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Record-breaking royal

Queen Elizabeth II has broken the record. She's now been on the throne longer than any other British monarch.






Transcript

A historic day that one of the UK's biggest royal fans has been looking forward to.

Queen Elizabeth II has now overtaken Queen Victoria as the UK's longest-serving monarch. Victoria was on the throne for 63 years, seven months and two days.

Margaret Tyler, the self-styled 'queen of royal memorabilia', has turned her house into a shrine to Britain's royals.

Each room is dedicated to a member of the family. But Queen Elizabeth has two rooms all to herself.

Vocabulary

overtaken
gone past

longest-serving
person in a position for the most amount of time

self-styled
named by herself

memorabilia
objects collected which are connected to an event or person

shrine
(here) a place to pay respect to a person or institution

To do

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from news reports.

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

overtaken / longest-serving / self-styled / memorabilia / shrine

1. South African police are investigating the raid of a church run by a _________ prophet accused of making his followers eat snakes, rats and hair.

2. The Hobbit has been _________ by Taken 3 at the top of the North American box office chart after spending three weeks in the top spot.

3. A postbox in Bristol has been turned into a _________ by people upset about a decision to remove it.

4. A firefighter who trained to follow in his father's footsteps is retiring after 47 years of service. Staffordshire Fire and Rescue service said Chris Thompson was the _________ firefighter in its history.

5. A collection of _________ devoted to George IV's only child Princess Charlotte, who died giving birth nearly 200 years ago, is to go on sale.

Answers

1. South African police are investigating the raid of a church run by a self-styled prophet accused of making his followers eat snakes, rats and hair.



2. The Hobbit has been overtaken by Taken 3 at the top of the North American box office chart after spending three weeks in the top spot.



3. A postbox in Bristol has been turned into a shrine by people upset about a decision to remove it.



4. A firefighter who trained to follow in his father's footsteps is retiring after 47 years of service. Staffordshire Fire and Rescue service said Chris Thompson was the longest-serving firefighter in its history.



5. A collection of memorabilia devoted to George IV's only child Princess Charlotte, who died giving birth nearly 200 years ago, is to go on sale.

Fruit, Vegetables & Spices Vocabulary

Words in the News - BBC LearningEnglish

What's the meaning of a royal name?

Transcript

A little baby with a big name. This is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, the daughter of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. 

Elizabeth is a tribute to her great-grandmother, the British monarch. 

The baby was also named after her paternal grandmother, the late Princess Diana. 

The birth of the fourth in line to the British throne was marked by gun salutes.  

Vocabulary 

a tribute toan act done to show respect and admiration to someone 

monarchsovereign or ruler 

named afterto be called the same as someone else 

the latethe deceased 

in line toin a queue for something

To do

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from news reports. Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

a tribute to / monarch / named after / the late / in line to 

1. A newly described 6ft lizard that roamed South East Asia from 36-40 million years ago has been __________The Doors singer Jim Morrison. 

The choice of name Barbaturex morrisoni is a play on the late frontman's epithet "The Lizard King". 

2. Leonard Nimoy fans have been turning the face on a Canadian bank note into his Star Trek character, as __________ the actor who died last week. 

3. A signed first edition of the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by __________Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez has been stolen. 

4. For much of his reign, Juan Carlos was seen as one of the world's most popular_________, but recently many Spaniards have lost confidence in him. 

5. The former head of Saudi intelligence, Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz al Saud, has been named the country's second deputy prime minister by King Abdullah. 

The appointment puts Prince Muqrin third __________ succeed the 89-year-old Abdullah. 

Answers 

1. A newly described 6ft lizard that roamed South East Asia from 36-40 million years ago has been named after The Doors singer Jim Morrison.

The choice of name Barbaturex morrisoni is a play on the late frontman's epithet "The Lizard King".

See story

2. Leonard Nimoy fans have been turning the face on a Canadian bank note into his Star Trek character, as a tribute to the actor who died last week.

See story

3. A signed first edition of the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by the late Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez has been stolen.

See story

4. For much of his reign, Juan Carlos was seen as one of the world's most popularmonarchs, but recently many Spaniards have lost confidence in him.

See story

5. The former head of Saudi intelligence, Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz al Saud, has been named the country's second deputy prime minister by King Abdullah. The appointment puts Prince Muqrin third in line to succeed the 89-year-old Abdullah.

See story  

Great Britain

Words in the News - BBC LearningEnglish

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
Ivory protest

Transcript

Beautiful ornaments from an ugly trade.

More than a ton of ivory has been taken to New York's Times Square and destroyed as a protest.

Many of the items were confiscated from an antiques dealer in Philadelphia.

The international trade of ivory was made illegal in 1989 but officials say around 35,000 elephants are still being slaughtered in Africa every year.

The message is that traders' profits should be crushed and people shouldn't buy ivory.

(Note: 1 ton = 907.185 kg)

Vocabulary

ornaments
objects used for their beauty, with no practical purpose

confiscated
items taken away by an authority

illegal
against the law

slaughtered
killed violently

crushed
(here) reduced dramatically; destroyed

To do

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from news reports.

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

ornaments / confiscated / illegal / slaughtered / crushed

1. Mr Jeffrey added: "Criminals involved in the __________ supply of medical products through the internet aren't interested in your health, they are interested in your money and are able to get this by selling you a potentially dangerous product or by stealing your bank details. "

2. Germany has signed an agreement for the return of a Matisse painting, looted by the Nazis, to the family of its original Jewish owner.

Femme Assise [Seated Woman] was __________ from the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of Adolf Hitler's art dealer.

3. Last year a record 1,215 rhinos were __________ for their horns in South Africa - and at the same time, 42 poachers were killed by rangers and police. This bloody conflict is fuelled by the mistaken belief in Asia that rhino horn cures cancer, and it's growing more intense every year.

4. The lock-rings - worn either as earrings or in the hair by a person of wealth and status about 3,000 years ago - were discovered in Rossett.

The __________ will now go on display in Wrexham County Borough Museum.

5. "Instead of allowing his spirit to be __________ and giving up, instead of allowing himself to be filled with anger and frustration, Jafar Panahi created a love letter to cinema," said Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky, who headed this year's jury.

Answers

1. Mr Jeffrey added: "Criminals involved in the illegal supply of medical products through the internet aren't interested in your health, they are interested in your money and are able to get this by selling you a potentially dangerous product or by stealing your bank details. "

See story

2. Germany has signed an agreement for the return of a Matisse painting, looted by the Nazis, to the family of its original Jewish owner.

Femme Assise [Seated Woman] was confiscated from the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of Adolf Hitler's art dealer.

See story

3. Last year a record 1,215 rhinos were slaughtered for their horns in South Africa - and at the same time, 42 poachers were killed by rangers and police. This bloody conflict is fuelled by the mistaken belief in Asia that rhino horn cures cancer, and it's growing more intense every year.

See story

4. The lock-rings - worn either as earrings or in the hair by a person of wealth and status about 3,000 years ago - were discovered in Rossett.

The ornaments will now go on display in Wrexham County Borough Museum.

See story

5. "Instead of allowing his spirit to be crushed and giving up, instead of allowing himself to be filled with anger and frustration, Jafar Panahi created a love letter to cinema," said Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky, who headed this year's jury.

Word of the Day - cloudburst

cloudburst

Definition:	(noun) A heavy rain.
Synonyms:	pelter, soaker, torrent, waterspout, deluge, downpour
Usage:	We enjoyed the lovely recliners on the ship's deck until a sudden cloudburst sent us running for our cabins. Article of the Day A Knight Bachelor is a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organized Orders of Chivalry, making him an English knight of the lowest rank. Like other knights, Knights Bachelor are styled "Sir." The honor is generally awarded for public service, and amongst its recipients are all the male judges of the High Court of England and Wales. Sir Paul McCartney is one of the best-known holders of the rank. This Day in History The Jedwabne Pogrom (1941) Just a month after Nazi forces overran Poland and began distributing anti-Semitic propaganda there, the non-Jewish residents of the Polish town of Jedwabne took it upon themselves to round up and massacre Jews living in the area, burning hundreds alive. The fact that the Jedwabne Pogrom was not a German death squad operation but was actually "committed directly by Poles" was only recently established by the Polish Institute of National Remembrance. What details of the atrocity are still debated? More...                                        Today's Birthday Camille Pissarro (1830) Known as the "Father of Impressionism," Pissarro was the only Impressionist painter who participated in all eight of the group's exhibitions. He is notable not only for his paintings of rural and urban French life but in his role as a mentor to postimpressionists Paul Cézanne and Paul Gauguin. He gained popularity in the 1890s with his interpretation of nature, including many landscapes drawn from his surroundings in the French countryside.

Lie or Lay?

Ambassador Moser says goodbye... U.S. embassy in Moldova

Post by U.S. Embassy Moldova.