Singer Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her home in London on Saturday, July the 23rd. The award-winning artist was just 27 years old, the same age as Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin. Winehouse shot to worldwide fame and acclaim following the release of her album Back to Black in 2006, which won five Grammy awards and became the third-highest selling album of the 2000s. She had spent years battling alcohol and drug addiction. This and other demons in her personal life affected her ability to perform live and she was booed offstage for appearing too drunk to perform in 2011. She sang about her addictions and attempts to beat them in her smash hit Rehab, an example of her gritty and honest songwriting.
Tributes from across the world following her death show what a unique talent she was and how much she will be missed. The BBC said: “With her gravelly voice and eclectic style, Amy Winehouse…won comparison with some of the great female singers such as Sarah Vaughan and Nina Simone.” Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper wrote: “She was without question the outstanding vocalist of her generation. Without Amy, there would have been no Adele, no Duffy and no Lady Gaga.” It added: “The tragic loss of Amy Winehouse has robbed us of a young, if fatally troubled, life cut down in its prime. It has also cheated British music of a talent, at 27, whose best years surely still lay ahead.” Singer Rihanna tweeted: “I am genuinely heartbroken…#DearAmy.”
1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).
| a. | The singer Amy Winehouse died in her London home. | T / F |
| b. | She joins many other singing legends who died at the age of 27. | T / F |
| c. | Her Back to Black album was the best selling album of the 2000s. | T / F |
| d. | One of her most famous songs was about trying to beat addictions. | T / F |
| e. | The BBC said she had an electric style. | T / F |
| f. | The BBC said she couldn’t be compared to singers like Sarah Vaughan | T / F |
| g. | A British newspaper spoke of Amy’s influence on Lady Gaga and Adele. | T / F |
| h. | The newspaper said she had already recorded her best work. | T / F |
Computer mouse turns 40
The computer mouse celebrated its 40th anniversary on December the 8th. It was in 1968 that computer visionary Douglas Engelbart showed off his new invention to an audience of 1,000 at a technology conference in California. They witnessed the very first public demonstration of the personal computer. Engelbart’s revolutionary ‘pointing device’ was made of wood and had two wheels built into the bottom. It was originally designed to highlight text on a written document. Engelbart wowed onlookers by demonstrating how text could be selected, copied and pasted. Engelbart said he always wondered why the term ‘mouse’ never changed into a more technical word after it became a commercial success.
Today computer mice or mouses (both are widely accepted as plurals) are absolutely everywhere. The only real changes to their technology in the past four decades are the transition to laser mice, the right-click button, and the scroll wheel. It looks like mice are here to stay, despite new innovations such as touch screens. Experts say the mouse is still difficult to beat in terms of ease of use and functionality. On the mouse’s 40th birthday, computer-device maker Logitech announced it had produced its one-billionth mouse. The Swiss company churns out nearly 8 million mice a month. The pioneer, Douglas Engelbart, has never received a penny for his world-changing invention. His patent ran out before computer companies started mass-producing mice.
1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
| a. | The computer mouse just celebrated its 40th birthday. | T / F |
| b. | Just a handful of people saw the first mouse at a California conference. | T / F |
| c. | The inventor initially designed the mouse to play computer games. | T / F |
| d. | The mouse’s inventor is surprised people stuck with the word ‘mouse’. | T / F |
| e. | The plural ‘mouses’ is grammatically incorrect. | T / F |
| f. | There have been three major changes to the mouse in its history. | T / F |
| g. | A computer-device maker recently churned out its billionth mouse. | T / F |
| h. | The mouse’s inventor made a fortune from his creation. | T / F |
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