20 Amazing Facts

1. The office cubicle was invented by Robert Propst in 1968. His original design was called the Action Office System and provided “a social kind of privacy” for the worker.
2. The first item sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer.
3. Salvador Dalí designed the Chupa Chups logo.
4. Kea parrots spread warbles when they’re in a good mood, making them the first known non-mammal species to communicate with infectious laughter.
5. Before he sang lead vocals for Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne worked in a slaughterhouse.
6. At the Wife Carrying World Championships in Finland, first prize is the wife’s weight in beer.
7. The raven that inspired Edgar Allan Poe’s poem was named Grip, and he was Charles Dickens’s beloved pet.
8. There are beaches in the Maldives that glow in the dark.
9. While an Oscar is of unnamed value to someone who wins (or loses) one, the actual trophy has a raw value of about $600.
10. Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
11. A solar eclipse helped end a six-year war in 585 BCE. When the sky suddenly darkened during a battle between the Lydians and the Medes in modern Turkey, soldiers took it as a sign to cease fighting.
12. The original title for Scream was Scary Movie.
13. Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th.
14. Sweden is so efficient, only one percent of its garbage ends up in a landfill.
15. Nintendo was founded in 1889. Before it sold video games, the Japanese company specialized in playing cards.
16. In early drafts of the Back to the Future script, the time machine was built out of an old refrigerator.
17. Jim Henson made his first Kermit puppet using his mother’s old coat and two halves of a ping pong ball.
18. All newspapers in the British Library were ironed by hand to ensure a clear image before they were microfilmed.
19. Movie trailers are called that for a reason: They used to run after the movie.
20. A double rainbow occurs when sunlight is reflected twice inside a raindrop. If you look closely, you can see that the colors of the secondary rainbow appear in reverse

source: Mentalfloss

A következő mondatoknál találd meg a helyes megoldást. (2. és 3. feltételes típusú mondatszerkezetek)

2. Beetles taste like apples,wasps like pine nuts, and worms like fried bacon.

3. Of all the words in the English language, the word ‘set’ has the most definitions.

4. What is called a “French kiss” in the English speaking world is known as an “English kiss” in France.

5. “Almost” is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.

6. “Rhythm” is the longest English word without a vowel.

7.  In 1386, a pig in France was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child.

8. A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off.

9. Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.

10. You can’t kill yourself by holding your breath.

11. There is a city called Rome on every continent.

12. Your heart beats over 100,000 times a day.

13. Horatio Nelson, one of England’s most illustrious admirals was throughout his life, never able to find a cure for his sea-sickness.

14. Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people

15. Your ribs move about 5 million times a year, every time you breathe.

16. The elephant is the only mammal that can’t jump.

17. One quarter of the bones in your body, are in your feet.

18. Like fingerprints, everyone’s tongue print is different.

19. The first known transfusion of blood was performed as early as 1667, when Jean-Baptiste, transfused two pints of blood from a sheep to a young man

20. Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails.

21. Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.

22. The present population of 5 billion plus people of the world is predicted to become 15 billion by 2080.

23. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

24. Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.

25. Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a “Friday the 13th.”

source: worldenglish.org

Words, words, words…. Which word is it? Do you remember?

1. It has the same pronunciation even if you remove its four last letters.

2. It has the most definitions in English.

3. It’s the longest word in English with all its letters in alphabetical order.

4. It’s is the longest English word without a vowel.

Key

1. queue

2. set

3. almost

4. rhythm

And what about animals?

1. They taste like apples.

2. They taste like pine nuts.

3. They taste like fried bacon.

4. A …… was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child.

5. It can live for weeks with its head cut off.

6. It’s the only mammal that can’t jump.

Key

1. beetles

2. wasps

3. worms

4. pig

5. a cockroach

6. elephant

2. On average a hedgehog‘s heart beats 300 times a minute.

3. More people are killed each year from bees than from snakes.

4. The average lead pencil will draw a line 35 miles (about 56 kilometres) long or write approximately 50,000 English words.

5. More people are allergic to cow’s milk than any other food.

6. Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand.

7. The placement of a donkey’s eyes in its head enables it to see all four feet at all times!

8. The six official languages of the United Nations are: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.

9. Earth is the only planet not named after a god.

10. It’s against the law to burp, or sneeze in a church in Nebraska, USA.

11. You’re born with 300 bones, but by the time you become an adult, you only have 206.

12. Some worms will eat themselves if they can’t find any food.

13. Dolphins sleep with one eye open.

14. It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

15. The world’s oldest piece of chewing gum is more than 9000 years old.

16. The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds.

17. Queen Elizabeth I regarded herself as a paragon of cleanliness. She declared that she bathed once every three months, whether she needed it or not

18. Slugs have 4 noses.

19. Owls are the only birds that can see the colour blue.

20. A man named Charles Osborne had the hiccups for 69 years.

21. A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch (about 53 centimeters) tongue.

22. The average person laughs 10 times a day.

23. An ostrich‘s eye is bigger than its brain.

source: worldenglish.org

Can you match the animals and the facts?

Key:

1. c.

2. e.

3. a.

4. i.

5. g.

6. j.

7. b.

8. f.

9. h.

10. d.

Do you remember the facts? Can you fill in the gaps in the sentences?

1. Coca-Cola would be ……… if colouring weren’t added to it.

2. More people are killed each year from ……..than from snakes.

3. Earth is the only planet not named after a ….. .

4. It is impossible to ……… with your eyes open.

5. The average person laughs ……. a day.

Key: 

1. green

2. bees

3. god

4. sneeze

5. 10 times