letter_trainer_0_1 Flashcards
_NO
ENO. Brian Eno is a musician, composer and record producer from England who first achieved fame as the synthesiser player with Roxy Music. As a producer, Eno has worked with David Bowie, Devo and U2.
E_EN
EDEN. The city of Eden Prairie lies just outside downtown Minneapolis. If you live there, congratulations! Eden Prairie was ranked by “Money Magazine” as the best place to live in America.
E_EN
EDEN. In the Christian tradition, the ‘fall of man’ took place in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, against the bidding of God. As a result, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden to prevent them becoming immortal by eating from the tree of life. The first humans had transitioned from a state of innocent obedience to a state of guilty disobedience.
NR_
NRA. The NRA is the National Rifle Association, an organization that has been around since 1871. The group has had some celebrity presidents, including US President Ulysses S. Grant. It’s often said that the NRA is the most powerful lobbying group in Washington.
R_A
RNA. Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. Amino acids are delivered in the correct sequence by what is called transfer RNA and then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA.
EL_
ELI. Even I know that Eli Manning and his older brother, Peyton, are quarterbacks!
AL_
ALI. Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. was born in 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, changing his name to Muhammad Ali when he converted to Islam in 1964. Who can forget Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic flame for the 1996 games in Atlanta? Ali was presented with a gold medal during those ‘96 Games, a replacement for the medal he won at the 1960 Olympics. He had thrown the original into the Ohio River as a gesture of disgust after being refused service at a “whites only” restaurant.
E_EE
EPEE. There are three fencing events in the modern Olympics, distinguished by the weapon used:
_PA
EPA. The Environmental Protection Agency was set up during the Nixon administration, and began operation at the end of 1970.
S_E
STE. ‘Sainte’ (ste.) is French for ‘saint’, when referring to a female.
_EE
LEE. Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” was first published in 1960. The book is a mainstay in English classes all around the world, a great ambassador for American literature, I’d say.
_TE
ETE. The Côte d’Azur is on the Mediterranean coast of France, stretching from Saint Tropez in the west, to the Italian border in the east. In English we often refer to the area as the French Riviera. It’s a little crowded for me (okay, expensive), especially in the summer (ete in French).
RN_
RNA. Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. Amino acids are delivered in the correct sequence by what is called transfer RNA and then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA.
_RIA
ARIA. The aria “Il mio tesoro” comes from Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni”. The title translates into “My treasure”.
_EE
NEE. “Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.
_TA
ETA. Estimated time of arrival (ETA)
ET_
ETE. In French, ‘juillet’ (July) is a month in the ‘été’ (summer).
OR_
ORR. The bomber pilot in Joseph Heller’s “Catch 22” is called Orr, and he has no other name, just “Orr”.
E_S
ELS. The Chicago “L” is the second largest rapid transit system in the US, with the New York City Subway being the largest. The “L” is also the second oldest, again with the New York City Subway system having the honor of being around the longest. Note that the official nickname for the system is the “L” (originally short for “elevated railroad”), although the term “El” is also in common use (especially in crosswords as “ELS”). The L is managed by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).
E_S
ELS. Ernie Els is a South African golfer. Els a big guy but he has an easy fluid golf swing that has earned him the nickname ‘The Big Easy’. He is a former World No. 1 and has won four majors: the US Open (1994 & 1997) and the British Open (2002 & 2012).
E_A
ETA. Elasticity in the world of economics is a mathematical concept. An elastic variable is one that might be varied by changing something else. For example, in some markets one can lower the price of goods and thereby increase the volume of sales. Sometimes variables are inelastic. For example, sales volume might be described as inelastic if chaning the price has no effect.
_SLO
OSLO. The Oslo Accords grew out of secret negotiations between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in a residence in Oslo in the early nineties. The delegates shared the same house while they conducted 14 meetings. While eating all their meals together at the same table, the negotiators came to respect one another and apparently friendships developed.
ST_
STE. Ste. (suite) and Apt. (apartment).
R_O
RIO. In Spanish, the Amazon (el Amazonas) is a river (rio).