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a r n e t
p e te S 2 g g O B n
Introduction 4
Timeline 5
Chronological chapters
C ivilizing the barbarians: The Romans in Britain 6
1066 and all that: The N orm an C onquest 12
M ajesty and m arriages: King H enry VIII 18
4 Good Queen Bess: Elizabeth I 24
5 R oundheads and Cavaliers: The English Civil W ar 30
6 Fire and plague: Sam uel Pepys' London 36
7 The longest reign: The V icto rians 42
8 A long w a y fro m Tipperary: The First W orld W ar 48
9 Britain can take it: The Blitz 54
10 From the cradle to the grave: The w e lfa re state 60
11 C ultural re vo lu tio n : The s w in g in g sixties 66
12 The Iron Lady: M argaret Thatcher 72
Thematic chapters
13 From barons to b a llo t box: The long road to dem ocracy 78
14 The Bard o f Avon: W illia m Shakespeare 84
15 The sun never set: The B ritish Em pire 90
16 A special relationship? B ritain and the USA 96
17 A fu n n y old gam e: Cricket 102
18 Seen and not heard: British ch ild h o o d 108
19 A u ld enem ies: England and Scotland 114
20 That cloud in the West: Ireland 120
21 A safe haven? Im m ig ra tio n to Britain 126
22 An e nd uring obsession: Social class in Britain 132
Glossary 138
Index 142
This book is based on the idea that learning about a country's history is a wonderful way to learn its language. English
was born in Britain, and has both shaped and reflected British history over many centuries. History and language are
intimately bound together. You cannot truly understand one without knowing something about the other.
History is traditionally narrated in the past simple tense of our title, but its richness and variety mean that all sorts
of other language and structures are used, too: idioms and conditionals, for example, as well as the full range of
perfect and continuous tenses. All of these (and more) appear and are explored in the book.
Past Simple consists of 22 chapters on selected aspects of British history, 12 of them on key episodes or periods
such as the Elizabethan Age or First World War, the other 10 on some of the big themes (imperialism, the growth
of democracy) that run through the story of these islands. Each chapter is based around a central reading text,
which is followed by comprehension and critical thinking exercises, additional primary source material and a
focus on relevant language points. Plenty of opportunity is also given for skills work - speaking and writing as
well as reading - and there are follow-up research tasks to be done on the Internet and in libraries.
Within this regular structure, the texts themselves are presented in different ways - as conventional factual
accounts, as magazine-type articles, and in the style of webpages - to ensure a varied diet for the learner.
Our aim has been to create a book on British history for learners of English, and not in any sense a definitive
History of Britain. We have included the material that we consider most interesting and useful for learners of
English to know, keeping the needs of would-be British citizens in mind. The book can be dipped into at will -
and the timeline should help anyone doing so to keep their bearings - but the largely chronological arrangement
means that learners can acquire an overall sense of the development of British history by starting at the beginning
and working through to the end. That way they will also cover most of the main English language areas studied at
intermediate level and above.
People learn best when they are engaged by the subject matter. Past Simple delivers English through the culturally vital
medium of British history, which offers so much stimulating material that the hard part for us was choosing what to
leave out. In our view, history's great advantage as a language-learning topic is that it is just so much more interesting
than the typical subject matter you find in most English language textbooks. Our message to anyone using this book is:
enjoy and learn.
This timeline is selective, focusing on the key events and reigns covered in Past Simple.
We suggest you build on it and create your own, more extensive timeline of British history.
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read —think and discuss
The Roman Conquest was the firs t m a jo r invasion o f the
British Isles. Britain at th a t tim e was not a unified country.
It w as populated by a co lle ctio n of trib e s know n as the Celts.
■ Who were the original inhabitants of your country?
■ Does your country today have any connection with its
ancient inhabitants?
■ Did the Romans ever rule your country?
■ What, if anything, do you know about the Romans and the Celts
in ancient Britain?
10 came nearly a century later. The Emperor Claudius decided of which contained garden-courtyards, mosaics, wall
to invade in AD 43 because he was the new Emperor of paintings and Mediterranean statues.
Rome and needed to prove he was a strong ruler. In order Many of the native tribes in Britannia - including the
to be sure of defeating the Celts, Claudius landed with Iceni, the Brigantes and the Atrebates - were initially given
50,000 men at the site of modern-day Richborough in Kent. semi-independence by the Romans. In AD 60, the king of
The Roman occupation of ‘Britannia’ (most of modern-day the Iceni died, and the Romans decided to remove this
England and Wales) was to last from AD 43-410. independence. They seized property and raped his
Glossary
rebellion an attempt to remove a leader/government by force
barbarian a person who did not belong to oneof the major civilizations of Greece,
Rome or Christianity and was therefore thought to be uncivilized
splendours magnificent features
indigenous native, belonging to a region
C Check your facts! D W hat do you think?
Label pictures 1-6 w ith w o rd s fro m the box. Use a d ictio n a ry if necessary.
B Research
Search for: 'H adrian's W a ll' 'P iets' 'N in th Legion o f R om e' 'A ll roads lead to R om e'
'R om e w a sn 't b u ilt in a day' 'W hen in Rome, do as the Romans d o '
C Write
W rite a sh o rt essay discussing the state m en t below . Include argum ents fo r and against, and
say w h e th e r you agree or not. (250 w o rds)
‘It is better for a country to have good roads, public order, central
heating and hot baths than to be free.’
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France in boats that his soldiers had made with scene in the tapestry which shows a Saxon noble 60
20 their own hands. When they arrived on the Sussex being wounded in this way. This huge visual narrative
coast there was no one to resist the invading force. was the work of Norman women, possibly for the
But as William walked up the beach, he tripped and Conqueror's half-brother 0do, who can be seen in the
fell on his face in front of his troops. Turning this tapestry playing an important role in the battle.
embarrassment to a show of confidence, he rose
W illiam crowned
with his hands full of sand and shouted, 'I now take
Two months later, on Christmas Day 1066, William
hold of the land of England!' Everyone cheered.
was crowned King of England in Westminster
The battle Abbey. Three years after that, he had imposed
William arrived unopposed because Harold's army his rule over most of England and Wales. He built
was distracted by the Viking invasion of the north of huge, impregnable stone castles like the Tower of
England. After defeating the Vikings in Yorkshire, they London and then terrorized the inhabitants of the 70
30 had to march 250 miles south in only twelve days. Not surrounding countryside into obedience.
surprisingly, they were exhausted by the time they
Domesday Book
reached the south coast. To make matters worse, the
William wanted to raise taxes from the inhabitants
Battle of Hastings lasted all day, which was unusual at
of his new kingdom and did not want anyone to
this time when most battles were over within an hour.
avoid paying them. He knew that knowledge is
The two armies had between 7,000 and 8,000 men power, so he sent his men to conduct the first
each, but William's army included cavalry. A lack of doorstep survey in history. They went to every
archers made the English hesitant. Late in the village in England and wrote down exactly who
battle, a mixture of genuine and mock retreats by owned what and how much. The findings were
William's army drew the English forces down from written up in a huge book known as the Domesday
40 their defensive position on the ridge - where the Book (1086). According to the Treasurer of England, so
town of Battle now stands. Then, according to the it was given this name because 'it is not permissible
Bayeux Tapestry, King Harold was hit in the eye by to contradict its decisions, any more than it will be
an arrow before falling to the ground. It is believed those of the Last Judgement' (dome or doom was
that he was finished off by a Norman horseman, the old English word for judgement). Remarkably,
some say by William himself. The Normans then the Domesday Book was used to settle a dispute as
poured through the English ranks and routed them. recently as 1982.
The Norman victory at Hastings was decisive, despite New English aristocracy
approximately 2,000 Normans being killed and The ruling class of England, and much of the rest of
wounded in the battle. Saxon casualties, including Britain, was recreated by the Norman Conquest. Many
50 Harold's two brothers, were greater still. But more current-day British aristocrats can trace their ancestry
importantly, Edgar the Atheling,the only surviving back to the Conqueror's men; the words noble, gentle 90
male member of Edward the Confessor's family, failed and aristocrat themselves come from the French.
in his attempts to organize further resistance.
Death of William
The Bayeux Tapestry William died after a riding accident in September 1087.
While some facts are known, most of what actually Some reports from that time suggest that on his death
happened in the battle is unclear. There are, however, bed he was seized by guilt at the way he had taken the
some records that we can use. The most famous is the crown from Harold. Three of his sons survived him, but
Bayeux Tapestry, which is both an artistic masterpiece he refused to appoint an heir: 'Having made my way to
and a crucial historical source. The belief that Harold the throne of that kingdom by so many crimes, I dare
was hit in the eye with an arrow stems from a famous not leave it to anyone but God alone.'
V
C Check your facts! D W hat do you think?
Glossary
succeeds takes over from (as king)
sworn an oath spoken a promise before God
cavalry soldiers on horses
archers soldiers with bows and arrows
routed completely defeated
impregnable cannot be taken
1 N o w see if you can m atch these eye id io m s to th e ir m eanings w ith o u t using the d ictionary:
to see eye to eye to w a tch over
to catch the eye to ig nore so m e th in g bad or w ro n g
to tu rn a blind eye to to agree w ith
to keep an eye on to hide the tru th fro m som eone
not to bat an eyelid to a ttract a tte ntion
to pull the w o o l over to s h o w no sign o f stress or e m otion
som eone's eyes
2 Check y o u r answ ers in the d ictionary, then try to put the id io m s in the sentences below ,
using the corre ct fo rm .
2 Which spellings do you think are easier to remember, old or new? Why?
p ig
sheep
c a lf
deer
B Research
Search for: 'h isto rica l re-enactm ent' + 'B attle o f H astings' / 'W illia m the C onque ror' +
'ro u te to L on don' / 'D om esday Book' + 'legal d isp u te ' + '1982'
Use the Internet and /or a lib ra ry to answ er the fo llo w in g questions.
a) W ho re-enacts historical battles, and p a rticu la rly the Battle o f Hastings? Are the
re-enactm ents realistic? W hat do you th in k m otivates people to do this?
b) Trace the route W illia m and his tro o p s to o k to London after the Battle o f Hastings.
Did th e y face any serious resistance along the way?
c) Find out m ore about the legal dispute that was settled using the Domesday Book in 1982.
W hy did it need to be used? Could it still be used to settle disputes in English law?
C Write
1066 is one o f the m ost fa m o us dates in English history. W rite about a fa m o u s date in the
h is to ry o f y o u r country, saying w h y it is im p o rta n t and w h e th e r you th in k it is rem em bered
in the rig h t way. (250 w ords)
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read —think and discuss
W hen Henry VIII w as youn g, the people idolized him ;
as he g o t older, th e y becam e te rrifie d o f him .
■ Has y o u r co u n try ever been ruled by a tyrant?
■ Do ty ra n ts achieve som e good th in g s, or o n ly bad things?
■ W hat is the character o f a ty ra n t like? Is it ve ry d iffe re n t
fro m an o rd in a ry person's character?
■ W hat, if a n ything, do you know abo ut Henry VIII?
Glossary
ruthless hard and cruel
prowess skill, ability
unleashed released
adultery having sex with someone other than your marriage partner
tyranny cruel and oppressive rule
haemorrhoids swollen veins in the bottom
squandered wasted
C Check your facts! D W hat do you think?
1 'H enry VIII was a cruel m o n ste r because 1 Henry is described in the te x t as paranoid.
he lacked c u ltu re / True or false? This means:
a) he had breathing d ifficu ltie s.
2 T h e you n g H enry was goo d at sports b) he co u ld n 't w a lk and had to be pushed
but n o t ve ry b rig h t/ True or false? around in a cart.
c) he w as suspicious and m istru stfu l
3 W ho w as the fath er o f A nne Boleyn's baby? o f others.
a) M artin Luther d) he w as a dee ply re lig io u s man.
b) Henry VIII
c) Henry's brother, A rth u r 2 Do you th in k H enry believed in God? Find
reasons to s u p p o rt y o u r answ er in the text.
4 W hen did England o ffic ia lly cease to
be a C atholic country? 3 H enry 'ate vast am oun ts o f m eat' and
'd ra n k im m ense q u a ntities o f alco h o l'.
This means:
a) he drank m ore than he ate.
b) he ate m ore than he drank.
c) he ate and drank quite a lot.
d) he ate and drank an a w fu l lot.
■
1 5 4 7 ---------------- H en ry d ie y
B Judging by appearances
W hen Henry w as looking fo r a fo u rth w ife , he sent the
artist Hans H olbein to paint a p o rtra it o f A nne o f Cleves. Portrait of Henry
Henry was charm ed by the fla tte rin g p o rtra it and decided
to m a rry her. However, w hen Henry a ctually m et A nne, he
was appalled by how ug ly she was. He su p p o se d ly com pared
her to a horse, and the m arriage w as soon over.
1 Look at the po rtra its 1-6. Discuss w h ich one you th in k is A nne o f Cleves.
Example:
She is wearing a black dress and a necklace w ith a 'B ' on it. She has dark hair and eyes.
Her figure is slim . She seems frie n dly and fun.
3 Read y o u r descrip tion to y o u r partner. Can he/she guess w h ich p o rtra it you have described?
4 Do you th in k it is possible to ju d g e som eone's p e rso n a lity fro m his/her appearance?
Discuss y o u r ideas.
B Research
1 Search the Internet to read the lyrics and listen to the tune o f Greensleeves.
a) Investigate the re la tio n sh ip betw een the song and Henry's re la tio n sh ip w ith
Anne Boleyn.
b) Investigate claim s th a t Henry w ro te the w o rds. Do you th in k he w ro te them ?
W h y /w h y not?
2 Find o u t w h ich fa m o u s 20th-century
English classical co m pose r w ro te
Fantasia on Greensleeves.
3 Research som e o f the strange rem edies
Henry VIII used to try to cure his ailm ents.
Did any o f them w ork?
4 Go to the o fficial w e bsite o f H am pton Court
Palace. W h y do so m any people get lost there?
5 Six years after the death o f Henry VIII, there
w as a Queen o f England w h o reigned fo r ju st
nine days. Use the Internet to fin d o u t about
her. W hat w as her title? W hy was her reign
C Write
Ju st before Anne had her head cut off, she said to the crow d, 'I pray God save the king and
send him long to reign over you, fo r a g e n tle r nor a m ore m ercifu l prince w as there never:
and to me he w as ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lo rd .' W rite an a lterna tive speech
fo r her, te llin g the tru th about Henry VIII. (200 w o rds)
f l
Good Queen Bess:
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read - think and discuss
Elizabeth I w as one o f England's greatest queens, w h o w on
a fa m o u s v ic to ry against the p o w e rfu l Spanish A rm ada.
m W hat great battles have there been in y o u r coun try's history?
■ Has a w o m a n ever led y o u r co u n try in a tim e o f war?
■ W hat, if anything, do you know abo ut Elizabethan England?
ELIZABETH I
1547: father Henry VIII dies
1554: Elizabeth is imprisoned in the
Tower of London
17th November 1558: Elizabeth
‘I kn ow I have the b o d y o f a weak becomes Queen of England
and feeble wom an, bu t I have 1587: Mary Queen of Scots,
the heart and stom ach o f a king, Elizabeth’s cousin, is executed for
plotting against her
and a k in g o f England too.’ July 1588: Spanish Armada is defeated
Q u e e n E lizabeth I to h e r troops at T ilbury, 24th March 1603: Elizabeth dies
before th e arrival o f th e Spanish A rm ad a
B irth o f a daughter became Queen Mary I. Queen Mary imprisoned Elizabeth in
There was just one problem with the birth of the child who the Tower of London, and tried to collect evidence to show
would later become Queen Elizabeth I - she was supposed that Elizabeth was plotting against her.
to be a boy. The pre-written court letters announcing the Elizab eth becom es Q ueen
birth had to be quickly changed. The word prince became Not only did Elizabeth survive these threats but she became
princes (the Elizabethan spelling of princess) with the queen herself when Mary died. Mary had no heir, so Elizabeth
addition of a letter 's'. This unwelcome surprise would cost became the third of Henry's children to sit on the throne in 11 20
the child's mother, Anne Boleyn, her life (see Chapter 3). It years. Elizabeth remained queen for 45 years, and became the
nearly proved fatal for Elizabeth herself. most idolized of all British monarchs. Today, she is still
T hreats to the young Elizab eth celebrated as one of England's finest monarchs, who
Elizabeth was the daughter of a demonized mother, so it is successfully fought off England's enemies while ruling over a
10 remarkable that she managed to survive the reign of Henry period of extraordinary cultural flowering.
VIII. When Henry died, Elizabeth was in even more danger. H er fath er’s daughter?
Her Protestant half-brother became King Edward VI and Elizabeth was very like her father in many ways. She looked
declared that she was illegitimate, with no right to be like Henry, with her father's hair and skin colour, nose and
queen. After his death, Elizabeth's Catholic half-sister lips. She had much of Henry's character, too - his
Glossary
demonized described as evil
illegitimate child born of parents not lawfully married to each other
charisma charm, star quality
ousted removed (from a position of power)
house arrest imprisonment in your own home
Armada (historical) armed Spanish fleet
beacon warning/signal
C Check your facts! D W hat do you think?
1 'A nne Boleyn died g iv in g b irth to 1 W h a t does the added 's ' in the p re -w ritte n
Elizabeth I / True or false? co u rt letters te ll us m ore about: English
sp e lling or a ttitu des to w a rd s w o m e n in
2 W hich one o f these w as not Henry V lll's Elizabeth's day? Explain y o u r answer.
child?
a) Elizabeth 2 The te x t says th a t Elizabeth 'avo ide d
b) Robert extrem es - in re ligio n, in p o litics and
c) M ary (usually) in p u n ish m e n t'. W h y do you th in k
d) Edward the w o rd usually is inserted before
punishm ent ? Is there a n yth in g in the te x t
3 Is Elizabeth considered the fin e st m onarch th a t helps to explain this?
to rule Britain?
3 W rite y o u r ow n in te rp re ta tio n o f Elizabeth's
4 'E lizabeth's p e rso n a lity w as ju s t like th a t phrase, 'I w o u ld not open w in d o w s into
o f her fa th e r/ True or false? m en's souls'.
S tudy the picture, painted not long after Elizabeth's v ic to ry over the A rm ada.
Id e n tify item s a)-e).
a) the defeated A rm ada
b) th e triu m p h a n t B ritish fle e t
c) a sym b o l o f Elizabeth's p u rity (clue: she is w e aring these)
d) a sym b o l fo r the N ew W orld
e) a sym b o l o f Elizabeth's im perial rule
B A mysterious object
1 Read the passage b e lo w ab o u t a legend relating
S ir Francis Drake. He is one o f the heroes o f the
Elizabethan age, fa m o u s fo r being the firs t
E nglishm an to sail round the w o rld .
Several times throughout history, people have claimed to have heard the --------------------
beating, including: when the Mayflower left Plymouth for America in 1620, when Admiral
Lord Nelson was made a freeman of Plymouth, when Napoleon was brought into
Plymouth Harbour as a prisoner, and when World War I began in 1914.
Reportedly, on HMS Royal Oak, a victory _____________ roll was heard when the
German navy surrendered in 1918. The ship was then searched twice by the officers and
then again by the captain and neither a _____________ nor a _____________ mer were
found on board and eventually the phenomenon was put down to the legendary
In 1938, when Buckland Abbey was partly destroyed by fire, the _____________ was
rescued and taken to safety. Plymouth was devastated in the air raids that followed,
reminding some of the ancient legend that “If Drake’s _____________ should be moved
from its rightful home, the city will fall.” The _____________ was returned and the city
remained safe for the rest of the war.
B Research
Search for: 'H atfie ld House' 'W a lte r R aleigh' + 'cape' + 'to b a cco '
'e xe cu tio n o f M ary Queen o f Scots'
c Write
W atch a film about Elizabeth I (there are m any
Then w rite a review. Include details about:
a
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read - think and discuss
The English Civil W ar w as a series o f arm ed co n flicts fo u g h t
betw een P arliam entarians and R oyalists w h ich played a key
role in the d e ve lo p m e n t o f p a rlia m e n ta ry dem ocracy.
I What major battles have there been in your country?
■ W hy/how were the battles won?
i Who were the leading figures involved on either side?
■ What, if anything, do you know about the English Civil War?
Glossary
absolutism power without limits
omens signs
stubble what’s left in the fields after crops have been cut
Puritan extreme Protestant, believing that the Bible is the literal word of God
and that man’s destiny is fixed
hymns religious songs
sermons religious lectures
treason betrayal of the country
C Check your facts! W hat do you think?
7 W hy w as the capture o f the King's private 'C harles w as actually m ore re v o lu tio n a ry
letters so significant? than C rom w e ll because he refused to let
P arliam ent sit and acted as an absolute
8 H ow m any English kings have had th e ir ruler.' Do you agree w ith th is statem ent?
heads chopped off? Explain y o u r answer.
2 Which of the following best describes the boy’s attitude? Discuss your ideas.
a) frightened and confused
b) proud and brave
c) jokey and relaxed
d) he thinks it’s all a big game
3 Read the descriptions below and find the people in the painting.
a) This man is leaning forward with his chin resting on his hands and seems almost sympathetic
towards the boy.
b) This man is a clerk, writing down everything that is said. His presence makes the scene seem
more official and like a court case.
c) This girl is dressed in Royalist clothing so we can assume that she is the boy’s sister. She is
crying, probably because she is afraid of what the soldiers might do to her family. It may also
be her turn next to be questioned.
4 Find two more people in the painting and write descriptions of them. Read them to your partner.
Can he/she find the people?
1 Do people give th e ir children religio us nam es today? Think o f som e exam ples.
2 W h a t w o rd s characterize y o u r classm ates? B rainstorm som e alterna tive nam es fo r each
other. Then discuss w h e th e r you w o u ld give y o u r child a 'u n iq u e ' nam e like this.
C Wrong but Wromantic versus Right and Repulsive
W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatm an w ere tw o English schoolteachers. In the 1930s, th e y w ro te a
b rie f h isto ry of England called 1066 and All That. This h u m o ro u s book was a light-hearted
re w o rkin g o f the h isto ry o f England, and the authors cam e up w ith som e alterna tive accounts
o f the key events in English history. W ritin g on th e Civil War, th e y stated th a t it w as a strug gle
betw een the Cavaliers, w h o w ere 'W ro n g but W ro m a n tic ', and the Roundheads, w h o w ere
'R ig h t and R epulsive'. Read th e ir account o f the outbreak o f the C ivil W ar below .
Charles I was a Cavalier King and therefore had a small pointed beard, long
flowing curls, a large, flat, flowing hat, and gay attire. The Roundheads, on the
other hand, were clean-shaven and wore tall, conical hats, white ties, and sombre
garments. Under these circumstances a Civil War was inevitable.
B Research
Search for: 'E nglish Civil W ar S o ciety' + 'B ill Bailey re-enactm ent' 'w a rts and a ll' +
'C ro m w e ll' 'C ro m w e ll' + 'C h ristm a s' 'H u m p ty D u m p ty' + 'C ivil W ar'
C Write
'On w h ose side w o u ld you have fo u g h t in the Battle o f M arston M oor?'
A n sw e r th is question, g ivin g y o u r reasons. (250 w ords)
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read - think and discuss
Sam uel Pepys is one o f the m ost fa m o u s w rite rs in the
English language, even th o u g h he never intended his w o rk
fo r pu b lica tio n . His Diary te lls o f tw o o f the m ost te rrib le
disasters in the h isto ry o f London.
■ W hat sort o f th in g s do people put in th e ir diary?
E Do people w rite d iffe re n tly if they th in k no one w ill read it?
■ W h y do you suppose Sam uel Pepys' Diary is so fam ous?
K Pepys lived th ro u g h the Great Plague and the Great Fire
o f London. W hat effect do you th in k th is had on his w ritin g ?
_n x
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more human. His Diary reflects his fascination with fascination. Houses where the plague had struck
the way people behave: their greed, ambitions, were closed up and a red cross painted on the door
jealousies and scandals. with the inscription 'Lord have mercy on us'. At
night, carts rumbled through the deserted streets,
A personal account
gathering up the dead and dumping them into pits
20 Pepys never intended to publish his diary and because
for common burial. One of Pepys' diary entries in
of this he reveals the most embarrassing details of his
late August 1665 begins on this haunting note: 'But
life - being set upon by a small dog, being spotted with a
now, how fe w people I see, and those walking like
mistress, being terrified by a pillow and falling into a
people that have taken leave of the w orld.'
ditch. He always speaks his mind: the food at a friend's
house 'stunk like the devil'; Shakespeare's A Midsummer The Great Fire of London
Night's Dream is 'the m ost... ridiculous play I ever saw Life in the City was just about returning to normal eo
in my life'. He also presents a truthful picture of himself, when the Great Fire broke out. Pepys described the
including his cruel treatment of his long-suffering wife 'poor people staying in their houses ... till the very
Elizabeth. He even describes an agonizing operation to fire touched them.' As darkness fell, he saw the fire
30 remove a bladder stone, which he characteristically spread 'in corners and upon steeples, and between
kept in a special case to show off to friends. churches and houses ... in a most horrid, malicious,
bloody flame.' This resulted in the dreadful noise of
Humble origins
'the cracking of houses at their ruin.' King Charles II
Pepys' father was a tailor; his mother had been a
personally supervised the blowing up of buildings to
domestic servant. From these humble origins, Pepys
make a fire break. Little could be done, however, until
rose rapidly in the world. He was, in his own words,
the wind dropped and the fire burned itself out. By 70
'a very rising man'. This owed a great deal to some
that time the old City of London had been destroyed,
helpful connections. It was a time of great naval
and the great church of St Paul was a hollow shell.
expansion, and his cousin Sir Edward Montagu got
him a job in the Navy Office. He started as Clerk of The final years
the King's Ships and ended up running the Pepys stopped writing his diary only three years
40 Admiralty. Unusually for the era, he worked hard after the Great Fire because he feared he was losing
and opposed corruption. He was also an MP and his eyesight. He did so with a heavy heart. It was, he
President of the Royal Society, as w ell as a man wrote, 'almost as much to see myself into my grave.'
about town and a figure in royal circles. But his eyes recovered and his professional career
flourished. Pepys said that the era of the reign of
Living through the plague
Charles II (1660-85) began w ith 'a clap of laughter',
Pepys was living and working in London when the
and when we read his Diary we can see w hat he so
plague began in May 1665. The disease spread with
meant. It reveals him as a charmingly honest though
frightening speed in the narrow, smelly streets and
deeply flawed man. Reading his diary today is like
rat-infested slums of London. In the summer heat,
having an energetic and amusing companion who
thousands of people died every month, and all who
brings a distant and sometimes grim age to life.
could afford to fled from the city. But Pepys stayed
Glossary
Restoration England England in the reign of Charles II, after Cromwells death
household name a very well-known person (or thing)
chronicled recorded, told the story
characteristically in a way that is typical
Admiralty government department responsible for the Navy
deeply flawed having big weaknesses, imperfect
C Check your facts! D W hat do you think?
1 H ow m any years after Pepys started his 1 The 'm a g ic d o o rw a y o f Sam uel Pepys'
d ia ry w as it published? Diary' refers to:
a) a p o p u la r d o o rw a y in 17th-century
2 W hich o f the fo llo w in g w o u ld you not fin d London.
in Pepys' Diary? b) a secret d o o rw a y in Pepys' house.
a) an account o f the Great Plague c) an enchanted doorw ay.
b) b rillia n t theatre criticism d) a d o o rw a y o f the im a g in a tio n .
c) em barrassing details o f his life
d) an account o f the Great Fire o f London 2 W h y w as B ritish naval expansion
im p o rta n t to Pepys' life?
3 'Pepys w as ve ry private and revealed no
details o f his life in his Diary.' True o r false? 3 W h y do you th in k the London p o o r stayed
in th e ir houses?
4 Pepys w as never:
a) an MR 4 W h y did Charles II w a n t to b lo w up
b) an A d m ira l. b u ild in g s d u rin g the G reat Fire?
c) President o f the Royal Society. a) To stop the fire fro m spreading.
d) Clerk o f the King's Ships. b) To silence the dreadful cracking noise.
c) To give fire -fig h te rs a break.
5 W hat w e re the tw o m ain reasons fo r the d) To clear the w a y fo r a new London.
streets being so e m p ty d u rin g the plague?
5 W hat exactly do you think Pepys m eant when
6 T h e G reat Fire broke o u t w h en the plague he said, 'M y m in d is w ith child to see any
w as at its w o rs t.' True o r false? strange th in g '? W rite it in y o u r ow n w o rds.
For generations, British children have sung a sw eet song w h ich involve s them h o lding hands
in a ring and all fa llin g dow n at the end. But despite its in nocen t-sound ing w o rd s and childish
tune, m any people believe 'R ing a ring o f roses' is actually about the Great Plague.
1 The w o rd s o f the song are in the left-hand co lu m n below . W ork w ith a p artner to m atch
each line to one o f the fo u r beliefs a bo ut the plague in the right-hand colum n .
? Je/rtem ber W V *
Jane /2% />j/j m aid.fjc a lle d uJ ti/> abozct th ree i/p th e m orniny, to t e l l uJ f a y r e a ttir e
th ey Jaw in, the £ ity . J o 7 ro je a n d Jli/>/>ed <rn *ny niyhtyown^ a n d w en t to her w in dow
... b u t ... J tk o ity k t i t f a r enouyh f f i a n d Jo /ven t to bed ayain a n d to jleep . iZbout
Seven / Z VroJe a yain to d r e jj tn y je f , a n d th ere /o o k ed or/t a t the w indow , a n d Jaw th e
^ ir e n o t Jo /ouch aJ i t waJ a n d fir th e r f f . ... /^ThenJJane-cotnej a n d te llj srte th a t
jh e hearJ th a t above J00 h ou jej ka&e been burned dow n to -n iy k t by th e f i r e we Jaw,
a n d th a t i t i j new burning dow n a l l F ijh -jtreet, by Z on don TJrldye.
Jo 7 m ade t r y j e f rea d y ... a n d w a lk ed to th e ?fower> a n d th e re y o t n/> upon o/pe f t he
h iyh p/aceJ ... a n d th ere 7 d id Jee th e h ou jej a t th a t en d f t h e bridye a l l on fire* a n d
an i/f in ite y r e a t f i r e on th ij a n d th e other jid e th e en d f t h e bridye ... Jo down*
w ith sriy h e a r tf c ll f tr o i/b le t to th e Z ieu ten a n t f t h e T'ower. w h o te llj trte th a t i t
bey an th ij m orn in y in th e J& nyJ baker J houje in Ihddiny-/an>e> a n d th a t i t hath
burned Jit. JffaynuJJ ^hur^ch a n d m oJt p a r t f FLfh-Jtreet already.
B Research
Search for: h ttp ://w w w .p e p y s d ia ry .c o m /+ 'FAQs' 'P epys' Diary' + 'p u b lic a tio n '
'th e M o n u m e n t' + 'L o n d o n '
1 Find out about the site http ://w w w .pepysdiary.co m / and read a fu ll day's e n try fro m
Pepys' Diary.
a) H ow does the site choose w h ich e n try to put up each day?
b) W hy do the entries change at 11 p.m . (UK tim e ) each night?
c) W hat was the m ost interesting thing that happened in Pepys' w o rld on the day you looked?
2 Find o ut about the discovery o f Pepys' Diary.
a) W here w as the code to Pepys' diaries fo u n d - w here, w hen and how?
b) W ho decoded it and h o w long did it take?
c) W here is it kept today?
3 Find o u t about the M o n u m e n t in London.
a) W here exactly is it?
b) W hich tube station is it nearest?
c) W hen and w h y was it built?
d) Can you v is it it today?
C Write
Keep a d ia ry in English fo r a week. W rite about w h a te ve r you like, but try to relate it to w h a t
has happened th a t day. You can be as personal and honest as you w ish (like Pepys), but d o n 't
fo rg e t th a t y o u r teacher is going to read it! End the entry fo r each day w ith th e w o rd s 'A nd so
to bed', as Pepys som etim es did.
f l
L O r jG e S T
Section 1: Reading
Before you read - think and discuss
B ritain's p o w e r was at its h eight d u rin g the V ictorian
age, w hen Queen V ictoria reigned. However, the
era is also associated w ith negative th in g s like
te rrib le fa c to ry co n d itio n s and cruel tre a tm e n t
o f children.
Lytton Strachey (British writer and biographer o f Queen Victoria) industrial society, producing vast quantities of coal, iron, steel,
ships and textiles. The free-trade policies of successive
governments boosted Britain’s dominance of world trade. Well
f the 20th century was the American century, the 19th over half of the world’s goods were transported on British
Glossary
sewerage drains for toilet waste
slums very overcrowded and bad housing occupied by poor people
potent strongest and hardest
personified represented by a person
prudish shocked by sexual things
mourn be sad because something/someone no longer exists
mmmmmmmmm
1 'B ritish to w n s now look c o m p le te ly V ictorian B ritain was the 'w o rk s h o p o f the
d iffe re n t fro m how th e y did in the V ictorian w o rld '. This m eant:
era.' True o r false? a) it m ade m ost o f the w o rld 's goods.
b) its w o rkers w e re cheaper than those o f
2 Nam e thre e im p o rta n t B ritish in dustries in oth e r countries.
the V icto rian era. c) m ost o f its people w o rke d in shops.
d) all its people did was w o rk and shop.
3 P opulation m o ve m e n t in V ictorian B ritain
was m ainly: The percentage o f the w o rld 's goods
a) fro m the cou n trysid e to to w n s and cities. carried on British ships was about:
b) betw een d iffe re n t to w n s and cities. a) 45 per cent.
c) fro m to w n s and cities to the coun trysid e. b) 50 per cent.
d) betw een d iffe re n t parts o f the country. c) 60 per cent.
d) 85 per cent.
4 'It w as m ore dangerous to w o rk on the
V ictorian railw ays than to fig h t in the Give tw o reasons w h y Queen V ictoria
N apoleonic W a rs / True or false? preferred D israeli to G ladstone.
5 Nam e the tw o m ost im p o rta n t p o litica l Does the w o rd 'V ic to ria n ' have a m ore
parties o f the V ictorian age. po sitive or negative m eaning in m odern
English, according to the text?
6 Queen V ictoria w o re black afte r 1861:
a) fo r the sake o f m odesty. The phrase 'W e are not am used ' revealed
b) to sh o w th a t she w as not am used. th a t V icto rian Britons:
c) because her beloved husband had died. a) d id n 't e n jo y v is itin g the Crystal Palace.
d) to sh o w th a t she w as m ore o f a private b) w ere rather seriou s-m in ded ab o u t life.
fig u re than a pub lic one. c) had no sense o f h u m o u r at all.
d) w ere alarm ed by the rise o f socialism .
7 W hat w as the Crystal Palace m ade of?
T rx * L O p G tfS T VlCITOIJIFUJS
Section 2: Topic development
Queen Victoria: Fifteen facts and one lie!
1 A ll o f these facts about Queen V ictoria are tru e - except fo r one. Read the facts and discuss
w h ich one is not true. Use the phrases in the box to help you.
I’m fairly sure th a t... is true. It must be true. It can’t be true. It might be true. What a b o u t...?
Why do you think that? If X is true, Y can’t be. I just don’t believe it. I’m not sure a b o u t...
i A yo u n g m an once
trie d to s h o o t her w ith
a gun loaded w ith paper
and tobacco.
She w as made
The firs t tim e she
Em press o f India in
tra ve lle d in a tra in , she
1877.
co m p la in e d it w as to o fast
at 20 m ph (30 kph).
I She becam e know n
as the 'Fam ine Q ueen' and
w as m uch criticized fo r
She d id not like
a llo w in g the Irish to m She w o re black
black funerals. On the
starve. fro m A lb e rt's death
day o f her ow n funeral,
in 1861 un til she
London w as decorated
died in 1901.
in pu rp le and w hite.
3 Search the Internet fo r pictures o f W illia m G ladstone and Benjam in Disraeli. Note dow n
the differences in th e ir physical appearance and dress.
4 Go to YouTube and enter the search te rm s 'O liv e r!' + 'film ' + 'C onsider Y o u rs e lf to enjoy
a sh o w -sto p p in g song fro m a fa m o us m usical based on a Dickens novel. W hich novel
w as the film based on? Then search fo r 'S cro o g e ' to fin d exam ples o f film s , cartoons and
show s based on another Dickens story. W hat is the title o f th is book?
C Write
Queen V ictoria w o re black fo r 40 years. W rite a sh o rt essay about w e aring black.
Include the fo llo w in g :
■ w h o w ears black in y o u r co u n try and w h y
■ the m eaning o f black clothes in y o u r cu ltu re
■ w h e th e r you ever w ear black, w hen and w h y
■ h o w black makes you feel
■ w h e th e r you th in k w e need to change o u r ideas about black
(250 w ords)
The First World War
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read - think and discuss
The First W orld W ar was one o f the greatest
catastrophes ever to happen to Britain. A w h o le
generation w as affected by the co n flict, and Britain
was never as p o w e rfu l or c o n fid e n t again.
B Was y o u r co u n try in volve d in the First W orld W ar in
any way?
1 Has y o u r c o u n try suffered fro m s im ila r
catastrophes? H ow are th e y rem em bered?
K W hat do you th in k is m eant by w o r ld war?
K W hat, if anything, do you know abo ut Britain
and the First W orld War?
t is impossible to understand modern Britain without On 4th August 1914, Britain went to war against Germany
I understanding its part in the First World War. The war ended
at 11 a.m. on 11th November 1918; every year since then,
people in Britain stop what they are doing at the eleventh hour
in defence of Belgium, which Germany had invaded. But the
real purpose of Britain entering the war was to prevent
Germany dominating Europe and threatening the British Empire,
of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, and remain silent with the help of its Austrian and Turkish allies. Everyone
for two minutes. On the second Sunday of each November, expected the war to be short and glorious: the German Kaiser
many British people also gather at war memorials to honour told his troops that they would be home ‘before the leaves fall 20
the war dead. They wear red paper poppies to represent the off the trees’; in Britain, people said ‘it will all be over by
huge numbers of these flowers which grew in the disturbed Christmas’. Their confidence was horribly mistaken. This long,
10 soil of the battlefields. The colour of the poppies also grim war was indeed over by Christmas - but Christmas 1918.
symbolizes the blood of those who died. People still visit the By the time the guns finally fell silent, Britain had suffered huge
war cemeteries in France and Belgium, where the graves of casualties: 750,000 dead and 1.6 million wounded.
those who died in the Great War are lovingly looked after. The vast majority of these casualties were on the Western
losses threatened Britain’s ability to carry on fighting in 1917. the war, the morale of British soldiers remained surprisingly
The British attempted to use their new ‘wonder weapon’, the high. Music and laughter had helped the soldiers cope with the
Glossary
poppies red flowers that often grow wild in fields
notorious famous for something bad
trench warfare when soldiers fight in trenches dug opposite each other,
often for long periods of time and with little progress
sank without trace disappeared downwards, leaving nothing
morale enthusiasm and confidence
C C heck your facts! D W h a t do you think?
1 Is it fa ir to say th a t the First W orld W ar 1 Make a list o f all the w eapons m ention ed in
still m atters to m odern-day Britons? th is text. W hich do you th in k w as the
w orst? Explain y o u r answer.
2 W ho th o u g h t the w a r w o u ld be over
sooner, the British people or the 2 W hat do you th in k David Lloyd George
G erm an Kaiser? m eant w hen he said th a t General Haig was
'b rillia n t - to the to p o f his boots'?
3 'Lions led by donkeys' means:
a) w a r m ade o rd in a ry so ld ie rs and th e ir 3 Explain in y o u r ow n w o rd s w h a t the fo u r
officers behave like beasts. expressions b e lo w mean.
b) the o rd in a ry soldie rs w ere brave and the over the top ______________________
officers w ere fo olish. no man's land ______________________
c) the o rd in a ry soldiers w e re stupid and the a w onder w e a p o n ______________________
officers w ere brave. a black d a y ______________________
d )th e B ritish w ere fierce and courageous
but to o stubborn. 4 The m ain purpose of the songs sung by
British soldiers w as to:
4 In trench w a rfa re at the tim e o f a) frig h te n the Germans.
Passchendaele, was it easier to attack or b) protest against the war.
defend? c) make them fig h t m ore fiercely.
d) keep them cheerful.
5 W hat is the significance o f 1st J u ly 1916 fo r
the British m ilita ry?
Red paper
b)
Now, God be thanked who has matched us with His hour, ‘Good-morning; good-morning!' the General said
A nd caught our youth, and wakened usfrom sleeping, When we met him last week on our way to the line.
With hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpenedpower, Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of'em dead
To turn, as swimmers into cleanness leaping... A nd we're cursing his staff for incompetent swine.
P o e t:________________________________
B Creatures as symbols
1 In the expression lions led by donkeys, lions represent courage and donkeys represent
stubbornness and foolishness. Do th e y represent the sam e th in g s in y o u r culture?
2 M atch the creatures 1-5 to w h a t th e y represent in British culture, a)-e).
1 ow l a) fear, shyness
2 m ouse b) cunn ing
3 dog c) stren gth , aggression
4 fo x d) w isd o m
5 bear e) fa ith fu ln e ss
Do the creatures 1-5 represent the sam e th in g s in y o u r culture? W ork in pairs. Tell y o u r partner
abo ut any d iffe re n t ideas these creatures represent. Then th in k o f three m ore creatures and tell
y o u r p a rtner w h a t th e y sym bolize fo r you.
V
The language of poetry can be complex and there may be words
you don't understand. So just try to get the general sense of the
poems and find clues about w ho w ro te them . Think about w hether
the w riting is p a trio tic or satirical. Also consider w hat view of the
w ar it is expressing.
B Write
W rite y o u r ow n poem about war. It does n ot have to be about the First W orld War, but you
can use vo cab ula ry fro m the reading passage and fro m the poem s opposite. It doesn't
have to rhym e! (50+ w ords)
C Research
Search for: 'Tom b o f the unknow n w a rrio r' + 'W e stm in ste r A b b e y' + 'C h ristm a s tru ce ' +
'T ip p e ra ry' + 'A Long W ay to T ipperary' + 'b ig g e st B ritish w a r cem etery' + 'E uro pe'
1 Find o ut about the to m b o f the U nknow n W a rrio r in W e stm inste r Abbey, in London.
W as the U nknow n W a rrio r a real person?
2 Find o ut about the C hristm as truce.
E W hich C hristm as song did the B ritish and G erm an soldie rs have in com m on?
K W hich sp o rt united soldie rs o f both sides?
m W hat does the C hristm as truce tell you about the differences in a ttitu d e between
the o rd in a ry soldie rs at the Front and th e ir leaders?
3 It's a Long Way to Tipperary was a fa m o u s song o f the First W orld War. Find out w here
Tipperary is. Then listen to the song online. W hich tw o fam o us locations in London does
it m ention?
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read - think and discuss
The British people suffered gre a tly d u rin g the Blitz
w hen som e o f the UK's cities cam e under attack fro m
the G erm an air force. However, the shared hardships
o f the tim e also b ro u g h t people closer together.
■ W hat d iffic u lt periods have there been in y o u r
co u n try's history?
■ W hat events have b ro u g h t people in y o u r
co u n try closer together?
K W ho led y o u r c o u n try th ro u g h its m ost
d iffic u lt tim es?
K W hat, if anything, do you know about the Blitz?
<f> $> O f*
Britain can
Churchill and th e Blitz
take it:
Fact file As I write, highly civilized
■ 7th S eptem ber 1940: th e Blitz begins human beings are flying
■ 16th M ay 1941: the Blitz ends
■ 1940-41: 42,000 civ ilia n s killed
overhead, trying to kill me.'
■ 3.5 m illio n houses destroyed in the George Orwell, England Your England
sam e period The Blitz begins
■ B uckingham Palace suffers nine d irect hits During the Second World War, British cities came under German
d u rin g the Blitz
air attack in what came to be known as the Blitz. The name comes
■ 10th M ay 1940: W insto n C hurchill becom es from the German word Blitzkrieg (‘lightning war’), which described
Prim e M in is te r
the rapid invasions of Poland in 1939 and France in 1940. The
■ February 1945: G erm an city o f Dresden
purpose of it was to wear down the morale of the British people.
destroyed by the British Bom ber C om m and
It began on 7th September 1940, when London was bombed,
and ended on 16th May 1941 with an attack on Birmingham.
1 W hat m ade the Blitz d iffe re n t fro m 1 W hen C hurchill described St Paul's as
Blitzkriegs i n Eu ro p e ? 'th e parish church o f E m pire' he m eant:
a) it w as the w h o le Em pire's beloved
2 The Blitz w as aim ed m a in ly a t _____ hom e church.
targets. b) it w as actually even big g e r than a
a) m ilita ry cathedral.
b) econom ic c) it was less im p o rta n t than people
c) in d u stria l th o u g h t.
d) civilia n d) it w as w h ere people w e n t to pray
fo r the Em pire.
3 Did the Blitz kill m ore civilia n s o r soldiers?
2 Explain the dou ble m eaning in the notice
4 The Blitz and the Battle o f Britain: outside the barber's shop: 'S till open fo r
a) w ere tw o d iffe re n t nam es fo r the business: a close shave'.
sam e th in g .
b )w e re both in sp ira tio n a l events fo r 3 The a ttitu d e o f o rd in a ry Londoners d u rin g
the British. the Blitz was:
c) both in vo lve d large num be rs o f a) mass panic.
B ritish citizens. b) w itty defiance.
d) b ro u g h t the Second W o rld W ar to c) class prejudice.
a s w ift end. d) a fe e lin g o f spreading dem ocracy.
5 W hat w as the m ain dan ger to St Paul's 4 The Queen fe lt she could 'lo o k the people
Cathedral on 29th Decem ber 1940 - o f the East End in the face' because:
bom bs o r fire? a) like the East Enders, her hom e had
also been bom bed.
6 'M o s t Londoners sheltered in Tube stations b) she had been given a close shave by
d u rin g the B litz / True or false? the royal barber.
c) she no lo n g e r slept on silk sheets in
7 W hat tw o th in g s does the a u th o r th in k the her b o m b shelter.
Blitz gave Britain in the Second W orld War? d) the w a rm -h earte d people there forg ave
her G erm an origins.
8 'M o s t British people regarded B om ber
Harris as a w a r c rim in a l/ True or false? 5 Choose w h ere a p oo r Lon done r w o u ld be
m o st likely to shelter d u rin g an attack.
a) B uckingham Palace
b )T h e D orchester Hotel
c) under ra ilw a y arches
d) B om ber C om m and
e) under a carpet bom b
1904 + C hurchill left the C onservative Party fo r the Liberals, then left the Liberals
1924 fo r the Conservatives again.
13th M ay C hurchill made his firs t speech to Parliam ent as w a rtim e Prim e M inister,
1940 w a rn in g m em bers th a t the w a y ahead w o u ld be long and d iffic u lt and
setting o ut Britain's w a r aim s.
4th June C hurchill expressed B ritain's s p irit o f defiance at a d iffic u lt p o in t in
1940 the war.
20th Aug C hurchill praised the brave RAF pilots w h o had triu m p h e d over H itler j
1940 and the G erm an air force in the Battle o f Britain.
9th Feb C hurchill asked fo r A m erica's help in the w a r - arm s and m oney.
1941
8th M ay C hurchill saluted v ic to ry ove r G erm any in W orld W ar II.
1945
5th M ar S talin's USSR w as taking over Eastern Europe.
1946 C hurchill cham pioned the idea o f European union in its early days.
2 N o w practise saying these quotes w ith y o u r partner as you im agine C hurchill m ig h t have
said them . T hink abo ut speed, rh yth m and in to n a tio n , and h o w lo u d ly or q u ie tly th e y
should be spoken.
b) An iron curta in has
a) Give us the tools, and
descended across c) We m ust b u ild a
w e w ill fin is h the jo b.
the contin ent. kind of U nited
States o f Europe.
Search for: 'C hurchill' + 'w artim e speeches' 'fig h t them on the beaches' 'M u rro w ' + 'broadcasts'
1 Search the Internet fo r W inston C hurch ill's w a rtim e speeches. Listen to som e exam ples.
W hat do you notice about his a) p ro n u n cia tio n and b) intonation?
2 Listen ca re fu lly to C hurchill's fam o us 'We w ill fig h t them on the beaches' speech. W here
does he say fig h tin g w ill happen? W rite dow n the places you hear.
3 Use the Internet to find out about Edward M urrow . He w as an A m erican jo u rn a lis t w h o
broadcast d ire ctly fro m London d u rin g the Blitz, before the USA jo in e d the Second W orld
War. W hy do you th in k his broadcasts had such a po w e rfu l im pact on A m erican public
o p in io n in the period? Discuss y o u r ideas.
C Write
D uring the Blitz, Noel Coward w ro te the song London Pride. It is a song abo ut the pride
Londoners have in th e ir city, and the re silie n t flo w e r called London Pride. This flo w e r bloom ed
d u rin g the Blitz, and grew in the ruins o f the city's bom bed build ings.
Search fo r the song London Pride on th e Internet. Listen to the w o rds. N o w th in k about a city
you love. W rite a poem , story or song like London Pride. Celebrate y o u r chosen city and
rem ind people w h y th e y should be proud o f it.
From the cradle to the grave:
Section 1: Reading
Before you read - think and discuss
W in sto n C hurchill predicted th a t fu tu re gen erations w o u ld look back
on B ritain's resistance to Nazi G erm any in the Second W orld W ar as
the co u n try's 'fin e s t h ou r'. However, m any v ie w the creation o f the
w e lfa re state after the w a r as an even greater achievem ent,
i Who gets special help from the state in your country?
i How much help do they get? Is it enough/more than enough?
i Do all the politicians agree about how much the state should help people?
E What, if anything, do you know about the British welfare state?
j5* *
Glossary
deter put off, discourage
radical against tradition, wanting complete political or social chang<
means-tested based on a persons income
slay kill
squalor dirt, filth (especially in living conditions)
idleness laziness, doing nothing, avoiding work
compulsory forced, with no element of choice
sacred cows most precious beliefs, above criticism
C C heck your facts! D W h a t do you think?
1 W hat is the UK's best-loved in stitu tio n ? 1 The ‘deserving poor’ are poor people who:
a) the BBC a) deserve to be poor.
b) the NHS b) deserve help from the state.
c) the w e lfa re state Explain your answer.
d) P arliam ent
2 Explain in your own words what you
2 'A t the start o f the 20th century, there w ere understand the term ‘safety net’ to mean in
no state-run services.' True o r false? the context of a welfare state.
3 V ictorian w o rkho uses did n o t aim to 3 Find a policy or an institution designed by the
poverty. post-war Labour government to deal with:
a) punish a) want.
b) deter b) disease.
c) relieve c) squalor.
d) su p p o rt d) ignorance.
e) idleness.
4 W hich group did the 'N ew Liberals' n o t help?
a) the old 4 Explain your understanding of the term ‘from
b) the sick the cradle to the grave’. Think of an alternative
c) the u ne m p loyed expression.
d )th e disabled
5 W hat did Mrs Thatcher have in common with
5 W hat w as S ir W illia m Beveridge by the Victorians when it came to her fears about
profession? the state giving too much help to people?
a) an e co n o m ist
b) a p o liticia n
c) an announcer . FOODS
SERVICE
d) a re porte r
B NH S flowchart
1 Below is a flow chart of the possible stages a patient goes through when they see a doctor (or
GP, 'general practitioner') about a medical problem . Five of the stages have been removed and
put in random order beneath the chart. W ork w ith a partner to put them in the correct boxes.
B Research
Search for: ‘state pension’ + ‘history’ + ‘UK’ ’William Beveridge’ + ‘last words’
‘NHS’ + ‘number of employees’ + ‘annual budget’
C Write
Invent a new state benefit. Say:
B w h a t it is called.
B w h o gets it and w hy.
B w h a t the advantages are.
B w h e re the m oney com es
fro m to pay fo r it.
B h o w society as a w h o le
m ig h t benefit.
(250 w o rds)
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read —think and discuss
The 1960s is fa m o u s as a tim e o f great social
change in Britain. M any people feel th a t the
c o u n try has not been the sam e since.
B W hat do w e mean by social change -
w h a t kinds o f th in g s change?
B Has y o u r c o u n try gone th ro u g h a period o f
great social change in m odern tim es?
B W hat happened in y o u r co u n try in the 1960s?
B What, if anything, do you know about Britain in the 1960s?
Cultural revolution:
istorians often slice up the past into ten-year periods, cheered, the press loved it and ‘white heat’ became a
VV each with its own distinct character. Arguably, there is catchphrase for Labour’s programme to modernize Britain.
^ i% n o more colourful and vibrant decade in modern British For a brief period, Wilson seemed to be in complete control
history than the 1960s. This was a time of dramatic social of everything. No British prime minister, until perhaps Tony 20
change when, for good or ill, the country truly ‘swung’. Blair in 1997, has appeared so modern as Harold Wilson did in
At the start of the sixties, the Conservative Party was the mid-1960s. Today many may argue that his 1964-70
firmly in power. It had won a third consecutive general election government failed to keep its promises, but it did bring about
in 1959, thanks mainly to the consumer boom celebrated in far-reaching changes in many areas of life. Spending on social
Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s slogan ‘You’ve never had it services went up considerably, which meant that there was
10 so good’. But Macmillan’s ageing government soon ran into some redistribution of wealth. For the first time, there was real
trouble, appearing to be out of touch with unfolding social and progress in making women’s pay more equal to men’s. In
cultural changes. This was made worse by the growing general, it was a time of unprecedented social mobility.
popularity of the Labour opposition leader, Harold Wilson. In a Wilson’s government also reorganized secondary
famous speech in 1963, he pledged his commitment to the schooling. It had been the case that children sat an exam at 30
‘white heat of the scientific revolution’. It would, he claimed, the age of 11 to work out which school they should go to. In
transform British society and industry for ever. The audience most parts of the country this system was replaced with
Glossary
consumer boom time of growing wealth when people buy more
catchphrase well-known phrase or slogan
unprecedented not seen before
capital punishment putting to death by the state
‘backstreet’ abortion an illegal abortion carried out by an untrained person,
often in dirty conditions
backlash strong negative reaction
C C heck your facts! D W h a t do you think?
4 H ow m any universities did H arold W ilson's 4 H ow did the m edia influence change? Give
g o ve rn m e n t set up? an exam ple each for:
a) radio.
5 W hat did Roy Jenkins abolish? b) TV.
a) a b o rtio n c) new spapers.
b) divorce
c) capital p u n ish m e n t 5 W hat kind o f clothes do you th in k M ary
d) h o m o se xu a lity Q uant m eant w hen she said th e y allow ed
people 'to run, to ju m p , to leap, to retain
6 The backlash against the 1960s perm issive th e ir precious free dom '? Give exam ples.
society w as led by:
a) the Church.
b) new spapers.
c) schoolteachers.
d) M ary W hitehouse.
M a
B Cultural reveiutien: She SHinaina stasias
Section 2: Topic development
A Sixties slang
The y o u th culture o f the 1960s produced its ow n slang, som e o f w h ich is still in use today.
1 As it w as an o p tim is tic decade, there w e re a lot o f w o rd s and phrases expressing positive
approval. Not e verythin g w as w o n d e rfu l, how ever, and there w ere also som e negative
ones. W ork w ith a partner to put the e ig h t b elow in the rig h t box, using a d ic tio n a ry if
you need to.
1 3
2 To go ape and to hang loose are both w e ll-k n o w n sixties expressions, w ith m ore o r less
opp o site m eanings. W hich one m eans a) to explode w ith anger, and b) to relax and take
th in g s easy?
3 W ork w ith a partner to m atch the fo llo w in g sixties slang expressions to th e ir m eanings
(think about w h a t kind o f w o rd it is - noun, verb? - and w h a t it suggests). One has been
done fo r you as an exam ple.
bread spots (on skin)
a chrome dome go to bed; go to sleep
a pad —----- - ------ m oney
zits ----- - som eone's house
to crash som eone w h o o n ly th in ks about m oney
a bread-head a bald man
4 Discuss w h ich w o rd s and phrases you like /d o n 't like - and w hy. Do you th in k you m ig h t use
any o f them in y o u r English? In w h ich situ a tio n s could you use them ?
5 N o w prepare a short '1960s dialogue' w ith yo u r partner(s). W rite it dow n and practise it
together. Your teacher w ill choose the best one(s) and ask the students to perform to the class.
B The 11-plus
Before the educational reform s o f the 1960s, all 11-year-olds had to take th is selective exam .
The m in o rity w h o passed w e n t to the best, 'g ra m m a r' schools. W ork w ith a p a rtner to answ er
the que stions on page 70, taken fro m an old 11-plus General English paper, then m ove on to
the fo llo w -u p discussion tasks.
1 M a k e a d j e c t i v e s f r o m t h e s e nouns: b e a u t y , slope, glass, friend,
doubt, e x p e n s e , d e l i g h t , sleep, d a n g e r , sport.
2 C h o o s e th e c o r r e c t w o r d f r o m t h o s e in b r a c k e t s :
a) Sh e g a v e t h e (fare, fair) t o t h e c o n d u c t o r .
b) I a m ( c o n f idant, c o n f i d e n t ) of suc c e s s .
c) W h y do e s she (die, dye) h e r h a i r ?
d) His s i s t e r ha s (wrote, w r i t t e n ) h i m a letter.
e) T h e s c r e w fell o ff b e c a u s e it w a s (lose, loose).
3 E a c h of th e f o l l o w i n g s e n t e n c e s c o n t a i n s o n e erro r . R e - w r i t e t h e
sentences correctly:
a) T h i s is n o t an I n f a n t ' s School.
b) I am told that Tom Jones's brother have w on a scholarship.
c) W h e n t h e d o g r e c o g n i s e d m e it w a g g e d it's tail.
d ) T h e m a t t e r d o e s n o t c o n c e r n y o u o r I.
e) T a l k i n g t o m y friend, t h e bus p a s s e d me.
C Sad poet
N ot everyone fe lt part o f the 1960s. The English poet P hilip Larkin th o u g h t th a t he w as ju s t a
little to o old. Read the extract fro m his poem Annus Mirabilis below , using the rhym es to put
the fo u r w o rd s b elow in the corre ct place, then answ er the que stions th a t fo llo w .
B Research
1 W hat do you know about The Beatles and The R olling Stones?
a) W here and w hen w ere th e y form ed?
b) H ow does th e ir m usic differ?
c) W ho are/w ere th e ir m ost fam o us m em bers?
d) W hat tragedies have affected the bands?
e) W ho broke up first?
2 Find out about these sixties fashions:
a) m in iskirts
b) b e ll-b o tto m s
c) tie-dye clothes
d) go-go boots
W hat w ere all these fashion items? W ho w o re them ? Do you like them ?
C Write
Do yo u th in k the social changes o f the 1960s w ere m a in ly good or bad? Consider:
■ w h a t changed.
■ h o w th in g s are d iffe re n t to d a y because o f those changes.
■ h o w th in g s w ere before.
s w h a t you th in k the m istakes o f the 1960s were.
■ w h a t you like about the 1960s - m usic, fashion, politics, etc.
(250 w ords)
The Iron Lady:
Margaret Thatche
Section 1: Reading
Before you read - think and discuss
M argaret Thatcher is the o n ly fem ale p rim e m in is te r in
British history. M any co un trie s have never had a w o m a n
as a leader.
B Has y o u r c o u n try ever had a fem ale leader?
B W hat o th e r coun trie s have had fem ale leaders?
B W hat, if a n ything, do you know abo ut M argaret
T hatcher and the w a y she changed Britain?
Glossary
thrift being careful with money
swamped flooded
turbulent rough, unsettled
ballot vote
authoritarian bossy, controlling
eccentric odd, strange
the electorate the voters
C C heck y our facts! D W h a t do you think?
2 W hich o f the quotes above do you agree w ith ? W hich do you disagree w ith?
Discuss in pairs.
B Research
Search for: 'S p ittin g Im age' + 'T h a tch e r' + 'v id e o ' T h a tc h e r and G orbachev' +
'P ravda' + 'Iro n Lady' + 'fa ll o f Berlin W a ll'
1 Search the Internet fo r exam ples o f ho w the satirical TV program m e Spitting Image portrayed
M rs T hatcher d u rin g the 1980s. Make notes about and discuss w h e th e r you think:
B th e program m e -m akers w ere fa ir to M rs Thatcher.
E sa tire * is part o f a healthy politica l e n viro n m e n t.
*the use of humour to criticize someone
2 Does satire like this exist in yo u r country? (If not, how w o uld people react to it?)
3 Find out about M argaret Thatcher's re la tio n sh ip w ith President G orbachev o f the USSR.
a) W hat did she th in k o f him?
b) W hat did he th in k o f her?
c) H ow did the S oviet press describe her?
d) H ow did th e y both v ie w the fall o f the Berlin W all?
C Write
Im agine you have ju s t been m ade leader
o f y o u r country. You have to make a sh o rt
speech, like M rs T hatcher did w hen she
talked about b rin g in g harm ony, tru th , fa ith
and hope. W rite a speech saying w h a t
you w o u ld like to bring to y o u r people.
(250 w o rds)
"O
Oj
c
o
• \ Think about w hat you don't like about your country
CD
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H
r
FROM BARONS TO BAI^OT BOX
TH E I O N G R O A D T O D EM O C RAC Y
Section 1: Reading
Before you read - think and discuss
The British people have been ch a lle ngin g p o w e r fo r
m any centuries. Despite this, the a b ility fo r everyone
to vote has been in place fo r less than a century.
e W hat is dem ocracy? The signing of the Magna
E Is it a p p ro priate fo r all countries?
B Have there been strug gle s fo r dem ocracy in y o u r country?
B W hat, if anything, do you know abo ut British dem ocracy?
_ □ X
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O f*
$> O
Democracy and the monarchy In the years before the First World War (1914-18), female
In the mid-17th century, Britain seemed to cast off the so-called suffrage campaigners rocked the British political
‘Norman Yoke’ forever. Civil war led to the execution of the establishment. These Suffragettes occupy an iconic position in
20 absolutist King Charles I in 1649. This revolutionary act gave 20th-century British history. They argued that struggle using
rise to a unique episode of republican rule under Oliver peaceful means did not work and pursued their aims with angry
Cromwell and then briefly his son Richard. For 11 years anything passion. They set fire to public buildings, horsewhipped Cabinet
seemed possible, even what some radicals proposed: full ministers, smashed windows, chained themselves to railings, 60
democracy based on one man (if not one person), one vote. went on hunger strike, blew up postboxes and slashed paintings
The return of the monarchy in 1660 under Charles II - and then in galleries. One Suffragette was trampled to death in 1913 after
his brother, the absolute monarch James II - set the democratic she deliberately ran into the path of a racehorse owned by King
clock firmly back. But not for long. The Glorious Revolution of George V. But there was more to the Suffragettes than violence.
1688-89 (‘glorious’ because non-violent) established a Christabel Pankhurst, the movement’s leader, spoke for
constitutional monarchy and a Bill of Rights. In the generations of male and female campaigners for democracy
30 decades that followed, it was clear that real political power in when she declared, ‘We are here, not because we are law
England now lay with MPs and Lords at Westminster rather than breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers.’
the monarch, whose role became mostly ceremonial. Towards full democracy
W idening the democratic franchise Though the Suffragette movement no longer existed, a minority
From the late 18th century, the pursuit of democracy centred of British women got the vote when the war ended, through the 70
on attempts to widen the franchise for elections to the House Representation of the People Act. Full democracy, once
of Commons. It proved to be a long, hard struggle. Reformers achieved, proved to be impressively robust. During the interwar
battled with a ruling class who thought giving the vote to more era, most of Europe fell under extremist regimes. But in this age
people would lead to ‘mob rule’. The ruling class had been of dictators, British politics remained stubbornly moderate.
made especially fearful by the violent revolutions in France and Under the leadership of three successive prime ministers,
America, which undoubtedly inspired some radicals. The Great Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain,
40 Reform Act followed widespread popular unrest and gave the democracy prevailed. During the 1920s and 1930s, not a single
vote to the middle classes only, extending it to about 20 per fascist and only one communist was elected to Parliament.
cent of the male population. Frustration with the limited nature
Democracy's 'finest hour'
of this act inspired the Chartist movement, the largest working-
Arguably, British democracy’s ‘finest hour’ came just after the
class organization in British history, which demanded votes for
Second World War ended in Europe. Although the vast majority 80
all adult men. The Reform Act of 1867 enfranchised the
of the country admired Winston Churchill for his inspiring war
skilled working classes but still left a large majority of men
leadership, he failed to persuade voters that he was the right
without the vote. Nevertheless, it changed the nature of politics
man to lead them in peacetime. The Labour Party and its
forever. Politicians now had to work much harder to win their
leader, Clement Attlee, humiliated his government in the 1945
voters’ approval at election time. Party organization was tighter
election. It was a triumph for policies over personality and
50 and campaigns more professional. The introduction of the
sentiment. As far as voters were concerned, the country’s
secret ballot in 1872 greatly reduced electoral corruption.
future needs were more important than its past glories.
Many historians argue that this period, the age of Gladstone
Churchill had been a great warrior for democracy. The irony
and Disraeli, marked the birth of modern politics.
was that democracy, not Adolf Hitler, proved to be his downfall.
Glossary
charter a written statement of the rights of a particular group
absolutist believing in royal power without limits (see Chapter 5)
constitutional monarchy a monarchy limited by law and custom
Bill of Rights a written statement of the rights of the people
franchise the right to vote in public elections
enfranchised having the right to vote
suffrage the right to vote in political elections
robust strong
C C heck your facts! D W h a t do you think?
1 W hen did B ritain becom e a fu ll 1 Nam e five im p o rta n t m ile ston es on 'the
dem ocracy? long road to dem ocracy' in Britain.
2 T re e -b o rn E nglishm en' refers to: 2 W hat is the m ain difference betw een a
a) N orm ans after the M agna Carta. c o n s titu tio n a l m onarchy and an absolute
b) A n glo -S axons before the N orm an m onarchy?
Conquest.
c) barons after the reign o f King John. 3 Choose th e best su m m a ry o f th is
d) King John 's men before M agna Carta. statem ent: 'W e are here, not because w e
are law -breakers; we are here in o u r effo rts
3 T h e period o f republican rule th a t fo llo w e d to becom e law -m akers.'
the execution o f King Charles I led to one a) We w a n t the law to change so th a t our
m an, one v o te .' True o r false? activities are legal.
b) We are in tro u b le because o f o u r illegal
4 'D espite the refo rm s o f 1832 and 1867, o n ly law -m aking.
a m in o rity o f British m en had the vo te .' c) We break the la w because w e w a n t
True o r false? p o litica l power.
d) We haven't broken the la w b u t are try in g
5 W hich o f the fo llo w in g w as n o t a fo rm to m end it.
o f S uffra gette protest?
a) sm ashing w in d o w s 4 W hat helped w o m e n e ve n tu a lly to get
b) tra m p lin g to death the vote?
c) go in g on hunger strike
d) slashing paintings 5 By p o in tin g o u t th a t not a sin gle fascist
and o n ly one co m m u n is t w as elected to
6 T h e R epresentation o f the People A ct in P arliam ent, the au th o r is try in g to say
1918 m eant th a t all w o m e n had the rig h t th a t Britain:
to vo te .' True or false? a) w as m ore c o m m u n is t than fascist.
b) w as not p o litic a lly extrem e.
7 C hurchill lost th e 1945 election because of: c) had an u n fa ir v o tin g system .
a) his w a r leadership. d) did not represent all view s.
b) his su p p o rt fo r dem ocracy.
c) A ttlee's charism a. f
d) Labour's better policies.
B A Suffragette poster
1 S tudy th is S uffragette poster fro m 1912, and m atch the d iffe re n t th in g s th a t w o m e n and
men m ay be w ith the pictures.
$
WtoJraMman may be.aj\d :yet not have toeW e
l l
Wh&taMinmayhavebeen&yet not lose theNfcte
¥\
ft* fW
jt
2 Are the th in g s m en m ay be m a in ly p o sitive or negative?
3 Are the th in g s w o m e n m ay be m a in ly positive o r negative?
4 Explain in no m ore than 20 w o rd s w h a t you th in k the message o f this poster is.
5 may be and maybe in th is sentence:
Discuss the difference betw een
A woman may be a mother and maybe also have a profession.
C N ot in their name
A 1913 poster su p p o rtin g votes fo r w o m e n carried the nam e o f the President o f the
N ational U nion o f W om en's S uffrage Societies (NUW SS) at the top: 'M rs Henry Faw cett'.
She had been born M illic e n t G arrett, but changed her nam e on m a rryin g H enry Fawcett
in 1867. He died in 1884.
1 W hat does this te ll you abo ut the custom fo r m arried w o m e n 's nam es at the tim e?
2 W hat abo ut w idow s?
3 W hat does it te ll you about the NUW SS? H ow s tro n g ly fe m in is t do you th in k it was?
4 H ow does this custom com pare w ith y o u r ow n co un try's custom s?
5 Do you th in k m ost B ritish w o m e n still take th e ir husband's firs t and second nam es
like M rs Henry Fawcett? Give reasons o r exam ples.
6 Discuss w h a t the title s b e lo w te ll us ab o u t a w o m a n 's m arita l status.
a) M rs
b) M iss
c) Ms
W hich one should you use if you are not sure a bo ut a w o m a n 's m arital status?
Section 3: Extension activities
A Discuss
Discuss C hurchill's state m en t th a t 'D em o cra cy is the w o rs t fo rm o f g o ve rn m e n t except
all th o se o th e r fo rm s th a t have been trie d fro m tim e to tim e .'
B W h a t did he mean?
B W h a t o th e r fo rm s o f g o ve rn m e n t are there?
■ W h a t are th e ir advantages and disadvantages?
E W h a t are the advantages and disadvantages o f dem ocracy?
B Do you agree w ith Churchill? W hy?
B Research
Search fo r: 'M o th e r o f P arliam ents' / 'M agna Carta' + 's u rv iv in g copies' / 'firs t w o m a n
elected to P arliam ent'
C Write
Do you th in k it is ever acceptable fo r people to break the law to advance a cause
th e y believe in? Include:
B the kinds o f action people take to advance th e ir cause.
B w h a t the consequences can be.
B w h a t the dangers are.
B w h e th e r you th in k there is any ju s tific a tio n - and in w h a t circum stances.
B w h e th e r any good com es fro m such actions. (250 w o rds)
8
W i l l i a m . J V ia & e J /te a r e
Section 1: Reading
Before you read - think and discuss
W illia m Shakespeare is the greatest of English w rite rs,
yet w e know very little abo ut his life.
m W ho is considered to be y o u r co u n try's greatest w riter?
K W hat do you know about him /her?
E Is it im p o rta n t to know the life sto ry o f great w riters?
1 W hat do you know about Shakespeare and his w ork?
_n x
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J fa r d * iZ v - r /t :
* P06t * . . . »
'He was not a man, he was a continent; <Z7*€
he contained whole crowds o f great
men, entire landscapes. ’ Gustave Flaubert
Fact file poet and storyteller who raised the language to new heights.
■ 26th April 1564: W illiam Shakespeare Hundreds of the words and phrases he coined are still used
born in Stratford-upon-Avon. today. His work reflects as deep an understanding of the
■ Late 1580s or early 1590s: Shakespeare human condition as can be found in literature.
enters the w orld of London theatre.
Shakespeare’s early life
■ A uthor of between 36 and 40 plays.
Remarkably little is known about Shakespeare’s life. We can only be
■ 1599: the Globe Theatre built in
Southwark. truly certain about a handful of facts, including that he was born in 10
■ 1609: Shakespeare's sonnets published. Stratford-upon-Avon, fathered a family there, went to London,
■ 1613: the Globe Theatre burns down. became an actor and writer, returned to Stratford, made a will and
■ 23rd A pril 1616: Shakespeare dies. died. While this is something of an exaggeration, there is great
■ 1623: publication of the first folio of uncertainty over some of the most basic details, such as how many
Shakespeare's collected works. plays he wrote (somewhere between 36 and 40) and the order in
which he wrote them. We have no written description of him from
The greatest writer ever his own lifetime and there are doubts about the authenticity of the
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was the greatest writer only portrait that may have been painted from life. Although he left
who ever lived. This bold claim would meet almost no nearly a million words of text, we have just 14 words in his own
opposition in the English-speaking world and very little in the handwriting - his name signed six times (spelt six different ways 20
non-English-speaking world. He was a peerless playwright, and never as WilliamShakespeare) and the words by me on his will.
In 1599, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men dismantled its theatre Tale and The Tempest are romances reflecting the growing
building and reassembled it on the south bank of the Thames in interest in spectacle, magic and unlikely outcomes. Towards 60
Southwark, renaming it the Globe Theatre. Shakespeare wrote his the end of his career, Shakespeare began to collaborate
greatest plays during the first decade of its existence. His fame more with other playwrights, which suggests that his own
was established by a succession of great tragedies: Julius Caesar, creativity had dulled. Soon after the Globe Theatre burnt
Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra and down in 1613, Shakespeare seems to have returned to
Coriolanus. These tales of flawed heroes and their downfall had Stratford, where he spent his final years.
Shakespeare’s abilities as a historian have probably a poet and as a playwright. His sonnets, published in 1609, fall
influenced perceptions of late medieval Britain more than any into two groups: the first 126 are addressed to a man (Mr W. H.);
other scholar - though he was sometimes rather vague on the remaining 28 are addressed to a woman (the ‘Dark Lady’).
details. The chronological span of Shakespeare’s ten There are many theories about who these two people may have 70
historical dramas runs from King John (who ruled from 1199 been. As so often with Shakespeare, there is no definitive
to 1216) to Henry VIII (who ruled from 1509 to 1547). answer. But judging the quality of these poems is more
However, they are mostly concentrated on the period between straightforward. The 20th-century poet W. H. Auden claimed that
1389 and 1485, from Richard ll’s personal rule to the death the finest of the sonnets alone would have assured Shakespeare
of Richard III. This is the era of the Hundred Years’ War and literary immortality. That remains a widely held view.
50 the Wars of the Roses. The main subject of these dramas is A legacy of brilliance
the monarchy, while the chief protagonists come from Shakespeare was a genius who could extract eternal truths
England and France. Several of the set speeches from the about humankind and the nature of existence from his everyday
history plays - ‘This royal throne of kings . . . ’ ( Richard II), experiences. The brilliance of his work was more the product of
‘Once more unto the breach, dear friends. . . ’ (Henry V), or wisdom than knowledge. As a modern-day playwright has
‘Now is the winter of our discontent... ’ ( Richard III) - are on remarked, we badly abuse Shakespeare if we pretend he knows 80
a par with the great soliloquies of Hamlet or King Lear. all the answers. He doesn’t. He knows the questions.
Glossary
peerless better than anyone or anything else
dismantled took apart
chief protagonists main characters
soliloquies speeches made by a character when they are ‘thinking aloud’
sonnet 14-line poem with regular rhymes
C C heck your facts! D W h a t do you think?
8 T h e a u th o r th in ks Shakespeare lived in
his im a g in a tio n so m uch th a t he d id n 't
notice w h a t w as going on around h im .'
True or false?
Section 2: Topic development
A The Seven Ages o f Man
One o f Shakespeare's m ost fam o us s o lilo q u ie s appears in
the com e d y As You Like It In it, a character know n as 'the
m e la n ch o ly Jaques' reflects th a t the w o rld is a stage and
th a t people are ju s t players (actors) w h o act on it. He thinks
th a t th e ir lives can be divided into seven acts, or ages:
e) the justice, in fa ir round belly ... w ith eyes severe and beard
o f fo rm a l c u t ... J
§
S'hakeJp**
6 The sixth age f) the in f a n t ... in the nurse's arm s
7 Last scene o f all is g) the w h in in g school-boy, w ith his satchel and sh inin g
m o rn in g face, creeping like snail u n w illin g ly to school
2 Do you th in k Shakespeare's descrip tion o f the seven ages o f m an is accurate? Hard cf iZixrft: PlhMiam
3 Discuss the fo llo w in g :
■ W hich age o f man are you at now?
B Is it a good age? W h y/w h y not?
B A re you looking fo rw a rd to the next age o f man?
B Do you m iss an age you have left behind? W h y/w h y not?
■
B Shakespeare in everyday English
1 English-speakers to d a y use m any phrases coined (m ade up) by Shakespeare, often w ith o u t
kno w in g it. W ork w ith a partner to m atch the Shakespearean phrases on the left w ith th e ir
m eanings on the right. Use a d ictio n a ry if you get stuck.
what the dickens? it makes no sense at all
beggars all description the tim e w hen you are yo u n g and innocen t
a foregone conclusion o u r past
in m y mind's eye a person w h o gives great su p p o rt to others
it's Greek to me w h a t can th a t be?
salad days so m e th in g th a t is certain to happen
love is blind in m y visual im a g in a tio n
play fast and loose cann ot p o ssibly be described
a tower of strength people in love d o n 't kn o w w h a t th e y are doing
all our yesterdays behave irrespon sibly, w ith o u t m orals
2 N o w put the rig h t id io m in each o f the fo llo w in g five sentences.
a) I d o n 't k n o w _______________he's try in g to do!
b) The result betw een M anchester U nited and Barnet in the FA Cup i s __________________ ;
Barnet d o n 't stand a chance.
c) In m y _______ I w as ve ry idealistic and alw ays th o u g h t the best of everyone.
d) David has b e e n _______________ fo r us over th is d iffic u lt period.
e) I w o u ld n 't like to w o rk w ith them - in m y o p in io n , th e y _________________ w ith the rules.
3 A fte r checking the answ ers w ith y o u r teacher, w o rk w ith a p a rtner to w rite five sentences
illu s tra tin g the o th e r id iom s. Read them to a no the r pair but w ith o u t saying the id io m . See if
th e y can guess w h ich id io m should go in y o u r sentence.
Search fo r: 'G lobe T heatre' / 'K iss Me Kate' + 'W est Side S to ry' / 'S hakespeare' +
'the S cottish play'
3 Find o ut about the theatrical su p e rstitio n relating to Shakespeare's 'S co ttish play'.
B W hich play is it?
B W h a t is the superstition?
B W h a t is the o rig in o f the superstition?
B W hat can you d o to prevent evil if som eone m ention s it in a theatre?
B Do you th in k there is any tru th in it? W h y /w h y not?
C Write
Read th is fa m o u s sonnet by Shakespeare ab o u t tru e love. D on't w o rry if you ca n't understand
it all - m any native English speakers w o u ld have the sam e problem . Pay a tte n tio n to the
rh yth m and rhym e o f the sonnet.
S o nnet 116
Let me not to the marriage o f true minds Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Admit impediments; love is not love Love's not Time'sfool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Which alters when it alteration finds, Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Or bends with the remover to remove. Love alters not with his briefhours and weeks,
O no, it is an ever-fixed mark But bears it out even to the edge o f doom.
That looks on tempests and is never shaken; I f this be error and upon me proved,
It is the star to every wandering bark, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
W rite a sonnet. It should have 14 lines, ab o u t 10 syllables per line, and som e o f it should
rhym e. It can be about anything you like. (100 w ords)
Section 1: Reading
Before you read - think and discuss
Britain is a sm all island located at the edge of Europe. It
once ruled over the largest em pire the w o rld has ever seen,
s Has y o u r c o u n try ever had an em pire or been a colony?
■ Are all em pires the same? A re th e y usually a force
fo r good or bad? The British Empire
■ W hat, if a n ything, do you know a bo ut the
British Empire?
T h e s u n n e v e r s e t:
The British Empire
‘We seem ... to have conquered Two sides of em pire
The debate about the British Empire is one of the most
and peopled half the world in a controversial in British history. There are two strongly opposing
fit of absence of mind.’ views. One sees the empire as a dreadful story of enslavement,
S ir J o h n S eeley (E nglish e s s a y is t an d exploitation, theft, greed, cruelty and massacre. The other
h is to ria n , w ritin g in 1883) sees it as a tale of enormous energy and enterprise, of idealistic
people who really did believe they were making the world a
better place and helping those less fortunate than themselves.
At a glance Origins and developm ent of
Dates: from late 16th century to mid-20th century th e B ritish Em pire
At its peak, in around 1920, the British Empire was the biggest ever
Area: co vered a quarter of the w o rld 's land
known. It covered a quarter of the world's land area - some 14 million
area - app rox. 14 m illion sq u are m iles
square miles - and a fifth of its population, about 500 million people. 10
Locations: co lo n ies w e re estab lish ed in India,
Although much of the land was added in the 19th century, the British
the C arib b ean, North A m e ric a , the Pacific
Empire began in earnest during the Tudor age with the settlement
and South E a st A sia (including S in g ap o re
of Virginia in 1585. It grew out of the great seafaring voyages of that
and Hong Ko ng ), A u stra la sia , the M iddle
era, and in its first 300 years it was a loose arrangement of trading
East and parts of A frica (including Egypt,
posts defended by the Royal Navy and run by private companies whose
Sud an and Zim b ab w e)
job it was to administer colonies and oversee trade. The best known
Population: by 1922 a fifth of the w o rld 's was the East India Company, founded in 1599.
population (about 500 m illio n people) The ‘first* B ritish Em pire
belonged to the British Em p ire
The first Indian colony was established in 1610 and the first
Decline: in the 20th century, p articu larly after Caribbean one in 1623. The Empire expanded steadily thereafter,
the Secon d W orld W ar partly through the growth of British trade, and partly as a result 20
of wars with other colonial powers, especially France and Spain.
E m p ir e
century were the ‘mandated’ territories - ex-German and Ottoman
50 possessions, including much of the Middle East - allocated to it famously called empire-building ‘the white man’s burden’. But
after the First World War. They were not meant to be ‘colonies’, even at its kindest, the main economic beneficiaries of empire
though most people at the time regarded them as such. were always the British. The burden was, in reality, carried by
the colonized and not the colonizer.
1 'E veryone n o w agrees the British Em pire 1 Was it m ore tru e o f the firs t or second
w as a force fo r g o o d / True or false? British Em pire th a t it was acquired in a
'fit o f absence o f m ind'? Give reasons fo r
2 W here and w h en did the British Em pire y o u r answer.
really start?
2 'The sun never sets on the British E m pire.'
3 The 'firs t' British Em pire did not have W hat did th is expression m ean in its:
colonies in: a) literal sense?
a) A m erica. b) non -literal sense?
b) France and Spain.
c) India. 3 H ow did the im p a ct of the Second W orld
d )th e Caribbean. W ar on the British Em pire d iffe r fro m
th a t o f the First W orld War? Give
4 'B rita in even had colonies in A n ta rctica .' specific details.
True or false?
4 The 'w in d o f change' referred to:
5 B ritish im p e ria lism was: a) clim a te change in Africa.
a) a social D a rw in ist ideology. b )th e end o f B ritish rule in India.
b) a liberal ideology. c) the election o f Harold M acm illan.
c) a c o m b in a tio n of liberal and social d) p o litica l change in A frica.
D a rw in ist ideology.
d) not an ideology. 5 Do you th in k the a u th o r considers the
British Em pire w as m ore o f a good th in g
6 The First W o rld W ar left the British Em pire: o r a bad thing ? Give y o u r reasons.
a) bigger.
b) sm aller.
c) the sam e size as before the war.
E m p ir e
trad ed the products fo r black A frican slaves. These people had c ) _________been either
b o u g h t or captured by slave traders based in Africa. M ost o f the traders w ere w h ite
Europeans, d ) _______ , black A fricans w ere also in volve d in the capture and sale o f people
fro m other tribes.
n e v e r s e t : The B ritish
3. The a ) _______ stage o f the jo u rn e y w as the crossing to A m erica and the Caribbean,
b ) ______ w h ich m any slaves died because o f the te rrib le co n d itio n s on board.
c ) ______ this, it w as still a very p ro fita b le business.
4. a ) _______ th e y b ) ________ reached the o ther side o f the A tla ntic, th e y sw apped the slaves
fo r sugar, cotto n, tobacco and rum .
5. The ship a ) _______ returned hom e and sold these valuable c o m m o d itie s fo r a high profit.
6. a ) ________, the slaves w ere put to w o rk by th e ir new ow ners in the sugar, cotto n and
tobacco p lantations o f A m erica and the Caribbean.
7. An estim ated 11 m illio n A fricans w ere tra n sp o rte d in th is way. a ) ________, th is te rrib le
The sun
hum an tra ffic was stopped by the British Em pire and its navy, even b ) . _ Britain had
g ot ve ry rich fro m the slave trade.
B W illiam Wilberforce and the abolition o f slavery
Econom ic d e ve lo p m e n t and the resistance o f the slaves them selve s w ere key facto rs in
b rin g in g abo ut the end o f slavery. But the roles o f the anti-sla very cam paigner W illia m
W ilb e rfo rce and the Royal Navy w ere also vital in ending the trade itself.
1 Read th is account o f W ilb e rfo rce 's role, choo sing the
correct tense a lterna tive fo r each verb.
W illia m W ilb e rfo rce was / had been bom on 24th A u g u st 1759
in Hull and became / had become MP fo r th a t c ity in 1780. But
the m ost im p o rta n t date in his life is p ro b a b ly 1785, w hen he
had a conversion to evangelical C hristianity. From th a t date
on, he dedicated / had dedicated his life and w o rk to the
service o f God. He was / had been a dissolu te you n g m an at
C a m bridge U niversity, playing cards, d rin kin g and g a m b lin g
late in to the night. This life style continued / had continued
w hen he became an MR He was / had been po p ula r
so cia lly and an e lo q u e n t speaker in Parliam ent.
W ilb e rfo rce 's m ain aim fo llo w in g his conve rsion was / had
been to pro m o te C hristian values in pu b lic and private life.
In 1783 he heard / had heard first-h a n d accounts o f the
te rrib le co n d itio n s on slave ships and Caribbean
plantations, but it was not / had not been until 1787 th a t
he became / had become actively in vo lve d in a cam paign to end the
slave trade. A n o th e r C a m bridge graduate, Thom as Clarkson, was / had been a huge in fluence
on him . Clarkson and his fe llo w 'a b o litio n is ts ' were / had been ca m paigning fo r an end to the
slave trad e - th e y thought / had thought it w as unchristian, and were / had been h o rrifie d by
the greed o f the slave ow ners and traders. Clarkson brought / had brought W ilb e rfo rce a copy
o f a book he had published calling fo r an end to slavery, and also first-h a n d evidence abo ut the
slave trade. Others, in clu d in g the prim e m in iste r W illia m Pitt, encouraged / had encouraged
W ilb e rfo rce to act on his beliefs.
W ilb e rfo rce sensed / had sensed a call fro m God, w ritin g in a jo u rn a l e n try in 1787 th a t 'G od
A lm ig h ty set / had set before me tw o great objects, the suppression of the Slave Trade and
the R e form ation o f M anners [m o ra ls]'.
For 18 years, W ilb e rfo rce introduced / had introduced anti-sla very m o tio n s in Parliam ent.
He was / had been supp orted by a range o f a b o litio n is ts w h o opposed / had opposed slavery
usua lly fo r religio us reasons. They raised / had raised pu b lic awareness o f th e ir cause w ith
pam phlets, books, rallies and petitions. The Slave Trade A ct fin a lly became / had become
la w on 25th M arch 1807, m aking it illegal to carry m en in B ritish ships to be sold as slaves.
W ilb e rfo rce 's face streamed / had been streaming w ith tears. It was / had not been, how ever,
not u ntil 1833 th a t an act was / had been passed g iv in g free dom to all slaves in the British
Em pire. W ilb e rfo rce died / had died the previous m onth.
B Research
Search for: 'th e C o m m o n w e a lth ' / 'K ip lin g ' + 'w h ite m an's b u rd e n ' + 'D isn e y' / 'slave tra d e '
+ 'a p o lo g y ' + 'C hurch o f E ngland' + 'M a y o r o f L on don' + 'B ritish g o v e rn m e n t'
E m p ir e
W hich fa m o us Disney cartoon w as based on a K ipling story?
3 Find o u t if the fo llo w in g have apologized fo r the slave trade.
th e British g o ve rn m e n t
C Write
Do you th in k the British Em pire w as m ore o f a force fo r good or fo r evil?
T hink about:
E beneficiaries
E v ic tim s
E p o sitive aspects - fo o tb a ll, the English language
E negative aspects - slavery, e xp lo ita tio n
E o th e r em pires
e fo rm e r colonies to d a y
(250 w ords)
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read - think and discuss
The USA w as born o u t o f re vo lt against Britain and has far
o u tg ro w n its fo rm e r colonial m aster. Yet m any believe th a t
the tw o countries still have a 'special re la tio n sh ip '.
■ Does y o u r c o u n try have a 'special re la tio n sh ip ' w ith any
o ther country?
I W hat are such re la tio nships based on?
K How im p o rta n t do you th in k language is in b rin g in g
coun trie s together?
k W hat, if anything, do you know abo ut the re la tio n sh ip between
Britain and the USA since A m erican independence?
A special relationship?
Britain and the USA
‘England and America are two House. Although this was the last military conflict between the
two nations, they nearly went to war again over Venezuela in
countries divided by a common 1895. Consequently, by the start of the 20th century Britain
language.’ George Bernard Shaw and the USA were more rivals than friends and certainly did not 20
o the generation of Britons who lived through the Second see themselves as part of a greater English-speaking entity.
Britain’s longing for American friendship has influenced its him into action. America’s military contribution to the Western
diplomacy for nearly a century. Yet it was once very different. Front from April 1917 to November 1918 helped to bring
America was part of the British Empire until 1776, when about the Allied victory. And after the war, it became clear that
10 13 British colonies rose up against the ‘mother country’. Under the USA’s huge economic strength had tipped the balance of 30
George Washington, their Continental Army defeated the forces power its way.
of King George III, leading to the birth of what would become The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 was an
the richest and most powerful country in history. unpleasant reminder to Americans that European states could
Thriving trade helped the British and their ex-colonists to disrupt the trade on which their wealth depended. This time
coexist. This was briefly interrupted by the inconclusive War round, the country played a different role. It did not stay
of 1812, during which British forces burned down the White strictly neutral. Under the 1941 Lend-Lease Act, it supplied
in retaliation for the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in observed that Britain ‘has
December 1941. Nearly two million American soldiers arrived lost an empire but not yet 80
in Britain before the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe found a role in the world.’
50 (the 1944 D-Day landings). The relationship between the Britain under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s once again
American soldiers and their hosts wasn’t always smooth. A found that role. She made a revitalized special relationship
popular saying of the time was that these soldiers (also with the USA central to it. This was eased by the personal
known as GIs) were ‘overpaid, overfed, oversexed and over and ideological rapport she shared with President Ronald
here’. Young British males were envious of the GIs, mainly for Reagan. Together they voiced a certainty of mission: to bring
their supposed success with British women, apparently helped about the downfall of world communism and the Soviet Union,
by the GIs’ supplies of chewing gum and nylon stockings. A which Reagan described as the ‘evil empire’.
mass survey in 1943 found that only one-third of Britons As the new century began, Anglo-American unity
approved of their saviours from ‘across the pond’. But the expressed itself in a series of joint military campaigns. Prime 90
Allies triumphed over Nazi Germany, and Churchill and Minister Tony Blair (1997-2007) enthusiastically locked
60 President Roosevelt made a great display of unity, though Britain into President Bush’s ‘War on Terror’ in Afghanistan
some questioned how close they were. One of Churchill’s and Iraq. Although Britain suddenly achieved an importance
Glossary
inconclusive without a winner
unsordid clean, noble
in retaliation for in revenge for
rapport a close or sympathetic relationship
subservient serving or acting in an obedient and inferior way
C C heck y o u r facts! D W h a t do you think?
1 W hich o f the fo llo w in g w ere the bonds 1 Explain w h a t you th in k the a u th o r m eans
betw een B ritain and the USA n o t by 'a greater E nglish-speaking e n tity'.
based on?
a) h isto ry 2 T h e USA jo in e d both w o rld w a rs as a
b) g e o graphy result o f attacks by hostile pow ers rather
c) language than o u t o f a desire to help B rita in .' True or
d) culture false? Give reasons.
Noah W ebster (1758 -1843) has been called the a ) '___________ of Am erican Scholarship and
Education'. He believed that the English b ) ____________had corrupted English spelling and
gram m ar w ith th e ir old-fashioned rules and obsession w ith Greek and Latin gram m ar. Am erican
English, he felt, should be based on 'republican principles' and fo llo w popular c ) ___________ .
W ebster published his f ) ___________ American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828, at
the age o f 70. Of its 70,000 w o rds, 12,000 had never appeared in a d ictio n a ry before.
He died in 1843, not long after co m p le tin g the second g ) ___________ , th o u g h his w o rk was
still la rge ly unrecognized.
2 N o w w o rk w ith a partner to id e n tify w h ich w o rd s in the box b e lo w are sp elt the
A m erican w a y and w h ich the British.
W rite dow n how you th in k each is spelt in the other version o f English.
3 Discuss in groups.
E W hich spelling system do you prefer? Give reasons.
E D o you th in k one c o u n try shou ld ado pt the o th e r's system ?
How easy w o u ld th is be?
B Has y o u r co u n try ever trie d to change its sp e lling rules? W hat happened?
A misunderestimated man?
W hether or not he had a special re la tio n sh ip w ith B ritain, President G eorge W. Bush
ce rta in ly had an interestin g re la tio n sh ip w ith the English language. A lot o f people
m ade fu n o f his use o f it.
1 S tudy the fo llo w in g fa m o us 'B u sh ism s' w ith a partner, then try to translate them
into good, clear English.
2 Discuss how im portant you th in k it is fo r a leader to use language well. Are there good leaders
w h o use language badly and bad leaders w h o use language well? Give exam ples if possible.
B Research
Search fo r: 'G eorge W. Bush' + 'C h u rc h ill' / yH. L. M encken' + 'the A m erican language' /
'v e rb in g ' + 'A m e rica '
C Write
Do you prefer British or A m erican English? A n sw e r th is question, g ivin g y o u r reasons.
W rite about:
B accent and the sound o f the language.
B spelling.
B usefulness.
B associations o f the language.
B cu ltu re - film s , books, com ics, etc.
B education.
B w h e th e r w e can say one kind o f English is 'b e tte r' than another. (250 w o rds)
A funny old game:
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read - think and discuss
Cricket is E ngland's national s u m m e r sport, and m any
people th in k its spo rtsm a n sh ip and sense o f fa ir play
reflect the English national character.
I W hat is y o u r co u n try 's national sport?
■ W hat o th e r sports are popular?
■ W hat o th e r sports are po p u la r in the UK?
■ W hat, if anything, do you know abo ut the sp o rt o f cricket?
■ ■ ■ he summer game of cricket has an extremely long surname only. In 1961, in a match played at Lord’s Cricket
history and can be traced back to the 13th century. It Ground in London, the so-called home of cricket, the following
is perhaps the most English (though not British) of all correction was read out to the crowd: ‘Your cards show, at
organized sports and certainly holds a deep cultural Number 8 for Middlesex, F. J. Titmus. We have to apologize for
significance for the English. The game is a symbol of fair play this mistake. That should read, of course, Titmus F. J.’ Yet
and the love of tradition; for instance, the phrase ‘it’s not despite such examples of snobbery, cricket has traditionally
cricket’ is used to express disapproval of any kind of been played by millions of ordinary English children in schools 30
misconduct. Its status beyond being simply a game is also and parks over the summer months.
reflected by the fact that cricket does not have rules but laws. Cricket is also accused of being boring. The most prestigious
10 The world’s leading cricketing nations, apart from England, are version of the sport, international Test Match cricket, is played
Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa over a period of up to five days (six hours per day minimum).
and the West Indies. Cricket was introduced into all these For all that, many Test Matches still result in a draw. A foreign
countries during the era of the British Empire. observer once remarked that the English, since they lacked
any spiritual instinct, had invented cricket in order to give
Cricket has its detractors. Non-followers of the game
themselves a sense of eternity.
mistakenly view cricket as a toffs’ game that appeals only to
the wealthy and privileged. These criticisms might appear to The most famous of all English cricketers is the extraordinary,
have some merit. Until 1962, a clear distinction was drawn larger-than-life W. G. Grace, a Bristol doctor whose cricket career 40
between amateur players, known as Gentlemen, and spanned the period from 1865 to 1908. Cricket is an individual
professionals, known as Players. There was something very game played within a team context, and as a consequence
In Affectionate R em em brance
of
ENGLISH CRICKET,
R.I.P.
W. G. Grace
1 Cricket has been a central feature o f English life fo r centuries and because o f th is is the
source o f m any id io m s in the language.
M atch the cricket expressions a)-e) w ith th e ir literal m eanings i)-v). Use a d ic tio n a ry to
help you if necessary.
a) to be stum p ed __ i) a cricket pitch afte r rain, d iffic u lt to bat on
b) to hit/knock fo r six __ ii) to bo w l a tricky and unp redictable ball
c) a sticky w icket __ iii) to be g o t o ut by the gloved catcher behind the w icket
d) a stra ig h t bat ___ iv) to score m a xim u m runs by h ittin g the ball over the
b o u n d a ry w ith o u t it to u ch in g the groun d
e) to bow l a g o o g ly __ v) the classic defensive batting po sitio n , w ith the bat parallel
to y o u r legs
2 S tudy the sam e cricket expressions used as idiom s. Choose the best m eaning fo r
the cricket idiom s. Circle i, ii or iii.
a) The ann ounce m en t knocked her fo r six; she had to sit dow n and th in k abo ut
w h a t th is m eant fo r her.
i) to make som eone feel youn g ii) to make som eone feel ve ry shocked
iii) to p h ysically attack som eone
b) It w as all going ve ry w e ll until th e y b o w le d a g o o g ly and dem anded to kn o w w hen
Ihad stopped te llin g the tru th .
i) to tell a lie ii) to ask som eone so m e th in g unexpected and d iffic u lt to answ er
iii) to be careful and e fficie n t
c) He's on a very stic k y w ic k e t and m ig h t get in serious tro u b le if he's not careful,
i) to be in a d iffic u lt situatio n ii) to be unsteady on y o u r feet
iii) to be im m o ra l and devious
d) I'd recom m end keeping a very s tra ig h t bat at the in te rv ie w - d o n 't try any
cle ver answers.
i) to be co n fid e n t ii) to talk lo u d ly iii) to be honest and stra ig h tfo rw a rd
e) W hen th e y asked him th a t question abo ut tax, he w a s co m p le te ly s tu m p e d -
he looked clueless and stopped talking.
Bowler: [to batsman , who cannot hit the ball] It's red, round and w e igh s a bo ut five ounces.
Batsman: [after hitting the ball out o f the ground] You know w h a t it looks like, n o w go and
fin d it.
Bowler: [to batsman] I've been w a itin g tw o years fo r a n o th e r chance to h u m ilia te you.
Batsman: Looks like you spent it eating.
2 In 2009, the Board fo r Cricket C ontrol in India proposed a ban on sledging. W hat are the
argum ents fo r and against sledging? Discuss y o u r ideas and make notes.
For AdAi*f~t
a ') cric k e t if a coMt>e.titive. f^ o rt; a ') cricket if a 'dfiAtlfcMA* f fport\ A*d fleddi*d
fleddirui
j j ow-tf
' olAverf
/ ii\ a if i\o*t dfiA’tle.MArv.ly
coMCi£titive. Mood
3 Once you have fin ish e d y o u r discussion and m ade notes, have a vote on w h e th e r
you th in k sledging should be banned.
B Research
Search for: T e s t M atch records' + 'W isd e n ' / 'B asil D 'O live ira ' /
'cricke t as explained to a fo re ig n e r'
2 Use th e Internet to fin d o ut as m uch as you can abo ut Basil D 'O liveira and th e politica l
co n tro ve rsy s u rro u n d in g his Test cricket career. Make notes on w h a t th is te lls you about:
■ s p o rt and politics.
B racism in 1960s Britain.
B th e people w h o m anaged English cricket at th a t tim e.
C Write
Describe the m ost exciting sp o rtin g event you have ever w atched or taken
part in. Include:
B w h a t happened, w hen and w here.
B w h y it w as so exciting and m em orable.
B y o u r fe e lin g s about it. (250 w ords)
Seen and not heard:
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read - think and discuss
H istorically, the British have a reputation fo r being
uncaring to w a rd s th e ir children. By contrast, m any people
say m odern British parents are to o soft on th e ir children.
1 Is there a difference in the w a y th a t the societies of
d iffe re n t countries tre a t th e ir children?
K Was childhood the same fo r yo u r parents, grandparents
and great-grandparents as it was fo r you, or have things changed?
k W hat is special abo ut ch ild h o o d com pared w ith o ther stages o f life?
m W hat, if anything, do you know about B ritish ch ild h o o d no w and in the past?
Seen and
British childhood
not heard:
he concept of childhood is a surprisingly recent one. Before for children of parents in distant colonies and training grounds for the
Rather confusingly, the British call these institutions public schools. During
the 19th century, elite fee-paying schools such as Eton, Rugby, Harrow,
as children, just as miniature adults. Marlborough and Westminster developed a clear pattern and identity. The 30
The origins of British childhood date back to the 1600s, when wealthy school chapel became the focal point of life, discipline was enforced
families began to display concern for the moral development and through prefects and the emphasis was on team games. Dr Thomas
education of children. These families viewed their children as fragile Arnold, headmaster of Rugby from 1828 to 1842, stamped his imprint on
creatures of God to be nurtured and improved. Over time, this attitude public school education more than anyone else in this era. He believed in
10 passed on to middle-class families, where attention focused on the what has been termed ‘muscular Christianity’. Arnold’s weekly sermons
health, hygiene and education of the child. In addition, the actual were aimed at improving the character of the boys and filling them with a
length of childhood gradually extended with the expansion of the sense of duty to the community. Ruling-class girls learned a similar sense
school system. of duty, but were generally treated very differently from their brothers.
An extraordinary number of children’s books, with Tom Brown’s Girls were often educated at home by governesses, and were brought
Schooldays by Thomas Hughes (1857) being one of the first and most up to be young ladies, skilled mainly in domestic arts like cooking and 40
famous, are set at school. The massively popular Harry Potter books
are a modern example of this tradition. Harry, like so many fictional 'OQall the European peoples we are
creations before him, goes to a boarding school, the sort of the one that cares least about
institution traditionally attended by the sons of the British ruling class.
children... We are selfish and like our
2 0 Victorian wisdom was that children should be ‘seen and not heard’.
For many upper- and middle-class boys, the reality was that they were
enjoyments, and we find that pets
neither seen nor heard as their otherwise kind parents sent them
give us less trouble.'
away from home at an early age to boarding schools. Some historians Gerald Brenan, British writer and the author of
explain this peculiarly British custom as a way of continuing the class The Spanish Labyrinth
system. Others believe that Britain’s empire demanded both nurseries
I
Seen and not heard: British childhood
sewing; any serious intellectual interest was actively discouraged. Their
future was to be the wives and mothers of the governing elite.
There is also a darker perspective on children in modern British view of children as ‘miniature adults’. It certainly suggests that British
history. While child-abusers have always been treated with particular attitudes to children remain deeply conflicted. 90
Glossary
boarding school a school where children live, sleep and eat
prefects senior pupils with particular responsibilities
sermons religious or moral talks
governesses private live-in female teachers
offspring a person’s child or children
curfews bans requiring people to remain indoors between particular hours
C C heck y o u r facts! D W h a t do you think?
ch ild yieutrcd
yo u n g ste r
little one
baby
babe-in-arm s
in fa n t
to t 0-1 yecvr
to d d le r
new born
lad vv\forwial/
lass
kid
kid d y w in k
teen, teenager 23 -2 9 yeary
ju ve n ile formed
y o u th
adolescent
brat dX^ldce/
m in o r
3 N ow discuss in groups w h ich o f these w o rd s you w o u ld use to describe any children you
know . H ow m uch w o u ld it depend on the situation?
4 How m any w o rd s does y o u r language have fo r children?
B Dickens on child labour
The great V ictorian w rite r, Charles Dickens, used his novels to criticize the new in d u stria l
society deve lop ing around him . In David Copperfield, w h ich te lls the sto ry o f a 'self-m ade
m an', he d re w on his ow n experiences as a 12-year-old child la b o u re r to convey the
m isery it involved:
It is a matter of some surprise to me, even now, that I can have been so easily thrown
away at such an age. A child of excellent abilities and with strong powers of observation,
quick, eager, delicate, and soon hurt bodily or mentally, it seem s wonderful to me that
nobody should have made any [effort to save me]. But none was made; and I became,
at ten years old, a little [labourer] in the service of Murdstone & Grinby.
Later David C opperfield describes h o w he fe lt abo ut the rough boys he w o rked w ith :
No words can express the secret agony of m y soul as I sunk into this companionship ...
and felt m y hopes of growing up to be a learned and distinguished man crushed in
m y bosom.
C Childish or childlike?
These tw o w ords have a very sim ilar
m eaning, but th e ir connotations -
the special sense in w h ich people
understand them - are different.
Discuss w ith a partner w h a t you
th in k the difference is, th in k in g
abo ut w h ich is m ore positive
than the other.
B Research
Search fo r: 'NSPCC' / 'E nid B lyto n ' / 'H a rry Potter' + 'b o o ks' + 'film s '
2 M any o f o u r ideas about British c h ild h o o d com e fro m c h ild re n 's literature.
Find o u t about Enid Blyton.
m W here was she born?
m W h a t are her m ost fam o us books/creations?
E H ow m any books did she w rite?
K Is her w o rk still popular?
C Write
W rite an account o f y o u r ch ild h o o d , coverin g points such as:
■ w h e re you spent it.
B w h o b ro u g h t you up.
■ brothers, sisters, cousins.
■ early friendsh ips.
■ d iscip lin e and pun ishm ent.
E education.
■ happy m em ories.
■ not-so-happy m em ories.
■ h o w it has influenced y o u r adu lt life.
(250 w ords)
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read - think and discuss
England and Scotland w e re ancient national enem ies
w h o jo in e d to g e th e r to fo rm a larger co un try. It has not
alw ays been a happy union.
I W ho are y o u r co u n try's oldest enemies?
■ Are th e y still y o u r c o u n try 's enem ies?
K Can countries w ho have been enemies ever w o rk w ell together?
B W hat, if anything, do you know abo ut Scotland?
AULD ENEMIES: E N G L A N D A N D SC O T L A N D
‘ .. fo r as long as but a hundred o f us after four hours of desperate hand-to-hand combat. The turning point
came when James himself was cut down in the thick of the battle. The
remain alive, never will we on any vast majority of the Scottish nobility died with him that day.
conditions be brought under English This was a devastating time in Scotland’s history. However, a Stuart
descendant of King James IV would eventually inherit the throne of
rule.'Declaration of'Arbroath, 1320 England. In 1603, his great-grandson King James VI of Scotland also
he unofficial Scottish anthem, ‘Flower of Scotland’, written in became King James I of England. This meant that for the first time
the English never managed to conquer their northern neighbours. two countries. The Scottish Parliament voted itself out of existence and
the 1707 Act of Union created the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
The history between these neighbouring countries is a story of
intense rivalry and conflict. In the centuries after the Romans left The monarchs of this new kingdom were not Scots but Germans - the
Britain, the English and the Scots fought many ferocious battles. Two Protestant Hanoverians. Many Scots did not believe the union was
10 were particularly significant. In June 1314, the 7,000 soldiers of the ‘Great’. In the years after 1707 they actively supported the Jacobite
Scottish King Robert the Bruce humiliated the 15,000-strong army of movement, which aimed to restore the Stuarts to the throne. The
the English King Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn. This was the Jacobites led a series of rebellions, most dramatically in 1715 and
greatest military defeat suffered by the English throughout the Middle 1745. The leader of the second rebellion, known as the ’45, was
Ages. Bannockburn also enabled Robert to create a powerful Prince Charles Edward Stuart best known to history as the Young 40
independent identity for Scotland. The second battle did not have Pretender or Bonnie Prince Charlie. His troops were mainly made up
such a positive outcome for the Scots. In September 1513, the of men from the Highland clans who supported the Jacobite cause.
supremely self-confident King James IV of Scotland (a member of the Prince Charles was spirited and daring, but his troops suffered a
Stuart family) declared war on England at a time when the young King heavy military defeat by the Duke of Cumberland’s English army at the
Henry VIII was pursuing military glory in France. At the Battle of Battle of Culloden in April 1746. The English took terrible revenge on
2 0 Flodden, the Scots suffered the heaviest defeat of their entire history the Scots in the wake of Culloden, hunting the rebel Highlanders down
A U L D E N E M IE S : E N G L A N D A N D S C O T L A N D
and killing them. They destroyed whole villages, rounded up people
and either shot them or put them on ships to be transported. They
banned Highland dress and Highland customs. It was, in a sense,
50 18th-century ethnic cleansing.
Surprisingly, the response to all these pressures on Scottish identity
was an era of immense creativity and accomplishment known as the
Scottish Enlightenment. In the 18th century Scotland became Europe’s
most literate society, with profound thinkers and writers such as Adam
Smith (a moral philosopher and pioneer of political economics best
known for A Wealth of Nations), David Hume (a philosopher best
known for A Treatise of Human Nature), Robert Bums (a poet, lyricist
and pioneer of the Romantic movement, best known for poems
including ‘A Red, Red Rose’ and ‘A Man’s A Man for A’ That’), and
60 James Boswell (a lawyer, diarist and author, best known for his
biography of Samuel Johnson), plus numerous architects, inventors
and engineers. The Scottish Enlightenment produced an idea of
modernity that shaped subsequent Western civilization.
Glossary
commemorates remembers with respect
transported sent to another country as a punishment
ethnic cleansing the killing or expelling of one ethnic group by another
Romantic movement an 18th-century movement in the arts and literature
entrepreneurs people who set up businesses
deployed brought into effective action
referendum a yes/no vote by the people on a single political question
M M . " i m f ............... I
1 'S cotland has been dom in a te d by England 1 Explain w h y the A ct o f U nion in 1707 was
since 1314/ True or false? m uch less p o p u la r w ith Scots than the
U nion o f C row ns in 1603.
2 England defeated S cotland at:
a) the Battle of Bannockburn in 1513. 2 Having read the text, do you th in k Scotland
b) the Battle of Flodden in 1314. has m ore reason to resent o r to be grateful
c) the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. fo r the union w ith England? Explain
d) the Battle of Flodden in 1513. y o u r answ er.
3 W hat connected Jam es VI o f S cotland and 3 A cco rd in g to the text, the Scottish
Jam es I o f England? E n lig h te n m e n t w as m a in ly due to:
a) Jam es VI w as Jam es I's great-grandson. a) the rise o f Scottish natio nalism .
b) They w ere one and the sam e person. b) ethnic cleansing by the English.
c) They both supp orted the A ct o f U nion. c) g ro w in g lite racy in Europe.
d) N either w a nte d a S tuart on the d) questions o f Scottish id entity.
English th ro ne.
4 'S cotland w as a p o o r co lo n y o f England
4 W rite d o w n the three fu ll nam es by and opposed English im p e ria lis m / True or
w h ich the 1745 S cottish Jacob ite leader false? Give y o u r reasons.
w as know n.
5 The h isto ric E n g la nd-S cotlan d fo o tb a ll
5 T h e loss o f S cottish independence m atch w as abolished in 1989 because:
prevented the c o u n try fro m c o n trib u tin g a) the Scots had ruined W e m b le y S tadium
m uch to European civiliza tio n .' True and m ade it unplayable.
or false? b) it had a bad effect on relatio ns betw een
the tw o countries.
6 W h y was G lasgow so im p o rta n t to the c) the English alw ays w on and there was
British Em pire? no real co m p e titio n .
d) the Scots to o k it to o se rio u sly even
7 T h e B ritish g o ve rn m e n t saw E n g la n d - th o u g h it w as o n ly a gam e.
Scotland fo o tb a ll gam es as a good w a y o f
p ro m o tin g frie n d s h ip betw een the tw o
c o u n trie s / True o r false?
B A U L D E N E M IE S : E N G L A N D A N D S C O T L A N D
Section 2: Topic development
A Fitba boasts
'F itb a' is w h a t Scots a ffe ctio n a te ly call th e ir national gam e, fo o tb a ll. Though in m odern tim e s
English clubs and the English national team are fa r m ore successful than th e ir Scottish
equivalents, Scots take great pride in th e ir fo o tb a ll history. Below are som e proud Scottish
fitb a boasts.
1 Fill in the gaps w ith the rig h t w o rd fro m the box.
The m ackintosh ('m a c' discovered by, A lexan der Flem ing.
\
The pneum atic tyre invented John Logie Baird.
A U L D E N E M IE S : E N G L A N D A N D S C O T L A N D
B Research
C Write
The quote at the b e g inn ing o f the chapter is fro m the D eclaration o f A rb ro a th , considered
to be one o f the earliest declarations o f independence in history. W rite y o u r ow n personal
'D eclaration o f Independence' - fo r yo u rse lf, y o u r fa m ily , friends, co m m u n ity, nation,
c o u n try or any o th e r g ro u p you belong to. Explain:
B w h o you are cla im in g independence fro m .
B w h y you w a n t to be free fro m them .
B h ow th in g s w ill be d iffe re n t w hen you are independent.
B w h a t you are prepared to do to achieve independence.
(250 w o rd s)
9
K |1
m u o o v b n r t h i
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read - think and discuss
Britain and Ireland are separated by ju s t a sh o rt stretch
o f sea. H ow ever, the long h isto ry betw een the tw o coun trie s
has not alw ays been happy.
■ Has y o u r co u n try fo u g h t w ith any o f its neighbours?
m W hat do n e ig h b o u rin g countries fig h t about?
■ H ow can ancient co n flicts be solved?
■ W hat, if a n ything, do you know abo ut Ireland and its history?
‘You have a starving population, an 17th century, British rule had identified Roman Catholics as
enemies of the constitution and denied them all political
absentee aristocracy and an alien rights. When the prime minister, William Pitt the Younger,
Church ... That is the Irish question.’ tried to reverse this situation, King George III prevented him.
B e n ja m in D is ra e li (la te r B r itis h p rim e He claimed this would be to go against the oath he had
m in is te r) to P a rlia m e n t , 1 8 4 4 sworn on becoming king in 1760, as ‘defender of the faith’ -
the Protestant faith.
It has been said that Ireland suffers from having too much
history and this is certainly true of its history with Britain. Although Catholics were eventually granted political rights in
Direct British influence over Ireland dates back to the reign 1829, Ireland’s fragile economy had reached breaking point.
of King Henry II in the late 12th century, and since then, A major problem was the staggeringly rapid growth of the
Anglo-Irish relations have rarely been harmonious. population. By 1845, this had passed 8 million, or over one-
third of the population of the United Kingdom. Such growth
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was formed
proved unsustainable when a fungal disease destroyed half
by an Act of Union on 1st January 1801 after the Irish
the Irish potato crop in 1845. A near-total crop failure
Parliament in Dublin voted itself out of existence. Britain,
followed in 1846 and again in 1848. As Ireland’s population
always the dominant power in the relationship, feared that
was largely dependent on the potato for food, over one
Ireland would become the base for a French invasion. One
million people died of starvation and disease. An even greater
historian has said, ‘From a British point of view the Union
number were forced to emigrate - to Canada, Australia, New
was little short of military necessity.’
Zealand, the United States and Great Britain. To this day,
The Union made Irish grievances against the British worse.
most people believe that the British government could and
Many of the problems stemmed from the inequality between
should have done far more to help the starving Irish. Ireland
the two sections of the population. Most of the population
was the only country in Europe to have a lower population in
(85 per cent) was Catholic, but most of the land was owned
1900 than it had in 1800.
by English Protestants. To make matters worse, since the
Glossary
bemused puzzled, confused
half-cracked half-mad
Ulster the nine most Protestant counties of Ireland
(situated in the north-east)
paramilitary organized like an army
C Check y o u r facts! D What do you think?
1 'B rita in has been d ire ctly in vo lve d in 1 W as 'the U nited K ingdom o f Great Britain
Irish affairs fo r over a th o u sa n d y e a rs / and Ireland' tru ly a united kingdom ?
True o r false? Explain y o u r answ er.
2 Britain w a nte d a union w ith Ireland in 2 The British could n o t fa irly be blam ed for:
1801 m a in ly because it feared: a) th e fu n g a l disease in potatoes.
a) a French invasion fro m Ireland. b) p o ve rty and starva tion in Ireland.
b) an Irish invasion fro m France. c) m ass Irish em ig ra tio n .
c) an Irish-F rench invasion. d) in justice suffered by Catholics.
d) all o f the above.
3 G ladstone was p ro b a b ly ch o p p in g dow n
3 W hy did G eorge III refuse to give Irish trees because:
C atholics p o litica l rights? a) he w as an old m an in a hurry.
b) he w as half-cracked.
4 H ow m uch o f the Irish potato crop w as c) he w as try in g to pacify Ireland.
destroyed by disease in 1845? d) he fo u n d the exercise beneficial.
a) 30 per cent
b) 50 per cent 4 '... the Irish question had fin a lly been
c) m ost o f it cracked' m eans th a t it had been:
d) all o f it a) solved or answ ered.
b) d ivid e d into tw o parts.
5 W h y did Queen V ictoria call on G ladstone c) ju d g e d to be mad.
to fo rm a g o ve rn m e n t in 1868? d) asked in the rig h t way.
6 'G lad ston e's m issio n w as to give Ireland its 5 D uring the T roubles, the tw o g roup s w h o
independence.' True o r false? w a nte d British rule in N orthern Ireland to
co n tin u e w ere:
7 'G ladstone trie d so hard w ith Ireland a) the B ritish and Irish gove rn m en ts.
o n ly because it m ade him p o p u la r.' b) Republicans and Loyalists.
True or false? c) the British A rm y and p a ra m ilita ry
groups.
8 W hat stopped the Irish g e ttin g Hom e Rule d) Loyalists and the British g ove rn m en t.
in 1914?
ik e k is b
B W hat could have been done to help the Irish?
To this day, most people believe that the British government could and should have done fa r more to
help the starving Irish.
1 Read the te xt below , w h ich develops the p o in t m ade in the extract above, and discuss the
:
difference in m eaning between could have, should have, might have and needed to.
m
Many Irish historians have argued that the British government
could have taken steps to ensure that im ported food was distributed to those Irish in greatest need,
w
should have been willing to treat the famine crisis in Ireland as an imperial responsibility and to pay for relief,
m ight have prohibited the export o f grain from Ireland.
Historians also add two other ideas:
xmr im
T he am ount o f money that the government spent on public works in Ireland needed to be much higher.
T he poor-law system o f providing relief for the starving Irish needed to be much less restrictive.
2 T hink about one o f the biggest d isa p p o in tm e n ts in y o u r life. W rite about w h a t happened
and h o w you feel about it now. Then w rite sentences about w h a t a) would have c iu ib
happened , b) should have happened , c) could have happened and d) might have
happened instead.
h u t
C The political weather
1 Label pictures 1-6 w ith w o rd s fro m the box.
2 The title fo r th is chap ter is taken fro m a phrase in a fa m o us speech by G ladstone: Ire la n d ,
Ireland! That cloud in the w est! That co m in g s to rm !' In English, there is a long tra d itio n o f
describ ing politics in te rm s o f the w eather. Read the quotes b e lo w and stu d y the id io m s in
bold. W hat do you th in k th e y mean? Discuss y o u r ideas.
a) Between 1994 and 1997, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the D em ocratic Left, the three
m ain parties o f the Irish republic, governed in the so-called 'Rainbow Coalition'.
b) They have spent m illio n s w ith o u t reaching any answ ers - w h a t a shower o f w asters!
c) [T ony Blair] has no rooted id e o lo g y w h a tso e ve r and is a political weathervane subject to
any puff of hot air.
d) S m ith has alw ays show n an a b ility to sense w h ich w a y the political wind is b lo w in g and
has changed his m ind accordingly.
e) For all its sudden em ergence recently onto w h a t look like sunlit uplands, Ireland has had
a h isto ry of hardship, and one ca n't blam e them fo r not w a n tin g to go back there.
f) E ventually he w as recalled to England w h ere he died as the great political storm in
Ireland brewed.
3 N o w w rite a politica l w e ath er forecast fo r y o u r co u n try fo r the next tw o /th re e years. Use at
least three o f the idiom s.
The political weather in m y country over the next two/three years will be/is going to be ...
(R em em ber th a t going to im p lie s a stro n g e r p rediction, based on evidence, than will.)
B Research
Search fo r: 'S a in t Patrick' / 'Fields o f A th e n ry ' + 'G la sg o w Celtic FC' + 'L ive rp o o l FC' /
'Irish pu b ' + (a city o f y o u r choice)
WKSVs IK K L 1IB
2 Search fo r the song T h e Fields o f A th e n ry ' and read the lyrics.
B W h o w ro te the song and when?
B W h a t sto ry does it tell?
B W h y do fans o f the Scottish fo o tb a ll team G lasgow Celtic sing it?
3 Search on the Internet to fin d a city in th e w o rld th a t does not have an Irish pub.
B Can you fin d one?
B Discuss w h y there are so m any Irish pubs all over the w o rld .
B W h a t does it tell you about a) the Irish and b) h o w people feel about the Irish?
IW IIIK
C Write
1 W rite about y o u r co u n try's h isto ry and one o f its big 'q u e stio n s' (problem s). Include:
B w h a t the question is.
B w h en it started.
B w h y it started. CICVB
E w h a t has been done about it.
E w h a t you th in k the answ er to it is/was. (250 w ords)
W atch a film about Irish history, such as Fifty Dead Men Walking (2008), Hunger (2008),
The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006) o r Michael Collins (1996). Then w rite a review. Include:
TH1T
Section 1: Reading
A Before you read - think and discuss
A long history o f im m ig ra tio n from all over the globe has made
B ritain one o f the m ost m u ltic u ltu ra l co un trie s in the w o rld .
■ W hat do you know abo ut the h isto ry o f im m ig ra tio n to
y o u r country?
m W hat do you think it is like to be an im m ig ra n t to your
country?
K W hat do you th in k it is like to be an im m ig ra n t to Britain?
i W hat, if a n ything, do you know abo ut the d iffe re n t
im m ig ra n t groups w h o have com e to make th e ir hom e in Britain?
it io n t o B r it a in
‘It never misses ... anyone. One of William’s first acts was to invite Jewish merchants from
It loves nobody, it needs France to England in the belief that they would help make the
country richer. Christian-Jewish relations were good for a time,
nobody; it tolerates all but increasing Christian intolerance led to persecution,
the types of mankind.’ massacres and the expulsion of all Jews in 1290. It was not until
1655 that Oliver Cromwell lifted the ban on them. Like William,
Ford Madox Ford CEnglish novelist,
he believed they could help the economy. Growing tolerance 20
poet and author of The Good S old ier,
in the 18th and 19th centuries was sealed by formal Jewish
writing about London)
emancipation in 1858, which allowed Jews to sit in Parliament.
The biggest-ever wave of Jewish immigration to Britain came in the
xtreme nationalist parties have never had much
1880s and 1890s, triggered by massacres in the Russian Empire.
success in British politics. One possible reason for this
By 1919 there were about 250,000 Jews in Britain. The Aliens Act of
is that Britain has always been a mixture of nations and
1905 restricted the flood of immigration, and there was some anti
nationalities. Even the Union Jack is a combination of the flags of
semitism in the 1930s, but there was never actual persecution. In
the patron saints of England, Scotland and Ireland. The original
London’s Cable Street in October 1936, local people rose up to repel
inhabitants were mainly Celtic tribes, but over the centuries many
a fascist march through the Jewish East End, and for a time Britain
immigrant groups have come to shape Britain’s development.
was a refuge for Jews escaping Nazi Germany. But in 1938 the 30
Britain’s first invaders were the Romans, who arrived in 55 BC.
Government banned all further immigration, making an exception for
In the ‘Dark Ages’ that followed their departure in AD 410,
10,000 Jewish children who came from Nazi-occupied Europe on a
10 Germanic tribes then Vikings attacked the country, settling in
rescue mission known as the Kindertransport They also interned
the south and north respectively. The last great invading force
German Jews at the start of the Second World War. Despite these
was William the Conqueror’s Normans in 1066, but
restrictions, however, most British Jews consider their country to have
paradoxically once invasion ended, immigration began.
been a model of tolerance compared with its European neighbours.
today have at least one Irish grandparent, and there are with 492 Jamaican immigrants on board. They found jobs in
significant Irish communities in most urban centres. Irish public transport and did the sort of menial work which many
workers - known as ‘navvies’ helped to build Britain’s canal did not want to do. These new arrivals often met with racism
network in the late 18th century and then the railways from and hostility, and restrictions on Commonwealth immigration
50 the 1830s onwards. Though conditions on the railways were came in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The fears of many
terrible, the Great Famine in Ireland of the 1840s ensured a others were vividly expressed by the right-wing politician
steady supply of Irish labour came to Britain. The difficult Enoch Powell in his notorious ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech of April
economic conditions of mid-20th-century Ireland had the 1968, which predicted that the racial mixing of Britain would 80
same effect, with Irish workers predominating in construction lead to bloodshed. In 1981, serious rioting broke out in Brixton,
and road-building. Despite their huge contribution, many a predominantly black area of London, and some concluded
British natives treated Irish immigrants with contempt and that Powell had been proved right. But in fact, Brixton has been
prejudice. This often gave way to deep suspicion and hostility largely peaceful since then and race relations in Britain have
during the IRA terrorist bombing campaigns from the 1970s improved. Mixed-race people became the fastest-growing
ethnic group. And though the 1972 Immigration Act put a stop
to the early 1990s. But on the whole, the story of the Irish in
to mass immigration from the Commonwealth, the Government
60 Britain has been one of integration and acceptance.
made an exception in the case of 27,000 Ugandan Asians
Membership of the British Empire, and the Commonwealth
suffering persecution by Idi Amin.
which replaced it, offered many other groups the chance to
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the expansion 90
come to Britain as economic migrants. The British Nationality
Act of 1948 passed to help with Britain’s labour shortage of the EU led to a wave of Eastern European immigration,
above all from Poland. Britain was one of the few countries to
after the Second World War - gave 800 million people the
right to live and work in the UK without a visa. Of the many open its doors immediately to citizens of new EU member
Glossary
paradoxically in a way that is true though it seems absurd
persecution abuse and victimisation
refuge a safe place
interned put in prison for political reasons
sought asylum came for state protection
menial unskilled, low status
Check your facts! What do you think?
The U nion Jack reflects B ritain's: Of the im m ig ra n t groups m e ntion ed, w h ich
a) extrem e nationalism . w as a) the firs t, b) the largest, and c) the
b) Celtic past. m ost recent to arrive?
c) im m ig ra n t history.
d) m ixed character. 2 Explain in y o u r o w n w o rd s the difference
betw een an invader and an im m ig ra n t.
2 'B rita in 's firs t im m ig ra n ts w ere Rom ans.'
True or false? 3 Give at least thre e reasons fo r people
im m ig ra tin g to Britain o ver the course
3 W hich o f these dates in B ritish h isto ry o f its history.
w o u ld British Jew s n o t have a reason
to celebrate? 4 Find tw o facts in the te xt th a t s tro n g ly
a ) 1066 suggest Enoch Powell w as w ro n g .
b) 1290
c) 1655 5 Say w hich groups came to Britain as
d) 1858 a) asylum seekers and b) econom ic m igrants.
Did any o f the groups come as both o f these?
4 T h e biggest w ave of Jew ish im m ig ra tio n
to Britain w as caused by the Nazis.'
True o r false?
Language W ord(s)
H indi
Chinese
Irish
Y iddish (language o f East European Jew s)
Jam aican patois
R om any (language o f gypsies)
Then put the w o rd s in the box in the rig h t place, using the co n te xt to guide you, and answ er
the questions that fo llo w .
band Mother hopefuls passports cold blue
Britishbeginning grey children lifetime home
1 A lo t o f th is poem 's po w e r com es fro m its con tra sts. Make a list o f these, startin g
w ith the d iffe re n t skies o f hom e and o f Britain.
2 W hat does the poem say about the a ttitu d e o f the British people to these new im m ig ra n ts,
if anything?
3 Do you th in k th is poem w as w ritte n by a man or w o m a n , yo u n g or old person, black or
w h ite person? Give reasons.
4 Do you th in k the poem gives a m ore positive or negative v ie w o f im m ig ra tio n to Britain?
Say w hy.
5 W rite dow n in y o u r ow n w o rd s h o w the poem makes you feel.
6 N o w discuss y o u r answ ers in sm all groups.
B Research
Search fo r: 'fish and chips' / 'B rick Lane' / 'G oodness G racious M e' +
'g o in g o u t fo r an E nglish'
3 Find out about the TV series Goodness Gracious Me and its fam o us 'g o in g o ut fo r an
E nglish' sketch (available on YouTube).
B W h a t was th is TV series all about?
B W here did the title com e from ?
B W h a t is the joke in the 'g o in g o u t fo r an E nglish' sketch?
B W h a t do you th in k Goodness Gracious Me te lls us abo ut the Indian c o m m u n ity 's
re la tio n sh ip w ith Britain?
C Write
Is Britain a good country fo r im m igrants? Give your honest opinion, w ritin g about aspects such as:
B people 's attitudes.
B cu ltu re and social life.
B the econom y.
B politics.
B education.
B the w e a th e r and en viro n m e n t. (250 w o rds)
Section 1: Reading
Before you read - think and discuss
M ost British p o liticia n s say th e y fa v o u r a fa ir
and open society. Britain rem ains, how ever,
a co u n try o f deep class divisions.
m Is y o u r co u n try d ivid e d along class lines?
i Is social class im portant?
■ W hat, if a n ything, do you know abo ut
the British class system ?
Glossary
ranks positions within a fixed hierarchy
patriarch the male head of a community or congregation
trilby soft hat with a narrow brim
impartial treating all sides equally
meritocracy a society based on people’s skills and abilities, rather than class
C Check your facts! W hat do you think?
1 T h e British have alw ays seen class as Does the a u th o r suggest th a t class is a
so m e th in g th a t unites th e m .' True o r false? m a tte r o f sim ple econom ics? Explain
y o u r answ er.
2 W hich key class d istin ctio n started in 1066?
The a u th o r d o e sn 't describe h o w re ligio n
3 The aristocracy is n o t the sam e th in g as: has affected the class system in B ritain,
a) the upper classes. b u t suggests th a t its role is:
b )th e m onarchy. a) to challenge it.
c) the n o b ility. b ) to s u p p o rt it.
d) m em bers o f the House o f Lords. c) not im p o rta n t.
d) im p o ssib le to know.
4 W ho w as at the ve ry b o tto m o f the old
ag ricu ltu ra l hierarchy in Britain? Do you th in k the d e scrip tion o f the three
a) the yo u n g e st sons o f cottagers classes in the 20th century is a broad
b )th e daughters o f farm servants stereotype or an exact picture o f the
c) the daughters o f co pyh old ers historica l reality? Explain y o u r answ er.
d )th e eldest sons o f farm servants
Do you th in k the d e scrip tion o f the three
5 W hich new class appeared in the classes includes the w o m e n w h o belonged
19th century? to them ? Give reasons.
8 W ho w as S ir Jo h n Reith and w h y w as he
im p o rta n t in te rm s of class?
H isto rically, you could tell a person's social class in Britain fro m the w o rd s th e y used fo r
everyday thing s.
1 M atch each w o rd b elow w ith another w o rd o f the sam e m eaning.
d in n e r glasses greens ill la vato ry fro n t room settee/couch sick sittin g room
sofa spectacles supper to ile t vegetables
dinner = supper
2 For each pair o f w o rds, decide w h ich w o rd is posh and w h ich is ordinary.
3 Discuss the fo llo w in g questions.
1 W hich o f the w o rd s above do you use? Have you been using the posh w o rd or the
o rd in a ry w ord?
E H ow do you feel about this?
K In fu tu re , w ill you use d iffe re n t w ords? W hy?
K Does it m atter w h ich w o rd you use? W hy?
E Do you th in k British people still care about these differences?
B Middle-class politeness
The British m iddle class has tra d itio n a lly had a reputation fo r politeness, restraint and
understatem ent.
1 Read exam ples o f m iddle-class u n d erstatem ent a)-i). M atch them to the m ore direct
equivalents i)-ix).
a) W ould it be to o m uch to ask fo r som e sm all co n trib u tio n to w a rd s the c o s t? __
b) W ould you care to jo in u s ? __
c) W e are fe eling a trifle p e c k is h .__
d) It has been rather a long d a y .__
e) I'd rather not, if you d o n 't m in d .__
f) Could you possibly tra n sfe r the co n d im e n ts to th is end o f the ta b le ? __
g) That w o u ld be a bit o f a b lo w .__
h) It was very good in p a rts .__
i) I was w o n d e rin g if you w o u ld be so kind as to refrain fro m s m o k in g .__
i) No sm oking!
ii) It was absolute rubbish.
iii) Come w ith us.
iv) W e're starvin g !/W h e re 's the food?
v) I'm exhausted.
vi) Pass the salt.
vii) No w ay!
viii) That w o u ld be a com plete disaster.
ix) Come on, pay up.
2 Discuss the fo llo w in g questions.
K W hat devices do ve ry prope r English people use to make th e ir language polite?
T hink about vo ca b u la ry and gram m ar.
E Do people use u n d erstatem ent in y o u r co un try, or are people generally m ore direct?
E Do you prefer people to be very p o lite or m ore direct? W hy?
B Have British people you have m et been polite like this? If you have never m et a real
B ritish person, w h a t abo ut British people in film s , books or on TV - or British people y o u r
fa m ily or frie n d s have met?
3 W ork in pairs. T hink o f three sim p le requests and w rite them as p o lite ly as possible. Read
y o u r polite requests to ano the r pair. Do th e y understand w h a t you are asking for? Finally,
refuse the other p a ir's three requests as p o lite ly as you can.
g) You need to go to the barber and get y o u r Barnet (Fair) sorted o u t.__________
h) W e had a nice little bowler (hat) on the tra in . In fact, I w as ta lkin g so m uch I nearly
m issed m y s to p .__________
i) She's th a t girl w h o lives do w n the frog (and toad). I've know n her fo r y e a rs ._________
j) He hasn 't been the sam e since he s p lit up fro m his trouble (and strife).________
2 W hich o f these rh ym in g w o rd s do you like best? W hy? Choose tw o th a t you w ill try to
use in fu tu re w hen speaking English in fo rm a lly .
B Research
Search fo r: 'p o s h ' + 'C lass' + 'Jo h n Cleese' + 'R onnie C orbe tt' + 'R onnie Barker' /
'p u b lic schoo ls' + 'U K '
C W rite
W hich class o f people w o u ld you m ost o r least like to have belonged to in history?
W rite a sh o rt essay, in clu d in g the fo llo w in g points:
B the class o f people you chose, and w h y
B w h a t th e ir lives w o u ld have been like
B if you th in k th e y deserved the lives th e y had
B if you th in k you are luckier than them
(250 w o rds)
1
GLOSSARY
m i g lo s sa r y
eccentric odd, strange
electorate, the the voters
enfranchised having the right to vote
entrepreneurs people who set up businesses
ethnic cleansing the killing or expelling of one ethnic group by another
ever-diminishing getting smaller all the time
exploitation using for your own benefit
justification good reason for something that exists or has been done
GLOSSARY
squandered wasted
stirring moving
stubble what’s left in the fields after crops have been cut
subservient serving or acting in an obedient and inferior way
succeeds takes over from (as king)
suffrage the right to vote in political elections
swamped flooded
sworn an oath spoken a promise before God
Ulster the nine most Protestant counties of Ireland (situated in the north-east)
umpire referee
unleashed released
unprecedented not seen before
unsordid clean, noble
GLOSSARY
I
INDEX
A D
Act of Union, Irish (1800) 120 democracy 30, 55-6, 78-80, 83
Act of Union, Scottish (1707) 114-16 Dickens, Charles 19-20, 43, 47, 112
American 91, 96-101 Disraeli, Benjamin 43-5, 47, 79, 91, 120
Attlee, Clement 60, 79 divine right 30
Domesday Book 12—14, 17
B Drake, Sir Frances 25, 28
Bannockburn, Battle of 114-16 Dylan, Bob 67
Bayeux Tapestry 12-16
Beatles, The 67-8,71 E
Bevan, Aneurin 61-2 East India Company 90
Beveridge, Sir William 60-2, 65 Elizabeth I 24-9,85
Bill of Rights 78-9 Elizabeth II 46
Blair, Tony 61-2, 66, 97-8, 109, 115-16, 121 English Civil War 30-5, 79
Blitz, the 54-9
Boudicca, Queen 7-8,10 F
Britain, Battle of 55-7 Falklands War 73-4
Britannia 6-7 First World War 48-53, 91-2, 96, 98, 121
British Broadcasting Company (BBC) 67, 132-3 Flodden, Battle of 114,116
Bush, George W. 97-8,100 Francis of Assisi 75
C G
Caesar, Julius 6, 8, 10 Gladstone, William E. 43-4,47, 79,91, 121-2,124
Catholic Church 18,20 Glorious Revolution, the 78-9
Cavalier 30, 34 Good Friday Agreement 121
Celts 6 Grace, W. G. 102-3
Charles I 30-2,34 Great Exhibition, the 43
Charles II 37-8 Great Fire of London 36-8, 40-1
Church of England 18, 25 Great Reform Act 78-9
Churchill, Winston 54-9 Guevara, Che 67
civilization 7, 10
Clarkson, Thomas 94 H
Claudius, Tiberius 7 Hadrian, Emperor 7
Cockney rhyming slang 136 Hadrian’s Wall 7-8,10-11
Cold War, the 91,97 Haig, Field Marshal Douglas 49-50
colonies 90-2, 95-8 Harold II 12-14, 132
communism 97 Hastings, Battle of 12-14, 17, 132
comprehensive school 67 Henry VIII 18-24,26,85,114
Cromwell, Oliver 31-2, 35, 79, 126 Hitler, Adolf 55, 57, 79, 97
Culloden, Battle of 114 Home Rule Bill 121
I
idiom 15,75,88,105,124
imperialism 91-2,116
Iron Lady, the 72-7
INDEX
J R
Jacobite 114,116 Reagan, Ronald 97-8
Jenkins, Roy 67-8 Reformation 18
Representation of the People Act 78-80
L Rolling Stones, The 67, 71
Larkin, Philip 70-1,109 Roman 6-11,126,128
Latin 7,9,16,18,71,81,89 Roosevelt, Franklin D. 97-8
Lend-Lease Act 96-8 Roundhead 30-4
Lloyd George, David 49-50, 60 Royalist 30-3
M S
Macmillan, Harold 66,68,91-2 Saxon 7,12-3, 132
Magna Carta 78, 80-1, 83 Second World War 53-60, 79, 90-2,
Major, John 73 96-8, 109, 126-8
Mary Queen of Scots 24-5, 29 Shakespeare, William 37, 84-9
monarchy Sinn Fein 121
absolute 79-80 slave trade 93-5
constitutional 79-80 Somme, Battle of the 48-9
Spanish Armada 24-7
N Suez Crisis, the 97-8
National Health Service (NHS) 60-5 Suffragette 78-9,81
Norman 12-7, 78-80, 126, 132
T
O Thatcher, Margaret 61-2, 72-7,
Open University7 67 97-8, 115-16
P V
Pankhurst, Christabel 79 Victoria, Queen 42-7
Parliamentarian 30-1
Pepys, Samuel 36-41 W
Pitt, William 94,120 Washington, George 96-8
Plague, the Great 36-41 Webster, Noah 99
poll tax 73 welfare state 60-5
Pope, the 12,14,18,20 Western Front 96
Powell, Enoch 127-8 Whitehouse, Mary 67-8
Protestant 18, 24-5, 114, 120-1, 127 Wilberforce, William 94
Wilson, Harold 60, 66-8
Wilson, Woodrow 96
workhouse 43, 60, 62
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