Reading handout
Plot Twist newsletter: Winston Churchill and the power of hobbies
Words to know
retrospective
ret-roh-SPEK-tivQuote from the article
“the biggest retrospective of his art since 1958”
Meaning:A retrospective is a show that looks back over an artist's whole career, gathering work from many years in one place. The word starts with "retro," which means backward. In the article, a London museum is showing more than 50 of Winston Churchill's paintings from across his life.
More examples
- The museum held a retrospective of the cartoonist's work, from her first sketches to her latest comics.
- After the band's last concert, the school put on a retrospective of its photos from ten years of shows.
poignant
POIN-yuntQuote from the article
“Time has made some of the images feel more poignant”
Meaning:Something poignant makes you feel a gentle, deep sadness mixed with tenderness. It touches your heart. In the article, a painting of a happy family at the beach feels poignant now, because we know a big war was about to begin.
More examples
- Finding my old baby blanket in the attic was a poignant moment, because I remembered how small I used to be.
- The last day of school felt poignant, since we knew we would not all be in the same class again.
audacity
aw-DASS-ih-teeQuote from the article
“just sheer “audacity””
Meaning:Audacity is the boldness to try something even when it might not go well. Sometimes it also means daring to do something others think is too much. In the article, Churchill says you do not need special talent to paint, only the nerve to start.
More examples
- It took audacity for Sam to try out for the lead role when he had never acted before.
- She had the audacity to ask the chess champion for a game, and she almost won.
Concepts behind the story
Prime minister
Quote from the article
“Britain’s then prime minister, Winston Churchill”
Who is in charge of a country like Britain? Many countries have a prime minister, the leader who runs the government day to day. Britain also has a king or queen, but the monarch mostly handles ceremonies. The prime minister makes the big decisions about laws, money, and war.
Think of a school. The principal's name is on the door, but the person who actually decides the daily schedule and rules might be someone else. In Britain, the monarch is a bit like the name on the door, and the prime minister is the one making the schedule.
In the United States, the president does this job. A prime minister is different: they are usually the leader of the party that wins the most seats in the lawmaking group called Parliament, instead of being voted for directly by everyone.
So the takeaway: a prime minister is the head of the government in countries like Britain, and Churchill held that job during the second world war.
Biological age
Quote from the article
“about a year younger biologically”
Can two people who are both 40 be different ages? Yes! Your calendar age is how many birthdays you have had. Your biological age is how old your body is acting, based on things doctors can measure, like how well your heart and cells are working.
Imagine two cars built the same year. One was driven hard and never fixed. The other was gently used and cared for. They have the same birthday, but one looks and runs much older.
The article says people who did something artistic once a week, like visiting a museum, were about a year younger biologically than people who rarely did. Their birthdays were the same, but their bodies seemed to be aging a little more slowly.
So the takeaway: biological age measures how old your body acts, and healthy habits can make it lower than your calendar age.