Christmas quizz

1. In Britain the Queen has made a _________ on TV every Christmas day since 1957?

a) sermon

b) talk

c) speech

d) lecture

2. I love singing Christmas __________. My favourite one is 'Silent Night'.

a) songs

b) carols

c) hymns

d) tunes

3. Christmas is a time for being with family and friends; it can be quite a __________ time

for lots of people.

a) lonely

b) alone

c) only

d) single

4. Traditional nativity scenes are popular in many countries – they show the ___________

of Jesus.

a) life

b) birth

c) born

d) all of the above answers

5. In Mexico and parts of Brazil, people watch a traditional _______ called “The

Shepherds” – the shepherds kidnap (abduct) the baby Jesus!

a) play

b) theatre

c) stage

d) acting

6. In many countries, Christmas seems to be all about ________ shopping; buying

presents, presents and more presents!

a) go

b) going

c) do the

d) doing the

READING. JACK THE RIPPER. INTERMEDIATE

Jack the Ripper is a pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer (or killers) active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area and adjacent districts of London in the second half of 1888. The name is taken from a letter to the Central News Agency by someone claiming to be the murderer, published at the time of the killings. Although many theories have been advanced, Jack the Ripper's identity may never be proven.

The legends surrounding the Ripper murders have become a complex muddle of genuine historical research, freewheeling conspiracy theory and dubious folklore. The lack of a confirmed identity for the killer has allowed subsequent authors, historians and mostly amateur sleuths—dubbed Ripperologists—to point their fingers at a wide variety of candidates. Newspapers, whose circulation had been growing during this era, bestowed widespread and enduring notoriety on the killer due to the savagery of the murders and the failure of police to effect a capture, with the Ripper sometimes escaping discovery by mere minutes.

Victims were women earning income as casual prostitutes. Typical Ripper murders were perpetrated in a public or semi-public place; the victim's throat was cut, after which the cadaver was subjected to abdominal and sometimes other mutilations such as those found in lust murder. Many now believe that the victims were first strangled in order to silence them. Due to the nature of the wounds on some presumed Ripper victims, several of whom had internal organs removed, it has been proposed that the killer had a degree of surgical or medical skill, or was perhaps a butcher, although this point, like most of the beliefs about the killer and facts in the case, is in dispute

Questions about the text

1. The murders were committed in 1888.
True.
False.
We don't know.
2. The name was taken from a letter received by the Central News Agency.
True.
False.
We don't know.
3. The killer was never identified.
True.
False.
We don't know.
4. The killer may have had medical skills.
True.
False.
We don't know.
5. The killer may have been a butcher.
True.
False.
We don't know.

READING. INTERMEDIATE

"Fish and chips" is deep-fried fish in batter with deep-fried potatoes, and a popular take-away food. Fish and chips is originally from the United Kingdom, but also very popular in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and some coastal towns of the Netherlands and Norway; and also increasingly so in the United States and elsewhere. For decades it was the dominant (if not the only) take-away food in the United Kingdom.

The fried potatoes are called chips in British and international usage; and while American English calls them french fries, the combination is still called "fish and chips". (Potato chips, an American innovation, are a different potato-derived food, and are known as crisps in the United Kingdom.)

Fish and chips have separately been eaten for many years – though the potato was not introduced to Europe until the 17th century. The originally Sephardi dish Pescado frito, or deep-fried fish, came to Netherlands and England with the Spanish and Portuguese Jews in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The dish became popular in more widespread circles in London and the south-east in the middle of the 19th century (Charles Dickens mentions a "fried fish warehouse" in Oliver Twist) whilst in the north of England a trade in deep-fried "chipped" potatoes developed.

It is unclear when and where these two trades were merged to become the fish and chip shop industry we know today. The first combined fish and chip shop was probably the one opened in London by Joseph Malin in 1860.

During World War II, fish and chips were one of the few foods that were not rationed in the UK.

Questions about the text

1. Fish and chips are popular only in England.
True.
False.
We don't know.

2. Americans call "French fries" what British call "chips".
True.
False.
We don't know.
3. Americans call "chips" what British call "crisps".
True.
False.
We don't know.
4. The potato was introduced to Europe in the 18th century.
True.
False.
We don't know.
5. The dish became popular in the 19th century.
True.
False.
We don't know.
6. The first fish and chip shop was opened in the 19th century.
True.
False.
We don't know.
7. Fish and chips were not eaten during World War II.
True.
False.
We don't know.

HOUSE OF LORDS. INTERMEDIATE

PRACTICE READING SKILL

Cool Britannia	Agatha Christie	Hollywood Looks Overseas for Talent and Profit
Cotswolds	Alexander Graham Bell	New Findings About Disorder in Bees
Covent Garden	Arthur Conan Doyle	Three Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Medicine
Edinburgh	Charles Dickens	Lincoln's Cottage: A Visit to a 19th Century Camp David
Heathrow Airport	Charles, Prince of Wales	A Trip Along the Potomac River, One of America’s Most Historic Waterways
House of Commons	Charlie Chaplin	Yosemite: One of the Most Famous National Parks in the US
House of Lords	Depeche Mode	Hollywood Looks Overseas for Talent and Profit
Leeds	Diana, Princess of Wales	New Findings About Disorder in Bees
National Gallery	Geoffrey Chaucer	Three Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Medicine
Prime Minister	Henry VIII	Lincoln's Cottage: A Visit to a 19th Century Camp David
Tower of London	Isaac Newton	A Trip Along the Potomac River, One of America’s Most Historic Waterways
Trafalgar Square	Jane Austen	Yosemite: One of the Most Famous National Parks in the US
The Channel Tunnel	J. K. Rowling	Hollywood Looks Overseas for Talent and Profit
Bagpipes	King Arthur	New Findings About Disorder in Bees
BBC	Mr. Bean	Three Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Medicine
Big Ben	Pink Floyd	Lincoln's Cottage: A Visit to a 19th Century Camp David
Britannia	Oasis	A Trip Along the Potomac River, One of America’s Most Historic Waterways
Coronation Street	Queen Elizabeth II	Yosemite: One of the Most Famous National Parks in the US
Double-Decker	Richard the Lionheart
Hackney Carriage (Black cab)	Robin Hood

Quiz topic: Around the house

3º-Around the house

For each of the six questions choose the one correct answer.

1. The trouble with living in a _________ is that we can hear the noisy neighbours

through the walls on both sides of us.

a) detached house

b) semi-detached house

c) terraced house

d) bungalow

2. Which of the following would you probably find in the bedroom?

a) A pillow

b) A sofa

c) An armchair

d) A cushion

3. My boyfriend’s dad’s a builder so the plan is we ________ the flat ourselves.

a) do down

b) do up

c) do in

d) do away

4. Where do people keep their clean clothes?

a) In a cupboard

b) In a wardrobe

c) In a shed

d) In a laundry basket

5. Which of the following is NOT found on the floor?

a) A carpet

b) A rug

c) Wallpaper

d) Lino

6. What do we call the money that you might borrow in order to buy a house?

a) A loan

b) A credit card

c) A mortgage

d) Hire purchase