AUTUMN WORDSEARCH

R E B M E T P E S M L X H T T

R V B N D E R H E E E A F H U

O E D O B Q A L R Y L K A A N

S L B S N R L R J L P H L N T

Z T G M V F I M O P P S L K S

S N N E E U I W L U A Q R S E

P L S I Q V E R S M T R M G H

L T L S A E O T E P S Z O I C

S Z U A N S H N F K S B P V I

W O L L E Y R L G I Q Y G I T

B R O W N O F O E N Q X S N W

Q M M H C C L U S A P Q K G O

X C Y A L D Z Y H S F M T I V

X P T O C T O B E R Q K L I Z

 J Y F O N E N W C E J R P B Z 

ACORN

ALL*

APPLE

BONFIRE

BROWN

CHESTNUT

FALL**

GOLD

HALLOWEEN

HARVEST***

LEAF

NOVEMBER

OCTOBER

PUMPKIN

RED

SAINTS*

SEPTEMBER

SQUIRREL

THANKSGIVING

YELLOW

* All Saints' Day [Tutti i Santi] is on 1st November.

** Fall:  Leaves fall in autumn, of course but fall is also a word for autumn in American English.

*** Harvest - when crops are picked [raccolta]

KATE AND WILL QUIZ

Kate and William have been in the news a lot recently [sometimes in ways they would not have chosen].  Take the quiz to see how much you know about them and learn some new vocabulary as well! You'll find the answers at the end of the quiz.

KATE AND WILL QUIZ

1.  Kate's maiden name is - - - - - - - - - .

2.  Kate's sister's name is - - - - - .

3.  William and Kate are the Duke and Duchess of - - - - - - - - - .

4.  William is also known as Prince William of - - - - - .

5.  William's father is the - - - - to the throne.

6.  William and Kate got married in Westminster - - - - - .

7.  William is first / second / third in line to the throne.

8.  The emblems on Kate's wedding dress included the thistle for Scotland, the daffodil for Wales, the rose for England and the shamrock for Northern Ireland.  They were made of - - - - .

9.  The Queen is William's - - - - - - - - - - - .

10. William is a search and rescue - - - - - for the RAF.

11. William and Kate live on the Island of - - - - - - - - in Wales.

12. Kate has to look good at all times so she always travels with her - - - - - - - - - - - .

13.  William and Kate sometimes represent the Queen on royal - - - - - .

14. William and Kate met at St Andrews University in - - - - - - - - .

15. Before William and Kate's engagement was announced, Kate's nickname was
 "- - - - - - Katie" because she had been so patient with William!

To see the answers, highlight the space below:

1. Middleton 2. Pippa 3. Cambridge 4. heir 5. Wales 6. Abbey 7. second 8. lace 9. grandmother 10. pilot 11. Anglesey 12. hairdresser 13. tours 14. Scotland 15. Waitey

BACK TO SCHOOL WORDSEARCH

Hogwarts School crest
Image: Wikipedia

In Britain, the new school year started at the beginning of September but here in Sicily the summer is longer and pupils went back to school last Friday.  In Italy, the school year has two terms, whereas in Britain we have three.

Pupils in most secondary schools and some primary schools in Britain wear a uniform and they may have the school crest or badge on their jumper, sweatshirt or blazer. Pupils usually have a school lunch or take a packed lunch to school with them. The school day in Britain finishes between 3 and 4 pm.

In British state schools the school is responsible for providing textbooks and exercise books.  Textbooks are  increasingly available in digital versions.

See if you can find the hidden words in our BACK TO SCHOOL wordsearch:

S K H N B S S K P T Q A Y F T

T H O O M N O E I V J C R E F

E Q A O M O O M S K S E A G M

R M T R B E E S R Q W C I L N

M S B E P T W H S N H M D T R

F H T R A E X O Y E L W C O T

K O B B E A N E R H L H L X U

N G L W C A K E T K P C A O N

R E S A R E K C R E F D S B I

A S S E M B L Y N D U B S H F

V I L O B J U I K P H G R C O

S U S P O R T S W E A R O N R

R T A W K C A P K C A B O U M

K F B M P O O W E W P A M L D

B D K D Y F I C R E S T H W H

ASSEMBLY

BACKPACK

BREAK

CLASSROOM

CREST

DIARY

ERASER

HOMEWORK

LESSON

LUNCHBOX

NOTEBOOK

PEN

RULER

SHARPENER

SPORTSWEAR

TEACHER

TERM

TEXTBOOK

TIMETABLE

UNIFORM

COMPOUND NOUNS

It's "goodbye" to the Olympics and Paralympics in London but British English has acquired a new compound noun during the Games.  It is games maker and refers to a member of staff or volunteer who helped make the Games happen by giving information to people or providing other kinds of assistance.  If you watched the Games on TV, you will have seen the games makers in their purple uniforms.

A compound noun is a word made up of two nouns or an adjective and a noun. Compound nouns can be written as two words, hyphenated [scritti con un trattino] or written as a single word.  Facebook is a compound noun; so is football.

Now see if you can make compound nouns by combining the words in the left and right-hand columns. You will find the answers below the lists:

arm                 stop

car                  guard

bus                  pan

post                dress

department     door

frying               boat

body               chair

evening           store

front               office

life                  park

To see the answers, highlight the space below:

armchair, car park, bus stop, post office, department store, frying pan, bodyguard, evening dress, front door, lifeboat.

ARE YOU REACHING FOR THE MOON?

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died on 25th August and the world has been remembering him.

If you, like me, have been thinking about the moon in the past week, you may like to try matching the "moon" words and idioms below with their meanings.  You will find the answers before the songs at the end of the post:

1.  Once in a blue moon

2.  Be over the moon

3.  Ask for the moon

4.  Many moons ago

5.  Reach for the moon [also "stars"]

6.  Think someone hung the moon and the stars

7.  Moonshine

8.  It's all moonshine

9.  Moonlight [verb]

10. To moon over someone / something

a.  To think someone is wonderful and can do no wrong.

b.  To think something is all nonsence or imagination.

c.  Something that only happens very rarely.

d.  A long time ago.

e.  To grieve or pine about someone or something [often used in romantic situations].

f.  To try to do something that is very difficult;  to be very ambitious.

g.  Illegally made, very strong alcohol, made in illegal stills.

h.  To be very happy.

i.  To work at a second job when you already have a regular [day] job [usually without your regular employer's knowledge].

j. To want something that is probably impossible.

To see the answers, highlight the space below:

1c, 2h, 3j, 4d, 5f, 6a, 7g, 8b, 9i, 10e.

Now here is one of my favourite songs about the moon:

Anne Murray - Moon Over Brooklyn   

And everybody knows this one!

Ella Fitzgerald - Blue Moon

    

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!