WEIRD LAWS

The law system in the world dates back to ancient Egypt, in 300 BC. In earlier times, the word of the king/ruler was considered as law. Today, laws are formed after a number of discussions and public opinion surveys, and are lengthy procedures. Even then, we come across some strange laws and rules that leave us quite surprised and bemused. Here are some of them:

1. In Kentucky, US, every citizen is required by law to take a bath at least once a year.

2. In Saudi Arabia, a woman reportedly may divorce her husband if he does not keep her supplied with coffee.

3. In Miami, it is forbidden to imitate an animal.

4. Until the 1960's men with long hair were not allowed to enter Disneyland.

5. Tipping at a restaurant in Iceland is considered an insult.

6. The penalty for masturbation in Indonesia is decapitation.

7. Moscow weathermen can be fined for inaccurate weather forecasting!

8. It is illegal to own a red car in Shanghai, China.

9. It is illegal to purchase or consume Jack Daniel's Whiskey in the town in which it is produced!

10. It is illegal to be a prostitute in Siena, Italy, if her name is Mary.

11. In West Virginia if you run over an animal, you can legally take it home and cook it for dinner!

12. In Singapore, it is illegal to sell or own chewing gum.

13. In San Salvador, drunk drivers can be punished by death before a firing squad.

14. In France, it is legal to marry a dead person!

15. In Cleveland, Ohio it is illegal to catch mice without a hunting license.

16. In Bangladesh, kids as young as 15 can be jailed for cheating on their finals!

17. In ancient England a person could not have sex unless s/he had consent of the King.

18. In 1659, it was illegal to celebrate Christmas in Massachusetts.

19. Dueling is legal in Paraguay, as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

20. According to U.S. laws, a beer commercial can never show a person actually drinking beer.

 

CHINGLISH - ENGLISH (BADLY) SPOKEN IN CHINA

With so many English-speaking tourists and businessmen traveling to China nowadays, the Chinese have to translate their signs to help visitors. However, sometimes the message gets lost and the results can be very amusing. Take a look at these signs:

STEVE JOBS, APPLE VISIONARY, DIES AGED 56

Steve Jobs made technology fun. The co-founder of Apple died on October 5, 2011 at the age of fifty-six. Mr Jobs had announced he was suffering from pancreatic cancer in 2004 and fought for all these years against it (He had a liver transplant five years later). Mourners gathered outside his house in Palo Alto, California, and Apple stores around the world.

                               

Tim Bajarin is president of Creative Strategies, said: "If you actually look at a tech leader, they’re really happy if they have one hit in their life. Steve Jobs has the Apple II, the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad and Pixar.”

Steve Jobs was a college dropout. He was adopted by a machinist and his wife, an accountant. They supported his early interest in electronics.

He and his friend Steve Wozniak started Apple Computer - now just called Apple - in 1976. They stayed at the company until 1985. That year, Steve Wozniak returned to college and Steve Jobs left in a dispute with the chief executive.

Mr. Jobs then formed his own company, called NeXT Computer. He rejoined Apple in 1997 after it bought NeXT. He helped remake Apple from a business that was in bad shape then to one of the most valuable companies in the world today.

Steve Wozniak, Apple´s co-founder, remembered his longtime friend as a "great visionary and leader" and a "marketing genius."

President Obama said in a statement: "By building one of the planet’s most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the Internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. "Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it," said Mr. Obama."

David Carroll is a professor at Parsons School of Design in New York City. He says Steve Jobs not only revolutionized technology, he also revolutionized American business. He sais: “The fact that he was able to redesign American commerce top to bottom and across is really stunning. He probably will be considered an industrial giant on the scale of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, so one of the great of all time.”

Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple's chief executive in August 2011 because of his health.

Apple's new chief, Tim Cook, will also have to deal with the new Kindle Fire tablet computer from Amazon.com. It costs less than half as much as an iPad but also does less.

TESTING YOUR ENGLISH

YOUR SONG

It's a little bit funny this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live

If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show
I know it's not much but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song and this one's for you

And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world

I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well a few of the verses they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on

So excuse me forgetting but these things I do
You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue
Anyway the thing is what I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen

           

            By Bernie Taupin (lyrics) and Elton John (music)

1. Which alternative is false?

    The author of the song says that his feelings _____________________ .

a) are noticed very easily

b) are difficult for him to disguise

c) aren´t hidden easily

d) are shown to everybody

e) are never noticed by anyone

2. In “My gift is my song and this one's for you”, the word ONE is being used to replace:

a) song

b) this

c) gift

d) my

e) first

3. What did the author do to show his love?

a) He became a sculptor

b) He bought a big house

c) He sat on the roof

d) He wrote a song

e) He became a traveler

4.  “I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
        Well a few of the verses they've got me quite cross”

How many verbs are there in the sentences above?

a) one

b) two

c) three

d) four

e) Five

5. What is the meaning of “.... put down in words”?

a) to write

b) to read

c) to spell

d) to sing

e) to speak

6. In “Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen”, the relative pronoun was omitted. The ommision can also occur in one of these sentences about Rock in Rio 2011.

a) Elton John was one of the artists who sang in Rock in Rio on September 23, 2011.

b) The band that ended the second night was Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

c) Tico Santa Cruz was an artist who spoke about the corrupt politicians in Brazil during the show of his band.

d) Mariana Aydar was the singer that Snow Patrol invited to sing with them.

e) Coldplay was the band which followed Maroon 5 on October 1, 2011.

                                                QUESTIONS BASED ON CARTOONS AND PHOTOS:

7. In the cartoon above, the fish is lying in a hammock and the mother:

a) preferred a bed.

b) told it not to sleep there.

c) thought it was a fishing net.

d) did not say anything.

e) was not worried at first. 

8. “I don´t care...” is the same as _____________ .

a) I don´t like

b) I don´t want

c) I don´t take care.         

d) I don´t think

e) I don´t mind

9.  In the santence above, charms is a false cognate because it means amuletos. Which alternative has words that are NOT false cognates?

a) actually – physician

b) exit – expert

c) attend - pretend

d) consider – vomit

e) data – beef

10. The little girl wants to ________________ her brother.

a)  help                                                      

b)  give a Christmas present to

c) get rid of

d) see Santa Claus with

e) be with

11. The relative pronoun who could be replaced by ________.

a) which

b) that

c) whose

d) whom

e) why

12. The personal pronoun him refers to ______________.

a) the girl

b) Santa Claus

c) the boy

d) the tree

e) the shirt

13. What does the father mean by saying that?

a) His son will never get married.

b) His son will not give anything with his ex-wife.

c) His son´s ex-wife will be the owner of all that.

d) His son´s ex-wife won´t have anything from him.

e) His son and his son´s wife will work together.

14. On the billboard, someone wrote “neds to come out of the closet”. The correct form is “needs to come out of the closet”. What does the expression come out of the closet mean?

a) to leave the bedroom                                                                                                                                           

b) to go out somewhere

c) to show his/her homosexuality publicly

d) to hide his/her homosexuality

e) to be a bisexual 

15. The words beverages and pregnancy mean ________ and ________.

a) bêbados – grávidas

b) bêbados – gravidez

c) bebidas – gravidez

d) bebidas – grávida

e) beber - engravidar

16. According to the sign above, people must:

a) not drink that water because there´s crap in it.

b) drink the water because the fish drink it too.

c) not drink the water although it´s not contaminated.

d) not wash their hands with that water because it´s not clean.

e) drink it because it´s good for them. 

 17. In the picture above, Smudge was trying to fly a __________ .

a) rope

b) line

c) pipe

d) parrot

e) kite

18. Tailor is a person ________________________________ .

a) whose occupation is sailing or navigation

b) employed by the post office to deliver mail

c) collects trash for removal in a truck

d) responsible for finding homeless dogs

e) whose occupation is the making, mending or altering of clothes

                                                      

19. When the man says “but I did”, the auxilary did is being used to replace _____________ .

a) send

b) sent

c) sends

d) will send

e) would send

20. How come is used as a pronoun. It´s the same as _______ .

a) What

b) Why

c) Who

d) Where

e) When

PS - For the answer key, doubts or comments about the questions you can use the blog or email me at miltonfranca2010@hotmail.com