Prime Time 7/8, Language in Use, Arbeitsheft

Traditionally, the arrival of royal babies met with political involvement from the start, with the Home Secretary required to be present at the birth. Yet, it has changed (4) a great deal over the years. In 1840, before QueenVictoria gave birth to her first child, the cabinet, the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of London and the Lord Steward gathered outside the royal bedchamber. The door was open and the Lord Steward could see and hear (5) all that went on. Moments after her birth, the infant Princess Victoria was carried naked into the outer room and laid on a prepared table to be inspected (6) by the councillors. When the Queen and Princess Margaret were born, Home Secretaries were on the premises but George VI, wisely, terminated this practice before the birth of Prince Charles. Today, royal babies are born in hospitals, so their first public showing comes a day after their birth, when they are carried out (7) into the glare of the media, in their mother’s arms – witness PrinceWilliam in 1982, and Prince George in 2013. Though the media has become more cynical and less respectful, they remain hungry for stories about the infant prince. Infinitive or gerund: What defines Britishness? Read the following text. Then decide whether the verbs from the box should be used as a gerund or an infinitive (with or without to ) to fill the gaps. ask • be (2x) • define • feel • include • lead • say The monarchy, the BBC and pubs are among the most important aspects when it comes to defining (1) Britain, according to a new study. However, the pride of Britons in their national identity has fallen to an all-time low, with only one in five young people (2) they are “very proud” to be British, the British Social Attitudes survey has found. According to the figures, shown in The Sunday Times , a third of people claimed (3) very proud to be British, compared with 43% a decade ago. The young and highly educated are the least likely to be (4) proud of being British, when compared to older people or those with fewer qualifications. Penny Young of NatCen Social Research, which carried out the survey, attributed the drop to factors (5) the fallout from the war in Iraq and the faltering economy. “There was a lot of confidence in Britain in 2003, but now we are still recovering from the financial crash,” she said. “For some people, greater exposure to other countries through budget travel and a wider digital community can (6) them (7) what it means to be British.” Proud or not, almost three quarters of people (74%) see Britain as (8) defined by the monarchy.While 73% seeWilliam Shakespeare as the most important figure when it comes to defining Britishness, 73% also chose the common law system and the House of Commons. The British Social Attitudes survey has been conducted every year since 1983. The 2013 study consisted of interviews with 3,244 people, of whom 900 were asked about their level of pride in Britain. (Alice Philipson, The Telegraph , 13 April 2014; adapted and abridged) 6 7 1 The British today Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv