1999

The Support for Polish Reform in Teacher Education (SPRITE) project was set up in September 1998 by the British Council. It is aimed primarily at educating and training English language teachers in view of new requirements in the Polish education system resulting from the coming reform of the sector.

Euroscola is a multilingual programme designed to give schoolchildren from all parts of Europe a chance to participate in the workings of the European Parliament. A group of 500 secondaryschool pupils spend one day learning about the European Parliament' s role, and debate a chosen issue. The results of the debate are presented in the Chamber of the European Parliament at the end of the day and later passed on to the relevant parliamentary bodies.

If somebody told you that the tomato you're eating contains a gene taken from a fish would you continue eating it? Like animal cloning, the genetic modification ofcrops is a a hot topic at the moment, especially in Britain, where many people are protesting against it. Recently even Prince Charles joined the campaign.

As well as public holidays and religious feastdays thatfall on afixed date or in a particular period, certainanniversaries are regularly celebrated. This year, for example, marks the 150th anniversary of the death of Polish-born composer Fryderyk Chopin and is being celebrated as Chopin Year with special concerts and exhibitions. Recently, the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War wasobserved with speeches, military parades, patrioticassemblies andwreath-laying ceremonies. Let us now look at some of the holidays celebrated during autumn in different countries.

British people are generally stereotyped as tea drinkers. Fair enough, statistics show that they do drink enormous quantities of tea the average Brit drinks 3.5 cups a day, compared to, for example, the average American who consumes less than half a cup.

But British people are not the world' s biggest tea drinkers they come second. Only the Irish drink more. They hold the world record with an average intake of four cups a day. Funny that they should be renowned for drinking whiskey and Guinness too. Do they ever eat anything?

On 19th May 1999 the USA saw the biggest madness since Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic. " The Phantom Menace" had its opening in over three thousand cinemas across the States. Fans had been queuing for over a month in hot sun and cold rain because the tickets were not sold in advance. The introduction of the film was preceded by hype in the mass media and mass hysteria unseen since the times of Rudolf Valentino. Traders of Star Wars toys were already booking holidays in the Seychelles and ordering new Cadillacs.

Here is the second part of our" Great Britain Quiz" . Five lucky winners who send us the correct answers to this and Part 1 (printed in the last issue) will receive Longman dictionaries.

I. Write in the missing dates.

Fundacja Kopernikańska w Polsce, the publisher of THE WORLD OF ENGLISH and the official sponsor of the XXIII English Language Olympiad, congratulates the 20 Laureats who advanced to the final stage from 26,442 starting participants.

Agnieszka Wendorff, the 1st prize winner of the XXIII English Language Olympiad, being congratulated by dr Henryk Krzyżanowski, the author of the tests.

If you' re not afraid of the weather, Scotland can be one of the most beautiful and fascinating of travel destinations. The stunning landscape and rich history could keep a holidaymaker happy for months, so long as he or she isn' t the type that likes doing nothing but lying on the beach. Even so, Scotland does have more than its fair share of sea and sand; it' s just a little short on the sun. So if you' re brave enough to weather the land of the brave, read on!