Tag: News

Statue Toppled in Bristol City Centre – English Reading Comprehension Exercise

A statue of a 17th century slave trader known as Edward Colston was toppled in Bristol city centre on Sunday 7th of June. The statue had stood in Bristol city centre since 1895 but was pulled down by anti-racism protestors after a day of unrest in the south-west English city. Earlier in the day the protestors had attended a demonstration against racial discrimination, sparked after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis the week before.

After the demonstration a group of protestors approached the statue with anger, pelting it with eggs and daubing it in paint. Then two people jumped onto the plinth and attached ropes around the head of the statue so it could be pulled down. After it fell, protestors dragged it to the edge of the harbour in Bristol and dumped it in the river to the sound of cheers from the crowd.

Edward Colston lived between the years 1636 and 1721 and was well known in the Bristol area as a slave owner, businessman and philanthropist. In 1680 he became an official of the Royal African Company which at the time was the only company that traded slaves in Britain. During his time, he is estimated to have transported over 84,000 people from Africa to America and the Caribbean to become slaves. It is also estimated that during the passage across the Atlantic, over 19,000 people died on the route and were thrown into the sea. He had also been a Conservative MP for some years before his death.

Many people were upset for a long time that his statue still stood in Bristol city centre. There had been petitions to have it removed before it was toppled. Historians and activists have commended the toppling of the statue as a ‘historic moment’ but others, including the conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson have called it ‘wrong’ and ‘a criminal act.’

One witness to the toppling of the statue said ‘Edward Colston sent thousands to their deaths in the sea and now he is the one who sleeps with the fishes’. The debacle with the statue has prompted many local councils in England to review their own statues and whether they are ethical. Many monuments to slave traders still exist in the country.

Now try the quizzes below to test your knowledge!

Statue Toppled in Bristol Definitions Quiz

Try to match the words in bold from the article with the definitions

Statue Toppled in Bristol True or False Quiz

How well did you understand the article? Find out here with the True or False Quiz

Learn English with the News – Reports of price hikes have been registered at bars, restaurants and hairdressers in Italy

Some of Italy’s shops and restaurants have added a “Covid Tax” in order to make more money after months of lockdown. Watch the video and then check out our website for the accompanying exercises.

The news is a consistent source of entertainment, knowledge and discovery that never ceases to exist and always comes out with more and more material each day. Because it plays such a vital part in our lives and is so important to keep up with, it is without a doubt a piece of your everyday routine that can’t go ignored. 

Whether it is to understand the ramifications of recent legislation passed, to hear about recent events and grasp the potential consequences to your country, or simply hear about what is happening in other countries in order to compare them to what’s happening in yours, the news is certainly a staple in our lives and the most consistent way to get information.

This is why Scrambled Eggs has decided to unite two of your biggest worlds: learning English and keeping up with what is happening in the world. We hope our challenging daily exercises, composed of listening, vocabulary and comprehension exercises in English, will satisfy both of those above worlds in a satisfactory and also entertaining way.

So enough about introductions, let’s get to today’s Learn English with the News topic:

Adapted from this article.

Now that you’ve had a listen, let’s put your knowledge to the test with some of our vocabulary and comprehension exercises:

Reports of price hikes have been registered at bars, restaurants and hairdressers in Italy | Definition Match

Put the following words to the correct definitions.

Reports of price hikes have been registered at bars, restaurants and hairdressers in Italy | Fill in the Blank

Fill the empty spaces with the proper words.

Reports of price hikes have been registered at bars, restaurants and hairdressers in Italy | True or False

Indicate which sentences are true and which ones are false.

And that’s it for today’s English lesson, where you can improve your English with the news and current events. Do you have any comments or special requests for us for the next edition of Learn English with the News? Be sure to leave any feedback you have in the comments section below, as we would love to help you on your quest to learn the English language!

For other Learn English with the News segments, be sure to check out the rest of our posts:

https://scrambledeggsinglese.it/tag/learn-english-with-the-news/

Full Text:

“Italy’s consumers are being charged €2 to €4 more than before the coronavirus emergency as bars, restaurants and hairdressers add a ‘covid tax’ to the bill, according to consumer watchdog Codacons. Codacons has received dozens of reports on the increases in the price lists of hairdressers. Based on average costs in large cities, they have calculated how the price of a cut has gone from an average of €20 to €25, a rise of 25 per cent. Codacons also reports increases in the price of coffee at the bar, with cases of an espresso in Rome now costing €1.50 instead of the usual €1 or €1.10. In Milan the espressos are €2, up from €1.30. In Florence they are €1.70, up from the usual average of €1.40. The so-called covid tax has also been slammed by the National Consumer Union whose president Massimiliano Dona describes it as an “incorrect practice.” The hike in prices comes as many businesses struggle to get back to work after being closed for more than two months during the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Businesses are operating amid reduced capacity due to social distancing as well as dealing with extra costs relating to sanification and protective equipment required under Italy’s Phase Two in the covid-19 emergency.”

Learn English with the News – World leaders help in coronavirus vaccine fight

The news is a consistent source of entertainment, knowledge and discovery that never ceases to exist and always comes out with more and more material each day. Because it plays such a vital part in our lives and is so important to keep up with, it is without a doubt a piece of your everyday routine that can’t go ignored. 

Whether it is to understand the ramifications of recent legislation passed, to hear about recent events and grasp the potential consequences to your country, or simply hear about what is happening in other countries in order to compare them to what’s happening in yours, the news is certainly a staple in our lives and the most consistent way to get information.

This is why Scrambled Eggs has decided to unite two of your biggest worlds: learning English and keeping up with what is happening in the world. We hope our challenging daily exercises, composed of listening, vocabulary and comprehension exercises in English, will satisfy both of those above worlds in a satisfactory and also entertaining way.

So enough about introductions, let’s get to today’s Learn English with the News topic:

Adapted from this article.

Now that you’ve had a listen, let’s put your knowledge to the test with some of our vocabulary and comprehension exercises:

World leaders help in coronavirus vaccine fight | Definition Match

Put the following words to the correct definitions.

World leaders help in coronavirus vaccine fight | Fill in the Blank

Fill the empty spaces with the proper words.

World leaders help in coronavirus vaccine fight | True or False

Indicate which sentences are true and which ones are false.

And that’s it for today’s English lesson, where you can improve your English with the news and current events. Do you have any comments or special requests for us for the next edition of Learn English with the News? Be sure to leave any feedback you have in the comments section below, as we would love to help you on your quest to learn the English language!

For other Learn English with the News segments, be sure to check out the rest of our posts:

https://scrambledeggsinglese.it/tag/learn-english-with-the-news/