Table of contents for No 474 in Speak Up

A comedy sketch airs1 on Saturday Night Live (SNL) and millions of viewers watch it. The sketch is so popular on the US TV show that it goes viral online, where it gets billions of views. This is very common for SNL sketches, and is remarkable given that the show launched fifty years ago and predates2 social media and the invention of the internet. This year, SNL celebrates its anniversary with a weekend-long celebration on the broadcasting company NBC. The celebrations culminate with a three-hour live primetime special on 16 February. SATIRICAL TV SNL debuted on 11 October 1975. It was created by the Canadian-American producer Lorne Michaels and was originally called NBC’s Saturday Night, but changed its name to Saturday Night Live a few years later. It became renowned3…

Love her or hate her, Bridget Jones is back on the big screen. American actress Renée Zellweger reprises1 her role as the inimitable romantic heroine in Mad About the Boy. It is the fourth film in the series based on the novels by British author Helen Fielding. The first book, Bridget Jones’s Diary, heralded2 the era of chick lit, resonating3 with a generation of professional young women. Published in 1996, it chronicles the life of the titular Bridget Jones as she navigates life in London as a thirty-something single woman. Bridget worries about everything: her weight, her habits, her career and, above all, her love life. Scores4 of women recognised themselves in the tragic yet loveable heroine and the book became a bestseller. The Bridget Jones phenomenon introduced a whole…

Angelina Jolie gives a stunning1 performance as opera singer Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín’s movie Maria. The American-born Greek soprano, called La Divina by her fans, rose to the heights2 of her profession against the odds3. Born in 1923 in the US, Callas trained4 at the Conservatory in Athens under Spanish soprano Elvira de Hidalgo. She became renowned for her bel canto technique, her wide-ranging5 emotive voice, and her dramatic interpretations. She was also quite robust, but began to be cast in leading roles in the mid 1950s after an extreme weight loss programme reduced her to her desired size, that of Audrey Hepburn. SCANDAL Soon rumours began to circulate around the charismatic singer: her marriage of convenience to her manager Giovanni Battista Meneghini, her tendency to have tantrums6 and…

At the beginning of each year, the world’s corporate and political elite gather1 in the Swiss ski resort of Davos to pat each other on the back2, attend seminars on “the Fourth Industrial Revolution” — whatever that might be — and generally mull over3 the state of the world. Rarely is so much wealth to be found in so few conference rooms4. And each year, Oxfam, the global development charity, takes the opportunity to run the numbers5 on the state of global inequality. Oxfam’s findings are often eye-catching6, but this year especially so. The wealth of the five richest people in the world, they found, has more than doubled, from $405bn7 in 2020 to $869bn in late 2023. That’s an increase of about fourteen million dollars an hour, which is…

SPEAK UP IN CLASS A clever1 comic novel with a tragic story behind it: John Kennedy Toole, the brilliant Louisiana-born author of A Confederacy of Dunces2 wrote the book in the early 1960s. But unable3 to find a publisher and in declining mental health, he took his own life. For decades his mother continued to approach writers and publishers with her son’s manuscript. The novel was finally published in 1980, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction the following year. ALMOST ARRESTED The title is a quote4 by the 18th-century Irish author Jonathan Swift: “When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.” Set in New Orleans, Toole’s novel follows the life of the eccentric…

ARTÍCULOS POR NIVELES Todos nuestros artículos se presentan con un código de color para indicar el nivel de dificultad del inglés empleado de acuerdo con la Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. A2 PRE-INTERMEDIATEB1 LOWER INTERMEDIATEB2 UPPER INTERMEDIATEC1 ADVANCEDC2 PROFICIENCY GLOSARIO Encontrarás el vocabulario más relevante de cada artículo indicado con un número en el color correspondiente a su nivel de dificultad y su traducción en el glosario adjunto. A towering1 figure in British history, Queen Victoria was actually a diminutive figure, just one metre fifty EXPLAINS Los textos subrayados en amarillo indican que la frase requiere de una explicación más extensa, como referencias históricas o culturales, frases hechas, proverbios o argot. Encontrarás la explicación al final del artículo. SPEAK UP IN CLASS Cada mes Speak Up ofrece también…

Considered a last testament1 by Jamaican reggae-icon Bob Marley, Redemption Song was one of the last songs Marley recorded. Diagnosed with cancer in 1977, Marley knew that he did not have long to live and wanted to urge2 his fans to continue in the fight against oppression. Marley spent over a year working on the lyrics. His wife Rita later said that his writing at the time “dealt with3 his own mortality… particularly in this song.” The track was released in 1980 and blends4 reggae with folk. This was unusual for the time; after a previous attempt to record the song with his band, the Wailers5, music mogul6 Chris Blackwell, the boss of Island Records, advised Marley to perform the song alone on an acoustic guitar to address7 his audience…

Perhaps Saturday Night Live’s biggest contribution to the world has been the cast members it has launched to national and sometimes international fame. Here are the top five comedy stars who began their careers on SNL. 1. Bill Murray Hired to replace the comedian and writer Chevy Chase in 1977, Bill Murray worked on SNL for three years. The show earned him an Emmy Award for Outstanding1 Writing for a Variety Series. Murray went on to act in successful comedy films like the Ghostbusters2 films (1984 and 1989) and Groundhog3 Day (1993), before collaborating with director Wes Anderson to star in almost every one of his films. Not just a comedy actor, he can also perform more serious roles, such as in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (2003), for which he…

The darker the sky, the more you can see; the blacker the night, the brighter the Moon, the dimmer1 the streets, the stronger the glow2; the deeper the shade, the lighter the view.” The Yorkshire poet Ian McMillan wrote these words as an ode to the Dark Skies Festival. Held annually from mid-February to early March in numerous national parks across the UK, the Dark Skies Festival aims to promote appreciation of Britain’s night skies and nocturnal wildlife. NATIONAL PARKS The Yorkshire Dales3 and the North York Moors4 in the north of England play a special role in the festival. These spectacular nature landscapes, where dry-stone5 walls snake6 through landscapes peppered7 with field barns8, are perfect for hiking9 all year round. Popular routes include the Dales Way, Pennine Way, Coast-to-Coast…

Maria Callas had a reputation for being difficult to work with, throwing tantrums1, cancelling performances2 and storming out3 of rehearsals4. While it was rumoured that she was spoilt5, melodramatic and oversensitive, perhaps this is the price an artist must pay for perfection. Angelina Jolie plays Callas in Pablo Larraín’s film Maria. Jolie spoke about the opera star and what the word ‘diva’ might mean. Angelina Jolie: It’s often come with a lot of negative connotations. I think it is often other people’s perception of a woman that defines sometimes too much who she is and who she was or what she intended. And I actually think she was one of the hardest-working people. EXTREME DISCIPLINE The director talks more about extreme discipline, entirely necessary to stay ahead6 in creative professions.…

SPEAK UP IN CLASS In his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) the English author and journalist George Orwell envisaged1 a totalitarian society kept rigorously in check2 through mass surveillance3. Its protagonist, Winston Smith, a worker at the Ministry of Truth, is one day given a forbidden4 book written by an ‘enemy’ Emmanuel Goldstein. Goldstein’s book describes how three totalitarian states, Eastasia, Eurasia and Oceania, emerged from a global war. It reveals that the seemingly opposing ideologies of each super-state are actually identical, and that the idea of conflict between them is just a way to keep everyone under the thumb5. UNCERTAINTY The Canadian author Margaret Atwood has published multiple renowned6 novels, short stories, children’s books and poetry collections. Among them are Alias Grace (1996), The Handmaid’s Tale7 (1985) and its Booker…

It’s my money!” protested Jude. “It’s obviously my money. It’s in my bag, isn’t it?” “I understand that, sir,” responded the customs officer1. “But in order to enter the country with a large sum of cash, you need to prove that it is from a legitimate source2.” Jude tried to stay calm while in a state of panic. He was being interrogated at Heathrow Airport in London for having a large sum of cash in his bag, £8,000 to be precise — just enough to pay off his debt to his drug dealer3. He’d been leaving the airport, when a sniffer dog4 had alerted the customs officer to the cash. Jude had known that customs officers used sniffer dogs to detect drugs, but not cash! “If you’d found drugs in…

Random Acts of Kindness UNIT 1 Page 8 B1 LEVEL SOLUTIONS PAGE 74 1.1 TRUE OR FALSE? ► Read the article and decide whether the following statements are true ( T ) or false ( F ). 1.2 VOCABULARY ► Match verbs ( 1 - 9 ) and phrases ( a - i ) to obtain expressions used in the article. 1.3 VOCABULARY ► Insert the vowels to complete the following nouns used in the article. 1) flng ..................................................................................2) fndtn ..................................................................................3) jrnlst ..................................................................................4) rsrc ..................................................................................5) cmmnty ..................................................................................6) clbrtn ..................................................................................7) gstr ..................................................................................8) wrkplc ..................................................................................9) ctvst ..................................................................................10) dghnt .................................................................................. USEFUL EXPRESSIONS some forty years ago hace unos cuarenta años USEFUL EXPRESSIONS grew into an annual celebration se ha convertido en una…

Can you remember a time when someone held open a door for you? Or when someone let you jump the queue when you were in a hurry1? Or when you dropped2 your bag on the street and a passerby3 helped you pick up4 the contents? Such random5 acts of kindness can lift your mood6, leaving you with a warm feeling that lasts all day. A DAY OF KINDNESS There is a date in the US calendar on which such gestures are particularly encouraged. 17 February is known as Random Acts of Kindness Day. The initiative serves as a reminder that these small but meaningful7 acts have the power to change the world. The idea is to create a more compassionate and caring8 society, by spreading9 love and positivity. THE START…

SPEAK UP IN CLASS Ada Lovelace, widely considered to be the world’s first computer programmer, was born Augusta Ada Byron on 10 December 1815. Her parents, Anne Isabella Milbanke and the famous poet Lord Byron, separated one month later. A celebrity from birth, Ada never met her father, who died in Greece when she was just eight. UNUSUAL EDUCATION Ada’s mother was determined to protect her daughter from Byron’s wild reputation and what she saw as his disorderly, possibly insane poetical mind. She decided a strict education based on the sciences, maths and logic — very unusual for women in those days — was the solution. Ada showed a real talent for mathematics. Aged just twelve, she drew up1 plans for a flying machine, using steam2 for power. IMPORTANT ENCOUNTER…

brain rot noun (colloquial) Have you ever experienced brain rot1? You almost certainly have, even if you didn’t know it by that name. Brain rot can be triggered2 by something as simple as watching too many cat videos, or memes, or mindless3 TikTok videos. BRAIN ROT Oxford Languages, publishers of the famous Oxford English Dictionary, define brain rot as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging4.” And in December 2024 they announced ‘brain rot’ as their Word of the Year (WOTY). REFLECTING THE YEAR The tradition of choosing a Word of the Year began in 2004. Since then, every year, expert lexicographers from Oxford Languages select a shortlist5…

The night sky, with its vast expanse of twinkling1 stars and other celestial objects, has captivated humanity since the dawn of time2. But what are the differences between the various phenomena we see when we look skywards? Amongst the most stunning3 dark skies’ wonders are constellations, which are groups of visible stars positioned in such a way that they form a pattern recognisable to the human imagination. Astronomers have formally defined eighty-eight constellations, each representing animals, objects or mythological creatures. Both Orion and Cassiopeia are constellations. Orion’s brightest stars form the shape of an hourglass4 and are best visible in the winter months of the Northern Hemisphere and the summer months of the Southern Hemisphere. When connected with more of this constellation’s stars, this shape resembles a hunter holding a…

A banana that for years has stirred1 controversy in the art world sold for $6.2 million with fees2 at Sotheby’s contemporary art auction Wednesday night. It became what is arguably3 the most expensive fruit in the world — though it will likely be tossed4 in a couple of days. The banana is the star of a 2019 conceptual artwork, Comedian, by noted prankster5 Maurizio Cattelan, which is intended to be duct-taped6 onto the wall. It comes with a certificate of authenticity and installation instructions for owners to replace the banana — if they wish — whenever7 it rots8. Five minutes of rapid bidding9 ended when Chinese-born crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun placed the winning bid, besting10 six other rivals, which experts said was a sign that even a struggling market would…

Canadian literary icon Margaret Atwood observes events in her neighbouring North America and the political commentary around it with reservation. While many compare the US today with the totalitarian state of Gilead that Atwood invented for her novel The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), she says that we have to give Americans a chance. In a meeting with the press to present her book of short stories Old Babes in the Wood (2023) in translation, Atwood talked about the newly-inaugurated US president and vice president, as well as age, women and uncertainty in North America today. She began by discussing Kamala Harris. Margaret Atwood: I think that a lot of people, some women included, were afraid to have a woman president. And why were they afraid to have a woman president, and…

Hi, I’m here for the onboarding. Welcome to the group! Did you manage1 to read the employee handbook? Yes, and I got the welcome package, too. Thank you so much! Haha, everyone loves the company merchandise! Have you familiarised yourself with the company policies? Yes, I have. There was a lot to go through2! I know, but it’s important you know them all. Here is a copy of your job description. Thanks. I got it via email, too. And here is your login for the intranet. You can change the password to something more personal. I’ll do that as soon as I’ve settled into my workstation3. Excellent. Your co-worker will explain how everything works and your line manager will take you through4 the training5 programme. Any questions? Oh, plenty! But…