QUEEN QUIZ

On the occasion of Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee, here is a quiz that you might enjoy:

 

1. The Queen's full name is Elizabeth - - - - - - - - - Mary - - - - - - - .

2. She now resides mainly at - - - - - - - Castle.

3. She had a sister called - - - - - - - - .

4. Her husband was Prince Philip, Duke of - - - - - - - - - .

5. Her eldest son and heir apparent to the throne is Charles, Prince of - - - - - and Duke of
- - - - - - - - .

6. The Queen is a - - - - - - - - - - - - - - monarch.

7. She is Queen of the United - - - - - - - and the Commonwealth - - - - - - .

8. She has reigned for - - years and is now celebrating her - - - - - - - - Jubilee.

9. She became Queen in 1952 but was crowned in - - - - (year).

10. She was crowned in - - - - - - - - - - - Abbey.

11. Her first Prime Minister was Sir Winston - - - - - - - - - .

12. - - (number) Prime Ministers have served during her reign.

13. During the Second World War she served in the British military and qualified as a - - - - - - - - .

14. Her favourite dogs are - - - - - - and - - - - - - .

15. At Christmas she speaks to the people on radio and television and this broadcast is called “The Queen's Christmas - - - - - - -” .

16. At the annual State Opening of Parliament she reads a speech called “The Queen's Speech” but it is written by the - - - - - / - - - - - - - - .

17. The Royal - - - - - - - - is a flag (different from the Union Jack, which is the flag of the UK) depicting symbols of the United Kingdom and is flown on buildings such as Buckingham Palace when the Queen is there, on buildings while she is visiting them and on her car or plane. This flag is never flown at half-mast because it represents the continuity of the monarchy.

18. The annual military parade held in London to celebrate the monarch's official birthday is called “The - - - - - - - - of the Colour”.

19. If you meet the Queen and she speaks to you, you address her as “- - - - / - - - - - - -” in your first reply and after that as “- - ' - -”.

20. She was escorted to the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony by “- - - - - / - - - -” in a helicopter. Then she parachuted into the arena (but not really!)

Highlight the space below for answers:

1. Alexandra, Windsor  2. Windsor  3. Margaret  4. Edinburgh  5. Wales, Cornwall  6. constitutional  7. Kingdom, realms  8. 70 Platinum  9. 1953  10. Westminster  11. Churchill  12. fourteen  13. mechanic  14. corgis, dorgis  15. Message  16. Prime Minister  17. Standard  18. Trooping  19. Your Majesty, ma'am 20. James Bond

Happy Platinum Jubilee, Your Majesty! 

MORE PORTMANTEAU WORDS

 In 2016 I wrote about portmanteau words but last week, everybody in Sicily was using one that most of us hadn't heard before. It was Medicane, a blend of the English words Mediterranean and hurricane. In parts of Sicily, its effects were devastating but today we are thinking about the word.

A portmanteau word is a blend of two words, with at least one of them being shortened.

Can you work out which words form the following portmanteau words?

1. podcast

2. smog

3. frenemy

4. emoticon

5. internet

Highlight the space after the numbers for the answers:

1. ipod and broadcast

2. smoke and fog

3. friend and enemy ( A frenemy is a friend who behaves more like an enemy.)

4. emotion and icon

5. international and network

I'm sure you can think of lots more portmanteau words!

HAPPY BURNS NIGHT 2018

Tonight is BURNS NIGHT so at London Town - Centro Linguistico Internazionale we've got Burns quotations, Scottish SHORTBREAD biscuits and books with a Scottish theme. 

HAPPY BURNS NIGHT!

LANGUAGE CENTRE OPEN ALL SUMMER!

A reminder that London Town Modica - Centro Linguistico Internazionale is open all summer!  

Tel: 0932 905642 / 3661196467

Email:  londontownmodica@gmail.com

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

At  London Town, Modica  - Centro Linguistico Internazionale we've been welcoming the autumn by making scary scarecrows! We had to follow English instructions:

Then we followed some more English instructions to make these Halloween cats:

Many thanks to Activity Village for the great ideas.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYBODY!

PORTMANTEAU WORDS

Everybody is talking about Brexit, but do you know what kind of word it is?

It's a portmanteau word - that is, it is made up of elements of two or more words. [Brexit is made up of British and exit, for instance, and refers to Britain's planned exit from the European Union.]  These are different from compound nouns, which are made up of two or more complete words, for example, sitting room.

Can you say which words have been used to form the following portmanteau words? You'll find the answers at the end of the post:

1. brunch
2. email
3. malware
4. Paralympics
5. biopic
6. pob
7. telemarketing
8. vitamin
9. Brangelina
10. Eurasia

Highlight the space below to see the answers:

1. breakfast, lunch
2. electronic, mail
3. malicious, software
4. Parallel, Olympics [they are held at around the same time as, and are connected with, the Olympic Games]
5. biography, picture [a film biography]
6. political, bob [a hairstyle favoured by female politicians]
7. telephone, marketing
8. vital, mineral
9. Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie
10. Europe, Asia

A VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY PARTY

At London Town, Modica - Centro Linguistico Internazionale, we had a party yesterday to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday. Many thanks to Cicara Caffeteria and Delizie D'Autore.

When the "birthday girl" arrived, our students had some questions for her:

[Cardboard cutout of the Queen]

These included the most important question of all which is, of course, about food!

We hope you had a very happy birthday, Ma'am!