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Smiles
January 20th, 2006, 01:45
THE QUIZ:

You are asked to read the following Letter-To-The-Editor and attempt to identify the issue that this guy is raging on about.



BACKGROUND & POSSIBLE HINTS:

~ The magazine this letter was found in is named 'This England'
~ Date of issue is December, 1980
~ Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister
~ The context is "English current affairs" (in 1980 of course)
~ This is meant to be a quiz, so "identification" words have been replaced by _____________ .
Two lines ( _________ __________ ) simply mean that two words have been deleted, and so on and so on. But do not get caught up in trying to correctly identify each missing word, it's not the point and it's not necessary to solve the quiz. The overall piece has the answer within. (This quiz MAY be easy for the Brits on the Board. I hope not too easy)



THE LETTER:


SIR: The news in "PostBox" (Spring 1980) that the _____________ ______ has been disbanded may seem heartening but I fear you are too sanguine in saying that "common sense has won a victory by preventing the head-in-the-sand ____________ 's from forcing their alien system upon us"

I was in England for a few weeks this past summer and was grieved that the bureaucrats bent on perpetrating a _________-massacre of all our ways and institutions have all but won the ____________ victory.

The _________ blight is everywhere ~ in the post offices, in most official documents and publications, and all manner of goods in the shops. Who is the oaf responsible for replacing the old ____________ on the public footpaths around Buckingham Palace with those bearing __________ in ____________? Why were 11-year old children I met unable to tell me their ___________ and ___________ in ______________ _______________ ?
One despairs.

I appeal to "This England" readers not to submit but to use their considerable influence and forcefullness to ensure that, at the very least, government departments and manufacturers employ both ___________ ______________ ____ ______________, giving the _____________ pride of place and shunning this " ______ _________ " gibberish. Then perhaps in a few years the _________ __________ and it's advocates may be overthrown.

. . . . Someone, somewhere is covering up, and it's about time the scandal was given a full airing. I urge all of you who care, to write a short letter now to Mrs. Thatcher at No. 10 Downing Street, London, telling her your opinion of ______________ and asking her to set up an enquiry. She knows that over 80% of the British people loathe ______________ but she needs your backing to institute an investigation . . . who knows, there may be a " _________ Watergate" awaiting exposure! . . .

. . . One last word ~ When the Prime Minister addressed the Members of the Royal Academy four months ago she stressed that she and her government were dedicated to preserving and enhancing our heritage. Now is the time to remind her pointedly of those words!


ANTHONY HUGHES

I've always loved the English manner of restrained apoplexy!


Cheers ...

gearguy
January 20th, 2006, 06:08
not being from the UK, but remembering some similiar ranting and raving here in the States,
may I guess this is in regards to the metric system?

Smiles
January 28th, 2006, 03:24
One and only guess for the quiz was absolutely correct. Good going GearGuy!! :cheers:
Was it that easy?

Oh well ... next time MrSydney/VBBB can try and get it wrong every time. It's easy to be a troll ... not so easy to be smart.

Cheers ...

elephantspike
January 28th, 2006, 03:40
What was it they say about "an ounce of wisdom...."?

I tried to guess, but I was miles off!