Table of contents for N. 465 in Speak Up Italia

John Joseph Lydon, better known as Johnny Rotten1, was the lead singer of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 to 1978. He was the co-author of iconic punk singles such as Anarchy in the U.K. and God Save the Queen, and his group were one of the most influential in the history of pop music, scandalising the media and much of society. In recent years he has been called a “national treasure” – to his horror. FROM COMA TO SHOP SEX A nervous child, at age seven he contracted spinal meningitis, and spent seven months in a coma. He lost his memory for four years and did not recognise his parents. The meningitis gave him his famous, intimidating ‘Lydon stare2’. The original members of the Sex Pistols…

Hogmanay is how Scotland welcomes the new year. Unlike1 New Year’s Eve in the rest of the world, Hogmanay is a four-day event full of unique customs and rituals. These range from the mundane, like saining (or cleaning) the house, to the wild, turning the streets into a giant party. Speak Up spoke to Juliane Frank of VisitScotland to find out more about this typical Scottish celebration. She explains that its roots are tied2 to the winter solstice. Juliane Frank (Scottish accent): So the origins go far, far back, back to the Viking times and pagan traditions basically, celebrating that the shortest day of the year was over and celebrating that new beginning, of days getting longer again and having... basically, the Vikings liked to party anyway, having a big…

ARTICOLI PER LIVELLI Tutti i nostri articoli hanno un codice di colore che indica il livello di difficoltà dell’inglese in base al Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. A2 PRE-INTERMEDIATE B1 LOWER INTERMEDIATE B2 UPPER INTERMEDIATE C1 ADVANCED C2 PROFICIENCY GLOSSARIO In ogni articolo troverai le parole più rilevanti affiancate da un numero del colore corrispondente al livello di difficoltà, oltre alla traduzione nel glossario correlato. G in and tonic is arguably1 Britain’s favourite drink EXPLAINS Le frasi evidenziate in giallo sono quelle che hanno bisogno di approfondimenti, come nel caso di riferimenti storici o culturali, frasi fatte, proverbi o espressioni di slang. Troverai la spiegazione alla fine dell’articolo. SPEAK UP IN CLASS Ogni mese su Speak Up troverai anche degli esercizi pensati per gli insegnanti, elaborati appositamente per…

Something almost beyond1 comprehension is happening to a girl on this street in this house... and a man has been sent for as a last resort2. This man is The Exorcist.” These sinister words appeared on the first posters advertising The Exorcist, now considered to be one of the greatest supernatural horror films of all time. Released in 1973, the film was based on the 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty and directed by William Friedkin. ALARMING VIEWING The Exorcist recounts the demonic possession of a young girl, Regan MacNeil, and the attempts3 to free her of the evil spirit. The film’s impact was immediate, and it quickly became notorious4. There were reports of fainting fits5, vomiting and even heart attacks among members of the audience. These physical reactions were…

Even if you’ve never been to Los Angeles, you’ve no doubt seen the Hollywood Sign in films and TV shows. Situated on Mount Lee in the Santa Monica Mountains, the sign has become a symbol not only of the Hollywood industry but also of the hopes and dreams of millions, including those who arrive in LA every year hoping to become the next big movie star. AN ADVERTISEMENT A star in its own right, the sign was originally erected in 1923, as an advertisement for a local property development1, and spelt out2 the name of the development: “Hollywoodland”. Then, in 1945, the sign was donated to the City of Los Angeles, and four years later, its last four letters were removed3. SAVE THE SIGN For decades, the sign survived earthquakes4…

CINEMA Known in Italy as “Il Commendatore” (the Knight1 Commander), Enzo Ferrari is one of the most outstanding2 characters of recent Italian history. Born in the Italian city of Modena in 1898, he was a motor racing driver and entrepreneur. Joining the racing department of Alfa Romeo as a driver, Ferrari won a motor race for the first time in 1923. After the birth of his first son, he went on to focus on working on race cars and teams for Alfa Romeo, to then become the entrepreneur behind one of the most successful, alluring3 and well-known motor racing teams in history. THE MAN AND THE MACHINE In 1929 he founded what would go on to become the most successful Formula 1 motor racing team ever, the Scuderia Ferrari, which…

There, the turkey’s stuffed and ready! How long will it take to cook?. It’s a 12-pound bird, so about three hours. The oven1’s pre-heated. Will you pop it in? Sure. What’s next? Should I put the potatoes in for roasting? Not for another2 couple of hours. They’ll go in with the parsnips3 and carrots4. OK, I’ll prepare the Brussels sprouts5. When do we make the gravy? When the turkey is done. We need the juices. I’m using readymade6 cranberry7 sauce, so we’re pretty much done for now! What about dessert? Oh, Auntie May is bringing her traditional fruitcake! Oof, it’s always so heavy… She spends hours making it. Just pretend8 to like it, like the rest of us. I know, I know. Well, I guess we can take a break. How…

PEOPLEEXERCISES IN Work It Out! The life of American-Greek soprano Maria Callas, called “La Divina” by her legions of fans, reads like the plot1 of an opera. She was born Maria Anna Cecilia Sofia Kalogeropulu in New York on 2 December 1923, the daughter of Greek immigrants to the US. As a teenager, she returned to Athens, her voice already noted as unusual in its sound, versatility and expressive qualities. BEL CANTO Driven2 by unwavering3 commitment4, Callas’s career developed in Greece and then in Italy, where she performed in prestigious venues5 such as La Scala in Milan, rising to become prima donna, the leading woman in an opera. She is credited with reviving interest in the 19th-century bel canto operas of Vincenzo Bellini (Norma), Gaetano Donizetti (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Gioachino…

Nathaniel Hawthorne, a contemporary of Edgar Allan Poe, was an American novelist and short story writer in the dark romantic tradition. Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804, his ancestors had been influential members of the Puritan movement. Hawthorne used his family history to explore themes of morality, guilt1 and sin2 in his fiction. He’d achieved3 critical acclaim, but little financial success, until the publication of The Scarlet Letter. PRISON The novel explores the self-destructive power of love, and the judgement of others. The book is set in 17th-century Boston in a Puritan community into which young Hester Prynne is released4 from prison to begin a new life. First, however, she must stand in the marketplace and face the townsfolk5. In her arms she holds a small child, and the letter…

Have you ever wondered1 where ‘OK’, the most widely used2 word in the world, comes from? Many origins have been suggested, for example the Louisiana French ‘au quai’, meaning ‘to the dock3’, said of cotton that had been approved for loading4 on a ship, or the German ‘alles korrekt’, ‘all accurate5’, or even the Greek ‘olla kalla’, ‘all good’. Some argue that it evolved from ‘okeh’, a Choctaw affirmative expression in the native American tribe language. There are also theories that it was derived from the Scottish expression ‘och aye’, denoting approval. MISSPELLING However, in the 1960s American linguist Allen Walker Read, an English professor at Columbia University, uncovered OK’s true origins: the expression is literally a joke dating back to 1839, when the abbreviation “o.k.” first appeared in print…

One of the best-selling singles of all time, Believe by the singer Cherilyn Sarkisian, better known as Cher, was a marked departure1 from her usual style. Written eight years earlier, the original songwriter, Brian Higgins, was not happy with the first demo2 and enlisted3 a further4 three writers to hone5 the song. When Cher’s record company heard it, they decided its theme of defiance6 in the face of heartbreak was perfect for her, but insisted on adding two more writers! A London-based production team was hired to make a dance record that would please7 long-time Cher fans. Although the entire team (apart from the singer) was male, the song is an expression of female empowerment. The lyrics of the song are in the present simple. The narrator has been left…

Gabrielle Chanel was born into poverty in the Loire Valley in central France in 1883. She grew up in an orphanage, where she was taught to sew1, iron2 and embroider3. As a young adult she worked as a shop assistant and a café singer, where she was called Coco by soldiers in the audience. There she met wealthy men, including an Englishman called Arthur Capel. Chanel made her own hats, and Capel helped her open a millinery4 in Paris. WHAT’S IN A NAME In 1913 Chanel opened her first boutique in the French seaside resort of Deauville. She sold hats and simple sportswear for women, such as jersey sweaters. This poor girl look attracted the attention of wealthy women who wanted relief5 from the corseted styles of the time. Chanel’s…

PLACES Asixteen-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage in connection with the felling1 of the three-hundredyear-old Sycamore Gap tree in the north of England. Officers arrested the teenager amid an outpouring2 of sadness over the destruction of the landmark3, which has been a feature4 of the site at Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland for hundreds of years. The boy is in custody and assisting officers with their inquiries5, Northumbria police said on Thursday. Locals and national park authorities said they were “struggling to see the logic” in the destruction of a sycamore which had long become “part of this area’s DNA” and had gone through thousands of changes of seasons. The tree, believed to have been about three hundred years old, was made famous when it appeared…

Best-selling British author Ken Follett has just published The Armour of Light, the fifth and possibly the last in his series of novels known as the Kingsbridge series. The series began in 1989 with The Pillars of the Earth and spans1around one thousand years of British history. Each novel is centred on the fictional town of Kingsbridge in a different time period and features2characters from different generations. Themes of architecture, power struggles3, and societal change serve as backdrops4to the stories. The series is renowned5for its meticulous historical research and vivid storytelling, revealing the complexities of life during these eras. Follett has written thirty-six books that have sold around 180 million copies worldwide translated into forty languages. For this latest novel, he focuses on the late 18th and early 19th centuries,…

My father-in-law never liked me much, even before I married his only daughter. After the marriage his dislike turned to hatred, which increased over time. Nothing I could do was right for him or could ever make me good enough for his daughter, his adored Rose. At every family dinner he would tell long anecdotes about what a wonderful husband he himself had been to Rose’s mother; how he’d treated her like a queen and ferried1her to and from the hospital every day during her last illness. Rose’s mother gazed2mournfully3down from photographs hung4on every wall and placed on every shelf in the house. He was present in all of them, his arm protectively even controllingly hooked5around his wife’s shoulders. The wardrobe was still full of his wife’s clothes. Her hairbrush6still…

The proverb “A rolling stone gathers no moss” refers to a person who does not settle in one place and will not accumulate wealth or status or responsibilities. It is attributed to Publilius Syrus, a Latin mime artist who was born in Syria around 85 BC, and freed from slavery in Italy because of his wit. The proverb came into colloquial English in medieval times. In 1611 Randle Cotgrave defines the French word ‘rodeur’ as a ‘vagabond’, who is unreliable and unproductive. In the 16th century the idiom was included in A Dialogue of Wit and Folly by John Heywood, an English dramatist important in the development of English comedy. Employed by Henry VIII, Heywood was forced to leave England when Elizabeth I came to the throne because he was…