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Unit 27: Where is it illegal to get a fish drunk?
-ing and -ed clauses

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Session 4

Where is it illegal to get a fish drunk? Where can't you wear a suit of armour? And why should Scottish men fear the city of York?

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    Activity 1
  1. Activity 1

Activity 1

Did you know…?

Crazy laws

In this session, to help you practise participle clauses, we have a fun challenge. It's all about strange laws that exist, or are said to exist!

For example, there's an urban myth that London taxis have to carry a bale of hay in the boot.

So, is it true? In the past, London taxis were not cars, but horse-drawn carriages. And instead of petrol, their fuel was hay! But the law stopped in 1976.

So what are the funniest stupid laws?

In our challenge, listen to Finn challenging Neil to identify the UK's favourite stupid laws, based on a survey which appeared in The Telegraph newspaper.

To do

Listen and play along with Neil as he answer the questions. Then, do the quiz at the end to test yourself. There are examples of participle clauses in both the listening activity and the quiz. Good luck!

Listen to the audio and complete the activity

Show transcript Hide transcript

Finn
Hello and welcome to our strange laws challenge. I'm Finn and I've got 10 questions for Neil today. Hi Neil.

Neil
Hello there Finn. I'm looking forward to this.

Finn
Good, good. You are a law-abiding citizen, aren’t you?

Neil
You mean – I'm someone who follows the law – who doesn't break it? Yes, I think so.

Finn
Very good, glad to hear that. So, you have a good idea of what's legal and what's illegal.

Neil
Generally speaking, yes I think I do.

Finn
Great. Well today we are going to test that to the limit. A survey of stupid laws appeared in the UK newspaper The Telegraph  a few years ago. I'm going to say a few stupid laws and ask you if they appeared on this list, OK?

Neil
OK. Great. I'm ready.

Finn
OK. Were these on the list of the 10 stupidest laws? Here we go. Number one: it is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.

Neil
It sounds completely ridiculous. What would happen to you if you did die would they send you to jail? I'm going to say that it's true.

Finn
Well actually this was number one on their list of the 10 stupidest laws. Very good. OK, number two: putting a stamp upside down on a letter is committing a crime. 

Neil
That has to be nonsense. You've made that up.

Finn
Well, it is on their list. But actually Neil, you're right. Royal Mail were asked about this and they confirmed that there's no rule against sticking a stamp upside down. They say it's a myth and not true. OK, number three. Christmas is not far away but is there a law that says it's illegal to eat mince pies on Christmas day? Are people doing something illegal if they eat a nice mince pie on Christmas day?

Neil
I must have broken the law many, many times. I think that this probably is on the list.

Finn
And it is in fact on the list. OK, number four – the head of a dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes property of the queen.

Neil
That cannot be true.

Finn
Neil, that's a good answer. The law that's on the list is that the head of a dead whale becomes the property of the king, not the queen. So it was a trick question. So I'll give you a point for that as well. You've got three so far. Now, next question: it is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a white suit.

Neil
Wearing a white suit. OK. I think I can't believe that's true. That has to be nonsense.

Finn
Well it's not on their list. What is on their list is that it's illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing… maybe you know this one?

Neil
I think I do. Is it a suit of armour?

Finn
OK, a couple of Scottish ones now. in Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and asks to use your toilet, you must let them enter. Is that a law? And is it on the list?

Neil
I think it is on the list.

Finn
It is on the list. You're right. Although apparently, the Law Commission says it cannot find any evidence of this in their books. So, it's one of these – I think people like it.

Neil
It's not to say that it won't happen in the future.

Finn
Possibly, yes. And the law experts actually said the myth may have grown around local custom – and it hints at Scottish people's strong sense of hospitality. Next one is also about Scottish people. In the city of York it is legal to murder a Scotsman – that's a Scottish person – within the ancient city walls – but only if he's carrying a sword.

Neil
I really like these laws.

Finn
I'm not sure I like this one!

Neil
I think it's true!

Finn
You think it's true?

Neil
I think it's on the list.

Finn
Well actually it's not on the list. And this is me being a bit naughty here. It is legal in the city of York within the ancient city walls to murder a Scotsman but only if he's carrying… a bow and arrow. Not a sword. So if you see me carrying a sword, I'm ok.

Neil
My legal knowledge doesn't go that far.

Finn
It fails you. Let's go further then and go outside the UK for the last three. In Ohio, this one, in the United States, it is illegal to get a fish drunk.

Neil
How would you get a fish drunk? That's the question I'm thinking about now. I like this law so much that I'm going to say it's true.

Finn
I'm going to give you a point for that. That's on their list. It may be an urban myth - I don't care. Now let's move to France where they say it's illegal to name a pig Napoleon – is that…?

Neil
That has to be nonsense. I don't believe that at all.

Finn
It is nonsense. But it is on their list. Now number ten, this is our last question. Let's go back to the United States. Is it… illegal… in Alabama… to be blindfolded – that's to have a piece of cloth around your eyes while driving a vehicle?

Neil
I hope so. I hope it's illegal to drive whilst you are blindfolded.

Finn
Well I hope so too, and in fact it's on their list.

Neil
Great

Finn
What provoked them, why did they make this law?

Neil
Were there many people driving around…

Finn
Blindfolded? Very good, well Neil that's the end of our stupid laws challenge.

Neil
Yeah how did I do?

Finn
My scoring has not been very accurate. My stupid scoring. I'm going to give you eight out of ten.  

Neil
Eight out of ten, 80%. I'm very happy with that.

Finn
That's a very respectable, legal score.

Neil
We do recommend that you don't break any of these laws because even though they might sound like nonsense you never know if the police are going to come along and get you.

Finn
That's true. So even if you think it's safe to murder a Scotsman…

Neil
Or to get a fish drunk…

Finn
Just don't do it.

Neil
Don't do it.

Finn
Don't do it. That's our advice. And that's the end of our challenge. See you next time. Bye.

Neil
Bye.

To do

Now, do the quiz to test yourself. Which of these were on the list?

Crazy enough?

10 Questions

How well do you remember the laws mentioned in the game? If they were laws that appeared in the Telegrpah survey, choose 'Yes, on the crazy list!', even if they are actually urban myths.

Congratulations you completed the Quiz
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
x / y

Crazy enough?

10 Questions

How well do you remember the laws mentioned in the game? If they were laws that appeared in the Telegrpah survey, choose 'Yes, on the crazy list!', even if they are actually urban myths.

Congratulations you completed the Quiz
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
x / y

Your turn

So, what was your favourite law? And can you think of a funnier one?

In fewer than 50 words, make up a crazy law - using a participle clause, if you can!

If you need to remind yourself about the participle clauses, have another look at Session 2.

Thank you for emailing your comments to us. We enjoyed reading them. This task is now closed.

Here are some of the comments that we received:

Mario, Italy

However strange it may seem, some of the following rules are true in my country.

No sitting on chairs with missing leg

No going up on upper floors by using stairs nor elevator

No reaching the next train station earlier than the train you are on

No using firearms to kill mosquitoes

Homeless people found going around with no money will be fined

No riding a motorbike with three or more passengers

Taras, Ukraine

I like the law about get a fish drunk and dying in British Parliament. But I'd like to create own stupid law. Being honest I've heard this one. So starting - it is illegal to throw away deer from aircraft while flying. The law seems to exist in one of the US states but I don't remember in which one.

Manoel Gomes, Brazil

"It's illegal to name a pig Napoleon" it is my favourite crazy law.

I've created my own stupid law: "Dancing with a bear is not allowed."

End of Session 4

That's it for this session. Now, before we go to stop people trying to get fish drunk, let us tell you what's coming up in Session 5… it's Gulliver time! Join us for part 7 of the story, as Gulliver arrives in a land of crazy scientists.

Session Grammar

  • Present participle clauses

    We can use a present participle in a clause by itself without a subject or auxiliary:

    • When one action leads to or is the reason for another:

    Rushing to get to an interview the other day, I forgot to tie my shoe laces properly.
    ... but not looking where I was going I tripped ...

    • When two actions happen at the same time or one action happens while another is happening:

    ... but looking in the mirror I saw that the cut on my head was really quite bad.
    Phoning my interviewee back, I told her that I wouldn't be able to make it after all.

    • When one action happens after another one:

    After making the call, I went back to my flat and started to clean myself up
    After hanging up I went straight to the hospital ...

    Examples of past participles in clauses

    When one action is followed by another: the past particple forms past of the perfect participle.

    Having washed the car I took it for a drive.

    In reduced passive relative clauses:

    Cars parked here will be clamped. =
    Cars which have been parked here will be clamped.

    The gold stolen in the train robbery was never recovered.=
    The gold which was stolen in the train robbery was never recovered.

    The bystander injured in the crash was airlifted to hospital.=
    The bystander who was injured in the crash was airlifted to hospital.

     

View full grammar reference

Session Vocabulary

  • hay bale
    large bundle of dried wheat

    boot
    (here) storage area in back of car

    law-abiding citizen
    someone who follows the law

    to the limit
    as far as something can go

    ridiculous
    crazy, unbelievable

    nonsense
    not true, so unlikely that it is silly

    made (that) up
    (here) invented

    myth
    (here) commonly believed story that is not true

    mince pies
    sweet pies eaten at Christmas

    property
    something belonging to someone

    a suit of armour
    a metal suit worn to protect you in battle

    custom
    type of traditional behaviour

    hospitality
    quality of being welcoming

    urban myth
    modern story that is thought to be true by many people

    to be blindfolded
    to have your eyes covered by cloth so you cannot see

View full vocabulary reference

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