Speaking Warm-Up
Look at the pictures presented below. Answer the questions.
1. The pictures presented above depict the lives of ordinary people in which century? What makes you
guess that period in history?
2. What was essential to live hundreds of years ago and what do we consider to be essential now?
3. If you had to choose 2 technological devices that you cannot imagine living without, which ones would
you pick? Why?
4. If you could visit any period in time, which one would you choose and why?
5. How important is tradition? Can you recall any of the old customs that we have abandoned?
Life in the 1500's
Next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about
how things used to be...
Here are some facts about life in the 1500's:
1) Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June.
However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Baths consisted of a
big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and
men, then the women and finally the children--last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose
someone in it -- hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."
2) Houses had thatched roofs--thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get
warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice rats, and bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became
slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof -- hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."
3) There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and
other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top
gave some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.
4) They cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things
to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers
in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there
for quite a while -- hence the rhyme, "peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."
5) Sometimes they could get pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up
their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to
share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."
6) Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto
the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so,
tomatoes were considered poisonous.
7) Most people did not have pewter plates, but had trenchers, a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl.
Often trenchers were made from stale bread which was so old and hard that they could use them for quite some time.
Trenchers were never washed and a lot of times worms and mold got into the wood and old bread. After eating off
wormy moldy trenchers, one would get "trench mouth."
8) Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and
guests got the top, or "upper crust."
9) Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would some times knock them out for a couple of
days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the
kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would
wake up -- hence the custom of holding a "wake."
10) England is old and small and they started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and
would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins were
found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they
would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.
Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could
be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."
Comprehension questions:
1. The custom of holding a bouquet of flowers by the brides was connected with:
a) esthetic values b) hygienic issues c) the month of June
2. The proverb “It’s raining cats and dogs” came into being because of:
a) bad weather conditions
b) the roof being the only place where the animals could
get warm c) the fact that the roofs were thatched
3. Canopy beds were invented to:
a) protect the people from mosquitoes
b) provide some privacy c) prevent the bugs
and animals from falling into the peoples bed
4. Why were the 15th century cooking habits far from healthy?
a) old food kept being mixed with the fresh one
b) kettles were never washed
c)
peas porridge was eaten after 9 days
5. Why were tomatoes considered poisonous?
a) people didn’t know how to cook them
b) they came into a chemical reaction with
pewter c) they were low in acids
6. What were trenchers?
a) pieces of old bread
b) wooden cutlery
c) plates for the less
wealthy
7. The custom of holding a wake is connected to:
a) funeral preparations b) making sure the person is really dead
c) socializing in the
kitchen
8. In your own words, explain the origins of the saying “Saved by the bell”.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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Discussion points:
1. Which of the customs presented in the text do you find the most appalling?
2. If you had to choose one thing to transfer into today’s everyday life, which one would it be?
Why?
VOCABULARY
1.HOWEVER –despite whatever amount or degree
2.YEARLY –every year or once every year
3.FILLED WITH –full of the stated thing
4.THATCHED ROOF –a roof of a building made with straw or reeds
5.UNDERNEATH –under or below
6.WARM –having or producing a comfortably high temperature, but not hot
7.SLIPPERY –wet, smooth or oily so that it slides easily or causes something to slide
8.MESS UP –something which has been done badly
9.CANOPY –a cover fixed over a seat or bed, etc. for shelter or decoration
10.KETTLE –a covered metal or plastic container with a handle and a shaped opening for pouring, used for boiling water
11.STEW –a type of food consisting usually of meat or fish and vegetables cooked slowly in a small amount of liquid
12.LEFTOVERS –food remaining after a meal
13.OVERNIGHT –for or during the night
14.HANG UP –to fasten or support something at the top leaving the other parts free to move, or to be held in this way
15.SIGN –something showing that something else exists or might happen or exist in the future
16.WEALTH –a large amount of money or valuable possessions that someone has
17.CHEW –to bite something with your teeth, usually in order to taste its flavour
18.PEWTER –a bluish grey metal which is a mixture of tin and lead
19.LEAD –a type of metal
20.LEACH –to remove a substance from a material, especially from earth, by the process of water moving through the material, or to
remove parts of a material using water
21.POISONING –an illness caused by eating, drinking or breathing a dangerous substance
22.DEATH –the end of life
23.CONSIDERED –to believe someone or something to be, or think of them as something
24.STALE BREAD –no longer new or fresh, usually as a result of being kept for too long
25.WORM –a small animal with a long narrow soft body without arms, legs or bones
26.MOLD –a soft green or grey growth which develops on old food or on objects that have been left for too long in warm wet air
27.ACCORDING TO –as stated by
28.BURNT –past simple and past participle of burn
29.LOAF –bread which is shaped and baked in a single piece and can be sliced for eating
30.KNOCK OUT –to make yourself ill or unconscious with tiredness
31.ALE –any of various types of beer, typically one that is dark and bitter
32.BURIAL –the act of putting a dead body into the ground, or the ceremony connected with this
33.GATHER – get together with other people
34.WAKE –when the family and friends of a dead person meet in order to look at the dead body the night before it is buried, or when
they meet after a dead person has been buried to drink and talk about the person's life
35.RUN OUT –to finish, use or sell all of something, so that there is none left
36.DIG UP –to take something out of the ground by digging
37.COFFIN –a long box in which a dead person is buried or burnt
38.BONE –any of the hard parts inside a human or animal that make up its frame
39.SCRATCH –to rub with your nails
40.ALIVE – not dead
41.TIE –to fasten together two ends of a piece of string or other long thin material, or to (cause to) hold together with a long, thin piece
of string, material, etc.
42.STRING –(a piece of) strong thin rope which is made by twisting very thin threads together and which is used for fastening and tying
things
43.WRIST –the part of the body between the hand and the arm
44.BELL –a hollow metal object shaped like a cup which makes a ringing sound when hit by something hard, especially a clapper
45.GRAVEYARD -a place, often next to a church where dead people are buried
Key
Comprehension questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
B
B
C
A
B
C
B