This week's UK news: 17 July 2009
17 July 2009


How to surprise a woman

A man asked his girlfriend to marry him in a very unusual way. He got a friend to film him singing a pop song in different places – in his underpants.

Then he hired a cinema and pretended to his girlfriend that they were going out to celebrate her birthday. She was then surprised by the five-minute film of her boyfriend singing Daniel Bedingfield’s If You’re Not The One. And then he stood up and asked her to marry him.

Fortunately Hannah McDonagh agreed to marry Pete Simson. He said: 'All the pants on the video, Hannah had bought for me. You can't take yourself too seriously.'

Cats get what they want

Cats have clever ways of getting their owners to do what they want.

Researchers in the UK analysed the sound of cats which wanted to be fed. They found the cats would make a happy purring sound which included a more urgent sound.

This was very difficult for the owners to ignore – rather like the cry of a baby.

Backpacker survives in the wild for 12 days

A British traveller has been found after getting lost in the Australian mountains for almost two weeks.

Local people are astonished that Jamie Neale survived in freezing temperatures and without any food except plants and seeds. His father says he ate an “enormous” meal of pizza the night before he disappeared, which may have helped his survival.

Jamie’s family thought the 19-year-old had died. He had very little food with him.

Why rude words are good

Saying rude words can help people cope with pain. Scientists at Keele University in the UK found that people could hold their hands in freezing water for much longer if they were encouraged to swear.

Scientists think swearing makes people more aggressive, and this makes them feel pain less.

 

by Susan Young - susan@englishuk.com

 

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