The New Year’s Honours list was announced today. Twice a year, the Queen awards honours to people in the Commonwealth countries. These people are those who have done something good for the country. Most of the honours go to people who have worked as volunteers in the community, for example for a sport, or for a cultural community like the Korean community. One of these honours is called a Queen Service Medal, QSM.
The highest award is The Order of New Zealand (ONZ). The Dunedin artist, Ralph Hotere, received this award. Four men became Sir. One of these men was the coach of the All Blacks: Graham Henry. He will be Sir Graham. Two women became Dame. One of these women was Suzie Moncrieff who started the World of Wearable Arts 24 years ago. She will be Dame Suzie.
In the UK, the Queen has a ceremony in Buckingham Palace to give the medals to each person who receives an honour but in New Zealand it is the Governor-General who does this at Government House. He is the Queen’s representative in New Zealand.
For more about the honours, listen to Queen’s Birthday Honours 2010 and December 31st 2009. For more about the World of Wearable Arts, listen to August 28th 2011. For more about the All Blacks and the Rugby World Cup, type “rugby” in the search box.
Vocabulary
announced – on the radio, TV and in the newspapers
honour – a public award
volunteer – someone who does some community work without pay
award – a prize
representative – he does the work of the Queen in New Zealand
Pronunciation – notice “an honour”; we use “an’ because the “h” is not pronounced. It is too hard to say “a honour”.
Apostrophe. Although it is correct to put the apostrophe before the “s” for New Year’s Honours, in practice you don’t need an apostrophe for things like days. You do need an apostrophe, however, to show possession by people or a person.