THE PARALYMPICS - DID YOU KNOW....?

The Paralympic symbol

Excitement is building again in London with only a few hours to go before the Paralympics Opening Ceremony.  It starts at 8.30 pm British time - that's 9.30 pm in Italy - and you will be able to see it on Rai Sport 1 in Italy.

Here are ten facts which you may not know about the Paralympics and the 2012 Paralympics in London in particular:

1.  The word "Paralympics" means that the Games run parallel to the Olympics.

2.  The Olympic Rings are not used as a symbol for the Paralympics.  These Games use three "agitos" [from the verb "to move" in Latin]. They are coloured red, blue and green because these are the colours most often used in the world's national flags.  The motto of the Paralympics is "Spirit in Motion".

3.  For the 2012 Paralympic Games, the four national flames of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been combined to form one flame which is being carried from Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire to the Olympic Stadium in London in a torch relay.  Stoke Mandeville Hospital is famous for its pioneering rehabilitation work with people who have suffered spinal injuries.

4.  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge [Prince William and his wife, Kate] will attend the Opening Ceremony.

5.  The organisers in London expect these to be the first Paralympic Games where all the seats for spectators will have been sold.

6.  4,000 athletes and 150 nations are taking part.

7.  There are 21 different events in the Games.

8.  There is a classification system in place to ensure fairness.  Athletes who have a similar range of movement compete in each event.

9.  The sports of goalball and boccia are exclusive to the Paralympics.

10. The organisers also hope that the 2012 Paralympics in London will help change attitudes towards disability all over the world.

You can find out more on the Guardian Events Guide,  the London 2012 site, and, of course, by watching the Games!

Good luck to all the athletes!

HOLIDAY WORDSEARCH

Before we all start thinking about going back to work or school, here is a summer holiday wordsearch:

E J T P W P D R E S N E L I H

H E G E E H E I U D E N L A S

S F S B N N Z N D E A C E B U

A A B T A T B E U X Y P H S I

I L N L H A M V G C H S S W T

E Q P D T G B U V U T B W I H

S A K H C Q I O D R V A W M L

Y P E I Q A C S I S L I M J N

C O A C H L S P T I B E U A B

C A M P I N G T Y O R B V X U

H C A E B A E S L N U A M R C

Y T I V I T C A P E R R W Y K

J S P B R F C W K A P J I V E

K E F U E D O K C U T U W S T

K K O W Y G Q V R M Z B M Z T

ACTIVITY

BEACH

BUCKET

CAMPING

CARAVAN

COACH

EXCURSION

PEBBLE

PLANE

SANDCASTLE

SEA

SHELL

SIGHTSEE

SOUVENIR

SPADE

SUNBATHE

SWIM

TENT

TOURIST

TRIP

Image:  http://www.wpclipart.com/index.html 

Enjoy the rest of your summer holidays, everyone!

BOLTS AND FENCES

It's the last day of the London Olympics and everyone is talking about athlete Usain Bolt.   But do you know the following expressions which use the word bolt?

First of all, this is what we normally mean by a bolt:

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A bolt can also be a flash of lightning and this is what Usain Bolt's famous pose refers to.  We usually say bolt of lightning to make the meaning clear.  We also say thunderbolt when lightning is accompanied by the noise of thunder.

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A bolt from [or out of] the blue is a sudden, negative, shock or surprise.

If someone sits bolt upright, they are sitting in a very straight, rigid position.

If someone bolts their food down, they eat very fast and inelegantly.

If someone tells you that you should get down to the nuts and bolts of something, they mean that you should stop wasting timne and examine the important details of a situation or a thing.

The verb to bolt means to move away very suddenly and quickly [like our athlete!].

If you close the stable door after the horse has bolted, you are trying to solve a problem when it is already too late.

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In the famous novel The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford, there is a character whose nickname is "The Bolter" because she is always running away from one man in order to start a relationship with another!

In my town of Modica in Sicily, everyone is talking about another athlete as well:  He is Giorgio Avola, a Modican fencer who was in the Italian male fencing team that won a gold medal in London.

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Fencing is the sport of fighting with swords.  A fence is a barrier that people put around their property to enclose and protect it and the sport derives its English name from the concept of defending or protecting something.

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If you fence something off, you build an enclosure around it.

If you sit on the fence, you are being indecisive about something.

If you mend your fences, you are trying to end a disagreement or argument. [This expression is often used in international politics.]

In British slang, a fence is someone who deliberately and illegally buys stolen property in order to sell it again later.

If you fence someone in, you are limiting them in some way so that they don't feel free to act as they wish.

Finally, do you agree with this proverb?

"Good fences make good neighbours."

Now try to complete these sentences with the right expression.  You will need to put the verbs into the correct tenses, too. The answers are below:

1.  I feel _________  by my parents' rule that I must get home before midnight.

2.  Losing my job was a real shock.  It was a ________________ .

3.  "I wish I'd studied harder for the exam!"
     "That's like ________________________ !"

4.  The USA is trying to _________________  with China on this issue.

5.  He ____ his lunch ____  because he was in a hurry.

6.  Some jewellery was stolen from my house but I expect the thieves have sold it to a _____ by now.

7.  She heard a noise during the night and _________________ in bed.

8.  The police have _______________  the crime scene.

9.  Make your mind up! Stop ___________________ !

10. Last night there was thunder and I also saw a ________________ .


To see the answers, highlight the space below:

1. fenced in  2. a bolt from the blue / out of the blue  3. closing the stable door after the horse has bolted
4.  mend its fences  5.  bolted.... down  6.  fence  7.  sat bolt upright  8.  fenced off  9.  sitting on the fence
10.  bolt of lightning.

Now here's a song!

Ray Conniff Singers - Don't Fence Me In




Chorus lyrics

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above
Don't fence me in
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love
Don't fence me in
Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please
Don't fence me in.

FOR LITTLE STARS EVERYWHERE

It's St Lawrence's Night and in Italy, we are all going to be outside looking for shooting stars later!

Here is a traditional nursey rhyme for "little stars" everywhere:

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

And whether you're three or 103 years old, if you see a shooting star, don't forget to make a wish, because..... 

Mickey and Friends [Disney] - When You Wish Upon a Star

GOING FOR GOLD

An Olympic Gold Medal from 2000
Image:  Wikipedia

All that glisters is not gold

- English proverb from Shakespeare
[Modern English would use "glitters".]

I would guess that we are all interested in gold medals at the moment, so today let's have a look at some expressions and idioms that use the words gold or golden.

First of all, what is the difference between gold and golden?  Basically, gold means that something is made of the metal gold, whilst golden means "having the appearance of gold" and is often used poetically or figuratively.  We talk about a gold ring but a golden age or golden opportunity, for instance.  As always, there are exceptions, so it is always worth checking the context of these two words.

Now see if you can match up the gold or golden expressions 1 - 6  with their meanings a - f.  You will find the answers below:

1.  good as gold

2.  to be sitting on a goldmine

3.  a gold digger

4.  to have a heart of gold

5.  worth its weight in gold

6.  a golden rule


a.  a woman who forms relationships with a rich man or men because she is interested in his / their money

b. an important rule in a particular field / a principle ensuring fairness

c.  extremely valuable or useful

d.  a well-behaved, genuine person

e.  to be very kind

f.  to own something that could make you a lot of money

To see the answers, highlight the space below:

1d, 2f, 3a, 4e, 5c, 6b.  You can also use expression number 5 about a person, for example:  "A teacher who could help me with this exercise would be worth their weight in gold."

To go for gold means to try as hard as you can to achieve something.

By the way, did you know that Welsh gold is very rare and that the wedding rings of the royal brides of Britain are made from it?

Is it raining where you are? Never mind - you may find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!  In Irish folklore, a leprechaun is supposed to guard it.

Image: www.cartoon-clipart.com

Now it's time for a song!

This Beatles prelude to Carry That Weight  is based on a 1603 poem by Thomas Dekker.

The Beatles - Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight

And you have to clap your hands to this one! [In American English, a wedding ring is sometimes called a wedding band.] James Gilreath - Little Band of Gold



Little Band of Gold - Lyrics
There you were, standing there, smiling as you made your plans You were going to leave me and go with him You said you loved him so and your love would always be And that's the very same thing you once told me.
And you still had my little golden band on your hand Does my little band of gold mean nothing to you? To me it means the world but you've torn my world apart You're leaving me alone with my broken heart.
So take my little golden band from your hand My little band of gold means nothing to you To me it meant the world but you've torn my world apart You're leaving me alone with my broken heart.