Marie Carmichael Stopes was born in Scotland in 1880. She studied Botany and Geology at the University of London. Then, in 1902, she graduated with a first class B.SC. After that, She went to Munich where she studied Palaeobotany.
Then she got a D.SC degree, becoming the youngest person in Britain to do so. On top of that she became a lecturer in Palaeobotany and the first female academic at Manchester University. While she was in Manchester, she studied Coal and the Seed Ferns and proved the theory of Eduard Suess about the existence of Gondwanaland or Pangaea.
Some years later, she met Robert Falcon Scott (Scott the Antarctic), and they talked about the possibility of her joining his next expedition. Although she failed to do so, he promised her to bring back samples of fossils to prove the theory of the existence of Gondwanaland.
In 1921, Stopes opened the UK’s first family planning clinic which was called “Mother’s clinic”. It tried to break down taboos about sex and also to increase knowledge, and pleasure and to improve reproductive health. At first, it was established in North London but, in 1925, it moved to Central London. The National Birth Control Council started in 1930.
A Few years later, Stopes participated in the International Congress for Population Science in Berlin, where she was accused of being anti-Semitic by other pioneers of the Birth Control Council such as Havelock Ellis. Finally, years later she died of breast cancer in Dorking .
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Marie Stopes
Today’s class
As I told you last Tuesday we won’t have a lesson today because I’m off to Zamora to give a talk there. But you can do this lesson instead, a lesson entirely devoted to the most famous spy in the world: James Bond. Do the listening activities in Bloggin’ Time which is a blog by my friend Maribel and her 2nd year Advanced students at Oviedo EOI.
Here you can watch again what Roger Moore, an old school James Bond has to say about Daniel Craig and his interpretation of the famous spy:
Writing and speaking tasks for this term
This term you have to do the following tasks:
- Chose one of the people in the list of the 100 Greatest Britons you already knew and admire because of their work and achievements and write a brief article, not longer than 200 words, explaining how you first knew of this person and his/her work and why you like what they do or did.
- Chose someone else in the list, do some research on the internet and prepare a 5 minute oral presentation or choose one of the following neighbourhoods or landmarks in London and prepare a 5 minute talk
The West End of London
Photo by David Iliff
The West End is the main district to have fun and go shopping. Its best-known landmark is Trafalgar Square, built to commemorate the Battle of Trafalgar, in which the British army beat the French and Spanish armies on the coasts of Cádiz, Spain. The National Gallery is located here.
Oxford Street is famous for its shops all over the world. It intersects with Regent Street another famous street, which is the main shopping area for electronics, hi-fi and computers.
Another part of West End is Soho, a group of little streets full of pubs, restaurants, little shops, theatres, night clubs, and cinemas. These cinemas and theatres are in Leicester Square, which is a pedestrian square located North of Trafalgar Square. Soho houses also, the most important gay community in London. Piccadilly is an important artery that includes Piccadilly Circus, Hyde Park and important streets like Regent’s Street and Bond Street. The latter is in Mayfair and it is home to the smartest and most expensive shops in London. Hyde Park is one of the biggest parks in London and one of the Royal Parks, famous because of its Speakers’ Corner, where people are allowed to speak to the public. This park is divided by the Serpentine in two parts, and to the South of this lake there is a memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales.
In this district of London it is also located the City of Westminster, in the North of the river Thames, that houses the main institutions of the British Government, like Westminster Palace also known as “the Houses of Parliament”, Whitehall and the Royal Courts of Justice.
Freddy Mercury
by Carl Lender
Freddie Mercury was born on Thursday, September 5th 1946 on the small island of Zanzibar. In 1954, at the age of eight he was sent to St Peter’s English School near Bombay, where his friends began to call him Freddie. He was, apart from being an excellent singer, a good sportsman. His artistic skills were incomparable. In 1964, due to political unrest in Zanzibar his family migrated to England After finishing his studies Freddie got a diploma in graphic art and design and initially he sold artwork by himself and schoolfellows. Freddie Mercury formed his own music band in 1970, called Queen and composed by four members, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury…John Deacon joined the band in 1971 and the band Queen was complete. It was one of the best British rock bands ever. After nearly twenty years of success, in 1988 rumours began to spread that Mercury was suffering from AIDS but he denied them all the time. On October 8 th 1988 Freddy Mercury performed on stage for the last time, at that time he was terribly ill with AIDS and he made a public announcement the day before he died. Finally, on November 24 th 1991 Freddy Mercury died of AIDS at his home in London. The most notable aspect of this songwriter involved the wide range of genres he used and he is ranked 18 on the list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.
Guy Fawkes, Britain’s most notorious traitor
In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales and the Members of Parliament who where making life difficult for the Catholics. Nowadays, these conspirators would be known as terrorists.
Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5 th, was caught, tortured and executed. Since then, Bonfires have been set alight to celebrate the safety of the King and November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.
Let’s turn Copenhagen into Hopenhagen
All around the world people have rallied today to try and press politicians in Copenhagen to really commit themselves and get a real deal to save our planet. Here you can see some beautiful photos taken at these events.
Stephen Fry on copyright laws
I’ve admired Stephen Fry for a long, long time both as an actor, as a writer and more recently as a blogger and podcaster … , and on Twitter too! I’ve read all his books, I’ve seen most of his acting, from the wonderful Peter in Peter’s friends to the psychiatrist Gordon Gordon Wyatt in the American TV show Bones. Basically I read him and watch him whenever I can because in my opinion he is very bright and also witty and very funny.
In one of hispodcasts he gives an overview of all the main breakthroughs in the history of communication technologies, how copy right started, how it got to our days and how the music and film industries are (not) coping with the new situation.
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After his speech he answered questions for half an hour: how he feels about his work being pirated, what’s the last thing he has downloaded from the internet … You can listen to the whole podcast via iTunes here, it’s worth it!!
Manifesto in Defense of Fundamental Rights on the Internet
A group of journalists, bloggers, professionals and creators want to express their firm opposition to the inclusion in a Draft Law of some changes to Spanish laws restricting the freedoms of expression, information and access to culture on the Internet. They also declare that:
1 .- Copyright should not be placed above citizens’ fundamental rights to privacy, security, presumption of innocence, effective judicial protection and freedom of expression.
2 .- Suspension of fundamental rights is and must remain an exclusive competence of judges. This blueprint, contrary to the provisions of Article 20.5 of the Spanish Constitution, places in the hands of the executive the power to keep Spanish citizens from accessing certain websites.
3 .- The proposed laws would create legal uncertainty across Spanish IT companies, damaging one of the few areas of development and future of our economy, hindering the creation of startups, introducing barriers to competition and slowing down its international projection.
4 .- The proposed laws threaten creativity and hinder cultural development. The Internet and new technologies have democratized the creation and publication of all types of content, which no longer depends on an old small industry but on multiple and different sources.
5 .- Authors, like all workers, are entitled to live out of their creative ideas, business models and activities linked to their creations. Trying to hold an obsolete industry with legislative changes is neither fair nor realistic. If their business model was based on controlling copies of any creation and this is not possible any more on the Internet, they should look for a new business model.
6 .- We believe that cultural industries need modern, effective, credible and affordable alternatives to survive. They also need to adapt to new social practices.
7 .- The Internet should be free and not have any interference from groups that seek to perpetuate obsolete business models and stop the free flow of human knowledge.
8 .- We ask the Government to guarantee net neutrality in Spain, as it will act as a framework in which a sustainable economy may develop.
9 .- We propose a real reform of intellectual property rights in order to ensure a society of knowledge, promote the public domain and limit abuses from copyright organizations.
10 .- In a democracy, laws and their amendments should only be adopted after a timely public debate and consultation with all involved parties. Legislative changes affecting fundamental rights can only be made in a Constitutional law.
Note: This manifesto is the work of several authors, and the property of everyone. Copy it, publish it, pass it on as you will.
Web Site Story
Watch West Side Web Site Story, a funny musical for our times brought to us by College Humour:
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