different to their
person who is unable or unwilling to return to their own makes the citizens of these developed nations
country because of a well-founded fear of feel that their culture is being stolen from them.
persecution based on their race, religion, Criminal activity seems to be a growing concern.
nationality, political opinion or because they belong People worry that asylum seekers who arrive
to a particular social group. penniless and without any documents might be
Why Do They Come? criminals or involved in acts of terrorism. In many
Most refugees flee their country to escape armed countries, new anti-terrorism laws have made
conflict. They often leave with their families and migration legislation much stricter. Increasingly,
apply for asylum in another country. Many of them governments are locking asylum seekers in
do not want to leave their own country but have no detention centres regardless of their status.
choice. The journeys they undertake to reach a Unfortunately, this causes further criminalisation as
safe place may be almost as risky as staying in genuine asylum seekers resist what they see as
their own country. They would do anything to injustice. However, protests and riots lead to
escape their suffering; crossing deserts, mountains, criminal charges and prison sentences.
seas and rivers, sometimes using dangerous These negative assumptions are not true. First of
means of transport. They also hide in parts of ships all, numbers indicate that Asia and Africa has the
that are too cramped, too hot and too smelly for world’s highest influx of refugees. Secondly, most
anyone to check. Many never arrive. rich or developed countries’ economy rely on these
World Refugee Day refugees as they are the ones who are often more
On the 20th June each year people celebrate than willing to do the kind of work that no one else
World Refugee Day. An important part of this would even think of. Furthermore, the migrants
celebration is the award given to a person or group tend to be very hardworking and highly motivated
who excels in helping refugee causes. at their jobs and are the backbone of agricultural
labour. Thirdly, governments like to play with words
To Help or Not To Help? such as ‘crime’ and immigration’ to gain popularity
There are an estimated 14 million refugees and with their citizens during elections. Moreover, after
asylum seekers in the world. Some countries in the all the problems a refugee has faced fleeing his
world, especially the rich, are adamant against own country, the last thing he wants is to be
allowing too many refugees coming into their mistrusted. Finally, it is absurd for the rich nations
country. One worry is that there may be too many to claim that their culture is being swamped by
of them seeking asylum therefore causing a great refugees, considering that the refugees are in a
problem for these developed countries. Their next minority there.
worry is resources. These refugees may fill their
hospitals, their schools, take over their jobs as well Perhaps politicians should remind themselves of
as abusing their social welfare system. At the end the fact that, whether they are dealing with genuine
of the day, some fear there could be no more asylum seekers or economic migrants, they are
resources left for the people of these developed dealing with human beings, not numbers, and the
nations. Another worry is the thought that the people should be treated humanely.
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Topics – Refugees
Glossary
absurd (adj): ridiculous or unreasonable. detention centre (n): a place where people who
adamant (adj): impossible to persuade, or unwilling have entered a country without the necessary
to change an opinion or decision. documents can be kept for short periods of time.
influx (n): the arrival of a large number of people or
armed conflict (n): an active disagreement between
people with opposing opinions or principles where things at the same time.
weapons are used in the disagreement. legislation (n): a law or set of laws suggested by a
government and made official by a parliament.
assumption (n): something that you accept as true
without question or proof. minority (n): a national or racial group living in a
asylum (n): protection or safety, especially that country or area which contains a larger group of
people of a different race or nationality.
given by a government to foreigners who have been
forced to leave their own countries for political persecution (n): from the verb persecute (v): to treat
reasons. someone unfairly or cruelly over a long period of time
because of their race, religion, or political beliefs or to
asylum seeker (n): someone who leaves their own
country for their safety, often for political reasons or annoy someone by refusing to leave them alone.
because of war, and who travels to another country status (n): an official position, especially in a social
group.
hoping that the government will protect them and
allow them to live there. swamped (adj): If something swamps a person,
backbone (n): the part of something that provides system or place, they receive more of it than they
can easily deal with.
strength and support.
cramped (adj): not having enough space. well-founded (adj): based on facts.
After reading
Exercise 1
Below are 8 statements about the text. For each one, choose the best answer, based on the information in
the text.
1. A refugee is a person who:

a. works for the United Nations 5. Rich countries take more refugees than poor
b. likes travelling to different countries countries.
c. leaves their own countries because they are a. true
afraid b. false
2. Travelling to another country is usually very 6. Many people assume that refugees are terrorists.
dangerous for a refugee. a. true
a. true b. false
b. false
7. Successfully getting asylum is getting:
3. Refugees often apply for protection: a. harder
a. abroad b. easier
b. in their own country
8. This article is generally sympathetic to refugees.
4. Rich countries always welcome refugees. a. true
a. true b. false
b. false

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-refugees.htm
• Word game: Refugees. Match words and phrases related to refugees to their definitions.
• Story: Where Home Is. This poignant story is about refugees in a place where they don't belong. They
spend time listening to sad, sad songs and wondering if they will ever go home..
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about refugees.
There is also a refugee-related cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1.c; 2.a; 3.a; 4.b; 5.b; 6.a; 7.a; 8.a
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Rescue
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (survival and rescue).
Read the article
Rescue at Sea – the RNLI

by John Russell
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee, donations, legacies and fundraising events. The
For those in peril on the sea! first time public collecting boxes were officially
used in Britain was for the RNLI – back in 1891.
These words come from a famous hymn by Today boat-shaped collection boxes can be
William Whiting; Eternal Father Strong to Save. It found all around the country.
is better known as the Naval Hymn and is popular
with many navies and lifeboat services around Who runs it?
the globe. One of the first national lifeboat As well as being a charity, the RNLI is run by
organisations in the world was founded in the UK, volunteers. Almost 4000 brave men and women
in 1824. It was then called the National Institution risk their lives to help rescue others at sea. Most
for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, today volunteers have normal jobs, which they must be
it is better known as the RNLI – the Royal ready to leave at a moment’s notice if their
National Lifeboat institution. lifeboat needs to be launched.
What is the RNLI? Volunteers come from all walks of life, there is
even a lifeboat service in South Wales manned
The RNLI is an organisation dedicated to the completely by students at a local college, Atlantic
saving of people’s lives at sea. If a boat is in College. They are mainly 17 and 18 years of age,
difficulty less than 50 miles off the coast of Britain and over the last 30 years this service has saved
or the Republic of Island, the RNLI can send a over 100 lives.
lifeboat to rescue these people. It also provides
lifeguard services in certain areas, making Fateful Dates
beaches safe for swimming.
1886 – The Mexico
There are over 230 RNLI stations and almost
8000 people were rescued in 2003 alone. Since The crew of a German boat; The Mexico,
its foundation in 1824 by Sir William Hillary, over travelling off the North-West coast of England
130,000 people have been rescued by the RNLI. needed rescuing in a storm. Three RNLI lifeboats
went to the rescue but the sea was so rough that
Who pays for it? only one reached The Mexico. One boat was hit
by a large wave and the other was never seen
As a large fully equipped lifeboat costs almost again. Twenty-seven lifeboat-men died that day.
two million pounds and it takes over £200,000 a
day to keep the service running, money is very 1979 – Fastnet Race
important. It is surprising to learn that although
the organisation saves so many lives, it is a On August 11 1979, 303 yachts were competing
charity and receives no money from the in the biennial Fastnet race - a 608 mile yacht
government. It is paid for completely through race off the South Coast of England. They were
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Rescue
caught unexpectedly in a very bad storm- the Who is Captain Calamity?

worst for many years. Winds of over 60 miles an
hour struck the boats and many sank. 17 people In an attempt to sail round Britain in a 4 ½ metre
drowned - it was the worst yachting disaster ever boat, Mr Stuart Hill had to be rescued 5 times by
in the UK. Even more would have died without RNLI Lifeboats, and twice by helicopters in the
the help of the RNLI and other rescue boasts. summer of 2001. The papers at the time called
him ‘Captain Calamity.’ Similarly, in the year
Safety procedures have improved since then. 2000, another sailor had to be rescued more than
Racing yachts are more difficult to sink and all 5 times in the Irish Sea – he was using a road
must carry emergency radios. Accidents still map for directions!
happen though. At a recent sailing event near the
Isle of Wight (the Cowes Regatta) the RNLI Whatever the situation, whatever the weather, the
launched more than 70 times to help or rescue work of the RNLI volunteers continues, day and
people at sea. The event only lasted one week! night, 365 days a year.
Happily, no lives were lost on this occasion.
After reading
Exercise 1
In the first box are numbers and dates from the article. Can you match these to the correct information in
the second box?
1979 Over £200,000 More than 100 1824 50 miles

Over 130 000 1886 Over 8000 Almost 4000 More than 230
1 RNLI founded
2 The Mexico tragedy
3 Fastnet race tragedy
4 People rescued by the Atlantic College lifeboat
5 Lifeboat stations in UK
6 Distance from coast covered by RNLI
7 People rescued in 2003
8 Cost to run the service - per day
9 Volunteer lifeboat crew
10 People rescued in its history

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of rescue at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-rescue.htm
• Word game: Idioms with "Save". Do a jigsaw puzzle and learn different idiomatic expressions
that include the word "save".
• Story: River. The river is never what it seems. The river changes. And so, of course, do people -
especially after an experience on the river one day ...
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about survival and rescue.
• There is also a survival and rescue-related cartoon, a poll and some carefully selected external
links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. 1824; 2. 1886; 3. 1979; 4. More than 100; 5. More than 230; 6. 50
miles; 7. Over 8000; 8. Over £200,000; 9. Almost 4000; 10. Over 130 000
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Scotland
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (Scotland).
Read the article
Scotland: The Sick Man of Europe

by Craig Duncan
We Scots get a bad press for our lifestyles, to say There is a great deal of concern in Britain as a
the least. This month Jack McConnell, First whole about “binge drinking”, or drinking large
Minister of the Scottish Parliament, called us “one amounts of alcohol in short periods. Our biggest
of the most unhealthy countries in Europe,” with a brewing company, Scottish & Newcastle, has
culture of “lack of exercise, drugs abuse, begun putting health warnings on its products,
excessive drinking and over-eating.” advising us that “responsible drinkers don’t
exceed 4 daily units (men) and 3 units (women).”
Traditionally, political leaders at least try to say The average pint of lager contains approximately
nice things about the people who elected them, 2.3 units of alcohol. It’s only fair to point out that
so McConnell’s outburst might seem a little Scottish & Newcastle has also spent recent years
surprising. What might be more surprising is that promoting the consumption of stronger lagers
very few people disagreed with his attack. with higher alcohol content. Meanwhile, the
Scotland has long been called “the sick man of drinks industry as a whole has launched a new
Europe”: our health statistics are quite shocking. website, www.drinkaware.co.uk, with the aim of
Last year we finally shook off the dubious record “ensuring that people who choose to drink alcohol
of having the highest number of cancer deaths can understand fully the responsible drinking
per capita in Western Europe, but we’re still near message, and can make well-informed choices
the top of table for coronary heart disease. as a result.”
Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, has the UK’s
lowest life expectancy and remains the only part
of the UK where the average man does not live to
be 70. Overall, people live for a shorter time in
Scotland than in the rest of the UK. Politicians,
doctors and statisticians are generally in
agreement about the causes of all this:
cigarettes, alcohol and fatty foods.
A number of new initiatives are now being tried to

tackle these problems. For one, the Scottish
Parliament proposes banning smoking in all
Scottish pubs, clubs and restaurants, starting in
2006. Similar bans were recently introduced in
both New York and Ireland; in both cases it’s too
early to see if they will be effective, but they have
certainly increased the number of people But does the problem really lie in our inability to
standing outside pubs, clubs and restaurants. understand the “message” about health? Not
Some people have suggested it’s a little ironic to according to a 2001 survey of consumer attitudes
offer us the chance to poison our livers in a conducted by the Food Standards Agency
smoke-free environment. Scotland. This survey found that, while 48% of
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Scotland
Scots were fully aware of what constituted a should admit that, as I wrote this, I smoked two
healthy diet, only 23% actually ate healthily – the cigarettes and drank one cup of sweet, milky tea.
rest were “unable or unwilling to bridge the gap My dinner tonight will be a healthy vegetable
between awareness and actual behaviour”. The dish, but today’s lunch was most certainly fried. I
survey concluded that giving dire warnings about checked my last Saturday night’s alcohol
health simply does not work. People understand consumption on the “Drinkaware” website, and
the theory, but can’t or won’t translate it into I’m afraid to say I wasn’t a responsible drinker.
practice.
Evidently I’m a living stereotype. I’m one of the at
So, how can we persuade this rather unhealthy least 25% of Scots who are fully aware of what a
nation to give up their cigarettes, alcohol and healthy lifestyle is, but can’t “bridge the gap
fried food? Personally, I have no idea. But I between awareness and actual behaviour.”
After reading
Exercise 1
For each of the following 8 questions, decide if it is True or False:
1. The First Minister of the Scottish Parliament thinks Scots eat and drink too much.
2. Scottish people are more likely to die of cancer than anyone else in Western Europe.
3. Smoking is now banned in Scottish pubs.
4. Glasgow is the biggest city in Britain.
5. You can’t smoke in pubs in Ireland.
6. The author of this article lives a healthy lifestyle.
7. The author of this article puts sugar in his tea.
8. The health warnings now appearing on some Scottish lagers suggest that drinking two pints of
lager in one night is irresponsible.

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of Scotland at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-scotland.htm
• UK Culture: in this issue we look at Scotland, which is the UK’s most northern country and has
around 790 islands off its coasts – 130 of which have people living on them. Scotland is well known
for its stunning landscapes, beautiful beaches and lochs, which are fresh water lakes.
• Word games: There are 2 word games available: Scottish icons. Match the names of things that
are typical to Scotland to descriptions of them, and Bagpipe jokes. Match the questions to the
answers of 5 jokes about bagpipes.
• Poem: Address to the Haggis This famous poem by the great Scottish poet Robert Burns is
regularly recited during celebrations throughout the world, whenever Haggis makes an appearance
on the menu.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about Scotland.
• There is also a Scotland-related cartoon, a poll, and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. True (T); 2. False (F); 3. F; 4. F; 5. T; 6. F; 7. T; 8. T
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Oceans and seafaring
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (oceans and seafaring).
Vocabulary activity
Before you read/listen see if you can complete the sentences below with the words in the box, which can
all be found in the text. Then read the article on the next page, and check your answers (see below)
diameter shark length mane beak

octopus seaweed squid whale rot
1. A green, brown or dark red plant that grows in the sea or on land very close to
the sea is called ______________.
2. A ______________ is the long thick hair that grows along the top of a horse's neck or around the face
and neck of a lion or other animal.
3. To ______________ is to (cause to) decay.
4. A ______________ is a sea creature with a long body and ten arms situated around the mouth.
5. A ______________ is a very large fish that has sharp teeth and a vertical triangular part on its back
which can sometimes be seen above the water.
6. The ______________ of something is (the length of) a straight line that reaches from one point on the
edge of a round shape or object, through its centre, to a point on the opposite edge.
7. A ______________ is the hard pointed part of a bird's (or some other animal)'s mouth.
8. A ______________ is a very large sea mammal.
9. An ______________ is a sea creature with a soft oval body and eight tentacles arms.
10. The ______________ of something is the measurement of something from end to end or along its
longest side.
You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of oceans and seafaring at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-oceans.htm
• Article: Rescue at Sea - the RNLI. The Royal National Lifeboat institution is an organisation dedicated to the
saving of people’s lives at sea.
• Article: Surfing. "I've spent most of my entire life surfing, the rest I've wasted." (Anonymous)
• Word game: Seafaring. Match the names of things related to the sea to pictures of them.
• Poem: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. This famous poem was written by the English poet Samuel Taylor
Coleridge in 1797–1799. It was a signal shift to modern poetry, and the beginning of British Romantic
literature.
• Poem: Alfie and Me. A poem about seafaring sent to us by one of our users.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about oceans.
• In history: Articles about the Dara disaster, the seizure of the U.S.S. Pueblo and the Battle of Jutland.
• There are also six ocean-related cartoons and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to vocabulary activity: seaweed, mane, rot, squid, shark, diameter, beak, whale, octopus, length.
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Oceans and seafaring
Article - Sea monsters by Linda Baxter
Question: What animal is over 30 feet long, has a big was found in the whale's stomach. There are also
head, enormous eyes, a mane like a lion, a long reports of giant squid attacking ships, maybe
neck, a body like a snake and lots of arms like an thinking that they were whales. So stories of giant
octopus? sea snakes wrapped around ships could actually be
one or two arms of a giant squid.
Answer: Nobody knows.
They could be giant octopuses
But sailors have been telling stories about giant
These creatures also exist. There are varieties of
creatures of the sea for hundreds of years. The
octopus with bodies as big as 23 feet around. But
monsters that sailors and fishermen describe are all
there are also stories that there may be an unknown
slightly different but it's often an animal like a giant
variety that grows much, much bigger.
snake, at least 30 feet long, with an enormous head
and neck. It sometimes actually attacks the ship.
Some of these sea monsters turned out to be big
pieces of seaweed or wood, but other stories are not
so easy to explain. So what can these monsters be?
They could be sharks
There is an unusual type of shark that is shaped like
an eel. It has a frill around its neck, which could look
like a lion's mane. But the biggest one ever caught
was only 25 feet long. Another type of shark, the
'basking shark', can grow to about 40 feet in length.
In the 1970s a Japanese fishing boat caught an
enormous dead 'monster' with a long neck. An enormous animal was found dead and rotting on
Scientists tested some small pieces of the animal a beach in Florida in the 1890s. Parts of it seemed to
and discovered that it was a basking shark. When be huge arms - over 30 feet long. Scientists tested a
these sharks die, parts of them rot very quickly, small part of the body but couldn't agree whether it
which gives them a very strange shape. But this was a whale or an octopus. The giant octopus has a
doesn't explain stories about living, moving sea strong mouth like the giant squid, but only has eight
monsters. arms. They live at the bottom of the sea and use
They could be just very big snakes their arms to move around over the rocks. This
The biggest snake in the world is the anaconda. One explains why we don't see them very often.
was found in the 1940s measuring 35 feet but there They could be ancient sea animals, which have
are no photographs to prove it. South American survived from the time of the dinosaurs
Indians tell stories of even bigger ones. The problem
We know that strange animals lived in the sea during
with this theory is that the anaconda is native to
pre-historic times and many of them were very big
South America and can't survive in cold water.
indeed. They didn't look like fish and they had to
They could be giant squid come up to the surface of the water to breathe air.
This is an interesting theory. Scientists all accept Perhaps when the dinosaurs died out, these sea
that the giant squid really exists but we don't see creatures survived and have lived in the oceans ever
them very often because they live in deep, cold since. Is that possible? Well maybe it is. In 1938 a
water. They can be up to 50 feet in length and have strange fish was caught in the Indian Ocean.
the biggest eyes in the animal kingdom - over one- Scientists eventually identified it as a coelacanth
foot in diameter. And there are reports of much (pronounced 'seel-a-kanth') which everyone thought
bigger ones too. They have a strong mouth like a had died out over 70 million years ago. And another
bird's beak that can cut through steel cables and five type of coelacanth was found in the 1990s in South
pairs of arms, or tentacles. One pair is longer and East Asia.
thinner and is used to catch food. People have seen So, do any of these explanations convince you? Or
giant squid attacking whales for food. In the 1960s do you think that deep down at the bottom of the
some Russian sailors reported watching a fight sea, where we have never explored, there are
between a whale and a giant squid. Both animals strange creatures that are still completely unknown
died; the whale was found dead with the squid's to science?
arms wrapped around its neck, and the squid's head
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Slavery
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (slavery).
Read the article
Slavery
by John Russell
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude. The life of a slave, although difficult, was not
Slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in always the end of a person’s life. It was possible
all its forms. for a slave to buy his freedom, for a slave soldier
to become a general, or for a freed slave to
Article 4; Universal Declaration of Human become an important member of society. The
Rights.(The United Nations) Transatlantic Slave Trade ended this possibility.
What does slavery mean? What was the Transatlantic Slave Trade?
Slavery is the idea that a human is someone’s Slavery was as common in Africa as in other
property, that he/she can be bought, sold and countries; but in the 15th Century, traders began
owned; and forced to work without being paid. to export large numbers of slaves to the Middle-
This concept has been around for thousands of East. European countries followed this, exporting
years and all major civilizations used slaves at Africans to work on plantations in the Caribbean,
some point. They were used in many different North and South America. A massive number of
positions, such as; labourers, soldiers, servants, people were needed, as demand for new
farmers. Although the word slavery makes us products such as sugar, coffee and tobacco was
think of the transatlantic slave trade (from Africa very high. In 400 years, an estimated 12 million
to the America’s), slavery was not specific to one people were removed from Africa to work as
part of the world. The Romans, Russians, Aztecs slaves in the Americas or European colonies.
and Egyptians all kept slaves; the word slave
actually comes from ‘slav’ - many Slavic people Slaves in this system had no opportunity for
from Eastern Europe were taken as slaves during advancement or release; even if they were freed
conflicts. As well as being captured in wars, they had few legal rights. In the past owning
people could be born as slaves, sold into slavery, slaves in many countries had been a status
or sold to pay a debt. symbol, and owners were usually fair. In this new
system, profit was the most important aspect. As
Is it right to buy and sell people? a result, conditions of work and living were also
very tough. Millions died because of mistreatment
In the past there were different concepts about and difficult working conditions. Some African
human-rights and what was moral or immoral. It slave traders, learning of these conditions,
is only in the last 300 years that these ideas have started to oppose the trade.
begun to change. Most people accepted that
types of people were born to be slaves; or that if When did people’s ideas begin to change?
you won a war you could sell your captured
enemies. The Koran and the Bible both mention A number of African countries (such as the
slavery as a fact, without criticizing it. Congo) made the trade illegal not for moral but
practical reasons – its population was being
reduced greatly by the trade. But it was moral
Page 1 of 3
reasons that forced a greater change. A brothers, was also important. As this idea was
movement in Britain led by the Quakers and the taken from Christianity, Christians; especially
MP William Wilberforce pushed parliament to those from newer branches e.g. Quakers,
abolish slavery. In 1807 the slave trade was Methodists; were at the centre of movements all
abolished and in 1833 slavery abolished in all over the world. Christian missionaries were often
British colonies. funded by anti-slavery groups.
In the USA on the other hand, there was great Dr. David Livingstone was the most famous
argument over slavery. Many industries in the British missionary in Africa until 1873, and
South were dependant on slaves for production pushed for the end to the local slave trade.
(such as cotton) and if freed, the number of Unfortunately, he believed it could only be
slaves would be almost 50% of the population in stopped by foreign countries taking control of
some areas. Again, religious groups were African states – mass colonialism. This led to
pushing for change. Unfortunately, the civil war many other problems.
between the North and South came before
political change. Slavery was an important issue Does slavery still exist?
in this conflict, and was abolished (through the
13th amendment to the Constitution) at the end of Legally, Nigeria was the last country to abolish
the Civil war in 1865. slavery in 1936. However, in many parts of the
world today, millions of people are working as
What were the ideas behind abolition? slaves. Children fighting in the army, or working
for no pay; women moved from their own
In the 19th Century, newer political ideals of countries to work in the sex industry, or in
freedom and equality were anti-slavery. It is ironic people’s houses; people working for many years
that the two countries at the time associated with to pay back a small loan. These are all types of
freedom and equality; USA and France; still modern slavery. Groups such as the United
permitted slavery. France didn’t abolish slavery Nations or Anti-Slavery International are fighting
until 1848, and there were still slaves working in against this problem – but the world must first
the White House in the same year. The accept that there still is a problem.
humanitarian ideal, the idea that all people are
Glossary
Abolish (v): to officially end something, especially a law or system

Advancement (n): progress
Capture (v): to catch someone and make them your prisoner
Colony (n): a country or area controlled in an official, political way by a more powerful country
Debt (n): an amount of money that you owe someone
Export (v): to send goods to another country in order to sell them there
Free (v): to allow someone to leave a prison or place where they have been kept
Immoral (adj): opposite of moral
Labourer (n): a worker who uses a lot of physical effort in their job
Missionaries (n): someone who travels to another country to teach people about the Christian religion
Mistreat (v): to treat a person or animal badly, cruelly or unfairly
Moral (adj): behaving in a way that most people think is correct and honest
Plantation (n): an area of land in a hot country where a crop is grown
Prohibit (v): to officially forbid something
Push (v): make someone do something that they do not want to do
Servitude (n): the state of being under the control of someone else and of having no freedom
Trader (n): a person who buys and sells things
Transatlantic (adj): crossing the Atlantic
Quaker (n): a member of a Christian group called the Society of Friends
Page 2 of 3
After reading
Exercise 1
Put the words from the box into the sentences to complete the definitions.
abolish children freedom immoral missionary

Mistreatment paid production pushing slave
1. If you are a ...................., you are someone's property.
2. As a slave you are not .....................
3. In the past, slavery was not .....................
4. It was possible for a slave to buy his/her .....................
5. Many people worked in the .................... of tobacco and sugar
6. .................... and difficult working conditions were some of the problems.
7. People in many countries were .................... for change.
8. Some countries took a long time to .................... slavery
9. A .................... teaches people about religion.
10. Today, .................... working for no pay are slaves.

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of slavery at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-slavery.htm
• Word game: 'Slave' words. Match words and expressions related to slavery to their definitions.
• Story: Uncle Tom's Cabin. (Life Among the Lowly) This anti-slavery novel by American author
Harriet Beecher Stowe was published in 1852, and had a profound effect on worldwide attitudes
toward African Americans and slavery. In the United States, it is widely thought to have helped
intensify the sectional conflict that led to civil war.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about slavery.
• There is also a slavery-related cartoon, and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to vocabulary activity: 1. slave; 2. paid; 3. immoral; 4. freedom; 5. production; 6.
Mistreatment; 7. pushing; 8. abolish; 9. missionary; 10. children
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Staple Foods
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (staple foods).
Read the article
Feeding the world – why we need rice

by Claire Powell
Rice is low-fat and high in energy, and you can for 90% of the world’s production and
mix it with just about anything to make a wide consumption of rice.
variety of tasty nutritious dishes. Ask anyone from
any country in the world to tell you their favourite Rice is a staple food for many countries. In parts
rice recipe and you will get a wide selection, of Africa and Asia, many poorer urban families
ranging from sushi in Japan to risottos in northern get over half their daily calories from rice. As the
Italy. world population increases, can rice keep up? To
meet growing demands, rice production has to be
Rice is closely connected to the culture of many raised by at least 70% over the next three
societies. Hindu and Buddhist religions use rice decades. The area devoted to rice cultivation
as a religious offering. Burmese folklore uses rice cannot grow, so much international research is
as a central part of their creation story; the gods being done to find ways of growing rice on less
gave the first people of Burma rice seeds and land.
directed them to Burma, where the rice would
grow well. A Chinese proverb says that ‘precious Rice needs a good water supply to grow. Water is
things are not pearls and jade but the five grains, wasted daily all over the world and estimates
of which rice is the finest.’ Chinese myth tells suggest that most Asian countries will have
how, after severe floods, there was nothing to eat severe water problems by 2025. It takes 5000
and the people were starving. One day they saw litres of water to grow a kilo of rice, yet many rice
a dog coming across the fields, and hanging onto growing areas in Asia and Africa are drought-
the dog’s tail were bunches of long yellow seeds. prone. Scientists need to develop varieties of rice
The seeds grew into rice and the people that can withstand sudden heavy rains and
survived. compete with weeds.
The origins of rice are uncertain, because rice Worryingly, rice production is affected by global
has been grown for so many thousands of years. climate changes. Global warming is caused by
In several Asian languages, the words for food toxic gas emissions in developing countries. The
and rice, or for rice and agriculture, are the same, rise in global temperature cuts rice-growing time,
one of the facts that points to Asia as the origin of and ultra violet light radiation from the sun
rice. It is certain, however, that rice cultivation is reduces tolerance to disease. Methane gas, one
one of the most important developments in of the culprits of global warming, is, ironically, a
history, for rice has fed more people over a by-product of wet lowland rice cultivation.
longer period of time than any other crop. Methane-producing bacteria thrive in wet rice
fields and the plants themselves send the gas
The demand for rice is growing steadily, with into the atmosphere. Water management could
consumption stretching beyond the traditional rice reduce methane emissions, but practical methods
growing areas in Asia. You can find rice fields in that do not reduce rice yields still have to be
Europe, Latin America and Australia. However, found.
Asia is still the biggest rice producer, accounting
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Staple Foods
After reading
Exercise 1
For each of the 7 questions below choose the best answer, depending on the information in the text
above.
1. Rice is produced
a) all over the world
b) only in Asia and Africa
c) only in China and Japan
2. In Chinese myth, people were saved from starvation by

a) a dog carrying rice in its’ mouth
b) a dog carrying rice seeds on its’ tail
c) a dog carrying rice on its’ tail
3. According to a Chinese saying, rice is

a) more important than other grains but less important than pearls and jade
b) less important than other grains but more important than pearls and jade
c) more important than other grains and more important than pearls and jade
4. 90% of rice is
a) eaten in Asia
b) eaten and produced in Asia
c) produced in Asia.
5. Rice production must increase by 70%

a) in the next three years
b) in the next thirty years
c) in the next three hundred years
6. A by-product of rice production is methane which

a) has no effect on global warming
b) helps global warming to increase
c) stops global warming
7. Global warming means changes in the earths temperatures which

a) increases the amount of time rice can grow
b) decreases the amount of time rice can grow
c) has no effect on the amount of time rice can grow

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of staple foods at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-staple-foods.htm
• Word games: Staple foods: Match the names of different types of staple foods to pictures of them.
• Stories: Rice Bowl Wishes. A "fabulous, original" Chinese children's story of traditional values with
a very strong message.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about staple foods.
• There is also a staple-foods-related cartoon, and carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. a); 2. b); 3. c); 4. b); 5. b); 6. b); 7. b)
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Youth Culture
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (youth culture).
Read the article
Student power
by Chris Rose
When most people think of strikes, they think of cynical: “All the people who are doing this...well,
factory workers asking for better pay and some of them are just troublemakers, others are
conditions, or perhaps refusing to work to support people who are already planning to become
a colleague who has been unfairly sacked. It is politicians. They want to start their career now.”
not often that people associate strikes with school Others say that the strike leaders are being
students. manipulated or used by groups from outside the
schools.
But in Italy, it is different. While in many
countries it is absolutely unthinkable, in Italy it
happens almost every year. Some people may
remember the “Paris spring” of 1968, when in the
French capital university students and factory
workers all went on strike in a crisis which almost
made the French republic collapse, but for many
this is a long time ago now. But in Italy, however,
the tradition has remained. It seems that almost
every autumn there is a reason to protest. Most
of the protests are national, like the current
opposition to the government’s planned
educational reforms, but there are also protests
against things like local issues such as heating in
the classes or treatment of individual students.
Problems occurred recently when students from
And what do students do to protest? All over the
one school which was being occupied marched to
country they go on strike, they have
another school which wasn’t protesting. The
demonstrations in the streets, they occupy their
strikers stood outside the school and shouted and
schools, they have lots of meetings and
threw things at the windows. The non-striking
sometimes they try to run the schools themselves
students sat in their classrooms and did nothing,
for a period, setting up their own lessons and
but their teachers went out and began to shout at
courses.
the students from the striking school.
Are all the students behind this? Well, it’s difficult
to say exactly. But what is certain, is that very
In Britain, and a lot of other countries, such action
few students object.
is unthinkable. Students are not allowed to go on
“I think it’s important to show what we feel” says
strike, and if they did they would probably face
one high school student, “The new school reform
severe disciplinary measures.
will be very bad for state schools.”
Other students are are more sceptical. “I think it’s
The strange thing about this, however, is that
great!” says one student, “It means we get a few
despite the number of school hours lost to strikes,
days off school.” Another student is openly
Italian students are certainly no less intelligent
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Youth Culture
than their European counterparts. Their national Troublemakers or not, perhaps there is
averages are the same as others, despite the fact something to be learned from the Italian way of
that on average they spend up to 20% less time studying!
in the classroom – with strikes being only one of
the many interruptions of the Italian school year.
After reading
Exercise 1
Match the two parts of the sentences below.
1. Strikes usually a. are in favour of the protests.
2. In France student strikes b. go on strike.
3. In Italy school students often c. had a strong effect.
4. Students go on strike d. have just as good an academic record as

other students in Europe.
5. Their protests can e. is almost impossible for students to go on

strike.
6. Most students f. make people think of factory workers, not

students.
7. Some students g. protested more than the students.
8. In one school, teachers h. take different forms.
9. In the UK it i. think that the motives of the strikers are not

clear.
10. Italian students j. to protest about all kinds of problems.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-youth-culture.htm
• Magazine articles: There are 2 other articles: Youth culture and The Face - 1980s Style Bible.
• Word game: Subcultures: Match the names of subcultures (past and present) to definitions of them.
• Stories: There are 2 stories: A Clockwork Orange and Got any goss?
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about youth culture.
• There is also a youth culture-related cartoon, and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. f; 2. c; 3. b; 4. j; 5. h; 6. a; 7. i; 8. g; 9. e; 10. d
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Telephony
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (Telephony).
Read the article
Mobile phones
by Craig Duncan
When Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell invented giant plastic bricks. In Britain the mobile phone
the telephone in 1876, it was a revolution in quickly became synonymous with the “yuppie”,
communication. For the first time, people could the new breed of young urban professionals who
talk to each other over great distances almost as carried the expensive handsets as status
clearly as if they were in the same room. symbols. Around this time many of us swore that
Nowadays, though, we increasingly use Bell’s we would never, ever own a mobile phone.
invention for emails, faxes and the internet rather
than talking. Over the last two decades a new
means of spoken communication has emerged:
the mobile phone.
The modern mobile phone is a more complex

version of the two-way radio. Traditional two-way
radio was a very limited means of
communication. As soon as the users moved out
of range of each other’s broadcast area, the
signal was lost. In the 1940s, researchers began
experimenting with the idea of using a number of
radio masts located around the countryside to
pick up signals from two-way radios. A caller
would always be within range of one of the
masts; when he moved too far away from one But in the mid-90s, something happened.
mast, the next mast would pick up the signal. Cheaper handsets and cheaper calling rates
(Scientists referred to each mast’s reception area meant that, almost overnight, it seemed that
as being a separate “cell”; this is why in many everyone had a mobile phone. And the giant
countries mobile phones are called “cell plastic bricks of the 80s had evolved into smooth
phones”.) little objects that fitted nicely into pockets and
bags. In every pub and restaurant you could hear
However, 1940s technology was still quite the bleep and buzz of mobiles ringing and
primitive, and the “telephones” were enormous registering messages, occasionally breaking out
boxes which had to be transported by car. into primitive versions of the latest pop songs.
Cities suddenly had a new, postmodern birdsong.
The first real mobile telephone call was made in
1973 by Dr Martin Cooper, the scientist who Moreover, people’s timekeeping changed.
invented the modern mobile handset. As soon as Younger readers will be amazed to know that, not
his invention was complete, he tested it by calling long ago, people made spoken arrangements to
a rival scientist to announce his success. Within a meet at a certain place at a certain time. Once a
decade, mobile phones became available to the time and place had been agreed, people met as
public. The streets of modern cities began to agreed. Somewhere around the new millennium,
feature sharp-suited characters shouting into this practice started to die out. Meeting times
Page 1 of 3
became approximate, subject to change at any now a vital part of daily life for an enormous
moment under the new order of communication: amount of people. From schoolchildren to
the Short Message Service (SMS) or text pensioners, every section of society has found
message. Going to be late? Send a text that it’s easier to stay in touch when you’ve got a
message! It takes much less effort than arriving mobile. Over the last few years mobiles have
on time, and it’s much less awkward than become more and more advanced, with built-in
explaining your lateness face-to-face. It’s the cameras, global positioning devices and internet
perfect communication method for the busy access. And in the next couple of years, we can
modern lifestyle. Like email before it, the text expect to see the arrival of the “third generation”
message has altered the way we write in English, of mobile phones: powerful micro-computers with
bringing more abbreviations and a more lax broadband internet access, which will allow us to
approach to language construction. The160- watch TV, download internet files at high speed
character limit on text messages has led to a and send instant video clips to friends.
new, abbreviated version of English for fast and
instantaneous communication. Traditional rules of Alexander Graham Bell would be amazed if he
grammar and spelling are much less important could see how far the science of telephony has
when you’re sitting on the bus, hurriedly typing progressed in less than 150 years. If he were
“Will B 15min late - C U @ the bar. Sorry! :-)”. around today, he might say: “That’s gr8! But I’m v
busy rite now. Will call U 2nite.”
Mobile phones, once the preserve of the high-
powered businessperson and the “yuppie”, are
After reading
Exercise 1: For each of the 6 questions below choose the correct answer.
1) Modern mobile phone technology is based on: 4) Mobile phones are sometimes called cell
a) two-way radio phones because of:
b) the internet a) a technical term for telephone masts
c) global positioning devices b) a technical term for mobile handsets
d) yuppies c) a technical term for text messages
d) the number of mobile phones used in
prisons
2) More people bought mobile phones in the
1990s because: 5) The first commercially available mobile phones
a) traditional phones didn't work anymore looked like:
b) they wanted to take photographs a) small, pocket-sized objects
c) they were bad at timekeeping b) telephone masts
d) mobile phones became a lot cheaper c) giant plastic bricks
d) Alexander Graham Bell
3) The first mobile phone call took place between: 6) A text message saying "Gr8! Will call U 2nite"
a) two schoolchildren means:
b) two scientists a) Great! I'll call you tonight.
c) two Scotsmen b) Great! Please call me sometime in the
d) two yuppies next 2 days.
c) Good grief! Please call William tonight.
d) I'll be 15 minutes late.
Page 2 of 3

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of telephony at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-telephony.htm
• Word game: Telephone reading game. Each person in this reading puzzle is talking on the phone
to another person in the puzzle. But who is speaking to who?
• Story: Promotion: Don Jenkins works for an international telecommunications company. But things
aren’t what they seem!
• Science: cubed. Pocket cursor: Is it a phone? Is it a mouse? Mobile phones get even smarter.
• Science: cubed. Shake and talk: Technology allows mobile phones to connect to each other easily
and securely.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about telephony.
• There is also a telephony-related cartoon, a poll, and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. (a); 2. (d); 3. (b); 4. (a); 5. (c); 6. (a)
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Transport
Introduction

• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (transport).
Read the article

Trains: past, present and future
by John Russell
Why did railways develop? line. Unfortunately, during the competition, a

Railways are not a modern invention as most of Member of Parliament wasn't careful as he
us think. The idea of transporting things and crossed the tracks and The Rocket knocked him
people on rails has been around for a long time. down. He died later. This was one of the first train
Rails were made of wood, stone or metal, and accidents in history.
railway wagons were pulled by horses, some What was the Golden Age of Steam?
were even wind powered and had sails. At the The next 130 years can be described as a
start of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, people Golden Age of Steam. Railways were built all
needed to transport raw materials such as coal, over the world, and the size, speed and comfort
so created a network of canals and rail links of trains continued to increase. By 1870 it was
between towns. But canals and horsepower were possible to cross America by train, and the
a very slow way to move things around the building of railways in many other countries
country, so the speed of railway wagons needed allowed people and progress to move quickly
to be increased. across the world.
How did steam engines help?
By 1800 many industries were using steam
engines, designed by James Watt (from where
we get the electrical measurement - Watt).
Richard Trevithick, a Cornish engineer, refined
Watts’ invention and after failing to build a steam
powered road vehicle, he designed the first
locomotive for an Iron Works in Wales. He called
it a 'puffer' because of the noise it made, and on
its first journey it travelled at almost 8 km/h an
hour! Unfortunately, it was so heavy that it broke
the rails - it only made three journeys. But it had
shown that steam engines could be used to move
trains, and speeds began to increase. There were famous trains and famous journeys.
The Orient Express started in 1883 and carried
When was the first accident?
people in luxury through more than 13 countries
By 1829 locomotives were travelling at speeds of
between France and Turkey. The Flying
over 45km/h and the first public railway had been
Scotsman travelled non-stop from London to
opened, the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
Edinburgh, between 1928 and 1963, and reached
The most famous early locomotive was The
speeds of over 130 km/h. The Trans-Siberian
Rocket. In 1833 it won a competition organised
railway was finished in 1916, and is still the
by the owners of the Manchester and Liverpool
longest railway line in the world. It goes between
railway, to find the best locomotive for their new
St. Petersburg and Vladivostok, is over 9000 km
Page 1 of 3
long and even today the journey takes over a The famous Bullet Train in Japan and the TGV in
week. France can both carry passengers at speeds of
over 300km/h. Journey times are now much
The fastest steam train in the world was The shorter, and trains can travel on some unusual
Mallard. This locomotive travelled up and down routes; up hills, through mountains, even under
the east coast of England between London and the sea. Euro-tunnel was opened in 1994 and
York, and in 1938 reached 202 km/h. connects Britain to France through a railway that
goes under the sea.
What replaced steam engines?
Although it is still possible to travel on the Trans- How can trains further develop?
Siberian railway, and take the Orient Express The future of train travel could be in Maglev
from Paris to Vienna, steam trains such as the trains. These trains are supported by electro-
Mallard or Flying Scotsman, have not travelled magnets and hover off the ground. Some
regularly for almost 30 years in many countries. countries are already using this technology in
Diesel powered locomotives or trains running on cities, and others are planning to use it on longer
electrified lines now run on most railways. journeys. At the moment they can go more than
Modern trains are cleaner and much faster than 500km/h, but some engineers think speeds of
steam engines but many people still miss the over 1000 km/h are possible – some even think
puffing sound and the romance of steam. they could be used to launch space shuttles!
Trains have come a long way since Richard
How fast can trains travel now? Trevithick’s puffer.
Quite a few countries now use high speed trains.
Glossary
coast (n): the land next to or close to the sea. movement or communication between the parts.
comfort (n): a pleasant feeling of being relaxed. rails (n): one of the two bars fixed to the ground on
electrify (v): to make a machine or system operate which trains travel.
using electricity. refine (v): to improve an idea, method, system, etc.
hover (v): to stay in one place in the air. by making small changes.
knock sb down (phr v): to hit someone with a steam engine (n): a machine that uses the energy
vehicle and injure or kill them. from steam to produce movement.
locomotive (n): the engine of a train. tracks (n): the pair of long metal bars fixed on the
luxury (n): great comfort, especially as provided by ground at an equal distance from each other, along
expensive and beautiful things. which trains travel.
magnet (n): an object that is able both to attract wagons (n): a vehicle with four wheels, usually
iron and steel objects and also push them away. pulled by horses or oxen, used for transporting
network (n): a large system consisting of many heavy goods, especially in the past.
similar parts that are connected together to allow
Page 2 of 3
After reading
Exercise
1. Railways are a recent invention 6. How many times did The Flying Scotsman stop
• True (for passengers), between London and
• False Edinburgh?
• 0
2. Rails were always made of metal • 2
• True • 5
• False
7. Was all of the Trans-Siberian Express open
3. Who invented the first steam engine for trains? 100 years ago?
• James Watt • Yes
• Richard Trevithick • No
4. The Rocket first travelled on the: 8. Which country uses the TGV?
• Stockton and Darlington Railway • France
• Manchester and Liverpool Railway • Germany
• Eurotunnel • Japan
5. The Orient Express was: 9. Euro Tunnel connects which two countries?
• A railway in China • Britain and Wales
• The fastest steam train in the world • France and Italy
• A European train service for rich people • Britain and France
10. Maglev trains can now travel at 1000 km/h

• True
• False

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of transport at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-transport.htm
• Magazine articles: There are 2 other articles: Amelia Earhart and Motorcycles
• Agents Underground: I spy with my little eye ... In this game you are a secret agent travelling
around London on the tube, solving puzzles as you go.
• Word games: There are 9 word games, including aircraft; motorcycle; seafaring and train game.
• Stories: There is 1 story: The Secret Motorcycle.
• Poems: There are 3 poems: Alfie and Me, Mulga Bill's Bicycle and The Tay Bridge Disaster.
• Trivia: The following trivia topics are available for this theme: aviation, motorcycles and trains.
• Science: cubed - Driverless bus and Grow your own car.
• There are also 6 transport-related cartoons, and the following sets of carefully selected external
links: aviation, motorcycles, seafaring and trains.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. False; 2. False; 3. Richard Trevithick; 4. Manchester and Liverpool
Railway; 5. A European train service for rich people; 6. 0; 7. No; 8. France; 9. Britain and France; 10. False
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Twins
Introduction

• A pre-reading vocabulary activity
• A language activity based on the article
• Links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (twins).
Before you read

Before you read the article, have a look at the glossary, which explains some of the more difficult words
and expressions.
Glossary
have in common when two things or people are the same in some way
there are more of them about these days you can see more of them now than in the past
increase the probabilities of it is more possible that it will happen
grown up adult
after 40 years apart they were separated for forty years
short-sighted when you have difficulty seeing things far away from you
picked up the local accent started speaking with the same pronunciation as people
who live near him
was obsessed with thought continually about the same thing
telling which is which to distinguish one person from another
had similar tastes in like the same things as someone else
time to themselves time alone
take the words out of her mouth to say exactly what another person is going to say
Read the article

Twins
by Richard Sidaway
What do the singer Alanis Morissette, the The USA seems like a particularly good place to
supermodel Gisele Bundchen and the head of the have a similar sibling. At the University of
United Nations Kofi Annan all have in common? Minnesota they have been studying 8,000 pairs
The answer is that they all have a brother or of twins since they were born. In the state of
sister who was born on the same day as them – a Ohio, there is a festival for twins every year in a
twin. And what links actresses Julia Roberts, place called… Twinsburg. And in New York there
Geena Davis and Holly Hunter? They all have is even a restaurant which employs 37 sets of
twin children. identical twins!
You probably either have some twins in your Scientists love twins. Because they share the
family or you knew some at school – there are same genes, any differences between them must
more of them about these days. This is because be because of environmental factors. Science
women are older when they have their first child now understands more about heart disease,
and because more women are having fertility cancer, and getting old from studying twins.
treatment. Both of these things increase the
probabilities of two babies developing from the Sometimes twins are separated at birth and only
same egg. meet again when they are grown up. Even so,
Page 1 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Twins
they sometimes make choices in life which are just spending time together. Both pairs had
strangely similar. One pair only met each other similar tastes in music and food, and even
after 40 years apart and found that their wives thought their voices sounded the same
had the same name. And so did their children sometimes. Both pairs also commented that they
and their pets! would like more time to themselves…
Is there a difference between being physically When I asked them what they were good at in
identical and only being born on the same day? I school, one pair wrote the same five subjects
knew a pair of non-identical twins when I was a almost in the same order. The other pair only had
boy. They were proud to be completely different three subjects in common - one was interested in
from each other. One was very short-sighted from the Arts and the other more in science subjects.
an early age and wore glasses. He picked up the
local accent and was obsessed with trains. His I also asked them if they ever had the same
brother spoke with a posh accent and was very thoughts as their twin. The first pair said yes – for
musical. The first became a train driver and example, one of them often started talking about
moved to Scotland. His brother went to a music what the other one was thinking. Strangely, the
college in London and became a concert pianist. other pair disagreed about whether this was true.
One of the twins said that her sister would take
I have recently been the teacher of two pairs of the words out of her mouth, while the other said
identical twins - I often have difficulty telling which this never happened to her.
is which. Luckily they don’t seem to mind. One
day, I gave them a list of questions to see what The most interesting thing for me was studying
they felt about being so close. Each twin the results of the psychological part of the test. I
answered the questions in a separate room. asked them to describe their personality using
twelve different pairs of sentences. I found that
Both pairs said they did many everyday activities each twin gave almost identical answers to her
together – studying, shopping, watching TV, or sister!
After reading - Exercise

Below are 7 facts from the article, but they are not in the order that they appear in the text. Decide which
is the correct order.
A Non-identical twins often have very different lifestyles

B Studying twins can help us know if illness is related to genetics or upbringing
C Identical twins say they sometimes read each other’s thoughts
D There were fewer twins in the past because women didn’t use fertility treatments
E Some twins take similar decisions in life even when they live completely separate lives
F Identical twins sometimes have very similar personalities
G An American university is studying thousands of twins from the moment of their birth

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of twins at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-twins.htm
• Word games: Homophones. Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelt differently. In these
4 games you match homophones to pictures that illustrate them.
• Story: Two Peas in a Pod. Edie and Evie are identical twins. Identical in appearance, but their personalities
are not at all identical. Things get very weird when one of them pretends to be the other ...
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about twins.
• There is also a twins-related cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to Exercise: 1. D; 2. G; 3. B; 4. E; 5. A; 6. C; 7. F
Page 2 of 2
Podcasts – Themes – Wales
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (Wales).
Read the article
Wales and St. David

by John Russell
Gwnewch y pethau bychain David is the patron Saint of Wales and the
Do the little things (that you have seen me do and monastery he founded in Glyn Rhosyn is now the
heard about) site of Saint David’s Cathedral (in the modern
(Famous saying by St. David) City of St. David’s), which was begun in 1181.
March 1st is St. David's Day. In this week’s Learn Bones found in the Cathedral recently are
English magazine we look at who St. David was, thought by some to be those of the Saint.
and the country of his birth over 14 centuries after Are there other Welsh icons?
he lived - the great country of Wales - Cymru in
Welsh. Wales has many historical stories and traditions;
the legend of St. David; the original Celtic tribes;
Who was St. David? even King Arthur and Merlin are linked to the
St. David (Dewi Sant in the Welsh language) was history of Wales. The Welsh language is also one
the grandson of Ceredig, King of Ceredigion and of the oldest languages in Europe; some people
son of Non, who was said to be King Arthur’s claim it is the true language of the Britons, as it
niece. In his life he was a Celtic monk who existed in Britain long before the Romans arrived.
helped to spread Christianity through the West of
Britain. He founded many religious centres in
Wales and even travelled on a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, where he was made an Archbishop.
Why was he famous?
He and his followers were famous for being

ascetics – which meant they abstained from any
pleasures to help make themselves closer to
God. He was given the name Dewi Ddyfrwr
(David the Water Drinker) because of this – it was
said that he only ate simple food and drank only
water all his life. Although he lived in the 6th
Century most stories about him were written over Is Wales only famous for its history and
500 years later. One famous story describes tradition?
when he was speaking to a large crowd in
Llandewi Brefi and he made the ground rise up Although the leek and daffodil (traditional national
so everyone could see him. vegetables and flowers) are both linked with
Wales and the Welsh celebrate St. David’s Day
Where was he buried? every year, it is not a country set in the past.
Wales is a country that celebrates its past but
He was made a saint in 1123 and St. David’s day looks to the future. Education, Sport, and Tourism
has been celebrated in Wales since this point. St. are just three important aspects of modern Wales
Page 1 of 3
and after the creation of a National Assembly for world. One recent development was the building
Wales in 1999 the country’s international of a new national stadium, the Millennium
reputation is growing. Stadium, which can seat over 72,000 people.
Athletics, football, cricket, angling and many other
Education sports are also very important and popular across
the country. The Ryder cup, a famous golfing
Some of the best educational centres in the UK competition, is being played in Wales in 2010.
can be found in Wales. With over fourteen
Universities and Higher Education Institutes Tourism
students can study many different subjects: from
Business Management at the University of Wales Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit Wales
in Aberystwyth, to Japanese Business Etiquette every year for its countryside, historic buildings or
at the University of Cardiff. The Royal Welsh its famous cities. If you enjoy the outdoors, Wales
College of Music and Drama is one of the UK’s has over 700 miles of beautiful coastline, or you
leading centres for students wishing to follow a can go climbing in Snowdonia or in the Brecon
career in the performing arts. Future doctors, Beacons. If you are interested in history, there
dentists and nurses can study at the University Of are many castles in Wales - one special castle in
Wales College Of Medicine – based at the third Llangollen in the north, is said to be the resting
largest hospital in the UK in Cardiff. A large place of the Holy Grail. From the large cities of
number of students at Welsh Universities are also Cardiff or Swansea, to the seaside towns of
from overseas. Llandudno or Prestatyn, there is something for
everyone - even an entire Italian style village built
Sport in Portmeirion in Gwynedd.
Ever since the first match was played in 1850, Why don’t you find out more about the country of
rugby has been associated with the country and St. David? Maybe you could come and see it for
the Welsh national team is one of the best in the yourself!
After reading
Exercise 1
Choose a question word from the first box to start each of the 10 questions, and an answer from the
second box.
How many What When Where Who
1850 1999 2010 72,000 An ascetic

Cardiff Dewi Sant King Arthur Performers Portmeirion
1. [.........] is the Welsh name for St. David?

2. [.........] was St. David’s great-uncle?
3. [.........] is a person called who avoids pleasure?
4. [.........] was the Welsh Assembly opened?
5. [.........] was the first rugby game played in Wales?
6. [.........] people can fit in the Millennium Stadium?
7. [.........] can we find an Italian village in Wales?
8. [.........] is the Ryder Cup being held?
9. [.........] is the third largest hospital in the UK?
10. [.........] studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama?
Page 2 of 3

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of Wales at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-wales.htm
• UK Culture: Wales is a land of rugby, singing and beautiful scenery situated on the western side of
the UK.
• Word game: Famous Welsh people. Match the names of famous Welsh people to information
about them.
• Poem: Welsh Landscape This grim poem by R. S. Thomas, the pre-eminent Welsh poet writing in
the English language is typical of his work, which is uncompromising: images like slate - hard and
sharp; his style spare, unflinching, honest.
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about the Wales.
• There is also a Wales-related cartoon, a poll and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. What, Dewi Sant; 2. Who, King Arthur; 3. What, An ascetic;
4. When, 1999; 5. When, 1850; 6. How many, 72,000; 7. Where, Portmeirion; 8. When, 2010; 9.
Where, Cardiff; 10. Who, Performers
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Weather
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (weather).
Read the article
Weather
by Mike Rayner
It's hardly surprising that weather is a favourite as ‘highs’. These systems start in the Atlantic
topic for so many people around the world - it Ocean, and make their way across the British
affects where we choose to live, what we wear, Isles from the west to the east. Highs bring sunny
our moods, and perhaps even our national weather, while lows bring rain and wind.
characteristics. A sunny day can relieve the The weather systems in tropical climates are very
deepest depression, while extreme weather can different from those in mid and high latitudes.
destroy homes and threaten lives. Tropical storms develop from depressions, and
often build into cyclones, violent storms featuring
The effects of weather hurricanes and torrential rain.
Palm trees bent double in hurricane force winds,
cars stranded in snow drifts, people navigating
small boats down flooded city streets – images
we are all familiar with from news reports of
severe weather spells. But many of the effects of
the weather are less newsworthy.
‘I’m feeling a bit under the weather’ is a common
complaint in Britain, especially on Monday
mornings, and it seems that weather really can
be responsible for moods. Studies have shown
that changeable weather can make it hard to
concentrate, cloudy skies slow down reflexes,
and high humidity with hot, dry winds makes
many people irritable and snappy.
Some suggest that the weather also leaves its
mark on character, giving people from the same In modern times, human activity seems to be
region similar temperaments, although it seems altering weather patterns. Gases produced by
that economic, political and social factors are heavy industry change the temperature of the
likely to have a much stronger effect than the Earth’s surface, and affect cloud formation. Some
weather. researchers say that factories in Europe and
North America may have been one of the causes
of the droughts in Africa in the 1980s.
What causes changes in the weather?
If you live in a place like Britain, where the
weather seems to change daily if not hourly, you Can we predict the weather?
could be forgiven for thinking that the weather is The human race has always tried to guess the
random. In fact the weather is controlled by weather, especially in areas of the world where
systems which move around areas of the globe. there are frequent changes. Traditional rhymes
In the UK the weather depends on depressions, point to early attempts to identify weather
often called ‘lows’, and anticyclones, also known patterns, popular poems include:
Page 1 of 3
• Red sky at night, shepherds’ delight; Red It appears that a study of weather patterns may
sky in the morning, shepherds’ warning also enable scientists to predict the outbreak of
• Ash leaf before the oak, then we will have disease. An Ebola epidemic in Uganda in the
a summer soak; year 2000 came after the same rare weather
Oak leaf before the ash, the summer conditions that had been present before an
comes without a splash outbreak 6 years earlier. Efforts to limit the
spread of airborne diseases such as foot and
• Flies will swarm before a storm.
mouth, are also strongly dependent on favourable
• Rain before 7, clear by 11. wind conditions.
Two other popular traditional ways of forecasting
the weather used pine cones and seaweed.
Extreme weather
When the air has a high level of humidity there is
a higher chance of rain, when the humidity is low, Although people in Britain often moan about the
there is more chance of fine weather. Pine cones weather, we should spare a thought for the
and seaweed react to changes in humidity - pines inhabitants of parts of the world where extreme
cones open, and seaweed feels dry when the weather regularly wreaks havoc on the
humidity is low, while high humidity has the environment and population. Sandstorms,
opposite effect. tornadoes, blizzards and flashfloods regularly kill
thousands of people and leave many others
While folk wisdom can still provide a guide to help
homeless.
forecast weather, today’s methods of prediction
increasingly rely on technology. Satellites, While most of us try to avoid extreme weather,
balloons, ships, aircraft and weather centres with some adventurous souls actively seek out places
sensitive monitoring equipment, send data to where extreme weather conditions exist. Sports
computers. The data is then processed, and the such as surfing, kiteboarding, ice-climbing and
weather predicted. However, even this system white-water rafting are becoming increasingly
cannot predict weather for longer than about popular with people seeking relief from the
week. monotony of daily routine. Extreme sports are
about exhilaration, skill and danger, and often
A recent study by an Australian psychologist
harness the weather to provide adrenaline
suggests that certain people may have a special
addicts with their kicks.
gift for predicting the weather. However it is
possible that these people would use their talent Even more extraordinary are storm-chasers –
in another way, since the same group had weather enthusiasts who risk their lives following
considerable success in forecasting changes in tornadoes and thunderstorms at high speed to
another chaotic system – the stock market. witness the damage they cause at close hand.
Glossary
adrenaline (n): a hormone produced by the body oak (n): a large tree that is common especially in
when you are frightened, angry or excited, which northern countries, or the hard wood of this tree.
makes the heart beat faster and prepares the body to pine cone (n): the hard egg-shaped part of the pine
react to danger. tree which opens and releases seeds.
ash (n): a forest tree which has a smooth grey bark, psychologist (n): someone who studies the human
small greenish flowers and seeds shaped like wings. mind and human emotions and behaviour, and how
blizzard (n): a severe snow storm with strong winds. different situations have an effect on them.
climate (n): the general weather conditions usually reflex (n): an uncontrollable physical reaction to
found in a particular place. something.
drought (n): a long period when there is little or no shepherd (n): a person whose job is to take care of
rain. sheep and move them from one place to another.
humid (adj): (of air and weather conditions) containing tornado (plural tornados tornadoes) (n) (US
extremely small drops of water in the air. INFORMAL ALSO twister): a strong dangerous wind
hurricane (n): a violent wind which has a circular which forms itself into an upside-down spinning cone
movement, especially found in the West Atlantic and is able to destroy buildings as it moves across the
Ocean. ground.
latitude (n): the position north or south of the equator torrential (adj): used to refer to very heavy rain.
measured from 0° to 90°.
Page 2 of 3
After reading
Exercise 1
1. When the weather keeps changing: 6. According to a traditional rhyme, if there is a

(a) people's reaction slow down red sky at night:
(b) people become irritable (a) the next day will be fine
(c) people find it hard to focus on their work (b) the next day will be rainy
(c) the next day will be windy
2. The weather in Britain:
(a) is very changeable 7. When the air is humid:
(b) is depressing (a) pine cones close
(c) is random (b) seaweed feels dry
(c) the weather will be fine
3. Violent storms are common:
(a) in mid and high latitudes 8. According to the article, weather is linked to:
(b) in Britain (a) the stock market
(c) in tropical climates (b) the outbreak of disease
(c) successful studying
4. Anticyclones often:
(a) bring cloudy weather 9. Extreme sports are:
(b) bring rain and wind (a) dangerous
(c) bring fine weather (b) routine
(c) easy
5. Weather forecasting:
(a) is always wrong
(b) has been done for a long time
(c) is easy

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of weather at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-weather.htm
• Word game: Weather. Put different words related to the weather in groups: ice and snow; rain and
temperature.
• Poem: Heat. This poem by Archibald Lampman conjures up vivid images of a sweltering summer’s
day.
• Poem: No. This poem by Thomas Hood takes a negative view of winter in a cold, urban climate, but
expresses it with a nice sense of humour.
• Story: Not a Drop to Drink. The Romans tried to bring water to the desert 2000 years ago. A
Portuguese explorer tried the same thing in 1777. Will the narrator of this story, with the use of
modern technology, succeed where the others failed?
• History: Bangladesh cyclone disaster; Hurricane Andrew; World water shortage predicted
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about weather.
• There is also a weather-related cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. (c); 2. (a); 3. (c); 4. (c); 5. (b); 6. (a); 7. (a); 8. (b); 9. (a)
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Women's Rights
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (women’s rights).
Read the article
Sojourner Truth
by Linda Baxter
“All human beings are born free and equal in sold. She had to leave her family and go to a new
dignity and rights'” owner. When she was 14, she was forced to
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights marry another slave called Thomas. They had
children who were also sold into slavery. In 1826,
The name Sojourner may be familiar to you. It she ran away to New York, just a year before
was the name of the wheeled robot that was sent slavery was abolished in New York State. After
on the expedition to Mars in 1997 to explore the gaining her freedom, Isabella worked as a
surface of the planet. The name was chosen after domestic servant, which was one of the only jobs
a world-wide competition, in which students were that freed black women could do. She was
asked to choose a heroine, and write an essay always deeply religious and attended church
explaining why her name should be given to the regularly. An important part of her religious belief
Mars Pathfinder. And Sojourner, which means a was a strong conviction that God had created all
temporary resident or a traveller, was the winner. human beings as equals.
But who was Sojourner Truth? A preacher

She was an African-American anti-slavery In 1843, Isabella had a religious experience. She
campaigner and a champion of women’s rights. believed that God told her to change her name to
She lived during the time of the American Civil Sojourner Truth, and become a travelling
war, a time when African-Americans were seen preacher. So that’s exactly what she did. For a
as inferior to white people, and slavery still year she travelled around America, singing and
existed. At the same time, women were seen as preaching at prayer meetings. She supported
inferior to men. They did not have the vote, and a herself with odd jobs, and slept wherever she
‘real’ woman was supposed to stay at home, be could, often in the open air. After a year of
protected by her husband, and not have an preaching, Sojourner joined the Northampton
opinion on issues of the day. As a black woman, Association. This was a predominantly white co-
Sojourner Truth experienced both types of operative community, where property and
discrimination, and she was one of the first resources were shared, and the members tried to
people to make the connection between the find new and better ways of living together. The
rights of slaves and black people and the rights of Northampton Association believed in liberal
women. And she was the first African-American concepts such as the abolition of slavery,
woman to make public speeches about it. women’s rights, freedom of expression, and
socialism. Sojourner’s eyes were opened and she
A slave began speaking publicly about the abolition of
Sojourner was born was born into slavery in slavery and the rights of women, to mainly white
1797. Her parents named her Isabella. She was and often very hostile audiences.
one of ten or twelve children but they were all
sold as slaves except for Isabella and her older A speaker
brother Peter. When she was nine, her owner Sojourner Truth was an impressive speaker and
died and his property, including Isabella, was she soon became well known for her common
Page 1 of 3
sense, courage and quick sense of humour. Her be just as bad as it was before.” That was a
experience of preaching was useful to her, and radical statement, both for the women’s
she was able to talk about her first hand movement and the abolitionist movement.
experiences of slavery. Her physical presence The women’s rights movement at that time was
was compelling too - she was over six feet tall mainly middle-class and white. Sojourner spoke
with a strong deep voice. She was often accused at women’s meetings and conferences, insisting
of being a man dressed up as a woman. So, to that black and poor women were ‘women too’,
prove that this was not the case, she once lifted and that they had to be included in any vision of
her blouse and showed her breasts to the social reform. Her most famous speech (known
audience at a public meeting. as ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’) pointed out that while
white middle class women were trying to gain the
A writer right to work, Sojourner, and thousands of
Sojourner couldn’t read or write. But she dictated women like her, had known nothing but hard work
her memoirs to a woman friend, and they were and poverty all their lives.
published in 1850 as ‘The Narrative of Sojourner
Truth: A Northern Slave’. This was one of the first A campaigner
accounts ever published of the life of a female Sojourner moved to Washington in 1863 when
slave, and the book was a success. Sojourner she was in her sixties. She worked to raise
was able to buy her own house and she became money for African-American Civil war soldiers,
even more popular as a speaker for the worked as a nurse and taught domestic skills to
abolitionist cause, travelling around America freed female slaves. She continued to be active
through the 1850s. in the women’s movement, and also in relief
associations for freed slaves. She was even
A feminist invited to visit President Lincoln.
Sojourner was unusual in the abolitionist While she was living in Washington, her arm was
movement because of her insistence on the links dislocated by a conductor who refused to let her
between racism and sexism. In one of her get on to a ‘white’ streetcar. She started and
speeches at the time she said: fought the campaign that ended segregated
“There is a great deal of stir about coloured men public transport in Washington.
getting their rights but not a word about the
coloured women’s theirs. You see, the coloured Sojourner Truth died in 1883.
men will be masters over the women, and it will
Glossary
abolish (v): to end (an activity, custom, etc.) hostile (adj): showing strong dislike; unfriendly
officially movement (n): those people whose social and
abolition (n): act or state of ending (an activity, political aims are to change something.
custom, etc.) officially odd jobs (n): a variety of jobs, esp. in the house or
campaigner (n): a person who takes part in garden.
organized activities which are intended to change preacher (n): a person, usually a priest, who gives
something in society. a religious speech.
cause (n): a socially valuable principle which is predominant (adj): being the most noticeable,
strongly supported by some people important or largest in number
coloured (adj): If someone is described as segregate (v): to cause to become separate or to
coloured, they belong to a dark-skinned race. This keep apart, often for social reasons and esp.
word is considered offensive by many people. because of race or sex
compelling (adj): forceful and able to persuade slavery (n): the activity of someone legally
discrimination (n): act of treating a person or owning another person, who works as a servant
particular group of people differently, esp. in a for that person, and who has no personal freedom
worse way from the way in which you treat other streetcar (n) (American – British English =
people, because of their skin colour, religion, sex, tram): : an electric vehicle that transports people,
etc. usually in cities, and goes along metal tracks in the
dislocate (v): to force (a bone) suddenly out of its road
correct position
Page 2 of 3
After reading
Exercise 1
Put these events from Sojourner Truth’s life in chronological order.
1) She began speaking publicly about abolition and women’s rights.

2) She campaigned against segregated public transport.
3) She changed her name.
4) She got married.
5) She joined a co-operative community.
6) She preached at prayer meetings.
7) She published her life story.
8) She ran away.
9) She was sold to a new owner.
10) She worked as a domestic servant.

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of women’s rights at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-womens-rights.htm
• Magazine article: International Women's Day. “In Russia, International Women’s Day is a serious
name for a not-very-serious holiday”.
• Word game: Women's rights. Match words about women's rights to their definitions.
• Story: Why I Want a Wife. This text by Judy Syfers explains in great detail what many husbands
see as a wife's role, and has been described as a "classic piece of feminist humor".
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about women’s rights.
• There is also a women’s rights-related cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. (9); 2. (4); 3. (8); 4. (10); 5. (3); 6. (6); 7. (5); 8. (1); 9. (7); 10. (2)
Page 3 of 3
Podcasts – Themes – Wordplay
Introduction

• links to other activities on the LearnEnglish website on this theme (Wordplay).
Read the article
How to Play with Words

by Keith Sands
This paragraph is not ordinary. Look at it. At first, But Perec was not just any writer. He discovered
it won’t look too odd. Just a normal paragraph - that, on the contrary, this “impossible” rule
you may think. But look at it again and you might unlocked his imagination. He later claimed that
find it a bit unusual. Just a tiny bit. What’s wrong he wrote his novel faster than any of his other
with it, you may ask? Nothing wrong at all, in fact books. He was forced to think. He had to fight for
: as I said, it’s just slightly unusual. It’s difficult to every sentence. He had no choice but to be
put it in words. Look again. Is anything not right? original.
Can you spot it? Is anything…missing?
What you’ve just read is a lipogram – a text

written without using a particular letter of the
alphabet. It’s the hardest kind of lipogram, as it
doesn’t contain the letter E – the most common
letter in the English language. Try writing one
yourself, even a few sentences, and you’ll see it’s
pretty difficult. Now imagine the task faced by the
French writer Georges Perec, when a friend
challenged him to write a whole novel without
using E – a letter which is even more common in
French than in English.
Perec was a frighteningly clever writer. He was a

lover of word games and puzzles, and a master
of the Chinese board game Go. He wrote The result was La Disparition , a surreal detective
crossword puzzles for Paris magazines. He had story about the mysterious disappearance of a
already written a 5000 word palindrome - a text character named A.Vowl (Get it?) The only Es
that reads the same forwards and back, like the were the four in his name on the cover. He
well known “A man, a plan, a canal – Panama.” placed dozens of clues in the book about the
But his friends thought that this task would be fantastically difficult rule he was working under.
beyond him. Indeed, they staked money on it. (For example, the chapters are numbered 1-26,
but there is no chapter five, E being the fifth letter
Unlocking the imagination of the alphabet.) Despite the clues, many of the
He took up the challenge. He was unable to use original reviewers failed to spot what was staring
more than 70% of the words in the French them in the faces – the missing letter.
language. The most common articles and Embarassing for the critics, hilarious for the writer
pronouns, most of the French verb endings, and and his friends.
nearly every feminine noun were off-limits.
Imagine a French writer not being able to use Fortunately, the game Perec was playing did not
“une”, “le”, “je”, “elle”, “est”, “et”! Surely enough to destroy the book itself. It’s not just a novel without
kill any writer’s ability to create. the letter E, it’s a good novel in its own right –
very funny, if you know its secret ; and rather
Page 1 of 3
disturbing if you don’t. Every sentence seems writing under constraints and rules was a way to
twisted slightly out of shape, and the resulting achieve true originality. Perec liked the paradox –
style is unique. It’s like chaos theory, which says the more you limit yourself, the freer you have to
that a butterfly’s wingbeat in South America might become.
cause a hurricane in China. Remove a tiny thing
– a single letter, that you’d hardly notice – and Perec’s book is proof, perhaps, that this
the whole world is changed. experiment works. But probably only if you’re
brilliant in the first place. However, another of the
After he finished his novel, Perec decided he OuLiPo word games is within everyone’s reach.
needed to use up all the Es he hadn’t used in the Anyone can write an OuLiPo poem - all you need
novel, so he got rid of the As, Is, Os, and Us, - is a pen, paper and a dictionary.
and wrote a short story in which e is the only
vowel. Take a poem you like, or maybe one you don’t
like, and underline all the nouns.
Has anyone matched Perec ? Probably only the
British writer Gilbert Adair, who translated La Look them up in the dictionary, count seven
Disparition into English. Again without using a entries forward from the noun you started with
single E. You could argue this is even more and replace the word in the poem with the word
difficult than Perec’s original task, as Adair had to you find. If it’s a verb, add -ing. So here are the
keep to the original story. Nevertheless, he first lines of Dante’s Inferno :
managed it. Even the title was hard to translate :
it couldn’t be called The Disappearance! The title In the middle of the journey of my life
of the English version is A Void, a play on words I found myself in a dark wood…
Perec himself would have enjoyed. “Avoid”, of Which becomes :
course, is what the writer does when he writes a
lipogram – avoiding all those nasty words with E In the midnight of the joy of my life insurance
in them. I found mythology in a dark woodpile…
Instant poetry You now have an Oulipo poem. It won’t make
Perec was given his “impossible” task by a fellow much sense, but it’ll probably have some
member of OuLiPo.-(Ouvriers des Literatures surprising phrases in it you wouldn’t otherwise
Potentials, The Workshop of Potential Literature). have thought of. If you don’t like it, change the
This was a group of experimental writers in Paris adjectives as well. Then the verbs. It’s cheating,
in the 1960s, whose leading figures were Perec, but it’s truly democratic. Anyone can be a poet –
Raymond Queneau, and the Italian Italo Calvino. sort of. And it’s a lot easier than lipograms.
The OuLiPo group developed the theory that
After reading: Exercise 1.

Below are 10 statements about the text. Decide if each one is True or False.
1. Lipograms are easy to write.
2. "Live, devil!" is a palindrome.
3. Perec's friends bet that he couldn't write the novel.
4. He could only use very common words in his book.
5. Perec was surprised at the effect of the no-E rule on his writing.
6. Perec's novel is clever and unusual.
7. None of the reviewers noticed the missing E.
8. Adair's job was a lot easier than Perec's.
9. OuLiPo writers were traditionalists.
10. It's even harder to write an OuLiPo poem than a lipogram.
Page 2 of 3

You’ll find links to all the following activities connected to the theme of Wordplay at:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-themes-wordplay.htm
• Word games: The following word games are available for this theme: Animal riddles, Chicken
and frog joke, Christmas jokes, Compound noun chain, Firing squad joke, Hidden jobs,
Hidden lands, Homonyms, Homophones, Medical services puns, Oxymorons, Palindromes,
Parrot joke, Secret message, Silly books, Word ladder, and Word Wangling.
• Poem: The Good Old Days. This amusing poem compares the meanings of words and
expressions as they are used nowadays when speaking about computers, and in their original
contexts.
• Poem: Eye Halve a Spelling Chequer. In this amusing poem the correct words have been
substituted by homophones (two or more words that are spelt differently, but pronounced the
same). It proves that computer spelling checkers are not infallible!
• Trivia: Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about wordplay.
• There is also a wordplay-related cartoon and some carefully selected external links.
Answers to comprehension activity: 1. False (F); 2. True (T); 3. T; 4. F; 5. T; 6. T; 7. F; 8. F; 9. F;
10. F
Page 3 of 3

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