A. Churchill was from an important family of lords and politicians and he joined Parliament at the age of 25. In the 1930s, he realized before most people in Britain that Hitler was very dangerous. When the Second World War began, he soon became head of the government. Because of his powerful speeches in the most difficult months of the war, the British started to believe that they could win. Churchill played a very important part in the war against Hitler.
B. In the US and UK black is a very popular colour for clothes of all types, and especially formal clothes. It is typically worn at funerals to show respect and sadness. Black clothes are often worn to social occasions in the evening, when women sometimes wear a little black dress and men sometimes wear a black dinner jacket. Black is associated with death and evil. Witches are thought to wear black and to have black cats. Black magic is believed to be magic that uses the power of the devil for evil purposes.
C. In the UK, the day after Christmas Day is called Boxing Day, and is also a public holiday. It is called Boxing Day because in the past it was the day when rich people gave their servants a present of money known as a ‘Christmas box’. There are a lot of sporting events on Boxing Day. Twelfth Night is 6th January, twelve days after Christmas, and is the day when people take down their decorations and remove their Christmas trees.
D. In 2002, the Euro became the official currency in most of the fifteen states that then formed the European Union, replacing the different currencies that had existed in those countries. The United Kingdom, Denmark, and Sweden did not switch to the Euro but kept their own currencies, though they may start using the Euro at a later date.
E. Pubs are an important part of British life. Even very small villages nearly always have a pub. People often go to the pub for a drink in the evenings and at weekends, and have one pub near their home that they go to regularly, known as their local. In the past, women did not go to into pubs. According to the law, you must be 18 years old before you can drink alcohol in a pub. Children are not usually allowed into pubs, although some pubs, usually ones that serve food, let parents bring their children.
F. At the age of fifteen or sixteen, students at school in the UK take examinations in all the subjects which they are studying. These are called ‘public examinations’. Many students stay at school until they are eighteen. At that age, they take more difficult public examinations. Their grades in these examinations help them to get into universities. Public examinations in the UK are not set by the schools, or by the government. The examinations are set by groups of experts in each subject from the universities.
G. D. H. Lawrence was one of the greatest English writers of his time. His father was a miner and mother was a schoolteacher, and Lawrence himself also taught before deciding to make writing his profession. One of Lawrence’s favourite subjects was the difficult nature of relationships between men and women. He wrote many novels, poems, plays, essays and some very fine short stories. He was also a painter.
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