SUMMER HOMEWORK FORM 3 CONTENTS

Transcription

1 SUMMER HOMEWORK FORM 3 CONTENTS 1. Theatre 2. Globalization 3. Bullfighting - A Big Attraction in Spain 4. Automakers Produce Cars of the Future 5. Andy Warhol - Icon of the Pop Art Movement 6. Agatha Christie - Books, Life and Characters 7. The Simpsons American Life in Cartoons 1. Theatre A theatre is a place where people go and see all kinds of performances. Most people think of a theatre as a place to see a play, where a story that is acted out in front of an audience. But there are other kinds of performances that take place in a theatre too: musicals, ballets and operas. The theatre building Most theatres have three parts: the stage, the auditorium and the backstage area. The stage is the most important part of a theater. It is the place where actors and actresses perform a play. Most plays are performed on a proscenium or picture-frame stage. The audience can watch the play only from the front. The action takes place under a large arch. A curtain opens and closes at the beginning and end of each scene. Sometimes the audience can sit on three sides of a stage. Some theatres have a round stage in the middle of the auditorium with spectators sitting around it. Actors get on and leave the stage through the audience. The auditorium is where the audience sits. Modern theatres also have lobbies, rest rooms, cafes and bars to offer people more comfort before and after the performance, as well as between scenes. The backstage area is the place where the scenes are prepared and actors and actresses get dressed. There are also storage and office rooms for the staff and theatre workers. There are rooms in which technicians control lighting and sound.

2 People in a theatre Many people work together in a theatre. Every production begins with a producer sometimes a man or a woman, sometimes a whole group of people or a company. Producers have a lot of things to do. They have to collect money for the play, get a story and a usable script. They must be able to work with a good team. The director decides how the play should be performed. He interprets the script, works together with the people who make the scenery and costumes. The director oversees rehearsals and tells actors how to play their part. In modern plays a playwright writes the script. Designers create the scenery that shows the time and place of the story. Lighting experts have the job of moving actors or pieces of the stage into the spotlight. Lighting effects help to create the atmosphere of a play. A casting director takes over the job of selecting actors and actresses for the play. They must choose a person with a suitable voice and character for every role. Make-up artists and costume designers help make the actors look good. Choreographers plan dance steps and other movements. Actors and actresses are the main people in the play. They must study a character s appearance, speech, body movements and gestures. Practicing this is not always easy. In order to play a role well the actor must know a lot about emotions and the feelings that someone can have. They must concentrate on their role and keep out everything that may distract them. Scene design

3 Designers build the scenery on a stage. Sometimes they don t have to change it during the play. At other times sets have to be changed quickly during performances. Modern theaters have stages that can revolve or stages that can be raised or lowered. Words act out = perform appearance = looks arch = a curved structure above an opening audience = the people who sit in the front and watch the play auditorium = the part of the theatre where the people sit and watch the play backstage = behind the stage, where the actors and actresses get dressed body movement = the way a person moves and the special things he does casting director = a person who chooses the right performers for a play choreographer = a person who shows the dancers the movements during a performance collect = get money from anywhere you can comfort = to be relaxed, fell good company = a business organization concentrate = focus on create = make curtain = piece of cloth that hangs from the ceiling distract = to take away your attention gesture = when you move your hands or head to show what you mean or feel interpret = to show the play the way you understand it lighting = the light in a room and how it shines on the stage and actors lobby = a large hall near the entrance lower = to move down movement = to go from one place to another offer = give oversee = supervise, watch over perform = act performance = when people act out a play or play music on a stage piece = object playwright = someone who writes the script of the play proscenium = part of a stage that is front of the curtain raise = to move up rehearsal = the time when all the people of a play practice before the performance rest room = toilet revolve = to go around in a circle scenery = the background and all the objects on a stage script = the written form of a play set = the scenery or objects that are used on a stage spectator = a person who watches an event speech = the language a person uses spotlight = a light which you can direct at someone on a stage staff = all the people who work in a theatre stage = the higher area of a theatre where the actors and actresses perform or singers sing storage = place where you keep things that you do not need suitable = right, correct technicians = people who work on and control the technical parts usable = something you can use

4 2. Globalization Your shirt was made in Mexico and your shoes in China. Your CD player comes from Japan. You can travel to Moscow and eat a Big Mac there and you can watch an American film in Rome. Today goods are made and sold all over the world, thanks to globalization. Globalization lets countries move closer to each other. People, companies and organizations in different countries can live and work together. We can exchange goods, money and ideas faster and cheaper than ever before. Modern communication and technology, like the Internet, cell phones or satellite TV help us in our daily lives. Globalization is growing quickly. A German company can produce cars in Argentina and then sell them in the United States. A businessman in Great Britain can buy a part of a company in Indonesia on one day and sell parts of History of Globalization Globalization is not new. For thousands of years people have been trading goods and travelling across great distances. During the Middle Ages, merchants travelled along the Silk Road, which connected Europe and China. The modern age of globalization started with the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century. New machines were able to produce cheaper goods. Trains and steam-powered boats transported products farther and faster. Since 1980, globalization has been moving at a faster pace. Today it is easier for companies to work in other countries. The Internet gives them the chance of reaching more customers around the world. Teleworkers work for firms that may be far away. However, there is a growing debate over globalization. Governments are in favour of globalization because the economy can grow. Other people are not so sure that there are only advantages. Here are some arguments from both sides: Good sides Globalization lets countries do what they can do best. If, for example, you buy cheap steel from another country you don t have to make your own steel. You can focus on computers or other things. Globalization gives you a larger market. You can sell more goods and make more money. You can create more jobs. Consumers also profit from globalization. Products become cheaper and you can get new goods more quickly. Bad sides Globalization causes unemployment in industrialized countries because firms move their factories to places where they can get cheaper workers. Globalization may lead to more environmental problems. A company may want to build factories in other countries because environmental laws are not as strict as they are at home. Poor countries in the Third World may have to cut down more trees so that they can sell wood to richer countries. Globalization can lead to financial problems. In the 1970s and 80s countries like Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia or Brazil got a lot of money from investors who hoped they could build up new businesses there. These new companies often didn t work, so they had to close down and investors pulled out their money. Some of the poorest countries in the world, especially in Africa, may get even poorer. Their population is not as educated as in developed countries and they don t have the new technology that we

5 do. Human, animal and plant diseases can spread more quickly through globalization. Many experts say that we need a different kind of globalization in our world today. There must be ways to make sure that all countries profit from the good sides of globalization. We should help poorer countries by giving them better education and showing them how new technology works. Every year, leaders of the world s biggest industrial countries get together to discuss economic problems. This meeting is called the G8 summit. In the last few years groups against globalization have organized protest marches and demonstrations to point out that not everyone is happy with how the world s economy is developing.another business in China the next, thanks to globalization. Fast food companies open shops around the world almost every day. Words advantage = the good side of something age = period of history argument =reasons business = company cause =lead to cell phone = a mobile telephone close down = to stop producing goods connect = to link together create = make customer = a person who buys something debate = discussion develop =grow developed countries = rich, industrialized countries disease = illness distance =space

6 economic =about the economy economy =the system of producing goods and products in a country and selling them educated = if you have gone to school and learned a lot environmental = everything that is about the air, water or land around us especially =above all, more than others exchange = to give someone something and get something else in return factory = building in which you produce goods farther =here: over greater distances firm = company focus on = concentrate on G8 = Group of 8 = the most important industrialized countries in the world goods = things that you produce and sell government =the people who rule a country however =but in favour of = for something investor = a person who gives money to a company and expects to get more money in return law = rules that a country has lead to =cause leader = the most powerful person of a country make sure = to check that something has been done merchant = someone who buys and sells goods pace = speed point out = to show produce = make pull out = take out reach = get to Silk Road = an old route on which silk was carried from Europe to Central Asia spread =to move from one place to another steam powered =run by a steam engine ; power is produced by making water hot so that it turns into a gas steel = a strong metal that you can form strict =exact summit = meeting for powerful leaders of a country teleworker = someone who works from home and uses a computer, telephone etc.. trade = to buy and sell goods unemployment = if you don t have a job

7 3. Bullfighting - A Big Attraction in Spain Bullfighting is a great event that attracts many tourists to Spain and Spanish speaking countries. There it is an important element of culture and has a great tradition. Modern bullfighting goes back to the 1700s when the first bullrings were built in Spain. A bullfight takes place in bullring. The matador, or bullfighter, has special training and is often a national hero in his homeland. The bulls used for bullfighting are very powerful, wild animals that are bred to attack. They weigh up to 500 kg or even more. Today many animal activists are against bullfighting because bulls are treated in a cruel way and have to suffer pain in the arena. Bullfights can also end with a matador s death or injury if he is pierced by a bull s horns. A bullfight usually consists of six fights. Three matadors with their teams fight two bulls each. A bullfight has three acts. After the trumpets sound at the beginning, the bull is let into the ring. The bullfighter waves a colorful cape at the bull and tries to make it attack. During this part he studies the movements of the bull. A picador enters the arena on horseback. He makes the bull weaker by piercing his neck with sharp spikes. In the second act, the assistants of the matador, called banderilleros, come into the ring on foot, run around and throw barbed darts into the animal s neck to make it even madder. In the final act the bullfighter is in the ring alone with the bull. He uses a small cape, waves at the bull and lures it into attacking him. He tries to be as close to the bull as possible. Finally, he thrusts his sword into the bull s neck and kills it. If he succeeds in pushing the sword into the bull s shoulder blades it dies at once. After the successful performance of the matador the spectators get up and applaud. The bullfighter gets one or maybe even two of the bull s ears as a reward.

8 Words attack = to hit someone in a violent way attract = to pull towards; bring to barbed = with one or more curved points breed bred = to bring animals together so that they can have babies that are very good or strong cape = a piece of cloth that a bullfighter waves close = near consist of = is made up of cruel = brutal injury = to damage a part of your body lure = to make someone do something you want madder = angrier movement = how it moves from one place to another performance = act, show picador = man in a bullfight who rides a horse and weakens a bull by throwing small spears into it pierce = to make a small hole into something with a sharp object reward = prize shoulder blade = one of the two flat bones on each side of your back spectator = a person who watches a fight spike = sharp, metal points succeed = to do well suffer = undergo sword = a weapon with a long pointed blade thrust = push, force weigh = how heavy something is

9 4. Automakers Produce Cars of the Future Automakers around the world are planning to make cars that are smaller, use up less fuel and do not damage our environment. At auto shows around the globe car producers are presenting what they have in mind. General Motors has already showed one of its prototypes.it is called P.U.M.A., which means Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility Vehicle. It looks like a cart, has two batteries and seats for two people. While GM s car may never be produced other car makers have already made mini-cars that you can buy. Mercedes Smart car has been popular in Europe for some time. Chrysler s GEM Peapod and Toyota s IQ are two small cars that have been specially designed for city traffic. Man people want to buy small cars because they save fuel. That means saving money on petrol plus being able to find parking spaces more easily in crowded cities. Carmakers are also spending money on research to make alternative-fuel cars. Maybe one day, most of us will drive biodiesel, hydrogen, or solar-powered cars. Hybrids are cars that are already on the market today. Toyota and GM already produce hybrid cars, trucks and SUV s that run on petrol and electricity. Other companies, like BMW, have made cars that use hydrogen and electricity. Although such cars are still too expensive to produce in great numbers carmakers are continuing to improve them and make them cheaper. Words accessibility = user friendly alternative-fuel = not powered by petrol but other environment-friendly kinds of energy although =while cart = here: an object that has a small, round form and a motor crowded = full damage = destroy

10 design = make, plan environment = the world around us fuel = here: petrol; the liquid for of energy that a car needs to drive globe = world have in mind = what they are thinking of hydrogen = the lightest gas that forms water when you mix it with oxygen; it is also a source of energy; popular = liked by many people prototype = the first form of something new research = to study a topic and find out new and interesting things about it solar-powered = energy from the sun SUV = sport-utility vehicle= car that larger than a normal car and is used to travel over rough ground urban = city vehicle = car

11 5. Andy Warhol - Icon of the Pop Art Movement Andy Warhol was the most popular figure in the pop art movement that came up in the 1950s in the United States and Great Britain. During his career he produced paintings, films, commercials, print ads and other works of art. Andy Warhol s parents came to America from Czechoslovakia at the beginning of the 20th century. As a boy Andy liked to draw and cut up pictures. The family lived in Pittsburgh, where Warhol s father worked in a coal mine. While in high school Warhol took art classes and drew sketches at the Carnegie Museum. He liked to go to the movies and started collecting fan articles of famous movies and stars. These objects appeared later on in Warhol s works. Warhol studied art in Pittsburgh and after moving to New York in 1949 he began work as an illustrator for magazines such as the New Yorker or Vogue. During this time he started using a special technique to draw images for ads. Andy Warhol became unsatisfied with this job and wanted to have his pictures shown in art galleries.

12 During the 1960s Andy Warhol concentrated on painting realistic pictures of everyday items. This style became known as pop art. Among his most famous paintings were comic strips, images of Marylyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali, Coca Cola bottles and the electric chair. His probably best known painting was the famous Campbell soup can. In his drawings Warhol simplified objects and portraits and painted them in many different colors. The center of Warhol s life was his art studio, called the Factory. There he met many other famous artists and celebrities. The Factory was also used as a film studio in which Andy Warhol produced many of his famous underground films. They usually had no special plot but were very long. In one of them he shows a man sleeping for five hours. In 1968 a frustrated actress, Valerie Solanas, walked into Warhol s studio and shot the artist. Although he had already been pronounced dead, doctors managed to reanimate him and save his life. Warhol never fully recovered from this incident. During the 1970s and 80s Warhol continued to paint with the same silk screen technique that had made

13 him popular but, in some way, his career was declining. In 1987 Warhol died at the age of 58 during a routine gall bladder operation. Andy Warhol had a unique personality. He was a declared homosexual who liked to be famous and stand in the spotlights. He liked to be surrounded by flashy characters like Mick Jagger and Jim Morrison. The Andy Warhol Museum, in Pittsburgh is the largest art museum dedicated to one single artist. It holds more than 12,000 works of the icon of pop art. The highest-priced painting is Eight Elvises, images of Elvis Presley, which was sold for over 100 million dollars. Words although = while appear = show art = painting and drawing pictures art gallery = building in which paintings and pictures are shown to the public can = metal container that has soup, food or something to drink in it celebrity = a famous person who is still alive century = a hundred years coal mine = place where workers dig coal out of the earth

14 comic strip = a series of pictures drawn inside boxes that tell a story commercial = advertisement on television or radio declared = something that is official or has been said in public decline = to go down dedicated = here: for only one person electric chair = chair used in the United States to execute criminals figure = person flashy = here: person who wears expensive clothes and likes to be famous frustrated =angry fully = completely gall bladder = organ in your body which stores a green material that your liver produces homosexual = to be sexually attracted to the same sex; gay icon = idol illustrator = someone who draws pictures for books and magazines image = picture incident = event item = object movement = group of people who believe in or do the same things pop art = type of art that was popular in the 1950s and 60s; it showed everyday items as colorful paintings popular = liked; well known pronounce = declare ; to say officially reanimate = here: to try to make a person s heart beat again recover = to become healthy again silk screen = drawing technique, in which ink is forced onto a surface through a piece of cloth simplify = to make simpler; without so much detail sketch = a simple drawing that does not show much detail spotlight = to get a lot of attention surrounded = here: he is in the company of many people technique = method of drawing underground = here: strange and sometimes shocking films that are only seen by a small number of people unique = single; there is nothing else like it unsatisfied = not happy work = here: painting

15 6. Agatha Christie - Books, Life and Characters Agatha Christie was one of England s most famous writers. Her crime and detective stores became famous for their clever plots. Agatha Christie was often called the queen of crime. Agatha Christie was born in Devon, England in 1890 as the daughter of a British army captain. During the First World War she worked in a hospital as a nurse. Later on she got a job in a pharmacy. This influenced many of her crime stories because some of her victims were poisoned. Agatha Christie was married twice and especially her second husband travelled a lot with her. Some of her novels, like Death on the Nile were set in the Middle East. Murder on the Orient Express was written in Istanbul. At the beginning of the 1970s Agatha Christie became ill, but she went on writing. When she died in 1976 she had written over 60 novels, 150 short stories and 16 plays. Her stage play The Mousetrap is the longest running play in history. It was first performed in 1952 and after a record 23,000 performances it is still running today. Many of Christie s books and short stories have been turned into successful movies. Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple In her works Agatha Christie created two great characters. Hercule Poirot is a Belgian detective who appeared in 33 of Agatha Christie s novels. He his best known for his moustache. Poirot thinks logically and likes order. He examines the crime scene in detail and claims that every crime can be solved.

16 David Suchet as Hercule Poirot As time went on Agatha Christie became tired of her Belgian detective and wanted to get rid of him. But he was very popular among her readers. When he died in Curtain in 1978 he became the only fictional character to get an obituary in the New York Times. Agatha Christie s other well-known character was Miss Marple, an old woman who wants to be an amateur detective. She likes knitting, walking around the neighbourhood and she observes things very carefully. She became famous for solving cases where the police failed. In contrast to Hercule Poirot, Christie was very fond of Miss Marple. Plots of Christie Novels Almost all of Agatha Christie s novels are whodunits. They focus on English people of the middle and upper classes. Usually the detective comes across a murder scene by chance or is called by a friend who may be involved. He or she questions the suspects, examines the crime scene carefully and gives the reader clues so that they may have a chance to solve the crime themselves. In the course of the story one, or even a few, of the suspects usually die. Finally the detective gets all the suspects together and gives away information that not everyone knows, until the real murderer is revealed. In some of Agatha Christie s stories the murderer escapes justice; sometimes they get killed. Twice the murderer turns out to be the narrator of the story. Words

17 amateur = not professional appear = here: to be a part of by chance = without planning, luckily case = crime claim = to say that something is true even if it has not been proved clever = intelligent clue = a piece of information that helps you solve a crime come across = gets to create = make crime scene = place where the crime took place escape = to get away from especially = above all examine = to look at carefully fail = not succeed fictional = something or someone that does not exist in the real world focus = concentrate fond = if you like someone get rid of = to do away with in contrast to = as a difference to in the course of = as the story goes on influence = to have an effect on justice = here: to be sentenced for the crime knit = to make cloth out of wool using two needles moustache = hair that grows on a man s upper lip narrator = the person who tells the story novel = a long written story with unreal characters nurse = a woman who helps people in a hospital obituary = article in a newspaper about the life of someone who has just died observe = watch order = everything is in the right place perform = act on a stage pharmacy = a shop where medicine is prepared and sold plot = story poison = to put something in a person s food or drink in order to kill them popular = liked by many people record = highest, best-ever reveal = to make known, show solve = to find an answer successful = here: to make a lot of money and become famous suspect = a person who is thought to have committed a crime victim = someone who dies in the story whodunit = a book or a film about a crime in which you do not find out who killed the person until the end

18 The Simpsons American Life in Cartoons The Simpsons is an American sitcom that shows middle class lifestyle in cartoon form. The half-hour episodes take place in and around the fictional town of Springfield and make fun out of American culture and society. Since the show started in 1989 the Simpsons have been broadcast over 500 times. This makes it the longest running sitcom in American television history. In 2007 a full-length movie, The Simpsons Movie, made over half a billion dollars. The Simpsons has won many prizes, concluding the Emmy Awards. In the year 2000 Time magazine named it the best television series of the century and the cartoon characters of The Simpsons received their own star on Hollywood s Walk of Fame. The Simpson family consists of 5 main characters. Homer is the rather clumsy, beer-drinking father. He works at a nuclear power plant in Springfield and is married to Marge Simpson, a typical American middle class housewife. The couple has three children. Bart is a ten-year old who constantly gets into trouble. Lisa is a highly intelligent eight-year old who has become a vegetarian and a Buddhist. Maggie, the family s baby, is often shown with a pacifier. The Simpsons have two pets, a dog named Santa s Little Helper and Snowball, a cat. Even though the series focuses around animated characters, many human celebrities have starred on The Simpsons in the past, for example, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Tom Jones or Mel Gibson. The comedy centers on a few major themes. Homer s work in a nuclear power plant opens up the topic of our environment for discussion. Bart and Lisa are often shown in their school life where educational problems arise. Homer and Marge try to raise their children as best as they can but, as in many typical families, do not always succeed. The series also makes political comments and criticizes how the government and large corporations exploit the normal worker. The program has been very successful around the world. It is watched by millions of people in over a hundred countries. The Simpsons have triggered a merchandising industry revolving around T-shirts, DVDs, video games, a theme park and books. The Simpsons American Life in Cartoons The Simpsons is an American sitcom that shows middle class lifestyle in cartoon form. The half-hour episodes take place in and around the fictional town of Springfield and make fun out of American culture and society. Since the show started in 1989 the Simpsons have been broadcast over 500 times. This makes it the longest running sitcom in American television history. In 2007 a full-length movie, The Simpsons Movie, made over half a billion dollars. The Simpsons has won many prizes, concluding the Emmy Awards. In the year 2000 Time magazine named it the best television series of the century and the cartoon characters of The Simpsons received their own star on Hollywood s Walk of Fame. The Simpson family consists of 5 main characters. Homer is the rather clumsy, beer-drinking father. He works at a nuclear power plant in Springfield and is married to Marge Simpson, a typical American

19 middle class housewife. The couple has three children. Bart is a ten-year old who constantly gets into trouble. Lisa is a highly intelligent eight-year old who has become a vegetarian and a Buddhist. Maggie, the family s baby, is often shown with a pacifier. The Simpsons have two pets, a dog named Santa s Little Helper and Snowball, a cat. Even though the series focuses around animated characters, many human celebrities have starred on The Simpsons in the past, for example, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Tom Jones or Mel Gibson. The comedy centers on a few major themes. Homer s work in a nuclear power plant opens up the topic of our environment for discussion. Bart and Lisa are often shown in their school life where educational problems arise. Homer and Marge try to raise their children as best as they can but, as in many typical families, do not always succeed. The series also makes political comments and criticizes how the government and large corporations exploit the normal worker. The program has been very successful around the world. It is watched by millions of people in over a hundred countries. The Simpsons have triggered a merchandising industry revolving around T-shirts, DVDs, video games, a theme park and books. Words animated = made to look as if they are moving billion = a thousand million broadcast = to send out a radio or television program cartoon = film with drawings of characters celebrity = a famous person century = a hundred years clumsy = to do something in a very funny way consist = made up of constantly = always corporation = a very big company criticize = not approve of Emmy Awards = prize awarded for the best television shows environment = the world around us episode = one of a series of programs that is continued every day or every week even though = while exploit = to treat someone in an unfair way, or to do something that will give you profits fictional = not real; it does not exist focus = center full-length = the normal length of a movie government = the people who rule a country main = important merchandising = products that are about the topic nuclear power plant = building that uses produces electricity by splitting atoms pacifier = a small rubber that a baby puts into its mouth and sucks raise = educate; to help them grow up receive = get revolve = here: to center on sitcom = situation comedy; a funny television program with the same characters every week star = to be a part of a film succeed = to do something and get the best results successful = popular theme park = large park that focuses on a certain topic; people go there, enjoy themselves and have fun trigger = set off, start