How Well Do You Know English-Speaking Countries?
Test your knowledge of English speaking countries.
Draw a line between the capitals and countries that belong together:
Capitals: |
Countries: |
London |
Australia |
Canberra |
USA |
Washington DC |
South Africa |
Ottawa |
United Kingdom (England) |
Johannesburg |
Canada |
In which country do you find …
Big Ben : _______________________________
The Empire State Building: _______________________________
Vuvuzelas: _______________________________
The State of Liberty : _______________________________
Kangaroos: _______________________________
Which of the five countries are these people from?
Nelson Mandela: _______________________________
Kylie Minogue: _______________________________
Harry Potter: _______________________________
Barack Obama: _______________________________
Justin Bieber: _______________________________
Which flag belongs to which country?
:____________________________________
:____________________________________
:___________________________________
:
____________________________________
:__________________________________
1.3. London
Turn the given below sounds into words and insert them in the correct place:
London is the capital city and main … centre of the United Kingdom. Its … began with the Roman invasion in 45 AD. The city is now popular with … , who visit it in order to see many of its … buildings and tourist … . It is also popular for its shops in the … part of the city. Apart from … and business, London is known for being the heart of the United Kingdom. It’s also home to one of the country’s most important …, the Queen. Although London is a big city with several million … , it would be … to say that it is an … place to live, since attempts to reduce … levels have been quite ….
['fɔrɪnəz], ['saɪtˌsiːɪŋ], [ˌɪnk(ə)'rekt], [ə'trækʃ(ə)n], [dɪ'veləpmənt], ['sentr(ə)l], ['feɪməs], ['rezɪd(ə)n(t)s] , [ɪn'dʌstrɪəl], [pə'luːʃ(ə)n], [ʌn'helθɪ], [sək'sesf(ə)l] , ['sɪtɪznz]
Crazy English
Translation
Translate the following text in written form:
Background analysis: explain the underlying words in English using an English-English Dictionary.
English is a crazy language (by Richard Lederer)
E
nglish
is the most widely spoken language in the history of our planet, used
in some way by at least one out of every seven human beings around
the globe. Half of the world's books are written in English, and the
majority of international telephone calls are made in English.
English is the language of over sixty percent of the world's radio
programs. More than seventy percent of international mail is written
and addressed in English, and eighty percent of all computer text is
stored in English. English has acquired the largest vocabulary of all
the world's languages, perhaps as many as two million words, and has
generated one of the noblest bodies of literature in the annals
of
the human race.
Nonetheless, it is now time to face the fact that English is a crazy
language -- the most lunatic
and loopy
and wifty
and wiggy
of all languages.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor
pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England nor
French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweet-breads,
which aren't sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. 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, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend, that you can comb through the annals of history but not a single annal? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? If you wrote a letter, perhaps you bote your tongue?
Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another.
Have you noticed that we talk about certain things only when they are absent?
Have you ever seen a horsefull carriage or a strapfull gown? Met a sung hero or experienced requited love? Have you ever run into someone who was combobulated, gruntled, ruly or peccable? And where are all those people who ARE spring chickens or who would ACTUALLY hurt a fly?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm clock goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn't a race at all). That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it ...
