PAT'S ENGLISH PAGES

Thursday, 14 February 2013

ST VALENTINE'S DAY WORDSEARCH

H T N I A S K R Z E S T G O P

E T M N X D O I N W E T W K X

D Q N V U S I I S J T M A J F

E K C E E U T P O S A R W I J

C N P Y E N H C U I L O O F R

T H B R E T F H M C O M R Z V

D Y X L O P R P V T C A R A L

C Y A D B P P U R B O N A N F

A V L O V E O A O Y H C U L V

R I O F D X E S O F C E O H A

D G V X A H T Y A Z W W I X Z

I V F B I J C D L L E L Y J J

F E B R U A R Y W R I Y B Z Q

W O B W P O U J S T H G F P A

I J J D S C R B B C R A J Z B

ARROW

BOW

CARD

CHOCOLATES

CUPID

FEBRUARY

FLOWERS

FOURTEENTH

HEART

KISS

LOVE

PROPOSAL

ROMANCE

ROSE

SAINT

VALENTINE

Tuesday, 12 February 2013

PANCAKE DAY WORDSEARCH

Pancake with red orange juice

Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday and in 2013 it is on Tuesday 12th February. Shrove is the past simple of an archaic verb which means “to confess”.

People had to use up all the cooking fat in the house before Lent [quaresima] so they made pancakes. You make them in a frying pan and you have to toss and catch them!

In some parts of Britain there are special pancake races on this day. People have to run and toss the pancakes in their frying pans at the same time! The most famous pancake race in Britain takes place in Olney in Buckinghamshire and it has been held since 1445.

W E M U E S I F G E F G R N G

N E B E K U B X G S T T I Y N

Y L D Y R G B G F U S S O T I

W R A N T A S C E V O R H S Y

Q D E G E R Z S M L F A T N R

V T X T H S D T R L E G G B F

P T A A T A D P Y R R M R W B

W A V N Y U C A T C H U O C Y

G W N M P F B N Y K O Y A N I

T Y R V Z K H C G L Y E S A D

U N H D P I I A F H H C H Y M

A Z E N B T S K B T A A B R B

Z A Q L Z Z R E Q F T R L M F

G N V X L J F H X R P M Q P Q

C M Z W R M D J L M Q N H H M

ASH

BUTTER

CATCH

DAY

EGGS

FAT

FLOUR

FRYING

LEMON

LENT

PAN

PANCAKE

RACE

SHROVE

SUGAR

TOSS

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

Tuesday, 5 February 2013

BONE IDIOMS

Richard lll

With no offence intended to England's last Plantagenet king, Richard lll, whose skeleton, it has been confirmed, was found under a Leicester car park, here are some bone idioms for you to match with their meanings:

1. bone dry

2. to make no bones about it

3. to be all skin and bone

4. to be bone idle

5. to bone up on something

6. to have a bone to pick with someone

7. [to say something that is] close to the bone

8. to be like a dog with a bone

a. to stubbornly refuse to stop talking about something

b. to study or revise [ripassare] something quickly, possibly for a test

c. to say something that hurts or offends someone because the person is particularly sensitive about it

d. to be absolutely clear and insistent about what you think

e. to need to speak to someone about something they have done which has made you angry

f. not wet at all

g. to be very thin

h. to be very lazy

To see the answers, highlight the space below:

1f, 2d, 3g, 4h, 5b, 6e, 7c, 8a.

Monday, 28 January 2013

WHO WAS JANE AUSTEN?

28^th January 2013 is the 200^th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice but who was its author?

Jane Austen [16th December 1775 – 18th July 1817] was an English writer of romantic novels set in the world of the land-owning and middle class families of her time. She is admired for her writing style, gently ironic wit and acute observation of the mores of the period. For many people, she is the “perfect writer”.

She lived a quiet life with her family and we know little about her because most of her letters were destroyed after her death. She was born in Steventon [Hampshire] and had little formal education. However, she read a lot and began writing stories for her family at an early age. She refused her only proposal of marriage.

In 1800 the Austen family moved to Bath, a spa town and important social centre of the period. Jane didn’t really like Bath but she set many scenes in her novels there, making fun of the manners and intrigues of the city’s rich visitors.

After the death of Jane’s father, the family moved to Chawton [Hampshire]. Jane published four novels while living there and these were well received but did not enjoy sensational success because they did not conform to readers’ expectations; they wanted exciting romance and pathos.

Jane died at the age of 41, possibly from Addison’s disease or Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Recent research suggests that she may have died from bovine tubercolosis.

It was not until the twentieth century that Jane Austen was hailed as a genius and Pride and Prejudice [1813] is generally regarded as her masterpiece. There have been many television serialisations and film versions, including a 2005 film starring Keira Knightly. The novel’s independent Lizzie Bennet is every woman’s heroine!

NOVELS BY JANE AUSTEN

Sense and Sensibility – 1811

Pride and Prejudice – 1813

Mansfield Park – 1814

Emma – 1815

Northanger Abbey – 1818 [published posthumously]

Persuasion – 1818 [published posthumously]

You can visit the Jane Austen House Museum at Chawton and the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, UK.

Thursday, 24 January 2013

WHO WAS ROBERT BURNS?

Robert Burns [25^th January 1759 – 21^st July 1796], also known as Rabbie Burns, is the national poet of Scotland.

He wrote in the Scots language and dialect as well as in English.Some of his poems use a mixture of Scottish dialect and English. He also collected Scottish folk songs and many of his poems have been set to music.

His poem Auld Lang Syne, in which days gone by and old friends are remembered, is sung at Hogmanay [New Year] celebrations in Scotland and all over the UK. His best known love poem, My Love is Like a Red Red Rose, has also been set to music.

Burns Night is celebrated on 25^th January. People eat Scottish food, including haggis [a savoury pudding] which is “piped” into the dining room [brought into the room to the sound of bagpipes]. The guests then recite poems by Burns and finally sing Auld Lang Syne.