Table of contents for No 480 in Speak Up

El castillo de Blarney se encuentra muy cerca de Cork, en el sur de la isla de Irlanda, y data de principios del siglo XIII. La estructura en sí, aunque rodeada de unos majestuosos jardines (que incluyen un jardín venenoso con plantas protegidas por jaulas para evitar que ningún visitante curioso acabe en Urgencias), está mayormente en ruinas y sus estancias desnudas, apenas piedra sobre piedra. Su principal atractivo, como en tantos lugares de Irlanda, reside en la leyenda. En lo alto del castillo, se encuentra la Piedra de Blarney. Quien la besa, dicen, adquirirá el don de la elocuencia y será capaz de salir airoso de cualquier situación con su palique. La leyenda ha calado tanto en la cultura anglo-irlandesa, que la palabra ‘blarney’ se ha incorporado al diccionario…

One hundred and fifty years ago this month, Captain Matthew Webb became a national hero and famous around the world when he made history as the first person to swim the thirty-four-kilometre-wide English Channel1, one of the most treacherous2 stretches3 of water on the planet. Born in Dawley, Shropshire, on 19 January 1848, Webb developed his swimming skills as a child playing in the River Severn. Aged twelve, he started working on ships, finishing up fifteen years later as captain. In 1872, Webb read an account4 of an attempt to swim the Channel and became inspired to try. Endurance5 swimming was becoming popular, but this feat6 was considered impossible. Webb began to prepare, swimming in the Thames and in the sea off the Dover coast7. CROSSING THE CHANNEL Finally, on 24…

Durante tres días de agosto, Bristol acoge el mayor festival de globos de Europa, un espectáculo para toda la familia que llena de color los cielos del suroeste de Inglaterra. Every second weekend of August, the skies of Bristol, the largest city in South West England, fill with hot-air balloons1 for the Bristol Balloon Fiesta. The event draws2 crowds3 from the local area and much further afield4, with some participants flying in from as far as Taiwan and the United States. It is the largest hot-air balloon festival in Europe and the second biggest in the world, just behind the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, in New Mexico, US. GLOBAL VISITORS The very first Bristol International Balloon Fiesta took place in 1979 at Ashton Court, on the outskirts5 of Bristol. The extensive…

Some people come to Blarney Castle to research their family history, hoping to find links to the powerful McCarthy clan that built the structure and once ruled1 parts of Ireland. For most, however, their interest lies at the top of the castle. Up here, set in a wall just below the battlements2, is the Cloch na Blarnan, or Blarney Stone. People come from all over the world to kiss the stone, which is said to grant3 the gift4 of eloquence. Do these people believe in magic, or just want to capture the moment for social media? Whatever their reasons, more than a quarter of a million people every year climb5 the steep6, narrow7 stone staircase and, holding a metal rail8 on each side, hang upside down9 above a drop10 of…

William Somerset Maugham was an English writer famed for his plays, novels and short stories. One of his most accessible novels, The Razor’s Edge1 takes its title from a verse in an ancient Hindu text called the Katha Upanishad. The meaning of the verse is that the path to salvation is arduous. Maugham’s novel tells the story of Larry Darrell, a pilot from Chicago who is traumatised by his experiences in World War One. Maugham places himself in the story too, as a narrator and a passive participant in the action. BIG QUESTIONS After the war, Larry becomes engaged2 to Isabel, a vivacious socialite3. However, he does not believe in material success, does not want to work, and is tormented by philosophical questions: Why does evil exist? Is God really…

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 GLOSSARY 1 towering: imponente2 to rule: gobernar3 to number: ascender, sumar 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…

William Wallace was one of Scotland’s greatest national heroes. He inspired his countrymen1 in their fight for freedom against England in the First War of Scottish Independence at the end of the 13th century. His brutal execution at the hands of England’s king, Edward I, made him a martyr, and his importance in Scottish history has only grown in the seven centuries since his death. UNCERTAIN ORIGINS Little is known about Wallace’s early years. He was born around 1270, probably near Paisley, Renfrew, and his father may have been a minor landowner2 called Sir Malcolm Wallace. His family roots were possibly Welsh or even Norman French. The 13th century was a period of relative calm between England and Scotland, after tempestuous times. The situation in Scotland became confused, however, when…

There is nothing unusual about records being broken on Mount Everest. But last week, two sets of climbers turned heads1 with ascents that many had never thought possible: they went straight up from sea level to the world’s highest summit2 in less than a week. On Wednesday, a team of four UK climbers, all ex-special forces soldiers, summited Everest, having landed from London just over four days earlier. The following day, the US-Ukrainian climber Andrew Ushakov said he had gone from New York to the top of Everest in under four days. With Everest standing at a staggering 8,849 metres, scaling safely to the top usually requires spending several weeks acclimatising at a lower altitude, normally Everest base camp, so the body can adjust to the lower level of oxygen.…

It resembles a scene from a fairy tale1: a medieval castle on the top of a hill, surrounded by rolling green hills2 that stretch3 as far as the eye can see. Yet this type of dramatic rural landscape is typical of Ireland, a small country of over thirty thousand castles or castle ruins. These were once grand buildings, fortresses and residences, all of which stood as symbols of power. NORMAN STRONGHOLDS The Normans (originally Vikings) introduced castles to Ireland in the 12th century, constructing them to defend the country from attack. Over the following centuries, Gaelic chieftains4, who were leaders of their clans, and other clan members and families built their own castles. These latter5 castles were often in the form of tower houses, which were smaller and more compact…

On a 300-acre [121 hectares] farm in an undisclosed1 location in rural Wisconsin, surrounded by fields dotted2 with big red barns3 and bordered4 by wild blue chicory5 and goldenrod6, live some of the most pampered7 pigs in the world. They are delivered by C-section8 to protect them from viruses that sows9 can carry, and bottle-fed10 instead of nursed11 for the same reason. They are kept under warming lights and monitored around the clock12 for the first days of their lives, given toys and marshmallows as treats13. But they don’t get to go outside and play in the dirt like other pigs. They are clones and constitutionally weak, genetically-engineered to have kidneys14, hearts and livers15 more compatible with the human body. These miniature pigs are part of a bold16 scientific experiment…

Victor slammed the door1 on the old Autonomo. He hated the Autonomo, just as he hated everything in his life. “Good morning, Victor,” said the autonomous car in a placid voice. “To the office,” growled2 Victor, and the car obediently drove him in the direction of Downtown LA3. The car, an X-13 model, had been state of the art4 when it had arrived on the market six years earlier. Victor had promptly acquired it as a status symbol, a signal to his colleagues of how successful he was in his job as a financial consultant. However, in the intervening years5, a global recession had shaken6 the financial sector. Now Victor, who had made some rash7 investments, was trying desperately to maintain a façade of success while contemplating bankruptcy. He couldn’t…

American football is known for causing debilitating head injuries, mostly from players tackling1 each other — an unfortunate trend2 that inspired the 2015 biographical sports drama Concussion3, starring Will Smith. Perhaps this is why the non-contact version of American football, flag4 football, has become so popular in recent years. Growing in popularity worldwide, flag football is to make its debut at the next Olympics, which take place in Los Angeles, California in the summer of 2028. A LOT LESS CONTACT In flag football, just like in American football, two teams compete to score points by moving the ball down the field, into the other team’s end zone. However, unlike5 in American football, in flag football the players wear flags on their waist6 and instead of tackling each other, they try…

In 1986 New York City skateboarding trio the Beastie Boys were the first-ever really popular white rap band, and considered by many to be a novelty act1. Riding on the wave2 of their newfound3 success, they decided to write a spoof4 track about their hedonistic life on the road while touring. It was described by group member Mike D as “a fantasy version of us as clichéd rock stars.” Inspired by rock band Motörhead’s 1981 live album No Sleep ’Til Hammersmith, they replaced the location with the then-unfashionable5 Brooklyn, the home borough6 of band member Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch (the other two were born in Manhattan.) They then concocted7 quick alternating rhymes about their daily grind8 and their determination to give it their all until they returned home. The Los Angeles…

Around $2.2 billion — about $24 billion in today’s currency — was channelled into1 the Manhattan Project, a huge research and development project that produced the world’s first nuclear weapons in 1945. It centred on three main production sites: Los Alamos, New Mexico; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Hanford, Washington. Around each, secret communities sprang up2 that evolved into today’s cities of Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and the Tri-Cities, the collective name given to Kennewick, Pasco and Richland in Washington. Today, they all form part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, established in 2015 to “improve understanding of the Manhattan Project and its legacy.” ATOMIC SCIENCE In fact, the Manhattan Project has multiple legacies, each as complex as the technology it developed. Immense wartime investment in scientific research led to…

Do you wish you were less tonguetied1, more eloquent, could find the right words for every occasion…? Possessing the ‘the gift of the gab2’ (an ancient idiom) is particularly prized in the Republic of Ireland, where storytelling is part of a centuries-old tradition. Just as old is the Blarney Stone, located at Blarney Castle in County Cork. This world-famous stone is said to bestow3 the gift of eloquence on anyone who kisses it. The castle, and its magical Blarney Stone, are located in the village of Blarney, eight kilometres from the city of Cork in the south of Ireland. TOWER HOUSE The medieval ruins of Blarney Castle lie4 on a 120-hectare private estate5. Built in the 10th century by the McCarthy clan, rulers6 of Munster in Ireland’s southwest and border…

Martin Parr is a renowned documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. Since 1994, he has been a member of the prestigious photographic cooperative Magnum Photos, and served as its president between 2013 and 2017. Born in Surrey, in the south of England, in 1952, Parr developed his own photographic style that blended1 ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture. His interest in the quirky2 moments of common English life led to expansive UK-based projects on national food and weather, on ailing3 seaside resorts, and on the aspirations of the middle classes. Parr was invited to speak at a photography festival in Barcelona sponsored by Fujifilm, a Japanese company specialising in the photography and optical sector. As Parr explained, his projects have been defined by the development of new camera technology, driven4 by an…

Oh no, my computer’s playing up again. What’s happening? Whenever1 I work in this file, it keeps freezing. That sounds serious. You need to get that looked at. How do I reach tech support? Through the intranet. You need to issue a support request. OK, and then what? Then the IT department2 raises a ticket and gets someone assigned to your case. How long does that take? It all depends on what priority it gets, but they’re usually pretty quick. Oh, good. Now can you talk me through the process of sending the request? Sure, let’s do that now. NOW LET’S REVIEW THE VOCABULARY! When a computer is playing up, it is not working as it should be. When a computer freezes, it becomes unresponsive3. To get something looked at…