Sommaire pour No 470 de Speak Up

SPEAK UP IN CLASS Fifty years ago, The Texas Chainsaw1 Massacre, one of the most influential films in Hollywood history, hit cinema screens2, shocking people around the world and influencing the genre for decades to come. Even the slasher film poster’s blood-dripping3 message was designed to disturb: “Who will survive and what will be left of them?” TRESPASSERS WILL BE EATEN The film’s plot was simple: a group of sadistic, grave-robbing4 cannibals torture, kill and eat trespassers5. To add a little flesh6 to these bones: the film is described on the website Rotten Tomatoes as being about a group of hippies who travel to an old farmhouse, where they discover crazed, murderous outcasts7 living next door. The group is then attacked one by one by a man in a mask made…

SPEAK UP IN CLASS In June 793, Norse1 raiders2 attacked the isolated monastery of Lindisfarne in Northumbria, located on a tidal island3 off the northeast coast4 of England. They stole books and treasures and murdered the monks who lived there. From these violent beginnings, the invaders gradually became part of British civilisation: the Viking Age had begun. Today, almost a thousand years after their rule5 in Britain ended, the Vikings remain part of popular culture. They feature in the literary and filmic landscape of Lord of the Rings and in TV series such as Vikings and The Last Kingdom. PIRATES The name ‘Vikings’ loosely6 translates as ‘pirates’ in Old Norse. But although it is used today to describe the Scandinavian people of a specific period of history, it would not have been…

The progression of fall foliage is impossible to predict with accuracy1. To catch the leaves at the peak of their colour, the weather conditions need to be right. Rain will leave the leaves wet and soggy2, while strong wind can make them fall sooner than expected. Mid-October is generally peak time to view the fall colours, and some places are good to visit no matter the time of year. Here are some of the best places to admire the autumn colours. 1. Shenandoah National Park (Virginia) This long and narrow park runs along the Blue Ridge Mountains, 120km from Washington. It is famous for its autumn colours, when the rolling hills3 are covered in crimson4 maple5 leaves. Visitors can drive or hike6 along a network of trails7, which include a section…

Winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, Nathan Thrall’s book A Day in the Life of Abed Salama is not an easy read. It is, in fact, a difficult one for two reasons: it is painful because it deals with the tragedy of a school bus accident, and a father’s desperate search for the whereabouts1 and condition of his five-year-old son. It is also challenging because it tackles2 the complexity of everyday life in the West Bank3 under Israeli occupation, while also recounting the basic facts of a fifty-plus4-year conflict with no end in sight. A SYSTEM OF CONTROL Nathan Thrall is a Jewish American journalist based in Jerusalem. His work has been published in outlets5 such as The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian and The London…

NOW LET’S REVIEW THE VOCABULARY! Old chap is an old-fashioned British term of endearment2 for a man. An ‘anglophile is someone who loves England or Britain. Bloody hell is an informal expression of annoyance3. To give grief means to annoy someone or cause trouble or problems for them. To fancy in British slang means to be attracted (to someone). It can also mean to feel like (something), ie, I fancy a coffee. Gobsmacked means ‘very surprised’. Literally, it means ‘smacked4 in the mouth’ (or ‘gob5’). A cheeky sod is a person who has acted inappropriately. Too right is said when you agree completely. Gov’nor (short for governor) is an archaic form of address6 for a person of authority. To take the piss is vulgar slang for ‘to mock’. A twit…

ARTÍCULOS POR NIVELES Todos nuestros artículos se presentan con un código de color para indicar el nivel de dificultad del inglés empleado de acuerdo con la Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. A2 PRE-INTERMEDIATE B1 LOWER INTERMEDIATE B2 UPPER INTERMEDIATE C1 ADVANCED C2 PROFICIENCY GLOSARIO Encontrarás el vocabulario más relevante de cada artículo indicado con un número en el color correspondiente a su nivel de dificultad y su traducción en el glosario adjunto. A towering1 figure in British history, Queen Victoria was actually a diminutive figure, just one metre fifty GLOSSARY 1 towering: imponente 2 to rule: gobernar 3 to number: ascender, sumar EXPLAINS Los textos subrayados en amarillo indican que la frase requiere de una explicación más extensa, como referencias históricas o culturales, frases hechas, proverbios o argot. Encontrarás la explicación…

New York art rock band Talking Heads’ signature song Psycho Killer is a bilingual look inside the deranged1 mind of an assassin with multiple personalities. Taken from their 1977 debut album “Talking Heads: 77”, it was one of singer David Byrne’s first attempts at song writing, and was inspired by hard rock singer Alice Cooper and “bad guys in movies.” This is most evident in the chorus2’s refrain3 of “Fa-fa-fa-fa, fafa-fa-fa-fa, fa”, an apparent reference to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic horror movie Psycho, where protagonist Norman Bates stutters4 over the word ‘falsity’. The opening verse is a jittery5 stream of consciousness6 from a crazed serial killer with the later use of French suggesting he suffers from Jekyll and Hyde syndrome. The bridge, written by bassist Tina Weymouth (whose mother was from…

Senator J. D. Vance of Ohio, the newly-announced running mate1 to former2 President Donald Trump, has gone on a rapid journey over the past eight years from bestselling author and outspoken3 Trump critic to one of Trump’s staunchest4 defenders and, now, his would-be5 second-in-command. Before running for office6, Vance, forty, was known as the author of Hillbilly Elegy, a bestselling memoir recounting his upbringing7 in a poor family that also served as a sort of sociological examination of white working-class Americans. The book was published the summer before Trump’s election in 2016, and many readers looked to it after his victory as a sort of guide to understanding Trump’s support among white working-class communities. Vance harshly8 denounced Trump during his 2016 campaign. But by 2022, he had embraced Trump, winning…

PLACES Known as the land of infinite variety, South Dakota has plenty1 to offer the adventurous traveller, from vast flatlands2 to famous monuments to quirky3 attractions that celebrate the culture of the Wild West. This landlocked4 state, in the country’s North Central region, is part of the Great Plains: a vast expanse of flatlands with prairie, steppe, fields of corn and wheat5 and grassland6. However, it also has thousands of miles of shoreline around lakes, too. And, at 7,244-feet, Black Elk7 Peak is the highest natural point in the Midwestern United States. HUGE PARKS The state’s highest concentration of famous attractions is in its western region, which is where you will find its biggest national park: Badlands National Park. Colourful, dramatic and surreal8, this lunar landscape has a maze of…

Palms sweat1 , heartbeat quickens, muscles tense. Your skin prickles2 and stomach churns3. When fear subsides, we can be left with feelings of pleasure. Is this just the relief of having survived — or is it something more? FIGHT OR FLIGHT The amygdala, an almond-shaped4 bundle5 of neurons deep in the centre of the brain, controls the fear response. In a fearful situation, the amygdala stimulates the hypothalamus, which activates two systems in the body – the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal cortical system — causing a flash flood of hormones and triggering6 the fight-or-flight7 response. Adrenaline boosts8 the body’s alertness. It speeds up the heart rate and diverts9 blood from the core to the muscles needed for movement. Cortisol raises blood pressure. Blood vessels10 around the vital organs dilate,…

Wolf Hall is the first part of Hilary Mantel’s remarkable1 trilogy of historical novels exploring the turbulent life and times of Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to King Henry VIII. Mantel spent five years researching the Tudor period to produce this emotive, wise2 and mesmerising3 tale that won the Booker Prize in 2009. A FIGHT HE CAN WIN The book opens in the year 1500 with young Thomas Cromwell being beaten by his drunken father. It then jumps forward twenty-seven years to find Cromwell working as a lawyer for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. The cardinal is under pressure to arrange4 a divorce for Henry VIII from his Spanish queen, Catherine of Aragon. Cromwell, a skilled5 negotiator, is expected to assist. “What is good for Thomas Cromwell is good for Thomas Wolsey —…

Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president of the United States, represents America’s cultural melting pot1 in a way that no previous candidate has. Vice-president to Joe Biden since 2021, Harris’ moment came following his announcement that he would not be seeking2 a second term. In that first whirlwind3 week, just four months from election day, Harris achieved an all-time record of $81million of funding4 in any 24-hour period. Biden’s endorsement5 of Harris was quickly followed by that of Hillary and Bill Clinton and Barack and Michelle Obama, dramatically reshaping6 an election in which many US voters were worried about the options. With Biden approaching eighty-two, and Trump seventy-eight, it seemed time for a new generation to step in7 and bring unity LOTUS FOR POTUS Born on 20 October 1964…

SPEAK UP IN CLASS When the young Isambard Kingdom Brunel stopped growing, he was just 1.52 metres tall. He would prove, however, to be a giant of civil and mechanical engineering who would change the physical landscape and culture of Britain forever. Brunel was born in Portsmouth, England, on 9 April 1806, to an English mother and French father. His father, Marc Brunel, was also an engineer, and was determined that his son should follow in his footsteps — aged just eight, Isambard was already studying Euclidian geometry. TUNNEL UNDER THE THAMES In 1825 Isambard began his career assisting his father in designing and constructing the four-hundred-metre Thames Tunnel, a massive project that took nearly two decades to complete. It was dangerous work, so the two invented a tunnelling shield1…

It’s leaf-peeping1 season! As the days get shorter, nature puts on a spectacular show in many parts of the United States, drawing thousands of admirers to the country’s national parks. The leaves on the trees begin to change colour, from green to red, orange and gold. All across the northern states, the forests put on a magnificent display2 of fiery3 hues4. DECIDUOUS TREES Not all trees change colour, as some are evergreen5. These trees are always green, but lose their leaves at different times of the year. Deciduous6 trees lose their leaves in the fall to conserve energy. Common species in the US include oak7, birch8 and beech9. These trees have broad leaves that put the different shades on display before they drop off and leave the trees bare10 for winter. Fall…

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial, nestled1 in the granite stone of the Black Hills of South Dakota, stands as a monumental tribute to four of the most influential presidents in United States history. Renowned as America’s Shrine2 of Democracy, it features3 the eighteen-metre-high faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The inception4 of Mount Rushmore began with a vision by South Dakota historian Doane Robinson, who initially proposed a monument featuring Western heroes such as Buffalo Bill or the formidable warrior chief Red Cloud. However, the sculptor Gutzon Borglum chose to immortalise four US presidents as a monument that would appeal to all Americans. Borglum’s selection was symbolic: George Washington, the nation’s founding father and Revolutionary War hero, represented the birth of the United States; Thomas…

For years, British linguists have been complaining1 about Americanisms invading British English. But now the opposite is also occurring, as Britishisms — words and phrases that were once exclusive to British English — are becoming more popular among Americans, particularly members of Gen Z. Many American Gen Zers, who are now in their teens and twenties, are using Britishisms and even adopting British accents in certain situations, resulting in millions of related online posts and videos on social media sites such as TikTok. AS SEEN (AND HEARD) ON TV The popularity of Britishisms among Gen Zers has been attributed primarily to the influence of British TV shows, beginning with the British animated TV series Peppa Pig. Many American Gen Zers grew up watching Peppa Pig, and in the late 2010s2,…

The Queen looked at all the paintings of her with a sense of dissatisfaction. None of them fully captured her beauty. She was certain, however, that Pavlo would succeed where all the other artists had failed. Pavlo was the best sculptor in the kingdom, and today he was going to cast1 her face and body to produce a sculpture that would capture her beauty in all of its magnificence. Someone entered the studio. It was Lutan, her most loyal servant. “My most esteemed Queen,” Lutan said, with a deep bow2. “It pains3 me to disturb you. However, the military guards insist that I inform you that the rebels are planning a revolt. We beg4 you to leave the castle immediately and be escorted to a secure and secret refuge.” “Absolutely…