в помощь учителю английского языка
учебно-методический материал по английскому языку по теме

The Poem

A bad day

I overslept and missed my train,

Slipped on the sidewalk

In the pouring rain,

Sprained my ankle,

Skinned my knees,

Broke my glasses,

Lost my keys,

Got stuck in the elevator,

It wouldn’t go,

Kicked it twice and stubbed my toe,

Bought a pen that didn’t write,

Took it back and had a fight,

Went home angry,

Locked the door,

Crawled into bed,

Couldn’t take any more.

The Poem

A bad day

I overslept and missed my train,

Slipped on the sidewalk

In the pouring rain,

Sprained my ankle,

Skinned my knees,

Broke my glasses,

Lost my keys,

Got stuck in the elevator,

It wouldn’t go,

Kicked it twice and stubbed my toe,

Bought a pen that didn’t write,

Took it back and had a fight,

Went home angry,

Locked the door,

Crawled into bed,

Couldn’t take any more.

A bit of grammar

Who is to blame?

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Continue the story supplying Everybody, Somebody, Nobody or Anybody.

____________ got angry about that, because it was _______________‘s job.  ____________ thought ___________ could do it, but __________ realized that ______________ wouldn’t do it. In the end __________ blamed ____________ when _____________ did what __________ could have.

A robber in the house?

Can you put the verbs in brackets into the correct form? The first one has been done for you.

        The moment Jane 1___turned (to turn) the corner, she 2_________ (to notice) that her front door 3________ (to be) open. She definitely 4__________ (to shut) it when she 5 ________ (to go) out, and her flatmate, Ann, 6______ (not to say) that she 7_________ (to come) this evening. Jane 8__________ (to slacken) her pace, 9__________ (to think) what she 10_________(can) do. If she 11____________ (to ask) her neighbors 12 ____________ (to accompany) her and it 13 _______ (to turn out) that there 14 _________ (to be) no one there, then she 15 _______ (to look) a fool. On the other hand, if she 16 _______ (to enter) the flat alone, and 17 __________ (to find) an intruder there, it 18 __________ (can) end very badly.

           ‘This 19 _________ (never to happen) to me before,’ Jane 20_________ (to think), ‘and I 21 _________ (to hope) it 22__________ (never to happen) again’.

Crazy prepositions.

1. On Wednesday I had an important interview (2) ___ a job. I got up (3) ____ 7 o’clock in the morning and shaved carefully. I put (4) ____ my best jacket and trousers. I had to travel (5) ____ train, so I walked to the station. (6)_____ my way I saw a man who was painting his fence (7)____ red paint. The man didn’t notice me: he was looking (8)____ the fence. Then he turned suddenly and splashed my beautiful trousers!

I was very angry (9) ____ the man. He apologized (10) _____ me, but the damage was done. There was a department store not far (11)___ the station, so I decided to buy a new pair.

I found a nice pair of trousers and since I was short (12) ___ time, I decided to change (13) ___the train. The shop was full, so I paid hurriedly (14) _____ my trousers, grabbed my shopping bag and left.

I arrived (15) ____ the station just (16) ____ time to catch the train. I was very proud (17) ____ myself. ‘Now I won’t be late (18) ___ the interview,’ I thought and smiled happily (19) ____an elderly lady who was staring (20) ____my trousers.

I went (21) ___the toilet to change. I threw away my stained trousers and opened the bag to get my new ones, but all I found was a pink woolen sweater.

A good friend

Nice – милый                          a doghouse - будка                       a box - коробка

Near - рядом                          one day - однажды                       to know - знать

To come back - возвращаться                                                      kind - добрый

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

A good friend

Nice – милый                          a doghouse - будка                       a box - коробка

Near - рядом                          one day - однажды                       to know - знать

To come back - возвращаться                                                      kind - добрый

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

A good friend

Nice – милый                          a doghouse - будка                       a box - коробка

Near - рядом                          one day - однажды                       to know - знать

To come back - возвращаться                                                      kind - добрый

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

A good friend

Nice – милый                          a doghouse - будка                       a box - коробка

Near - рядом                          one day - однажды                       to know - знать

To come back - возвращаться                                                      kind - добрый

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

English is a crazy language

Have you got problems with English? Does it sometimes seem too difficult or illogical? Read what American linguist Richard Lederer writes about his native language.

Let’s face it – English is a crazy language, the most lunatic of all languages.

In the crazy English language, blackboards can be green or blue, and blackberries are green and then red before they are ripe.

There is no egg in eggplant, no grape in grapefruit, neither mush nor room in mushroom, neither pine nor apple, in pineapple, and no harm in hamburger.

In this unreliable English tongue, greyhounds aren’t always grey, panda bears and koala bears aren’t bears, and a guinea pig is neither a pig nor from Guinea.

Language is like the air we breathe – we take it for granted. But when we take the time to listen to what we say, we find that hot dogs can be cold, homework can be done at school, nightmares can take place in broad daylight while daydreaming can take place at night, hours – especially rush hours – often last longer than 60 minutes, and most bathrooms don’t have any baths in them. In fact, a dog can “go to the bathroom” under a tree.

Why is it that a king rules a kingdom but a queen doesn’t rule a queendom?

And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn’t the plural of booth be beeth?

If you write a letter today and wrote a letter yesterday, why don’t we say that you bite your tongue today and bote it yesterday? If the teacher taught, why isn’t it also true that the preacher praught? Why is it that the sun shone yesterday while I shined my shoes?

 If olive oil is made from olives, what do they make baby oil from?

If hard is the opposite of soft, why is hardly not opposite of softy? If harmless actions are the opposite of harmful actions, why are shameful and shameless behavior the same and pricey objects less expensive than priceless ones?

Why is that when the sun or the moon or the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible?

English users are constantly standing meaning on its head. Let’s look at a number of familiar English words and phrases:

A non-stop flight. Never get on one of these. You’ll never get down.

A hot cup of coffee. Who cares if the cup is hot? Surely we mean a cup of hot coffee.

I want to have my cake and eat it too. Shouldn’t it be “I want to eat my cake and have it too”?

Watch your head! You can often see this sigh on low doorways, but how can you follow the instructions? Trying to watch your head is like trying to bite your teeth!

They’re head over heels in love. That’s nice, but all of us do almost everything head over heels. Why don’t we say, “They’re heels over head in love”?

They do things behind my back. You want they should do things in front of your back?

And in what other language can your nose run?

If the truth be told, all languages are a little crazy. That’s because language is created by people, not computers. That’s why six, seven, and nine change to sixty, seventy, eighty and ninety, but two, three, four and five do not become twoty, threety, fourty anf fivety. That’s why we wear a pair of pans but, exept on very cold days, not a pair of shirts. That’s why when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it.

Here are some interesting questions. Can you answer them?

1. If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat?
2. If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren’t people from Holland called Holes?
3. Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called the rush hour?
4. Why do a slim chance and a fat chance mean the same (“no chance at all”)?
5. Why is it that a man with hair on his head has more hair than a man with hairs on his head?
6. Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?
7. Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
8. Why is it called building when it is already built?
9. Why is abbreviation (“a short form of”) such a long word?

Our Queer English Language

We’ll begin with box; the plural is boxes.

But the plural of ox is oxen, not oxes.

One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,

 But the plural of mouse is not ever meese.

You may find a lone mouse, or a whole nest of mice,

But the plural of house is still never hice.

If the plural of man is always men

Why shouldn’t the plural of pan be pen?

If I speak of a foot and you show me two feet,

And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth, and a whole set are teeth

Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?

If the singular is this and the plural is these

Should the plural of kiss ever be keese?

We speak of brother and also call brethren,

And though we say mother we never say methren.

Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,

But imagine the feminine she, shis and shim.

Ox  -               бык

Fowl               птица

Lone              отдельный

Nest              банда, шайка

Brethren       собратья, братия

Masculine    мужского рода

Feminine     женского рода

Harry Potter Dictionary

When the Harry Potter books were edited for American readers some changers were made in J.K.Rowling’s original text. Here are some of them.

British edition                        American edition

Toilet                                    bathroom Philosopher’s Stone              Sorcerer’s Stone wardrobe                               closet           motorbike                              motorcycle            cine-camera                           video camera     football                                  soccer                  sherbet lemon                        lemon drop            ice lolly                                  ice pop                   jacket potato                          baked potato              sweet                                     candy                         sweet shop                            candy shop             tinned soup                            canned soup       pudding                                 desserts                 biscuits                                  cookies              beetroot                                 beet                       packet of crisps                      bag of chips     jumper                                   sweater                   dressing gown                       bathrobe           holiday                                   vacation            queue                                     line                         post                                        mail                            mummy                                 mommy                    cinema                                   movies                changing room                      locket room               mad                                       crazy

________________________________________

The opposites

The misunderstanding is worse when a word means the opposite in two variants. One American author was distressed when his British publisher told him on the telephone that his latest book was a bomb in Britain. In America to ‘bomb’ - it is not normally used as a noun – is to flop.

Understatement and realism

Yet some of the most striking differences between the two variants are not in vocabulary but in usage. Britons in many areas of life still tend towards understatement. Americans to hyperbole.

It is said this difference once had dangerous consequences during the Korean War. A British officer called on the American for air support. The American major said that all his aircraft were assigned to other missions that day, and asked, ‘How bad is your position?’

‘It’s pretty sticky,’ said the British officer. Any Briton would understand immediately that the situation was desperate.

But the American major decided that there was some difficulty but the situation was far from critical. There was no air support.

American English VS British English

‘It was decided almost two hundred years ago that English should be the language spoken in the United States. It is not known, however, why this decision has been carried out.’

                                         George Mikes

‘We are two countries separated by a common language.’

                                          G. B. Show

English in America

For 150 years America was a British colony. At that time British and American English were almost exactly the same. When America won the War of Independence in 1776, it became a free country. In 1782, its citizens were proudly christened ‘Americans’, and in 1802, US leaders began to talk about ‘the American language’.

       The USA was quickly richer and more powerful. Millions of Europeans came to America to start a new life there. There were settles from Italy, Germany, Spain, Ireland, France and other countries and all of them brought new words and expressions to the language.        The USA became a ‘melting pot’ of cultures. As a result, America began to develop a character of its own and today, there are certain differences in pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and spelling between American and British English.

Different sounds        

First of all, British and American English sound differently. Often, Americans don’t say each word separately. They say several words together. Americans may say ‘I dunno’ instead of ‘I don’t know.’ Or they may say ‘Whaddya say?’ instead of ‘What did you say?’ The British are more careful in their speech.

Also, some letters have different sounds. For example, pronounce the ‘a’ in half, past, and last as [æ].

How to speak New Yorkese        

In New York City, many people have a way of speaking English that is called New Yorkese. Speakers of New Yorkese often speak very fast. Unlike other Americans, they tend not to pronounce the ‘r’ in words that end in ‘er’. But they do pronounce the ‘r’ in the wrong words. They add the letter at the end of words such as ‘idear’ (idea) and ‘sofer’ (sofa).

If you are a movie fanatic, you may have head New Yorkese        from Robert De Niro or Woody Allen.

My English has gotten better

There are some grammatical differences between British and American variants. In British English, the past participle of ‘get’ is ‘gotten’. American English accept the use of the Simple Past tense where British English requires Present Perfect:

Did you see him yet?

He just went out.

Did you go there already?

Different prepositions        

There are a number of interesting Anglo-American differences in the use of certain prepositions.

The British talk to their friends, the Americans talk with them.

The British look out of the window, throw something out of the window, and even fall out of the window. Americans simply look out of the window.

Americans check out the situation, while the British check up on it.

If the British do not go out, they stay at home. Americans stay home.

Citizens of the UK sit down to write to their friends. Holders of the US passports simply write their friends.                                                                                                Verbal misunderstanding

Some American words are simply unknown on the other side of the Atlantic, and vice versa. But a lot of words exist in both variants, and these can cause trouble.

In his book ‘How to Scrape Skies’ George Mikes gives several examples of this verbal misunderstanding: ‘You must be extremely careful concerning the names of certain articles. If you ask for suspenders in a man’s shop, you receive a pair of braces, if you ask for a pair of pants, you receive a pair of  trousers and should you ask for a pair of braces, you receive a queer look.’        

British visitors to America are often surprised at the different meanings that familiar words have acquired there. If an Englishman asks in an American store for a vest, he will be offered a waistcoat. If he wants to buy a handbag for his wife, he should ask for a purse, and if she wants to buy a pair of tights, she should ask for pantyhose: tights in America are what ballet dancers wear.

What shall we wear?        

British                               American

Trousers                          pants

Pants                               underwear

Jumper                            sweater          

Trainers                           sneakers

Dressing gown               bathrobe

Tights                             pantyhose  

Purse - кошелек (брит.), дам. Сумочка (амер.)

Tights – колготки (брит.)

Pantyhose – колготки (амер.)

Distressed – огорченный, пораженный

Bomb – сенсация (бр.), неудача, провал (ам.)

To flop – потерпеть неудачу (амер.)

Understatement - недоговоренность

Striking - поразительный

To tend towards – быть склонным к

Hyperbole – преувеличение, гипербола

Consequences - последствия

Air support – поддержка с воздуха

Major - майор

His aircraft were assigned to other mission – его самолеты отправлены на выполнение других заданий

Sticky – сложный, очень неприятный

Desperate - безнадежный

Was far from critical – была далеко не критической

Vs (versus) - против

To carry out – выполнять, осуществлять

To christen – давать имя, называть

Settler - поселенец

Melting pot – «плавильный котел» (место смешения рас и народов)

To develop – проявлять, обнаруживать

Verbal misunderstanding – недоразумение, вызванное неправильным пониманием слова

Vice versa - наоборот

To cause trouble – причинять беспокойство

To scrape – скрести, царапать

Extremely – очень, чрезвычайно

Concerning – относительно, касательно

Article – предмет, вещь, изделие

Suspenders – подвязки (бр.), подтяжки (ам.)

Braces – фигурные скобки, подтяжки (бр.)

Pants – трусы (бр.), брюки (ам.)

Queer – странный, подозрительный

To acquire - приобретать

Vest – майка (бр.), жилет (ам.)

Waitcoat – жилет (бр)

T-shirts

T-shirts started off as underwear. During the First World War, European soldiers wore them underneath their uniform to keep warm. American troops copied the idea and started calling them “T-shirts” because of their T shape. In 1951, actor Marlon Brando wore a T-shirt in the film “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Then in the mid – 1950s, actor James Dean and rock star Elvis Presley shocked the world by wearing their T-shirts on TV. It was too much for young people to ignore. Everyone wanted to look like James Dean and Elvis Presley. By the 1960s T-shirts had conquered the world. Sports teams, clubs and rock bands were all using colours and logos on their “tees” to get noticed.

Today, T-shirts are worn in every corner of the world. They are worn by babies, kids, teenagers and adults. They tell others what we like, where we’ve been, the things we’ve done, the competitions we’ve won. They are also used to make statements.

The latest craze in T-shirts is decorating them yourself. It’s cheap and you’ll never see someone walking down the street in the same outfit as you.

Jeans

Blue jeans were a by-product of the Gold Rush. The man who invented jeans, Levi Strauss, emigrated from Germany to San Francisco in 1850. Levi was 20 years old, and he decided to sell clothes to the miners who were in California in search of gold. When he was told that durable trousers were the most needed item of clothing, Levi began making jeans of heavy tent canvas.

Levi’s jeans were an immediate success. Soon he switched from canvas to a cotton fabric which came from Nimes, a city in France, and was called “serge de Nimes”. The miners liked this fabric. They called it “denim” (from de Nimes) and bought even more trousers from Strauss.

Not long ago, a pair of Levi’s first jeans was discovered buried in the mud of a mining town in Nevada. 120 years ago it was sold for $1, but in 2001 it went for $46,532! The jeans have some holes and a rip and are faded.

By the way, if you want to be really fashionable, you must never wear a pair of new jeans. The shabbier they look, the better.

   50 YEARS AGO, people hadn’t even heard of computers, and today we cannot                                                    imagine life without them.

         Computer technology is the fastest-growing industry in the world. The first computer was the size of a minibus and weighed a ton. Today, its job can be done by a chip the size of a pinhead. And the revolution is still going on.

          Very soon we’ll have computers that we’ll wear on our wrist or even in our glasses and earrings. Such wearable computers are being developed in the USA.

Japan’s biggest mobile-phone company has just released its cleverest product so far, the i-mode, a mobile phone that allows you to surf the Internet as well as make calls. People are already using the phone to check the news headlines, follow the stock market and download the latest jokes. Soon they will be able to buy cinema tickets and managed their bank accounts.

The next generation of computers will be able to talk and even think for themselves. They will contain electronic ‘neural networks’. Of course, they’ll be still a lot simpler than human brains, but it will be a great step forward. Such computers will help to diagnose illness, find minerals, understand and control the world’s money markets, indentify criminals and control space travel.

Computer revolution is changing our life and our language, too.  We are constantly making up new words or giving new meanings to old ones. Most of computer terms are born in Silicon Valley, the word’s top computer-science centre.

Are you part of computer revolution?

Do the following tasks and find out.

1. Chose an answer – a or b.

1. A mouse is

1. A small furry animal with a long tail
2. A small box used to operate a computer

2. To surf is

1. To ride on board on the waves of the sea
2. To move around the Internet

3. A bug is

1. A small insect
2. An error in a computer program

4. A flame is

1. A red or yellow burning gas seen when something is on fire
2. An unfriendly or rude e-mail

5. To boot is

1. To kick
2. To start a computer

6. A geek is

1. Someone who bites the heads off alive chickens as part of a show
2. A person who knows everything about computers

7. Spam is

1. A type of tinned meat
2. Unwanted e-mail (from advertisers and the like)

8. A cookie is

1. A biscuit
2. A small text file that is sent to your computer when you visit some information about you for the next time you visit that site – like where you went on the site and what you did.

2. Do this puzzle and you’ll read the name of one of the most successful computer companies.

1. This small box is used to operate a computer.
2. A document on your computer.
3. A device which is used to transfer photos and texts to you computer.
4. To make a computer better or able to do more things.
5. This looks like a typewriter and has the keys you need to press.
6. It can be hard. It can be floppy.
7. A device which allows your computer to send messages along a telephone line.
8. An unfriendly or rude e-mail.
9. To start a computer.

3. Complete the sentence by using the words in the box below.

INTERNET TV

       Is it possible to have a TV set, a (1) ________and the Internet all in one?

       With the advent of Internet TV it has become a reality.

        Imagine watching a film on TV and getting (2) _________ on the actors in the film at the same time!

       To enter (3) ________ addresses and write (4) _______ you use a remote control and an (5) _______ keyboard or an optional wireless keyboard.

        By clicking a button, you can also read adverts, (6)’ ______’ with a friend, plan your holiday and play your favourite (7) _______games.

        In the future you’ll be able to change the plot of the film you’re watching and meddle in the private lives of the characters.

       The next (8) ________ of Internet TVs will also have a smart-card for shopping, banking and other (9) ________ activities.

1

2

3

4

5

9

7

6

8

Chip – чип, микросхема                                                   to download-загружать, скачивать

Wrist – запястье                                                                 bank account – банковский счет  

To develop - разрабатывать                                            neural network – нейронная сеть

To release – выпускать (новую продукцию)               Silicon Valley- Силиконовая долина (        

To surf the Internet – «бродить» по интернету           центр компьютерной индустрии,

To follow the stock market – следить за уровнем      расположенный в районе Сан-

 цен на бирже                                                                     Франциско, Калифорния)

Web                                 chat

Information                    PC

Interactive                      generation

e-mail                              video

on-screen

WAN 2 TLK?

The joy of text

Text messaging is the smart way to communicate in the 21st century. Everyone uses it – men and women, young and old. Why? Because it’s fun, it’s simple…and it’s so addictive.

The biggest text maniacs are the young – teenagers and twenty-somethings. They send text messages to finalize their infinitely flexible plants, to make a date, to share a joke and… to flirt. And they do it under the noses of their mums, dads and even teachers.

Can you decipher this?         Here is the translation

HOW R U?                            How are you?
OK N U?                                OK and you?
OK CU2DAY?                        OK. See you today?
NO 2MORO WER?              NO. Tomorrow. Where?

@J’S CUL8TR                        at John’s. See you later.

LUV B                                     love, Bill.

Wd u…oops… would you like to learn this language? Here’s how to do it.

Basic rules:

The rules (if there are any) are:

1. Make words as short as you can, e.g. wd = would
2. Use a letter instead of a whole word where possible, e.g. u = you
3. Use numbers instead of letters where possible: gr8 = great, w8 = wait, 2 = to, too, 4 = four, for…
4. Use symbols – they look so beautiful in the middle of a word! The percentage sign can be used for the “oo” sound – sk%l = school, and c%l + cool. A dollar sign ($) can be used instead of double s.
5. Use abbreviations for longer phrases, for example, LOL = laughing; Out Loud, ROFLMYHO = Rolling on the floor laughing my head off.
6. If in doubt, write as you please, ignoring all the rules of grammar and spelling.

You can’t do without them

Here are some basic words and phrases that are essential for messages everywhere:

SMS       Short message service

2            To/ too/ two

4            For

@           At

AND       Any day now  

B            be

B/C       because

C           sea/ see

CID        consider it done

Esp        especially

H2          how to

ILBL8       I’ll be late

OK           Okay

M8         Mate

M80        Matey

Mob        Mobile

Msg         message

Ne1/Neone    Anyone

Neva        never

No1          No one

NMP        Not my problem

Ntl           Nevertheless

OIC         Oh, I see

Pls           Please

Pobl        Possible

Ppl           People

R              Are

RUF2T    Are you free to talk?

Spk          speak

Tho          Though

Thng       Thank you

Thru         Through

THX/TNX    Thanks

TNOTVS   There is nothing on TV so…

U               you  

Un4gtebl    Unforgettable

UOK        you OK?

UR        Your/you’re  

Usu       Usually

W/         With

WWW   Why? Why? Why?

Cunning plants

Got somewhere to go and someone to tell? Here how to text those important details:

2day            Today

2moro        tomorrow

ATM           At the moment

ASAP         As soon as possible

B4             Before

TO MANY COOKS SPOIL THE BROTH

There are proverbs and sayings in every language.                                                                                      They are handed down from generation to generation and are supposed to have a universal value.       People use them to give a word of advice or a warning, or a wise general comment on a situation.               In fact, our daily conversation would seem rather dull without them.

1. Some English and Russian proverbs are common and can be translated word by word from one language into another. For example, ‘There’s no smoke without fire’ has the Russian equivalent “Нет дыма без огня”. With other, the meaning of the proverb can be expressed in different ways. For example, ‘Once bitten, twice shy’ can be expressed in Russian by “Обжегшись на молоке, будешь дуть и на воду” or “Пуганная ворона куста боится”. Below are some English proverbs.        1. See if you can match them with their Russian equivalents.

2. Can you complete the following proverbs?

On punctuation

Punctuation can often say quite a lot. One day, as a teacher walked into her classroom, she heard Tommy Andrew’s whisper to the boy next to him: ‘Here is the teacher. I’ll bet the silly cow is going to talk about putting in commas.’ The teacher didn’t say anything but she began to talk about putting in commas, and explained how important they could be. To show what she meant, she wrote the sentence on the black board: ‘Tommy Andrews says the teacher is a silly cow.’ The class laughed and Tommy Andrews locked very red. ‘Now,’ said the teacher, ‘I’ll show how important commas are.’ She put two commas into the sentence, and it now read:’ Tommy Andrews, said the teacher, is a silly cow.’

Can you punctuate the following sentences?

1. King Charles the First walked and talked half an hour after his head was cut off.
2. Caesar entered on his head his helmet on his feet his sandals in his hand his good sword in his eye a fierce look.

KIDNAPPERS’ LETTER

got

your

we’ve

son

he

safe

is

we

cash

$ 5000, 000

in

in

money

$100 NOTES

must

the

be

at

to

money

the

the

the

4 o’clock

in

bring

show

be

sorry

You’ll

or

to

The police

this

Don’t

again

you

Don’t

if

never

You’ll

Your son

There is a legend that George Bernard Show wrote a will for the one who will be able to reform and simplify English spelling. To demonstrate the lack of logic so often found in English pronunciation the famous playwright invented a new word – GHOTI.  To read this word correctly you should follow Shaw’s rules:

1. GH should be pronounced like “gh” in the word “enough”.
2. O should sound like the “o’ in “women”.
3. TI ought to be pronounced like the “ti” in “nation”.

Here’s the solution: GHOTI is “fish”.

If you are not exhausted, here is another poem illustrating the difficulties of English spelling. If you can read it correctly – you are a genius!

Hints on Pronunciation for Foreigners

You probably already know

Of tough and bough and cough and dough.

Some may stumble, but not you

On hiccough, thorough, plough and through.

Beware of heard, an awkward word:

It looks like beard but sounds like bird!

Watch out for meat and great and threat;

They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.

And here is not a match for there

Nor dear and fear for bear and pear.

And then there’s dose and rose and lose,

But watch that ’s’ in goose and choose!

It’s cork but work, and card but ward;

And font but front, and word but sword;

Come, come, I’ve hardly made a start.

A dreadful language, full of tricks?

I mastered it when I was six…

THE  X – FILES

Are you a fan of the series “the X – FILES”? Do the quiz and find out.

1. Who created the X – FILES?

1. David Duchovny
2. Chris Carter
3. Steven Spielberg

2. Where did Fox Mulder study before joining the FBR?

1. Oxford
2. Cambridge
3. Harvard

3. One day Fox Mulder discovered some hidden files.

How were they marked?

1. “Top Secret”
2. “X”
3. “Y”

4. What happened to Fox Mulder’s sister?

1. she died
2. she ran away with her boyfriend
3. she was abducted by aliens.

5. What does a UFO stand for?

1. Unusual flying object
2. Unidentified flying object
3. Universal object

6. Where was Dana Scully working when she first met Mulder?

1. FBI Academy
2. White House
3. Police station

7. What usually happens at 11:21?

1. Mulder wakes up
2. Scully boots her computer
3. Mulder phones Scully

8. What was the FBI’s reaction to Mulder and Scully’s investigations?

1. They offered them their help
2. They tried to close down the X – FILES
3. They knew nothing about their  investigations

9. What does Gillian Anderson love?

1. Hot dogs
2. Beautiful dresses
3. Mysteries

10. What are fans of the series called?

1. X – Philes
2. X – fans
3. X – Files lovers