Table of contents for N. 486 in Speak Up Italia

Every day, the US Mint1 produces about thirty million pennies2, which cost over three times more to produce than they're worth3. This year, US President Donald Trump instructed the Department of the Treasury to end the production of the penny. However, it's not yet clear if the coin will really be discontinued4 or not. HEADS OR TAILS? The US penny, officially known as ‘the cent’, was first produced in 1787, and has been issued primarily as a copper or copper-plated coin5. Since 1909, the year President Abraham Lincoln would have turned6 a hundred, the coin has featured7 President Lincoln's profile. Modern pennies feature the president's profile on the obverse8 (heads9) of the coin and a Union Shield10 on the reverse (tails11.) The thirteen stripes12 on the shield represent the thirteen…

The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life expectancy1 of those of us who live in ‘advanced’ countries, but they have destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling2, have subjected human beings to indignities, have led to widespread3 psychological suffering […] and have inflicted severe damage on the natural world.” These were the words that shook4 America on the morning of 19 September 1995. On the recommendation of the FBI, The Washington Post agreed to publish the Unabomber's manifesto, after he vowed5 to pause his seventeen-year-long campaign of terror if his message was made public. BESTSELLER The decision to publish the essay proved crucial in solving the case – but it also served the terrorist's purposes6. In the thirty…

SCAN, READ & LISTEN 11 PROFICIENCY C2 GLOSSARY 1 late: compianto 2 outspoken: schietto, esplicito 3 neural lace: laccio neurale 4 barges: chiatte 5 booster rockets: razzi propulsori 6 to stem: derivare 7 to spark: accendere, innescare 8 staunch: convinto 9 hitchhiker: autostoppista 10 sticker: adesivo 11 typewriter: macchina da scrivere 12 to sink: investire, perdere 13 $100bn: cento miliardi (one hundred billion) 14 to plug: connettere 15 hideous: orribili 16 call: decisione 17 to infuse: infondere, ispirare 18 moguls: magnati 19 warped: distorta, deformata 20 overlords: capi supremi 21 to spawn: generare 22 to fuel: alimentare, fomentare 23 to repurpose: riutilizzare, riadattare 24 bitterly: amaramente 25 to back: sostenere 26 blame: colpa 27 raft: zattera 28 fleet: flotta 29 to forestall: prevenire 30 fate: destino, futuro 31 odd brand: strano tipo 32 benefit fraud: frode fiscale sulle erogazioni pubbliche 33 unabashedly: sfacciatamente 34 overrun: invasi 35 troll-in-chief: capo dei ‘troll’ 36 NHS: Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (National Health Service) 37 defence contractor: appaltatore della difesa One…

Downton Abbey is a vivid portrayal of class dynamics in 20th-century Britain. The Crawleys and their servants reflect a rigid hierarchy, rooted1 in tradition – a far cry2 from today's society. In the series there are clear divisions between the classes. The landed gentry3 and aristocracy live upstairs, enjoying privilege and power. The servants live and work downstairs, the contrast underscoring4 the social order. The upper class consider it their duty5 to uphold6 tradition, while the servants are essential but often invisible pillars supporting their way of life. Downton Abbey's representation of class structure is generally accurate7 and continues to fascinate the public today CLASS DIVISIONS The social landscape of modern Britain has evolved significantly. With social reforms, access to education and the expansion of the middle classes, distinctions seem…

SCAN, READ & LISTEN 19 UPPER INTERMEDIATE B2 GLOSSARY 1 pocket watch: orologio da taschino 2 to tick off: spuntare, detrarre 3 purposefully: intenzionalmente 4 growth spurt: crescita improvvisa, scatto di crescita 5 to shrink: restringere 6 to relieve: alleviare 7 to grow out of: smettere, abbandonare qualcosa crescendo 8 sanitation: igiene 9 life expectancy: aspettativa di vita 10 figure: cifra 11 distressed: angustiata, tormentata 12 to run out: terminare 13 in grief: dal dolore 14 to voice: dare voce, esprimere 15 brochure: opuscolo 16 timeless: senza tempo, atemporale 17 retreat: ritiro 18 reluctantly: svogliatamente 19 attachment: attaccamento, legame Melissa sat staring at the pocket watch1, watching the smallest hand tick off2 the seconds of her life. “What are you doing?” asked her sister, Kathy, in an exasperated tone. “Nothing,” said Melissa. She was purposefully3 doing nothing in the hope that it would slow down time, the limited…

EXERCISES IN Work It Out! When children first started getting smartphones a decade ago, there was no research about what effect this would have on their mental health. Now it is understood that smartphones expose children to things their brains aren't developed enough to deal with, causing serious problems, from triggering1 anxiety and eating disorders, to opening the door to addictive algorithms, cyberbullying or sexual predators. CONCERN FOR SAFETY Smartphone Free Childhood is a rapidly-growing grassroots movement2 that launched in the UK in early 2024. It reflects a growing concern3 among parents about online safety and the now-normal practice of giving children smart devices4 when they go to secondary school. The movement began as a WhatsApp group set up by two young mothers, Clare Fernyhough and Daisy Greenwell. Within weeks…

EXERCISES IN Work It Out! THE VIEW OF THE WORLD FROM NINTH AVENUE The New Yorker magazine is wellknown not only for its writing and cartoons, but also for its artistic illustrated covers where there aren't any headlines21 that hint at22 the issue23's content. Perhaps one of the most famous and representative covers in the magazine's history belongs to Saul Steinberg. Published in the March 29th 1976 issue and titled “View of the World from Ninth Avenue”, it shows a map with Manhattan illustrated in great detail and, heading west, the Hudson River, New Jersey, a few US states and cities, the Pacific Ocean, and, even further away, distant countries like Japan, Russia, and China. Of course, this map is not realistic – many places between New York and those…

Downton Abbey is a cultural phenomenon. With over 120 million viewers worldwide, the period drama1 is one of the most popular series in the history of British television. The two feature films – Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) – together grossed2 around €250 million at the box office3. Now, fans are eagerly4 awaiting the third and final instalment5, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. Scheduled for release6 on 12 September, little is known about the plot7, although it will likely offer a heartfelt and emotional conclusion. THE CRAWLEYS Created by Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey premiered on UK TV channel ITV in 2010. It quickly became a global sensation. Over the course of six seasons and two films, audiences were engrossed8 by the lives and loves of…

SCAN, READ & LISTEN 17 UPPER INTERMEDIATE B2 GLOSSARY 1 betrayal: tradimento 2 former: ex, già 3 screenplay: sceneggiatura 4 novella: racconto 5 to muse: riflettere 6 fall from grace: caduta in disgrazia 7 to rely on: affidarsi, dipendere da 8 pulp-fiction: narrativa popolare, di consumo 9 penniless: senza soldi 10 countless: innumerevoli 11 to lurk: aggirarsi, stare in agguato 12 to ride: salire, fare un giro 13 ferris wheel: ruota panoramica 14 callous: cinico, insensibile 15 sewer tunnels: rete fognaria 16 onset: scoppio, inizio 17 troubled: travagliato, problematico An atmospheric thriller about friendship and betrayal1, The Third Man is set in Vienna after the Second World War. British author, journalist and former2 intelligence officer Graham Greene was employed to write a screenplay3 for the film and the novella4 he produced to do so became an instant classic of crime fiction. OCCUPIED VIENNA A narrator, later…

So we've fixed the date for the product launch1. Now let's start planning the campaign. Yes, we need to get everyone together. Who's involved2? The creative team, the social media team and our PR agency, of course. OK, I'll schedule3 the meeting. What shall we put on the agenda4? For now, top-line goals, marketing strategy, communication channels, deliverables and timelines5. Good. I'll check everyone's agenda and book a meeting room. Try and get the large conference room with the audio-visual equipment. Sure. And can you gather all the relevant presentations? OK, will do. When we've mapped it all out, we can start brainstorming some ideas. Excellent. It's so exciting. I can't wait! NOW LET'S REVIEW THE VOCABULARY! To fix a date means to arrange6 a time and place for a…

EXERCISES IN Work It Out! Scientific achievements1 often amaze or fascinate us. Then there are some, such as the discovery that mammals can potentially breathe through their anuses or that dead trout2 can swim, that are so unexpected, bizarre or downright3 dubious4 that it makes us laugh in disbelief5 and delight6. It is these type of achievements that are celebrated at the 35th annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts in September. IGNOBLE AWARDS Created in 1991, the Ig Nobel (a play on the word ‘ignoble7’) Prize ceremony is organised by the scientific humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research (AIR). It awards8 ten prizes that “honour achievements so surprising that they make people LAUGH, then THINK,” according to AIR. The prizes…

“There must be a beginning of any great matter21, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields22 the true glory.” EXERCISES IN Work It Out! Elizabethan England's most famous sea captain, Sir Francis Drake, used his brilliant navigational skills to become the second person in the world to circumnavigate the globe. His audacious attacks against the Spanish Empire elevated him to an almost mythical status, and brought immense wealth to England, fuelling1 a dramatic growth in the country's economy and maritime capabilities. He also participated in England's first steps as a slave-trading2 nation, kidnapping3 and transporting thousands of African men, women and children to the New World. ENEMIES AND SLAVES Drake was born around 1540 in Tavistock, Devon, the son of a tenant farmer4. Under King…

EXERCISES IN Work It Out! Thirty years ago, two of the most prestigious newspapers in the world surrendered1 to the blackmail2 of a terrorist. After months of deliberation and ethical debate, on 19 September 1995, The Washington Post published, with the financial support of The New York Times, an eight-page special section titled “Industrial Society and its Future”. The essay3 was a 35,000-word manifesto signed as FC (Freedom Club). The author, however, was best-known to the public as ‘the Unabomber’, the man responsible for a long and intermittent bombing campaign across the US that, starting in 1978, had killed three people and injured twenty-three others. THE TERRORIST'S BROTHER Both The New York Times and The Washington Post received the manifesto in June of that year, along with the demand that…

The Dalai Lama has spent decades in exile thinking about ways to prevent the Chinese government from taking control of Tibetan Buddhism after his death and ending the struggle for Tibetan autonomy. Early on1, he suggested that the institution of the Dalai Lama could be ended altogether2 to deprive3 Beijing of a target to exploit. Later, he focused on how to keep the Chinese Communist Party from installing its own choice to succeed him. He floated4 a sharp break5 from precedent, saying he might transfer his spiritual powers to an adult during his lifetime to avoid6 the vacuum that would come with selecting a child as his reincarnation and successor. But in July, as senior monks filed into7 a much-anticipated conference in Dharamsala, India, as part of the 90th birthday…

Downton Abbey has brought to life some of the most memorable fictional characters: the aristocratic Crawleys and the many and varied staffwho serve the family. As the world eagerly anticipates25 the final film in the franchise, here is a reminder of where we left the most popular characters at the end of Downton Abbey: A New Era. A warning for those who didn't see the 2022 film: major spoilers ahead! DOWAGER COUNTESS OF GRANTHAM Violet Crawley, the matriarch of the family, dies at the end of Downton Abbey: A New Era. In the penultimate film, she inherits26 a villa in the South of France. She reveals that she had a summer romance with the Marquis de Montmirail on the French Riviera, prior to her marriage to Lord Grantham. She passes…

Scotland's landscape is like nowhere else in Britain. Vast and remote, its mountains are higher, wilder and more numerous than in England or Wales. Ben Hope, in the far north, is an isolated monolith rising 927 metres above a vista of lochans (small lakes) and wilderness. Some four hundred kilometres to the south, the slopes1 of Ben Lomond reflect in the waters of Loch Lomond. What connects these two mountains is that they are both Munros: the most northerly and southerly of the 282 mountain peaks that appeared in Sir Hugh Munro's Tables in 1891. TABLES Sir Hugh Munro was born in London in 1856, but grew up on the family estate2 near Kirriemuir in the east of Scotland. An enthusiastic climber3 and walker, in 1889 he became a founding…

SCAN, READ & LISTEN 18 UPPER INTERMEDIATE B2 GLOSSARY 1 charts: classifiche 2 further: altre, ulteriori 3 helplessness: impotenza 4 fate: destino 5 rant: sfogo, invettiva 6 inner turmoil: turbamento interiore 7 to redeem: redimere 8 landslide: frana 9 sympathy: compassione 10 regardless: a prescindere, indipendentemente da 11 trigger: grilletto 12 shivers: brividi 13 spine: spina dorsale 14 to ache: dolere, fare male 15 thunderbolt: fulmine 16 lightning: saetta 17 the afterlife: aldilà 18 to spare: risparmiare 19 to stone: lapidare 20 to spit: sputare In music, a rhapsody is an orchestral composition, free in form and structure, that expresses powerful emotions and tells a dramatic story. In honour of the genre, in 1975 English rock band Queen produced the six-minute song Bohemian Rhapsody. The track, an eclectic montage of distinctive styles, became the band's magnum opus. It spent nine weeks at number one in the UK, returning to…

SpeakUp 486 UNIT 1 Page 8 B1 LEVEL The Ig Nobel Prize SOLUTIONS PAGE 74 1.1 READING COMPREHENSION Read and complete the sentences choosing from the box. 1.2 SPOT THE MISTAKE! Some of the following words contain a spelling mistake. Find them and rewrite them correctly. UNIT 2 Page 12 B2 LEVEL An Age-Old Planet SOLUTIONS PAGE 74 2.1 VOCABULARY Unscramble the letters to obtain nouns used in the article. The first letter is given to help you. 2.2 READING COMPREHENSION Read the article and fill in the sentences choosing from the options. 1) The World Health Organization estimates that within the next five years, one ___________ six people will be over the age of sixty. a among b in c from 2) By ___________, the global population of those…