3. Can you avoid some of the most common confusions arising between British and

American speakers? Try the following quiz.

1. Where would you take (a) an American visitor (b) a British visitor who said they wanted to wash up – the kitchen or the bathroom?

2. Would (a) an American (b) a Brit be expected to get something hot or something cold if they asked for some potato chips?

3. Which would surprise you more – an American or a British man telling you that he wanted to go and change his pants?

4. You have just come into an unknown office block. If (a) an American (b) a Brit says that the office you need is on the second floor, how many flights of stairs do you need to climb?

5. If (a) an American (b) a Brit asks for a bill, is he or she more likely to be in a bank or a café?

You can check you answers by studying the information given in Section D below.

D Here are some words and phrases which can cause confusion when used by Brits and Americans talking together because they mean something different in each ‘language’. When they say: An American means what a Brit calls: And a Brit means what an American calls; A bill The first floor Pants Potato chips Purse Subway Vest Wash up A (bank) note The ground floor Trousers Potato crisps A handbag An underground railway A waistcoat Wash your hands A check (in a café) The second floor Underpants French fries A wallet An underpass An undershirt Wash the dishes

Vocabulary 2 Countries and nationalities

1. Parts of the world

Match these parts of the world with the numbers 1 -16 on the map:

___ Africa ___ the Mediterranean ___ South America ___ the Middle East

___ the Arctic ___ South East Asia ___ Central America ___ Scandinavia

___ Antarctica ___ the British Isles ___ the Far East ___ North America

___ Asia ___ North Africa ___ the Caribbean ___ Central Europe

2. Countries

Do you know how to pronounce these countries? Check and mark the stress in any

you may need. The first one has been done for you.

Algeria	Argentina	Australia	Austria	Belgium	Brazil	Canada	Chile	China
Colombia	Denmark	Egypt	Ethiopia	Finland	Germany	Hungary	India	Indonesia
Iran	Ireland	Israel	Italy	Japan	Korea	Kuwait	Lebanon	Malaysia
Mexico	Morocco	Norway	Pakistan	Peru	Poland	Portugal	Romania	Russia
Slovenia	Sri Lanka	Sweden	Taiwan	Tibet	Tunisia	Turkey	Vietnam	Zimbabwe

There are four common suffixes used to make the nationality adjective:

-ish (Spanish) -(i)an (Albanian) -ese (Portuguese) -i (Saudi)

Use your dictionary if necessary to complete the lists. You may need to change the spelling.

1. –ish ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. -(i)an ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. -ese ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. -i ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Exceptions

The following adjectives do not follow any of the four patterns in exercise 2. What are the countries?

1. French

2. Greek

3. Icelandic

4. Welsh

5. Thai

6. Swiss

7. Cypriot

8. Dutch