Lecturas - Medusa, Hooligan y los Jacuzzis


Página web para estudiantes de secundaria

Estás en Lecturas interesantes (Ir a Inglés)

Medusa, Hooligan y los Jacuzzis

Textos para estudiar inglés

*EPONYMS EPÓNIMOS**
Eponyms are proper names that have become nouns or adjectives.
Los epónimos son nombres propios que han pasado a ser sustantivos o adjetivos.
MEDUSA According to the Greeks, Medusa was a very beautiful woman and she had very beautiful long hair. Poseidon, the god of the sea, felI in love with her. And they got involved. The qoddess Athena became very jealous. She decided to punish Medusa. Athena changed Medusa's hair into serpents and her face into something horrible. Medusa was so horrible that you couldn't look at her. If you did, you would turn to stone. Poor Medusa! Then Perseus chopped her head off. A really nasty story! Today medusas are jellyfish! Wonder why? You can find them in the sea, when you go on holidays. Be careful! They sting.		Here is the story of Medusa (in English), and if your English is excellent try The Gorgon Medusa (by Alicia Le Van).	Jellyfish or medusa (photo: Hawaiian Lifeguard Association).
HOOLIGAN Patrick Hooligan was born in Ireland. He travelled to England and he became a criminal. He was a thief in the 1890s. Every night he and his family met the members of their gang at The Lamb and The Flag, a pub in south London. (In England pubs are "public houses": places to eat, drink and make friends.) One day Mr Hooligan murdered a policeman. He was put away for life and died in prison. Another theory says that the word 'hooligan' comes from a character in a play written in 1824. It was a practice of the theater to name characters after words that described their qualities, so according to this theory the term existed before Patrick Hooligan became well-known! At the beginning hooligans were lawless people. Since the 1960s hooligans are violent football supporters. If you want to know about football violence since the Middle Ages!, read this article.
JACUZZI The Jacuzzis were an Italian family who moved to California at the beginning of the 20th century. The seven Jacuzzi brothers were inventors. Candido (1903-1986) was the youngest. The first invention of the Jacuzzis was an airplane propeller which was used in World War I. Then they designed a monoplane to deliver domestic mail. In 1953 Candido's baby son contracted rheumatoid arthritis, which was very painful. He received hydrotherapy treatment. But Candido wanted the boy with him. So he designed a portable whirlpool pump to have at home. In 1968 Candido's brother, Roy, used this pump for pleasure massage in baths, so jacuzzis became luxury items. Today jacuzzis are very popular. But they are very expensive, too. Have you got one?