English selftest

Hot Summers of 1976 and 2018
2018 experienced some of the hottest days the UK has had since the famous drought of 1976. The weather was so hot in 1976 that the government of the day introduced a Drought Act and even appointed a Minister for Drought. There are some striking similarities between 2018 and 1976 but also some key differences.
The temperatures of surface waters of the Atlantic Ocean play a crucial role in determining the UK weather, and sea conditions in 1976 were very similar to those in Summer 2018. In both years, a particular pattern formed in which there was cool water near Greenland, warm water further south and then more cool water closer to the British Isles and research has shown how that pattern of sea temperatures is linked to warmer, drier summers in the UK. Both heatwaves had lasting high pressure in which temperatures soared, but in 1976 the high pressure system was centred further to the east of the UK. That had the effect of drawing up hot humid air from the south, making night-time temperatures hotter than they were in 2018.
1976 had 18 days of daytime temperatures above 30C, whereas 2018 had only 9 days of daytime temperatures exceeding 30C. Also, 1976 had a staggering 15 successive days in which daytime temperatures exceeded 32C.
The biggest difference is in rainfall. In May 1975, parts of the UK have suffered a long dry spell so when the heatwave struck in 1976, the country was already parched. In Yorkshire and East Anglia, standpipes were fitted in the streets. In Wales and the west of England, water supplies were turned off during the day to save water, and dozens of companys had restrictions set out or were told to introduce shorter working weeks.
In comparison, 2018 had the driest early summer for half a century and a hosepipe ban was introduced but only in north-west England.
1976 had a more severe heatwave than 2018, but globally temperatures are rising which makes it highly likely that heatwaves will become more ……….. in the UK and
throughout Europe in the future with shocking effects.

The bird that mimics
Stories about these birds can be found again and again. It is the lyrebird. The lyrebird’s feathers are not as colourful as a peacock’s, and they may not fly much, but this bird’s voice and dancing abilities have fascinated humans for thousands of years.
Lyrebirds are brown, pheasant-like, and inhabit the lush forests of south eastern Australia and walk the forest floor, often dashing out of sight when people approaching. They have big feet and feed by digging in the ground and destroying rotting logs in order to churn up worms and feed on insects, spiders, frogs, and other small creatures that they find by scratching in the leaf litter. They have powerful legs with long toes and claws, which are ideal for raking over dead leaves and soil. After a lyrebird has been through the forest, the ground looks like it has been ploughed. As part of the Australian forest ecosystem, lyrebirds play a vital role and prevent wildfires, by breaking up logs and forest rubbish.
80 per cent of the lyrebird’s song is mimicry. It is a genius for copying sounds it
hears in its environment. In fact, it is so good you can’t tell the difference between the real thing and the bird. In todays modern world, we are surrounded by sounds of car alarms, engines, music voices, machines, drills, hammers and sirens. This bird hears these sounds and can mimic them. It can even mimic the songs of other birds and human voices.
Why it is called a lyrebird? Because of the shape of its tail when it is displaying its feathers to other birds. When the tail is raised over its head, it looks like an ancient musical stringed instrument called a lyre. Whilst the females’ tails reach 75-85 centimetres in length, the males’ tails reach 80-98 centimetres in length. Unlike the emu, the lyrebird can fly, although it rarely does as they can run …………..
quickly to avoid most dangers that they come across.
The lyrebird sleeps in trees at night and are inactive, rarely moving large distances and generally staying in a home-range about 10 kilometres in diameter.

3,500 year old Greek tomb found
A group of archaeologists had been digging near the Palace of Nestor, on a hilltop near Pylos on the southwest coast of Greece when they found something marvellous. Shaded from the Greek sun by a square piece of green tarpaulin hung between olive trees, the archaeologists had cleared the land of weeds and snakes and selected a few spots to investigate. As the trench around the stones sank deeper, a pit emerged, two meters by one meter. Suddenly a pick hit something hard and a round green object appeared; it was a basin made of bronze.
Over the next six months, the archaeologists uncovered a largely intact skeleton together with weapons, armour, and precious items, including gold and silver cups; hundreds of beads made of carnelian, amethyst, amber and gold; more than 50 stone seals delicately carved with goddesses, lions and bulls; and four stunning gold rings. This was indeed an ancient grave, among the most spectacular archaeological discoveries in Greece in more than half a century—and the archaeologists were the first to open it since the day it was filled in.
“It was incredible luck,” said John Bennet, director of the British School at Athens. “The fact that it hadn’t been discovered before now is astonishing.”
The very first organized Greek society belonged to the Mycenaeans, whose kingdoms exploded out of
nowhere on the Greek mainland around 1600 B.C. Although they disappeared equally dramatically a
few hundred years later, giving way to several centuries known as the Greek Dark Ages, before the
rise of “classical” Greece, the Mycenaeans sowed the seeds of Greek common traditions, including art
and architecture, language, philosophy and literature, even democracy and religion.

Generous Celebrities
We often see celebrities on TV asking us to help a charity but there are celebrities who do ‘hands on’ work themselves and some even work for UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund).
The most generous celebrity listed on the internet is Elton John, singer and song writer. He supports 60 different charities and has his own charity; ‘The Elton John AIDS Charity’. Every year he invites hundreds of celebrities to a themed “White Tie and Tiara” ball to raise money for the charity, and hosts numerous fundraising parties.
The second most generous celebrity on the internet is J.K. Rowling, writer of Harry Potter books. She has donated more than £8 million to charities in the past year. Joanne also founded ‘Lumos’ which is a charity working to ban the institutionalisation of children.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Oscar winning actor, is a long-time climate activist and supporter of native American tribes who regularly march for environmental protection. In 2017 he joined more than 200,000 people on the streets in Washington, D.C. calling for action on climate change.
John Boyega, actor from Star Wars, recently surprised kids with Star Wars toys at a London hospital. He delivered toys on behalf of the Rays of Sunshine children’s charity for sick children.
Orlando Bloom, actor, has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF since 2009. He has travelled to numerous countries on behalf of UNICEF seeing what help is needed to support people in need.
Jackie Chan is always involved with charities; UNICEF, Operation Smile and the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation. He spends countless hours helping others, and has been known to drop everything to help out after disasters strike. He ……………. millions of dollars to help those in need.