BOX SET: 6 Minute English — ‘Famous People' English mega-class! 30 minutes of new vocabulary! | by 700 Eth | M... (1)
Transcript:
(00:06) Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Sam. People in the UK are enjoying a four-day holiday as part of the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee. A jubilee celebrates the anniversary of a special event, and the word is mostly associated with the Royal Family.
(00:30) In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Platinum Jubilee, commemorating 70 years since she became Queen in 1952. People are doing all kinds of things to celebrate, from large events at Buckingham Palace and St Paul's Cathedral, to smaller street parties in towns and cities up and down the country, and abroad. In this programme, we look at the Platinum Jubilee in an unusual way, by hearing about a cake competition to make the official jubilee cake — the Platinum Pudding.
(01:00) And, as usual, we'll be learning some related vocabulary as well. This isn't the first celebration of Queen Elizabeth's reign — the period of time when a monarch rules a country. In 1977, the Queen celebrated her Silver Jubilee, marking 25 years as queen, followed by her Golden Jubilee in 2002, and her Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
(01:24) But what's so special about this year's Platinum Jubilee is that Queen Elizabeth II is the first British monarch ever to spend 70 years on the throne. And I have a question about it, Sam. Queen Elizabeth II is Britain's longest-ever reigning monarch, but who was the previous longest-reigning before her? Was it: a) Henry VIII? b) Elizabeth I? or c) Queen Victoria? I know it's c) Queen Victoria.
(01:53) OK. I'll reveal the answer at the end of the programme. As the first monarch ever to have a platinum jubilee, many celebrations are being planned for the Queen. These include an official birthday parade, Trooping the Colour, which ends with jet planes flying over Buckingham Palace, and the Platinum Pageant — a live concert in front of the palace, featuring music and dancing, puppets of the Queen's favourite pets — her corgi dogs — and a performance by Ed Sheeran.
(02:22) And that's just in London. All across the UK street parties are being held for people to eat and drink with friends and neighbours. There's a tradition of inventing a new food dish to commemorate jubilees, going all the way back to the Victoria sponge, a cake named after Queen Victoria.
(02:43) This year a competition was held to find a new dish to become the official pudding of the jubilee. Here's BBC reporter, Daniella Relph, to explain more. First, there was a Victoria sponge, then coronation chicken, now we have a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Pudding. The winning lemon Swiss roll and amaretti trifle is a twist on a traditional trifle, with layers of Swiss roll, jelly, custard, mandarins, amaretti biscuits and cream.
(03:12) In 1953, a mix of chicken and curry cream sauce called, coronation chicken, was invented to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's coronation — the ceremony at which she was made queen. This year, competition winner, Jemma Melvin, has invented a lemon and Swiss roll amaretti trifle as the official jubilee cake.
(03:34) Trifle is a sweet, cold pudding made of three layers — a layer of fruit and cake, a layer of custard, and a top layer of cream. Jemma's jubilee trifle is a twist on a traditional trifle. When talking about food, people use the phrase a twist on something to describe a new variation of a traditional recipe, using different, exciting ingredients.
(03:59) Jemma learned her winning recipe from her grandmothers. She wants her trifle to be “the people's pudding”, something to be enjoyed by everyone. Here is Jemma Melvin describing how she felt to discover her trifle had been chosen as the official Platinum Pudding: I cannot believe it! Everything that I was up against w
(04:25) as just the most beautiful desserts and pudding with beautiful stories…. this quite humble trifle has won is a bit surreal. Jemma describes her trifle as humble — modest, and not proud. Although the pudding contains ingredients like amaretti biscuits and cream, which are good enough for a queen, she wanted to base it on a humble trifle, something everyone around the country can make.
(04:48) Enjoying a bowl of Jemma's Platinum Pudding sounds like a great way for some to celebrate the Queen's seventy-year reign. Which reminds me of your question, Neil. We know Elizabeth II has reigned for 70 years, but who was the second longest-serving monarch? I said it was c) Queen Victoria. I'm glad you were so sure, because you were correct.
(05:11) Victoria was queen for almost 64 years which is a long time, but not as long as Elizabeth. OK, let's recap the vocabulary from this programme about the Queen's jubilee — a celebration of the anniversary of a special event, usually involving the Royal Family. A king or queen's reign means the period of time they rule a country.
(05:32) A coronation is the ceremony at which someone is made monarch — the king or queen. Trifle is a popular pudding made of a layer of fruit and cake, a layer of custard, and a top layer of cream. If you say a food dish is a twist on something, you mean it's a variation of a traditional recipe, using new and exciting ingredients.
(05:54) And finally, someone who is humble is modest, and not proud. If you were inspired by this recipe, why not try making it. But that's all from us. Goodbye for now. Goodbye! Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Sam. And I'm Neil. Have you ever played the game, Cluedo, Neil? The idea is that the person playing detective discovers who the murderer is, where the crime took place, and which weapon was used.
(06:26) The last time I played Cluedo it was Professor Plum, in the library, with the dagger! Cluedo is based on a very popular type of book– the murder mystery, sometimes called a whodunnit — a story about a murder which doesn't reveal who the murderer is until the end. The queen of murder mysteries is a British writer who was born in 1890.
(06:51) Her books are read all over the world and have been translated into a 103 different languages. Her name is Agatha Christie. To date over 2 billion copies of her crime novels have been sold worldwide, making her the best-selling novelist of all time… and the subject of this programme. Perhaps her best-known story is ‘Murder on the Orient Express', a whodunnit featuring her most famous detective, Hercule Poirot, who starred in 33 of Agatha Christie's books.
(07:22) More about that later but as usual I have a quiz question for you, Neil. Poirot may be Agatha Christie's most famous detective, but he isn't her only one — so who is Agatha Christie's other fictional detective? Is it: a) Hetty Wainthropp? b) Jessica Fletcher? or, c) Miss Marple? I'll guess it's a) Hetty Wainthropp.
(07:46) OK, Neil. I'll reveal the answer at the end of the programme. As mentioned, one of Agatha Christie's most famous books is ‘Murder on the Orient Express'. The story takes place on a train travelling from Istanbul in Turkey to Calais in northern France. Listen as writer and Agatha Christie superfan, Harriet Gilbert, summarises the story for BBC World Service programme, World Book Club.
(08:10) Poirot is on the train, heading back home to England from Syria, when two unconnected events take place. In a snowstorm in Croatia, the train comes grinding to a halt and in one of the sleeping berths, a passenger is murdered. Since it's impossible for anyone to have reached the isolated snow-trapped train or to have escaped from it without leaving telltale footsteps in the snow, the killer can only be one of the dozen people sharing Poirot's coach.
(08:41) Yet as he starts to investigate it seems that each of them has an alibi for the time of the murder. Impossible? Well, Poirot's certainly perplexed… During a snowstorm, the express train comes to a grinding halt — it slows down until it stops altogether. Then, someone is murdered! The murderer can't have escaped without leaving telltale footprints in the snow.
(09:05) When something is described as telltale, it reveals information which allows a secret to be uncovered. For example, lipstick on your husband's shirt could be a telltale sign he's having an affair. The murder victim is found in bed stabbed with a knife. Poirot begins to investigate, but as he questions the train passengers one by one, it seems that everyone has an alibi — proof that they were somewhere else when a crime was committed.
(09:34) Naturally, this leaves the Belgian detective perplexed, or confused because something is difficult to understand or solve. I won't spoil the story by telling you what happens next, Neil. But let's just say that, as usual, Poirot uncovers the murderer using his incredible powers of observation. In her stories, Agatha Christie describes Hercule Poirot as a very strange or eccentric man.
The author, Sophie Hannah, has written several new Poirot stories based on the characters invented by Agatha Christie before her death in 1976. Here she is describing more of Hercule Poirot's strange characteristics to BBC World Service Programme, World Book Club There's the sort of the outward things, his appearance which is very striking and very unusual, and his sort of, I suppose foibles is the best thing to call them, he likes neatness, he likes order, he approaches thing very methodically, he's very proud of his
uxuriant moustaches, you know, all of that. Sophie calls Poirot's unusual behaviour his foibles — habits or characteristics which are considered strange or foolish but which harm no-one. Yes, unlike the fictional murderers he uncovers, Poirot's foibles do no harm, but it makes me wonder if Agatha Christie's other famous detective also had unusual habits.
Well, first you'll have to reveal the answer to your quiz question, Sam. You asked me for the name of Agatha Christie's other famous detective, and I guessed it was a) Hetty Wainthropp. Well, I'm afraid that was the wrong answer! In fact, Miss Marple was the name of Agatha Christie's second most famous character — although Hetty Wainthropp is a fictional detective on TV.
Well. now that we've solved the murder and revealed the correct answer, let's recap the vocabulary starting with whodunnit — a murder story which does not tell you who the murderer is until the end. In the whodunnit, Murder on the Orient Express, the train comes to a grinding halt — it slows down until it stops altogether.
A telltale sign reveals hidden information so that a secret can be revealed. An alibi is proof that you were somewhere else when a crime was committed. To be perplexed means to be confused because something is difficult to understand. And finally, someone's foibles are their strange but harmless habits or behaviour.
hat's all for our six-minute investigation into the mysterious world of Agatha Christie. Goodbye for now. Goodbye. Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Sam. And I'm Neil. In this 6 Minute English we're celebrating the life of one of modern South Africa's founding fathers — the icon and Nobel laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
rchbishop Tutu was one the leaders of the non-violent movement to end the system of racial segregation known as apartheid. Apartheid was enforced against the black population of South Africa by the white minority government from 1948 until 1991. It's impossible to imagine South Africa's difficult journey to freedom without Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
While other anti-apartheid leaders, like his close friend Nelson Mandela, were imprisoned or even killed, Archbishop Tutu was there at every step of the struggle — the rebellious priest speaking out against the injustices of apartheid. Archbishop Tutu was a hero of the 20th century. He died in December 2021 and was laid to rest in Cape Town in a state funeral on New Year's Day.
In this programme, we'll hear about some important moments from his life and, as usual, learn some related vocabulary as well. But first I have a question for you, Neil. Nelson Mandela was sometimes affectionately called by his clan's name, Madiba, but do you know what nickname Archbishop Desmond Tutu was given? Was it: a) The Des? b) The Bish? or c) The Arch? I don't know, but I'll guess his nickname was c) the Arch.
