Files 1&2

The history of English

Hello I’m Chris and welcome to London. But before we move from Big Ben to the London eye, I need
to send a tweet.

Only a few years ago ‘tweet’ was something only birds did, now everybody’s ‘tweeting’…often using
‘textspeak’ or ‘emoticons’. But the inventiveness of the English language is nothing new. It has been
evolving for over 1600 years.

In AD 43 the Romans invaded Britain, conquering the indigenous Celts and taking over most of the
country. In AD 409 they left and around 50 years later several tribes from around northern Germany
– including the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes, better known as the Anglo-Saxons – started to
move in. They settled in the east, but unlike the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons didn’t set out to conquer.
They shared many things with the Celts – including language.

Unlike Latin – which had never really caught on with the locals – people started using Anglo-Saxon
terms for lots of everyday things, like ‘man’, ‘woman’, and ‘friend’.

But then Latin made a comeback! This time it didn’t arrive with Roman soldiers, it arrived with
Christian monks. Christianity became very popular with the locals, and introduced a whole new
alphabet and religious vocabulary.

Then the Vikings arrived in around 800 AD. Their warrior spirit was reflected in their language. They
‘raced’ through the country ‘ransacking’ towns and villages armed with ‘knives’ and ‘clubs’. They
‘took’ land, goods and slaves, but they ‘gave’ English around 2,000 words.

The Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons battled for almost 300 years until the English King Harold won the
Battle of Stamford Bridge. But only three weeks later the unlucky Harold was killed by William the
Conqueror – a Norman from France – at the Battle of Hastings. William became the King of England
and started building castles all over the country. French became the language of the wealthy elite. It
was the native tongue of all ‘princes’, ‘dukes’, ‘barons’ and ‘dames’. But English remained the
language of the peasants. Farmers herded ‘cows’ and ‘sheep’, which were Anglo-Saxon words…but
the nobility ate ‘beef’ and ‘mutton’, which were French words.

Over the next 300 years the two languages mixed until English eventually won out, albeit with
10,000 new words from the French. This richer language was the perfect plaything for poets and
playwrights, and one literary genius contributed more than most. William Shakespeare wrote 38
plays and 150 poems. He also coined around 2,000 new words and his turn of phrase transformed
the entire language.

© Oxford University Press English File third edition – Advanced

The 16th century was also the Age of Discovery and for Britain this meant the birth of an Empire that
stretched across the globe. The British colonialists often used native words and soon words like
‘safari’ from the African language Swahili, ‘pyjamas’ from the Urdu language in India and
‘boomerang’ from the native Australian language Dharuk, had entered the language. But the country
that had the most impact on English was America. The newly independent America needed a new
type of English – American English. American English kept many of the old English words, so today
English ‘curtains’ are still American ‘drapes’, English ‘wardrobes’ are American ‘closets’, and English
‘trousers’ are American ‘pants’. But the language changed a lot, too. The father of American English
was Noah Webster. He created a new dictionary which simplified the spelling of lots of complicated
English words. He also introduced uniquely American words like ‘squash’, ‘chowder’ and ‘skunk’.

By the twentieth century there were two main types of English – British English and American
English. But throughout the twentieth century both continued to change and borrow from one
another, especially with the invention of ‘computers’ and the ‘internet’. Suddenly we needed new
words to describe our ‘blogs’, ‘posts’ and, of course, ‘tweets’.

Today English is truly global. There are around 375 million native speakers, and about 1.5 billion
people learn it as a foreign language. But it is always changing and shifting to suit our needs. Today
the English vocabulary has over 170,000 words… and counting. We are inventing new words every
day and if we don’t know them we just ‘Google’ them on our ‘smartphones’ or… send a ‘tweet.

© Oxford University Press English File third edition – Advanced

Files 3&4
The York Literature Festival

In the last few decades literary festivals have become part of Britain’s cultural landscape. In 1983
there were only three in the UK, today there are over 300. Some are international events that attract
thousands of people, while others are smaller more intimate events that celebrate writers from the
local area. But they all have one thing in common – they all celebrate books.

The York Literature Festival is only eight years old, but it is quickly getting a reputation as one of the
most exciting literary events in the country. It attracts national and international figures, as well as
local writers and performers.

And at the heart of the festival is York itself. This ancient walled city in the north of England has a
long literary history, which you can find out all about on the festival’s city tour.
York’s association with literature stretches back to the middle-ages, when the city became famous
for its religious Mystery Plays. Later, thanks to its reputation as a centre of craftsmanship, York
became an early hub of bookmaking and Laurence Sterne’s famous novel Tristram Shandy was
published here on Stonegate in 1760.

Tour guide: If you look here, Jaques Sterne was the uncle of Laurence Sterne, who wrote Tristram
Shandy. Now, how many people have read Tristram Shandy? 500 copies were printed in
York, and then it sort of went to London and it sold, in two months, it was a sensation...

York’s ancient architecture has also made it a favourite setting for some of Britain’s most famous
authors. The city’s cathedral – York Minster – appears in books by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins
and the city is the hometown of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. More recently, York has continued
to produce literary talents throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, from the poet W.H.
Auden to the prize-winning writer Kate Atkinson.

The festival builds on York’s strong tradition to bring together people from all corners of the literary
world. In some of the city’s most beautiful and historic buildings there are readings by all kinds of
writers, including some of the country’s best-known authors and poets.

This is Paul Farley, an English poet, who has also worked as a non-fiction author, journalist and
university lecturer. Paul published his first collection of poetry – The Boy from the Chemist is here to
See You – in 1998. The work was awarded the Somerset Maugham Award and his second collection
– The Ice Age – won the Whitbread Poetry Prize.

Today he is reading with the Irish poet Tara Bergin, who has just published her first book of poetry –
This is Yarrow. This debut collection has been very well-received and in 2014 she was named one of
the Next Generation Poets by the Poetry Book Society.

For established writers like Paul, festivals are a great place to meet fans and discuss work, while up-
and-coming writers like Tara get the chance to reach a wider audience. For the festival-goers
themselves, it offers the opportunity to learn more about their favourite writers and discover new
and exciting talent too.

© Oxford University Press English File third edition – Advanced

And many audience members are also aspiring writers themselves. They come to gain inspiration
and also, more practically, for the many writing workshops that take place all over the city.

This is ‘It’s in the Details’, a class about crafting plot and creating drama. Here budding writers can
learn the fundamentals of plot development, practicing how to move the plot forward while adding
tension to the story. The workshop is led by Rob O’Connor, a Creative Writing teacher at The Centre
for Lifelong Learning at the University of York, but participants are encouraged to discuss and
critically examine each other’s work so they can improve their skills and build their confidence.
Whether you’re an established author, a first time writer, or simply an avid reader, literature
festivals have something for you. Of course, they’re good business too. They create a marketplace
where everyone shares a love of literature, so they are a fantastic place to buy and sell books.

Engaging with literature is often a solitary experience. Writers usually write alone, readers usually
read alone, and the two rarely meet. But Literature festivals like this bring book-lovers of all kinds
together to celebrate the written word and share their literary experiences – something that doesn’t
often happen in the world of books.

© Oxford University Press English File third edition – Advanced

Files 5&6
Giving presentations

Hi, I’m Louise and I work for a local newspaper here in London. I love writing and I enjoy
interviewing, but there’s one part of my job I really hate – and that’s public speaking.

The problem is that no matter what work you do, speaking in public is almost impossible to avoid.
These days most roles require communication skills. From small presentations to big conference
speeches – you need to be able to deliver a message clearly and confidently.

But for people like me this isn’t easy. I find speaking in public terrifying. I become tense and nervous
and I find it very difficult to relax. That’s why I’ve come here – to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

RADA first opened in the Haymarket in London in 1904. It offers training for theatre specialists,
including actors, stage managers, directors, and designers. It has become one of the most famous
acting schools in the world and some of the entertainment industry’s biggest names have studied
here.

But why am I here? Well, it’s about time I overcame my fear of public speaking and to do this I need
to become a good actor. After all, actors and public speakers use a lot of the same skills. Both should
tell a story and both should engage an audience. Because of this RADA run several public speaking
courses. I’ve come here to develop an actor’s approach to speaking effectively and Sandie – an actor
for over thirty years – is going to show me the way.

The RADA approach to public speaking can be summarized in three words – think, breathe, speak.
First, we’re going to focus on the ‘think’ part.

At this stage, you talk through your concerns and set an objective for the session. Then you give a
presentation in your usual style, and get some interesting feedback from Sandie.

If you can get your body language right, it will help your breathing and controlling your breath is
central to good public speaking. You learn to relax and focus on the power behind the voice through
warm-up and breathing exercises.

It isn’t always easy to speak naturally, but finally – after a lot of practice – the words start to flow.
Now I can try a full paragraph. You have to make an impact from the beginning, and Sandie gives you
the ABCD of the perfect opening. And it’s just as important to end on a positive note.

Speaking and communicating are two very different things, and communicating effectively takes
skill, perseverance and lots of hard work. Unfortunately it isn’t as easy as just reading the right
words; you need to tell the story, too. But if you can do this you will draw in your audience, and as
they relax you’ll relax too.

I still feel nervous about speaking in front of people, but at RADA I could enjoy public speaking for
the first time, and the more I enjoyed it, the better I became. That’s what the RADA technique is all
about. It gives you the skills to grow in confidence so, like an actor, you can face your audience with
assurance rather than fear.

© Oxford University Press English File third edition – Advanced

Files 7&8
The history of Penicillin

Hi, I’m Rebecca and this is St. Mary’s Hospital in London. Humanity has always fought against disease
and infection, but it wasn’t until the 19th century that people began to understand the role bacteria
and other germs had to play. This led to rapid improvements in hygiene and, for the first time,
people could prevent infection. But it wasn’t until 1928 that Alexander Fleming found a way to treat
infection, when he discovered penicillin here at St. Mary’s Hospital.

Alexander Fleming was a Scottish doctor and scientist. He was born in 1881 and began research here
in 1906. Fleming was a brilliant researcher, but he was notoriously untidy. After a month’s holiday he
returned to find a mould growing on a bacteria sample he had discarded. As he was throwing it away
he noticed the mould was actually killing the bacteria. When he investigated further he found the
type of mould was Penicillium. Fleming named the substance it released penicillin.

Fleming realized that penicillin could treat infection, but he couldn’t produce enough of the
antibiotic agent to be truly effective. It looked like the end of the road for penicillin, until two
Oxford scientists took up the challenge.

Howard Florey was an Australian pharmacologist and pathologist working at Oxford University. He
led a team researching antibacterial agents produced by microorganisms. Ernst Boris Chain had fled
Nazi Germany to work as a scientist in England. He was one of Florey’s most talented colleagues and
was studying naturally occurring chemicals that could kill bacteria.

Together they started looking into Fleming’s discovery and decided they had better reinvestigate
some of his findings. Soon an entire team of Oxford-based scientists were working on penicillin and
by late 1940 they had invented a way to mass-produce the drug.

By this time another war – World War II – had started. Suddenly there was a great need for a drug
which could fight infection and the American War Production board were willing to spend big
money. By 1945 they were able to produce enough penicillin to treat the entire Allied forces. That
same year Fleming, Florey, and Chain won the Nobel Prize in Medicine and penicillin was being
hailed as a wonder-drug.

Penicillin was the first antibiotic, a range of drugs used to treat and prevent infections. There are
now more than a hundred antibiotics which can treat all kinds of illnesses, from mild conditions like
acne to serious infections like meningitis. For over seventy years they have saved countless lives, but
scientists warn we are now facing a new threat – antibiotic resistance.

Bacteria are living organisms, and like any living thing they adapt to survive. Many strains of bacteria
have evolved to fight off antibiotics and this means some infections are now resistant to treatment.

© Oxford University Press English File third edition – Advanced

Although some of this resistance is naturally occurring, much of it is our own fault. Antibiotics have
become far too widely used, meaning that many strains of bacteria have been overexposed to these
drugs and as a consequence have developed resistance. There are several reasons for this, but one
of the most damaging is over-prescription. Some doctors have used antibiotics as a ‘cure-all’
treatment, prescribing them for minor illnesses. As a result many patients now demand them,
regardless of what they are suffering from or how effective the drugs will be. In some countries
antibiotics are even available over-the-counter, so there are almost no restrictions on how they are
supplied.

This over-use of antibiotics has fuelled the rapid growth of resistance, and if it continues, it will have
disastrous consequences. Suddenly illnesses we regard as minor could be deadly, and most major
surgery – such as heart operations or cancer treatment – will be impossible to carry out because the
risk of untreatable infection will be too high.

But if we can control our use of antibiotics we can limit the spread of resistance. Global legislation is
required to restrict the oversupply of antibiotics and we all – doctors and patients - need to make
sure we use the drugs sparingly and responsibly.

But while we can certainly slow down the development of antibiotic resistance we will never stop it
entirely. That is why scientists are urgently trying to discover new forms of antibiotic that bacteria
may not yet be resistant to. The issue is now so serious that if this can be achieved, it will be the
most important anti-bacterial breakthrough since Fleming’s discovery of penicillin.

© Oxford University Press English File third edition – Advanced

Files 9&10
Ellis Island

Hi, I’m Amy Burser. Like most Americans, my family background is quite diverse. My surname was
originally Bursorsky, which is Russian, but my ancestors came here from all over the world, including
Austria and Puerto Rico. And many of them came through the immigration station here on Ellis
Island.

The island’s first immigration point opened on New Year’s Day 1892, when a young Irish woman
called Annie Moore became the first immigrant to be processed here. From 1892 to 1954, 12 million
people passed through here and today an estimated 40 per cent of America’s population can trace
their ancestry to this tiny island in New York harbour.

1907 was the busiest year with over 1 million immigrants processed here. The largest number came
from Italy, but there were many from Poland, Germany, Hungary, and Scandinavia too. As they
sailed passed the Statue of Liberty many of them must have been filled with hope and joy. After all
they had just spent weeks – if not months – in cramped conditions aboard overcrowded ships.
Finally, they had arrived. But for most of them their ordeal wasn’t quite over. The ships moored in
Manhattan. The first- and second-class passengers could disembark here, along with any American
citizens. But passengers in steerage – the poorest on the ship, all of whom were immigrants – were
ferried over to this building for further inspection.The building – built in 1900 after the first station
burned down in 1897 – was very impressive. It had a large dining hall and kitchen, dormitories with
600 beds, a hospital and a roof garden with a play area for children.

But the jewel in the crown was this – the Great Hall. With its 60-foot vaulted ceiling it resembles an
old-fashioned ballroom, but from 1900 to 1924 this was the Registry Room. Each day it was filled
with new arrivals. On some days 5,000 people waited here. The noise was deafening and the
atmosphere chaotic. Dozens of languages filled the air as each person fearfully awaited a series of
citizenship tests. In fact, each person had undergone a ‘six-second medical exam’, before they had
even entered the hall. Here doctors checked for signs of physical weaknesses or illnesses, especially
tuberculosis or trachoma, an infectious disease of the eye. If they failed they were marked with a
chalk letter and were sent to the hospital for a full physical examination. If they passed they shuffled
into the Great Hall and waited on benches like these.

On average this wait lasted between three and four hours, but could take much longer. Those still
here in the evening had to sleep in the dormitory and start the process again the next morning.
Eventually they were called by the clerks, who stood at desks like these with a full list of each ship’s
passengers. They found each person’s name and then asked 28 further questions. It was their job to
find out if the person could work and had money to support themselves. They also had to weed out
any ‘undesirables’, including criminals and political radicals.

© Oxford University Press English File third edition – Advanced

If someone failed these tests they were sent back home. This only happened to around two per cent
of the passengers, but for the unlucky ones and their families it was a traumatic experience – a
dispiriting end to a long and arduous journey.

But those that were approved could walk through the doors out into their new lives. Some were met
by relatives here at the ‘kissing post,’ others emerged alone into a completely new world.

Around a third stayed in the New York area while the rest scattered across the country.

The Immigration Act of 1924 effectively ended the era of mass-immigration. But for just over three
decades Ellis Island was America’s gateway for millions of people. Some became authors, like the
science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, who came here from Russia. Others became successful
businessmen like the cosmetics giant Max Factor, whose real name was Maksymilian Faktorowicz
and who moved to America in 1904. And some worked in film, like Elia Kazan a Greek-American who
directed classic films such as On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire. Other people
became builders, teachers, shopkeepers and doctors. They settled down and started families. And
they all created the country we know today.

© Oxford University Press English File third edition – Advanced