Exercise on Reported Speech

Complete the sentences in reported speech. Note whether the sentence is a request, a statement or a question.

1. He said, "I like this song."
   → He said 
2. "Where is your sister?" she asked me.
   → She asked me 
3. "I don't speak Italian," she said.
   → She said 
4. "Say hello to Jim," they said.
   → They asked me 
5. "The film began at seven o'clock," he said.
   → He said 
6. "Don't play on the grass, boys," she said.
   → She told the boys 
7. "Where have you spent your money?" she asked him.
   → She asked him 
8. "I never make mistakes," he said.
   → He said 
9. "Does she know Robert?" he wanted to know.
   → He wanted to know 
10. "Don't try this at home," the stuntman told the audience.
    → The stuntman advised the audience 

Exercise on Question Tags

Complete the sentences with the correct question tags.

1. Mr McGuinness is from Ireland, ?
2. The car isn't in the garage, ?
3. You are John, ?
4. She went to the library yesterday, ?
5. He didn't recognize me, ?
6. Cars pollute the environment, ?
7. Mr. Pritchard has been to Scotland recently, ?
8. The trip is very expensive, ?
9. He won't tell her, ?
10. Hugh had a red car, ?

Mother's Day

A mother's love is a blessing,
No matter where you roam.
Keep her while she's living,
You'll miss her when she's gone.
Love her as in childhood,
When feeble, old and grey,
For you'll never miss a mother's love
'til she's buried beneath the clay.

(traditional Irish song)

Although England had some kind of Mother's Day already in the 18th century, it is less than a hundred years ago that the tradition started in the USA and many other countries.

The American Anna Jarvis from Grafton, West Virginia, is known to be the mother of Mother's Day. She lived at a time when most women devoted their lives solely to their families and homes, but their work as mothers was not recognised and honoured. There were several reform movements, however, that wanted to change the women's situation. Anna's mother, Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis, was engaged in such reform movements as well. She also taught at Sunday School in Andrew's Church, Grafton where one day she finished her lesson with a prayer that was to stick in Anna's mind for ever:

"I hope that someone, sometime will found a memorial mother's day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life."

When her mother died on 9 May 1905, Anna decided to dedicate her life to establish a day in honour of mothers. So, Anna Jarvis started writing letters to influential people, and on the second anniversary of her mother's death a memorial service was held at Andrew's Church in Grafton, where her mother had taught. At that occasion Anna passed out carnations, her mother's favourite flowers: a red carnation was worn to honour a living mother, and a white one to honour a deceased mother. The idea of commemorating mothers spread rapidly, and on 8 May 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution naming the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

Many countries now celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May, but other countries celebrate it at different times throughout the year. In the UK for example Mothering Sunday is on the 4th Sunday in Lent, originally a day in honour of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.

Easter

      At Easter, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Holy Week, as the week before Easter Sunday is called, starts on Palm Sunday. That day marks the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem where he was welcomed by a large crowd who spread branches of palm trees on his path and greeted him:

"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"(Matthew 21:7-9)

       Holy Thursday remembers the Last Supper at which Jesus blessed bread and wine and gave it to his disciples telling them that it was his body and his blood. Jesus also told his disciples that one of them would betray him, and later that night Jesus was betrayed by Judas.

    Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion. First Jesus was taken to Pontius Pilate to be sentenced to death. Pilate did not want Jesus to be crucified, but he had no other chance. In order to demonstrate, however, that he was not to blame for Jesus' death, Pilate washed his hands in front of the people, which was the origin of the famous saying »I wash my hands of it«:

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" (Matthew 27:24)

Easter Monday honours the resurrection. It is said that three days after being crucified, Jesus rose from the dead.

Whilst Easter is a major holiday of the Christian church, nonbelievers have something to celebrate as well: the return of spring. The name Easter actually derives from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre in whose honour a spring festival was held in ancient times. Back then, hares and eggs were seen as symbols of new life–this is why today eggs and bunnies are popular Easter decorations. By the way, the European custom of egg rolling has made its way across the ocean and is now quite common in the USA, too. It has even become an Easter Monday tradition to do "egg rolling" on the lawn of the White House.

Valentine’s Day

      Like many other holidays, Valentine’s Day is thought to be of American origin; but—like many other holidays—it is not. Already in ancient Rome, people celebrated a similar holiday in the middle of February. It was Lupercalia, the festival of fertility.

     The Valentine celebrations we know today probably originate in 14th-century England and France. We could indeed say that it was some kind of medieval »blind-date show« to which single men and women got together on 14 February. The women wrote their names on cards and put them into a box from which each man then picked a card. The woman whose name was on the card became the man’s sweetheart or “Valentine”, as 14 February is also the commemoration day of St. Valentine (therefore the day is called St. Valentine’s Day).

     The date, in fact, is the only connection between the festival and the martyr St. Valentine, a Roman priest from the 3rd century. Valentine lived during the reign of Claudius II, who did not allow his soldiers to get married. Claudius believed that married soldiers would not make a good army, so when he found out that Valentine married young couples secretly, he had the priest arrested and sentenced to death.

     Let’s leave martyrdom behind, however, and return to the more pleasant rites of our time. Valentine’s Day has become the festival of love—lovers surprise each other with little presents, flowers or a romantic dinner by candlelight. Sending special greeting cards on that day is also very popular. Valentines, as these cards are called, are sent to loved ones or even to secret lovers in order to win their hearts. If the sender doesn’t want to be recognised, the card is signed »Your Valentine«.

Thanksgiving

      Thanksgiving is a holiday in the USA and Canada ; it is closely related to European harvest festivals.

     The first Thanksgiving was held in 1621. After a good harvest, the Pilgrim Fathers, who had travelled to America aboard the Mayflower, organised a great feast. They also invited their Indian friends, who had helped the Pilgrims through their first year in the New World.

     After that first Thanksgiving, the holiday was not observed regularly and not usually in autumn. In 1863, however, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed an annual Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated on the last Thursday of November. In 1939, President Roosevelt changed the date to the penultimate Thursday of November to enlarge the Christmas shopping period, which starts after the Thanksgiving celebrations. Not all states followed Roosevelt’s declaration though, and so in 1941 the United States Congress finally decided to celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November (which sometimes is the last, sometimes the penultimate Thursday).

     In the United States, Thanksgiving lasts four days now because most people also get the Friday off. The holiday is celebrated with family and friends, and a huge dinner is served in the early afternoon or evening. The traditional Thanksgiving dinner is a roasted turkey served with stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans and various pies for dessert.

     In Canada, the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1710. For about 200 years, it was held for example when a royal child was born or when a battle was won. It became an annual holiday in 1931 and is now celebrated on the second Monday of October.

US Presidents  

1. George Washington (1789-1797)
2. John Adams (1797-1801)
3. Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
4. James Madison (1809-1817)
5. James Monroe (1817-1825)
6. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)
7. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)
8. Marting Van Buren (1837-1841)
9. William H. Harrison (1841)
10. John Tyler (1841-1845)
11. James K. Polk (1845-1849)
12. Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
13. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
14. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
15. James Buchanan (1857-1861)
16. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
17. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
18. Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
19. Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)
20. James A. Garfield (1881)
21. Chester Alan Arthur (1881-1885)
22. Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)
23. Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
24. Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)
25. William McKinley (1897-1901)
26. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
27. William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
28. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
29. Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
30. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
31. Herbert C. Hoover (1929-1933)
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
33. Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
35. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
36. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
37. Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974)
38. Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977)
39. Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
40. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
41. George Bush (1989-1993)
42. Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
43. George W. Bush (2001-2009)
44. Barack H. Obama (since 2009)