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God Save The Queen – Lectura y ejercicio de comprensión

“God Save The Queen” is the national anthem of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland. Its official status does not derive from Royal Proclamation or Act of Parliament,
but from custom and use. Since England has no official national anthem of its own, “God Save The
Queen” is treated as the English national anthem as well, especially at sporting events. The tune is
also used in a number of Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown
Dependencies.

It can be replaced by “God Save The King” during the reign of a male sovereign, in which case the
words and title are adapted to the gender of the current monarch. In these occasions, “Queen” is
replaced with “King”, “she” with “he”, and so forth. The author of this anthem is really unknown,
although sometimes it is attributed to John Bull, who may have created it in 1619.

Although the full lyrics include a total of 20 verses, in general only one, two or at most three
verses are sung. The sovereign and his or her consort, however, are saluted with the entire
anthem, while other members of the royal family who are entitled to royal salute receive just the
first six bars.

The variation in Britain of the lyrics to “God Save The Queen” is the oldest amongst those currently
used, and forms the basis on which all other versions used throughout the Commonwealth are
formed. New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Barbados and Tuvalu have their own versions of the
anthem.

Coventry

Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough of central England, the most distant sea English town.
It is located 153 km northwest of London, 30 miles east of Birmingham, with a population that in
2011 was 316,900 inhabitants. It was the capital of England in some opportunities during the
fifteenth century. It is located in the county of West Midlands and until 1974 was part of
Warwickshire. As in the rest of the British Islands and the midlands, Coventry is subjected to a
maritime climate with cool summers and minor winters.

Saint Patrick’s Day

Saint Patrick’s Day is annually celebrated feast that takes place on March 17th which is the date of
death of the patron saint of Ireland; Saint Patrick. It is a national celebration in the republic of
Ireland, and a custom but not official in Northern Ireland. The Saint Patrick’s Day is also worldwide
celebrated for all Irish and even people who have no Irish origin. People celebrate the feast
wearing green garments, enjoying the Irish gastronomy which includes alcohol, Irish drinks, and
attending to parades. Some pubs sell green bear for the holiday.
People use to wear green during this celebration because of what is said about the shamrock
which was a green three-leaved plant that Saint Patrick used to explain the Holy Trinity to the
pagan Irish.

Aesop's Fables: The Hart and the Hunter

The Hart was once drinking from a pool and admiring the noble figure he made there.

"Ah," said he, "where can you see such noble horns as these, with such antlers! I wish I had legs
more worthy to bear such a noble crown; it is a pity they are so slim and slight."

At that moment a Hunter approached and sent an arrow whistling after him.

Away bounded the Hart, and soon, by the aid of his nimble legs, was nearly out of sight of the
Hunter; but not noticing where he was going, he passed under some trees with branches growing
low down in which his antlers were caught, so that the Hunter had time to come up.

"Alas! alas!" cried the Hart:

"We often despise what is most useful to us."

Aesop's Fables: The Fox and the Lion

When first the Fox saw the Lion he was terribly frightened, and ran away and hid himselfin the
wood.

Next time however he came near the King of Beasts he stopped at a safe distance and watched
him pass by.

The third time they came near one another the Fox went straight up to the Lion and passed the
time of day with him, asking him how his family were, and when he should have the pleasure of
seeing him again; then turning his tail, he parted from the Lion without much ceremony.

Aesop's Fables: The Belly and the Members

One fine day it occurred to the Members of the Body that they were doing all the work and the
Belly was having all the food.

So they held a meeting, and after a long discussion, decided to strike work till the Belly consented
to take its proper share of the work.

So for a day or two, the Hands refused to take the food, the Mouth refused to receive it, and the
Teeth had no work to do.

But after a day or two the Members began to find that they themselves were not in a very active
condition: the Hands could hardly move, and the Mouth was all parched and dry, while the Legs
were unable to support the rest.

So thus they found that even the Belly in its dull quiet way was doing necessary work for the Body,
and that all must work together or the Body will go to pieces.

Aesop's Fables: The Lion in Love

A Lion once fell in love with a beautiful maiden and proposed marriage to her parents.

The old people did not know what to say. They did not like to give their daughter to the Lion, yet
they did not wish to enrage the King of Beasts.

At last the father said: "We feel highly honoured by your Majesty's proposal, but you see our
daughter is a tender young thing, and we fear that in the vehemence of your affection you might
possibly do her some injury. Might I venture to suggest that your Majesty should have
your claws removed, and your teeth extracted, then we would gladly consider your proposal
again."

The Lion was so much in love that he had his claws trimmed and his big teeth taken out. But when
he came again to the parents of the young girl they simply laughed in his face, and bade him do his
worst.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:

Chapter 1. Down the Rabbit-Hole - Part 1

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to
do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or
conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or
conversation?'

So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel
very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble
of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by
her.
Luck - Part 2

Written by Mark Twain. Transcript of radio broadcast. Source: VOA

"I took him aside and found he knew a little about Julius Caesar's history. But he did not know
anything else. So I went to work and tested him and worked him like a slave. I made him work,
over and over again, on a few questions about Caesar which I knew he would be asked.

"If you will believe me, he came through very well on the day of the examination. He got
high praise, too, while others who knew a thousand times more than he were sharply criticized. By
some strange, lucky accident, he was asked no questions but those I made him study. Such an
accident does not happen more than once in a hundred years.

"Well, all through his studies, I stood by him, with the feeling a mother has for a disabled child.
And he always saved himself, by some miracle.

Little Red Riding Hood

Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked at her, but
most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have given to the child.
Once she gave her a little riding hood of red velvet, which suited her so well that she would never
wear anything else; so she was always called 'Little Red Riding Hood.'

One day her mother said to her: 'Come, Little Red Riding Hood, here is a piece of cake and a
bottle of wine; take them to your grandmother, she is ill and weak, and they will do her good. Set
out before it gets hot, and when you are going, walk nicely and quietly and do not run off the path,
or you may fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will get nothing; and when you
go into her room, don't forget to say, "Good morning", and don't peep into every corner before
you do it.'

'I will take great care,' said Little Red Riding Hood to her mother, and gave her hand on it.

Three Kings Night

Tonight, the children have cleaned their shoes and left them by the window.They are so shiny the
Three Kings will have no choice but to notice them as they go by. The night is cold, the ground is
covered with snow.

The street is silent, cars cannot circulate and people have stayed at home to keep warm. The little
brothers go to bed thinking. What will happen? Will the Three Kings come? Will the camels be able
to come with their heavy load of presents? Finally, the children fall asleep. The youngest starts to
see little angels who are taking down pretty ladders of gold, silver, glass. from the sky. The next
morning - how wonderful! All the windows were full of wonderful toys.
The Little Mermaid - La Sirenita

Once upon a time . . . in a splendid palace on the bed of the bluest ocean, lived the Sea King, a
wise old triton with a long flowing white beard. He lived in a magnificent palace, built of gaily
coloured coral and seashells, together with his five daughters, very beautiful mermaids.

Sirenetta, the youngest and loveliest of them all, also had a beautiful voice, and when she sang,
the fishes flocked from all over the sea to listen to her. The shells gaped wide, showing their pearls
and even the jellyfish stopped to listen. The young mermaid often sang, and each time, she would
gaze upwards, seeking the faint sunlight that scarcely managed to filter down into the depths.

"Oh, how I'd love to go up there and at last see the sky, which everyone says is so pretty, and hear
the voices of humans and smell the scent of the flowers!"
"You're still too young!" said her mother. "In a year or two, when you're fifteen. Only then will the
King let you go up there, like your sisters!" Sirenetta spent her time wishing for the world of
humans, she listened to her sisters' stories, and every time they returned from the surface, she
would ask them questions, to satisfy her curiosity.

The legend of the Christmas Tree

It was Christmas Eve and had been snowing. It had stopped in the afternoon, and now the sky was
full of stars. A woodcutter was coming home through the woods. It was late and it was dark while
he was still in the forest.

The man stopped to rest, then looked up and saw a small fir tree reaching for the sky. Thousands
of little stars seemed to be resting on its branches, as if it was covered in silver threads. The
woodcutter was astonished at the unexpected scene. He cut the tree and took it home, where his
wife and two children were waiting. Like a miracle, the stars had remained on the branches of the
tree. The woodcutter's house was illuminated by the small brilliant fir during all Christmas Eve.

Sleeping Beauty - La Bella Durmiente

Along time ago there were a king and queen who said every day, "Ah, if only we had a child," but
they never had one.

But it happened that once when the queen was bathing, a frog crept out of the water on to the
land, and said to her, "Your wish shall be fulfilled, before a year has gone by, you shall have a
daughter."

What the frog had said came true, and the queen had a little girl who was so pretty that the king
could not contain himself for joy, and ordered a great feast. He invited not only his kindred, friends
and acquaintances, but also the wise women, in order that they might be kind and well-disposed
towards the child. There were thirteen of them in his kingdom, but, as he had only twelve golden
plates for them to eat out of, one of them had to be left at home.
The feast was held with all manner of splendor and when it came to an end the wise women
bestowed their magic gifts upon the baby - one gave virtue, another beauty, a third riches, and so
on with everything in the world that one can wish for.
When eleven of them had made their promises, suddenly the thirteenth came in. She wished to
avenge herself for not having been invited, and without greeting, or even looking at anyone, she
cried with a loud voice, "The king's daughter shall in her fifteenth year prick herself with a spindle,
and fall down dead." And, without saying a word more, she turned round and left the room.
They were all shocked, but the twelfth, whose good wish still remained unspoken, came forward,
and as she could not undo the evil sentence, but only soften it, she said, it shall not be death, but a
deep sleep of a hundred years, into which the princess shall fall.