Article 07/11/22

 

World record gathering of people with same name   (31st October, 2022)

A group of 178 men all sharing the name Tanaka Hirokazu convened in Tokyo on Saturday to break the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people with the same first and last name. The successful record attempt was organized by the Tanaka Hirokazu association. This group was established by a guy called Tanaka Hirokazu (surprise, surprise) in 1994. Mr Tanaka's inspiration came from seeing a namesake of his drafted into a professional Japanese baseball team. Ex-baseball player Tanaka Hirokazu was also part of Saturday's record meeting. The 178 new record holders span the generations, with the youngest being three years old, and the eldest being an octogenarian.
       Association leader Tanaka Hirokazu, 53, was elated at breaking the world record. His association had tried twice before, in 2011 and 2017, to break the record. These attempts were thwarted largely because of the association's insistence on all participants having to have the same Chinese characters (kanji) in their name. Saturday's meeting had a more lenient criterion. The association deemed that anyone with the name Hirokazu Tanaka was eligible, regardless of the kanji used to spell their name. Mr Tanaka reflected on his world-beating achievement. He told reporters: "I never expected we would achieve such a ridiculous record." He added that the 178 Tanakas had "set an example of silliness".

 

BEST NAME: What are the best names for these people / things, and why? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	Best Name	Why?
A newborn baby boy
A newborn baby girl
A pet dog
A sports car
A bookshop
An English school

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

1.	convened	a.	A person who is between 80 and 89 years old.
2.	inspiration	b.	A person or thing that has the same name as another.
3.	namesake	c.	Extend across a period of time or a range of subjects.
4.	drafted	d.	Came or brought together for a meeting or activity.
5.	span	e.	All of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively.
6.	generation	f.	The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially something creative.
7.	octogenarian	g.	Selected a player for a sports team.

    Paragraph 2

8.	elated	h.	Average in amount, intensity, quality, or degree.
9.	thwarted	i.	Prevented someone from achieving or doing something.
10.	insistence	j.	Thought deeply or carefully about.
11.	lenient	k.	Very, very, very happy.
12.	criterion	l.	A principle or standard by which something may be judged or decided.
13.	deemed	m.	The fact or quality of saying that something is definitely the case or should be done.
14.	reflected	n.	Regarded or considered in a specified way.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

1. A group of women who all had the same name broke a world record.     T / F
2. The record attempt was organized by the John Smith Association.     T / F
3. A former professional baseball player helped to break the record.     T / F
4. The oldest person in the group was in his/her eighties.     T / F
5. This was the third time for the group to attempt to break the record.     T / F
6. This attempt required participants to have the same Chinese characters.  T / F
7. The person who organized the attempt knew it would be broken.     T / F
8. The person called the record an example of silliness.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1. convened
2. gathering
3. attempt
4. established
5. span
6. elated
7. thwarted
8. eligible
9. reflected
10. ridiculous

1. foiled
2. set up
3. allowed
4. assembly
5. thrilled
6. laughable
7. effort
8. thought about
9. met
10. cross

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1. the largest gathering
2. This group was established
3. Mr Tanaka's inspiration came from seeing
4. The 178 new record holders span
5. the eldest being
6. Tanaka Hirokazu, 53, was elated
7. These attempts were
8. having to have the same
9. regardless of the kanji used
10. Tanaka reflected on his

1. at breaking the world record
2. a namesake of his
3. of people
4. Chinese characters
5. world-beating achievement
6. the generations
7. by a guy called Tanaka
8. to spell their name
9. an octogenarian
10. thwarted

Multiple choice quiz

     1)  In which city did the men break the world record?
a) Sydney
b) Tokyo
c) Lima
d) Beijing
   2) When was the Tanaka Hirokazu association started?
a) 1991
b) 1992
c) 1993
d) 1994
   3) Who started the Tanaka Hirokazu association?
a) Tanaka Hirokazu
b) Guinness World Records
c) the Namesake Association
d) Genealogy International
   4) What sport did one of the record breakers use to play?
a) ice hockey
b) football
c) baseball
d) tennis
     5) How old was the oldest record breaker?
a) 79
b) in his eighties
c) 90
d) a centenarian

    6) How did Tanaka Hirokazu feel about breaking the world record?
a) bewildered
b) relieved
c) elated
d) mildly surprised
    7) How many times in total did the group try to break the record?
a) ten
b) four
c) two
d) three
     8) What did the first attempts require all names to have?
a) the same Chinese characters
b) a middle name
c) a birth certificate
d) a history
     9) Who did Tanaka Hirokazu talk to about breaking the record?
a) reporters
b) Mrs Tanaka
c) his neighbours
d) a group on Zoom
     10) What did Tanaka Hirokazu call the world record an example of?
a) naming
b) silliness
c) hard work
d) achievement

 

Grammar revision

 Grammar test

1. You ________ worry so much, you’ll make yourself ill.
 A) must  B) shouldn’t  C) can’t

2. Joe ________ think of a good excuse for being late.
 A) shouldn’t  B) mustn’t  C) couldn’t

3. Stella"s _______ be promoted because she works hard.
 A) allowed to  B) bound to  C) manage to

4. My mother _________ is in Argentina this week
 A) , who travels a lot,  B) who travels a lot  C) who travels a lot,

5. They’re going to stay with their cousins _________ live on a boat.
 A) -  B) where  C) who

6. Where are the flowers _________ I sent you?
 A) where  B) whose  C) -

7. Leo and Rose left the cinema because the film was
 A) bored  B) boredom  C) boring

8. My grandmother _________ living alone so she finds the house very quiet.
 A) didn’t use to  B) used to  C) isn’t used to

9. My boss really annoys me because she _________ me to work at the weekends.
 A) is always asking  B) would ask  C) asked

10. Maria's got a terrible voice but she _________ at any opportunity.
 A) is singing  B) would sing  C) has sung

11. Do you remember when Mum and Dad _____ take us camping and it ______ always rain?
 A) - / used to  B) are used to / will  C) used to / would

12. It was only in Australia for a week so he _______ seen a lot.
 A) shouldn't have  B) couldn’t have  C) might have

13. Although it was kind, they __________bought us a housewarming present.
 A) couldn’t have  B) mightn’t have  C) needn’t have

14. If only I _______ school when I was fifteen, I ______ a lot more money.
 A) hadn’t left / ’d earn  B) don’t leave / won’t earn  C) left / ’d earn

15. If I _______a lot of money, I’d retire.
 A) win  B) won  C) had won

16. Sometimes they both wish they ________ married so young.
 A) didn't get  B) don’t get  C) hadn’t got

17. Don’t you wish we _______ ten years ago?
 A) met  B) had met  C) meet

18. You can’t buy __________ happiness.
 A) -  B) a  C) the

19. Could you get ________ drinks when you go to the shops, please?
 A) -  B) a  C) the

20. It was ________ great film that we saw it twice.
 A) what a  B) her only  C) such a

21. Tony’s daughter has his red hair but ______ of his sons look like him.
 A) both  B) each  C) neither

22. Sorry, but I don’t know what you are getting _____.
 A) on  B) at  C) over

23. Come in from the rain – you’re ________ soaking.
 A) quite  B) very  C) absolutely

24. Jorn spends all his time complaining. I wish he’d just ________.
 A) find a life  B) get a life  C) change the life

25. Lucy ______ well with her brother, even though he’s much younger than her.
 A) gets over  B) gets up  C) gets on

 

The Interesting Most Boring Man in the World

 

People often said that Thierry Boyle was the most boring man in the world. Thierry didn’t know why people thought he was so boring. Thierry thought he was quite interesting. After all, he collected stamps. What could be more interesting than stamps? It was true that he didn’t have any other hobbies or interests, but that didn’t matter for Thierry. He had his job, after all.

He had a very interesting job. At least Thierry thought it was interesting. Everybody else said that his job was boring. But he was an accountant! Why do people think that accountants are boring? thought Thierry. Thierry thought his job was fascinating. Everyday, he went to his office, switched on his computer and spent seven and a half hours looking at spreadsheets, and moving numbers around on them. What could be more interesting than that?

But Thierry was unhappy. He was unhappy because people thought he was boring. He didn’t want to be boring. He wanted people to think that he was a very interesting person. He tried to talk to people about his stamp collection. But every time he talked about his stamp collection he saw that people were bored. Because people were bored when he talked about his stamp collection, he talked about his job instead. He thought people would be very interested when he talked about his job, but no. People thought his job was even more boring than his stamp collection. Sometimes, people even went to sleep when he talked to them.

Thierry thought about how to make himself more interesting. He decided that he needed to be famous for something. He thought about his stamp collection, and decided that perhaps his stamp collection could make him famous. Perhaps he had the biggest stamp collection in the world, or perhaps he had a very valuable stamp. Yes, this was it, he decided.

He wrote a letter to a local newspaper, and asked them if they wanted to come and write an article about a local man with the biggest stamp collection in the world. The local newspaper wrote a letter back to Thierry telling him that actually the Queen of England had the biggest stamp collection in the world.

Thierry was very sad to learn this, but wrote back to the newspaper telling them that he thought he had the most valuable stamp in the world. The newspaper wrote back to him telling him that the most valuable stamp in the world cost 2, 240, 000 dollars, and asking him if he was sure that he had it.

Thierry wasn’t sure that he had it. In fact, he was sure that he didn’t have it. Perhaps his whole collection was very valuable though…

“Is it worth 10 million dollars?” asked the man from the newspaper on the telephone when Thierry called him.
“Erm, no, I don’t think so…”
“Forget it then” said the man from the newspaper.

Thierry thought about other things to make himself famous. Perhaps he could be the best accountant in the world! Yes, this was it, he decided. He told a friend that he was the best accountant in the world.
“How do you know?” asked his friend.
“Well” thought Thierry, “I have a good job, I like it …it’s very interesting … spreadsheets … numbers … taxes … finance …” He saw his friend going to sleep. “Hmmm” he thought. “Perhaps I’m not the best or the most interesting accountant in the world.”

“Listen Thierry” said his friend when he woke up again. “Perhaps you don’t have the biggest or the most valuable stamp collection in the world. Perhaps you aren’t the best or the most interesting accountant in the world. But there is one thing – Thierry, you are probably the most boring man in the world.”

Yes! Of course! This was it. Thierry could be famous because he was the most boring man in the world. Now he saw that his friends were right. He phoned the newspaper again.
“Hello!” he said. “Would you like to do an interview with the most boring man in the world?”
“The most boring man in the world…?” said the man from the newspaper. “Now that’s interesting!”

Next week there was a big article in the newspaper. “The Most Boring Man in the World!” There was a picture of Thierry in his office. There was a picture of Thierry with his stamp collection. There was an interview with Thierry, and interviews with his friends. His friends said they went to sleep when Thierry talked about his job or his stamp collection.

The next day the BBC and CNN called Thierry. They wanted stories about the most boring man in the world. “The most boring man in the world!” they said. “That’s so interesting!”

And so, finally, Thierry Boyle, became the official Most Boring Man in the World. You won’t find his name in the Guinness Book of Records, because they said that it was impossible to decide exactly how boring somebody is, but it was no problem for Thierry. Now he was famous, now he was so boring that he was interesting.