Words and Their Stories: Nicknames for New York City
Now the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
A nickname is a shortened form of a person's name. A _____________also can be a descriptive name for a person, place or _____________. Many American cities have nicknames. These can help establish an ______________________________________ among citizens and build unity.
A few years ago, some marketing and advertising experts were asked to name the best nickname for an American city. The _____________was the nation’s largest city, New York. The top nickname was the _____________.
You might wonder how New York got this nickname. In the early nineteen seventies, the city had many _____________. The number of visitors was falling. So a ____________ was launched to give the city a new image. The head of the New York Conventions and Visitors Bureau decided to call the city, The Big Apple.
There are several _____________for where this name came from. Language expert Barry Popik studied the question and wrote about it on his website. He says John Fitz Gerald, a writer for a New York newspaper, used the name the Big Apple to mean New York in the nineteen twenties. Mr. Fitz Gerald wrote about _____________. He heard the name used by men who worked at a racetrack in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Mister Fitz Gerald wrote: “The Big Apple. The dream of every lad that ever threw a leg over a thoroughbred and the goal of all horsemen. There’s only one Big Apple. That’s New York.”
In horse racing, the expression meant “_____________” the place where large amounts of money could be won. The Big Apple became the name of a night club in the Harlem area of New York City in nineteen thirty-four. It also was the name of a popular dance and a hit song in the nineteen thirties.
But it is not the only nickname for America’s _____________. Barry Popik’s website lists almost one hundred nicknames that describe New York. The best known are the Capital of the World. Empire City. Gotham. The City So Nice They Named It Twice. And ______________________________________ You can hear about the city in the song, “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra.
(from VOA News)
E xercise 22
Listen to the following text “Words and their stories: Nicknames for Los Angeles. Summarize it in English and write down your summary.
Write your summary in your workbook.
E xercise 1
Find the "odd one out". There may be more than one answer. Give your reasons.
|
A |
B |
C |
1 |
similar |
different |
dissimilar |
|
|
|
|
2 |
a muti-racial society |
a multi-lingual society |
a monoculture |
|
|
|
|
3 |
immigrants |
emigrants |
migrants |
|
|
|
|
4 |
the Normans |
the Romans |
the Saxons |
|
|
|
|
5 |
to intermarry |
to interfere |
to integrate |
|
|
|
|
6 |
asylum |
refuge |
shelter |
|
|
|
|
7 |
prejudice |
bias |
criticism |
|
|
|
|
E xercise 2
How well do you know Russia? Russia boasts rich history, strong traditions, influential arts, ballet, literature and architecture. Test your knowledge of facts about Russia.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
E xercise 3
Read and translate the dialogue. Build up your own dialogue comparing Russia, the UK and the USA.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
E xercise 4
What do you know about the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland? Test your knowledge of facts about this amazing and unique country.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
E xercise 5
Discuss the following situations. Express your opinion. Create an opposition of opinions. Write an essay on one of the following topics in your workbook.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
E xercise 1
Read the following article about one of the most popular snakes around the world – sandwich. Why do you think it’s so popular nowadays? What other snakes do you know? Prepare a short description of your favorite snake and its recipe.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
E xercise 7
Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases from the text above. When can they be used? Give examples of their usage.
Word |
Meaning |
Translation |
Nefarious |
|
|
Blasphemous |
|
|
To squeeze |
|
|
Roast-beef between two slices of bread |
|
|
Lesser vices |
|
|
Gambling session |
|
|
Destiny |
|
|
Expanding |
|
|
To embark |
|
|
Infamy of several hundred years ago |
|
|
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
E xercise 8
W
hat
do you know about the United States of America? Fill in the map with
American states and their capitals. Learn them by heart.
E xercise 9
Where can we find these sights in the USA? What are they?
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
E xercise 10
Crossword grid: print out and complete.
E xercise 11
Read the following article. What do you think about it? Is it true or not? Why? Prepare your own list of differences between men and women in form of a presentation.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
E xercise 12
Choose the right variant. Here can be only one right variant Choose the right variant. Here can be only one right variant.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
E xercise 13
Here is the list with 10 differences between Russia and the USA. Read attentively this list. Discuss it and offer you own list of differences but this time including also the UK. Make a table with these differences. There must be at least 5 differences between 3 countries.
The USA |
Russia |
The UK |
Difference: |
||
|
|
|
Difference: |
||
|
|
|
Difference: |
||
|
|
|
Difference: |
||
|
|
|
Difference: |
||
|
|
|
Difference: |
||
|
|
|
Difference: |
||
|
|
|
Difference: |
||
|
|
|
Difference: |
||
|
|
|
Difference: |
||
|
|
|
Difference: |
||
|
|
|
E xercise 14
Try to find out the meaning of the following words and phrases.
ACE OF DIAMONDS |
|
ALL THUMBS |
|
BANANA OIL |
|
BEAT THE BUSHES |
|
BE MY GUEST |
|
BITE THE BULLET |
|
BOGGLES THE MIND |
|
BRING HOME |
|
BUFFALO |
|
CATCH 22 |
|
CHICKENHEAD |
|
CLIP SOMEONE'S WINGS |
|
CON MAN |
|
CUP OF COFFEE |
|
DEVIL MAY CARE |
|
ENOUGH TO CHOKE A HORSE |
|
FEISTY |
|
FUDDY DADDY |
|
GET A KICK OUT OF |
|
GET THE BLUES |
|
GET THIS STRAIGHT |
|
GLIB TALKER |
|
GO THROUGH THE WILL |
|
GUFF |
|
E xercise 15
Read the following article. Write summary on it. Be ready to retell it. Prepare a monologue based on your summary of this text. Use words from this text in your monologue.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
E xercise 16