English for everyone

Emerald Isle

The Irish people are said to be gifted, religious and unpredictable. They have the gift of song and story. The harp used to be the most popular musical instrument and it even became the national symbol.
The Irish are also famous for their hospitality. Ireland is sometimes called The Land of a Hundred Thousand Welcomes.
The land is beautiful with its fine lakes, mountains, and green fields. Rain makes Ireland’s grass so green, that it is known as the “Emerald Isle”.
Ireland was inhabited by people thousands of years ago, but very little is known about the early Irish. Around 200 BC, the Celts came to the island. Later, the island was invaded by the Vikings, who founded the first towns, including Dublin. In 1066 England was conquered by the Normans, who soon came to the sister island.
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Tower of London

The Tower of London was started in 1066 by William the Conqueror. He built his fortress beside the River Thames to protect London from enemies. The Tower has been many things throughout its 900-year history: a palace, a fortress, a prison, a place of execution, and even a zoo. Today, the Tower is a historical museum. There are about 150 people and eight ravens live in the Tower. Some people think there are also ghosts there.
The White Tower is the oldest building on the territory. English kings ate, slept and ran the country there. But the first person to live in the White Tower in 1100 was a prisoner named Ranulf Flambard, who escaped down a rope from an upper window. Later the Tower was made larger and stronger. The Queen’s House built for Queen Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII was the last palace built in the Tower. But she lived there only as a prisoner for 18 days awaiting her execution. She was beheaded not far from the palace — on Tower Green.
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Harry Harrison

There was I on the rusty deck of the Maria Bella heading off home. Depressing. The summer was over. Europe was saying an indifferent goodbye. I spat into the ocean and turned my back on Europe.
Africa was waiting on the other side of the strait, just hazy green hills from here. Yet it was a continent, with jungles, deserts, exotic cities, elephants, cannibals …
I was saying good-bye to Africa too — without ever even seeing it. Andy Davis: ex-student, ex-painter. Back to the country which would grab me the second my foot touched the shore. The Army. The job. Responsibilities. I could see it all and I was deeply depressed.
A group of bagged men appeared on the deck. A new passenger? I moved over for a better view. My only fellow passenger was an old French priest with red eyes and not a word of English. Captain Sebastiano spoke a kind of English, but we didn’t understand each other well. So another passenger would really help since I didn’t want to talk to myself.
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Hot Dog

Even though they were born in Europe, hot dogs have become as American as apple pie.
But why on earth are they called hot dogs?
In one version, hot dogs were originally called “dachshund sausages” because they looked like a long thin German dog, a “dachshund”. A newspaper cartoonist drew a picture of barking dachshunds between buns and labelled them “hot dogs” because he couldn’t spell “dachshund”. The trouble is, no one has ever found that cartoon, so we don’t know if it really happened!
Whatever they were called, they had become part of American culture by the 1920s. People ate them at baseball games, horse races, country fairs and circuses. Today, America is hot dog headquarters, but not everyone can agree on the perfect way to eat one!
New Yorkers like it with onions and sauerkraut, but folks from Chicago prefer it with tomatoes, pickles and peppers.
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They are making a mistake. I keep telling them, but they just look at me and nod their heads and say yes, we know we’re making a mistake.
Like I had to be humoured or something.
So now I’m going to see Beresford again.
I remember the way he shook my hand that day.
That day. What day? Yesterday. Hell, it seems a year ago.
Well, Beresford said, so you’re leaving us. How does that feel?
I said I felt — but I couldn’t think of the right word.
A million dollars I felt like. I felt like I was God. But these expressions didn’t really express it. At last I got the right word for him.
I feel myself again, I said. He nodded. He knew what I meant. He’d seen my type before.
So there isn’t any doubt they cured me. You don’t get that feeling unless you’re You again.
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Crocodile as a pet after B. Myers

If the one thing in the whole world you’ve always wanted is a crocodile, then here is how to get one.
You don’t even have to leave home. You can send away for it.
You don’t have to tell your parents or grandparents about it. They won’t notice.
When the box comes, open it. But be careful. Don’t throw away the little bird. The bird is the crocodile’s toothpick. He always sits on the crocodile’s back.
Now you have the crocodile. But what will you do with him?
When he is small, he will be a nice pet. Children you’ve never seen before will want to play with you. It’s great for your science project too.
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Super Salesman — Arthur Ferguson

One sunny morning in 1923, Arthur Ferguson was walking across Trafalgar Square in London when he saw a richly dressed young man — obviously an American — standing in front of Nelson’s Column. The American was gazing up in reverent admiration at the monument to England’s greatest admiral.
Just for a laugh, Arthur went up to the young man and introduced himself. Could he be of service? He was, after all, caretaker of this ancient monument. Yes, the statue on the top was indeed that of Lord Nelson, England’s greatest hero. Such a shame that it would have to go. Trafalgar Square would never be the same without it. But the British economy was extremely weak, and the country had to have the money. The column, statue, lions and fountains, all had to be sold.
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