Teaching notes and key Level: advanced (C1). Aims: to practise reading for gist to identify chains of reference in a text to practise reading for detail to work on idioms from the text to use passive verbs for hedging written information to use oral expressions for reporting and responding to gossip. Timing: approximately one and a half hours. This does not include task 11 (optional 20 minutes). Word history adapted from the Oxford English Dictionary A gossip was originally a rather more serious and worthy person than they are now. In Old English the word was spelled godsibb and meant godfather or godmother, literally a person related to one in God. It came from sibb, a relative, the source of sibling. In medieval times a gossip was a close friend, especially a woman then in the 16 th century a person who likes talking about unimportant things. It was first used to refer to the talk as well as the person in the early 19th century. Background information extracts from Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org) George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British Respect Party politician, author, journalist and broadcaster, and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford West. He was previously an MP for the Labour Party. He was expelled from the party in October 2003, the same year that he came to national attention for his opposition to the Iraq War. He subsequently became a founding member of the left-wing Respect Party, and was elected as the MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in 2005. In 2010, Galloway unsuccessfully contested the seat of Poplar and Limehouse, and in 2011 he unsuccessfully contested the Glasgow list for the Scottish Parliament, before being elected as an MP in the Bradford West by-election, 2012. Donna Air (born 2 August 1979) is an English television presenter, actress, model and singer. Donna started her career age 10 on the hit BBC series Byker Grove, just over 20 years ago, and later became a presenter of several shows, including The Big Breakfast and TFI Friday. She has also acted in many television dramas, most recently Hollyoaks and Hotel Babylon. Donna also is a brand ambassador for Health Lottery, Burberry, Next, Westfield, Olay, Cadbury's and Triumph. She had a long term relationship with Damian Aspinall, owner of Aspers, an entertainment company, until July 2007. Their daughter Freya Air Aspinall was born in London in September 2003. Air and Aspinall are no longer a couple. In March 2012 she was tried at Isleworth Crown Court for fraudulently obtaining a parking permit by false representation but was acquitted of the offence. www.teachitworld.com 2012 18237 Page 1 of 10
Martin Clunes (born 28 November 1961) is an English actor and comedian. Clunes is perhaps best known for his roles as Gary Strang in Men Behaving Badly, Doctor Martin Ellingham in Doc Martin and the title character in Reggie Perrin. He is the son of the classical actor Alec Clunes, who died of lung cancer when Clunes was eight and a half years old. Clunes first marriage was to the actress Lucy Aston. They divorced in 1997 and Clunes married future Doc Martin television producer Philippa Braithwaite that same year. In 1999, Braithwaite gave birth to their daughter, Emily. Clunes lives with his family in Beaminster, Dorset. Procedure and answers Task 1 (10 minutes) For question 5 you may want to show pictures or TV clips of the celebrities listed above. Task 2 (2 minutes) Answers: 1. a minor offence: Donna Air 2. parent-child relationships: Alec and Martin Clunes 3. marriage and sexual relationships: George Galloway. Task 3 (5 minutes) The texts are quite dense because they feed in a lot of information about the celebrities through noun phrases. This can make it hard to work out who is being referred to. The aim of this task is to help learners follow the thread of reference. For clarity, terms referring to George Galloway s new wife have also been highlighted, although learners are not explicitly asked to identify these. Answers: George Galloway had double reason to celebrate this week: first he pulled off his shock victory in Bradford; four days later, the notorious ladies man flew to Amsterdam to tie the knot with his girlfriend, Dutch anthropologist Putri Gayatri (together, right). At 27, his new bride is two years older than his eldest daughter. The wedding took place just four months after Galloway s third wife, Rima Husseini, gave birth to her second son, who is understood to have been fathered by the Respect MP. He is believed to have met Miss Gayatri six months ago. Donna Air could be forgiven for having mixed feelings about her lawyer. The TV presenter was in court last week, charged with fraudulently obtaining parking permits for two London boroughs. She claimed that she hadn t read the small print, and was not aware of the one-permit rule. She was, she had explained, a busy single working mummy a line her lawyer ran with. To audible gasps from the defendant in the dock, he told the jury: I suspect there s not much going on in Ms Air s head other than hot air. The strategy worked: it took the juries just 15 minutes to find the 32-year-old not guilty. www.teachitworld.com 2012 18237 Page 2 of 10
Martin Clunes didn t really know his father, the classical actor Alec Clunes. Clunes Snr abandoned the family when Martin was a child, and only came home when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he told Lynn Barber in The Sunday Times. Yet Clunes s mother insisted he was a wonderful father. Because she worshipped him. She was very stage-struck She would talk about actors and say, Oh, so and so was wonderful in such and such. And I d say, But he was a bastard who hit his wife, and she d say, I know, but he was a marvellous Hamlet. That sort of let actors off. If they d given a good Iago, they could have raped the dog. Note that he in the second half of the third text refers to a generic actor, not to Alec Clunes. Task 4 (8 minutes) Answers: George Galloway: 2 and 5. Donna Air: 1, 3 and 4. Martin Clunes: 2 and 3. He is also an actor (1), but this information is not given in the text. Task 5 (10 minutes) Answers: 1c, 2e, 3g, 4a, 5i, 6d, 7b, 8f, 9h. Task 6 (5 minutes) Answers: 1. her second son, who is understood to have been fathered by the Respect MP. 2. He is believed to have met Miss Gayatri six months ago. 3. She claimed that she hadn t read the small print. Task 7 (10 minutes) Sample answers: 1. The notorious ladies man is rumoured to have flown to Amsterdam. 2. His new bride is said to be two years younger than his eldest daughter. 3. It was reported that he told the jury 4. Clunes Snr is alleged to have abandoned the family. Task 8 (5 minutes) Possible answers: For reporting gossip Have I told you about? Have you heard that? Did you know that? For responding to gossip You re kidding/joking! That s so weird/typical/rude/stupid! Really?! www.teachitworld.com 2012 18237 Page 3 of 10
Note that in the expression How stupid can you get? it is not the person who reported the gossip who is being called stupid but the person they were gossiping about. Task 9 (10 minutes) Possible answers: A: Did you know that George Galloway s got married for the fourth time? B: No way! A: Yeah, he could be her father he s twice her age! B: He s a right one, isn t he? C: Have you heard the latest? George Galloway s new wife is younger than his eldest daughter! D: You re kidding! E: Apparently Donna Air said she hadn t read the small print. F: Thought she could get away with that one, did she? E: Did you know that her lawyer said all she had in her head was hot air? F: Aren t some people nasty? G: Rumour has it that Martin Clunes s dad, Alec, abandoned the family when Martin was a child. H: What a bastard! G: They say his mum worshipped Alec just because he was an actor. H: How stupid can you get? www.teachitworld.com 2012 18237 Page 4 of 10
Worksheet Today s topic: gossip = information about other people s lives which is passed from person to person and may not be true. The present-day cult of celebrity leads to a lot of gossip about the private lives of stars and well-known people, some of whom are simply famous for being famous! There are even whole magazines devoted to celebrity gossip, such as Hello, Closer and Now. Paparazzi stalk the famous and notorious to get photos, and unscrupulous journalists tap phones to get the latest gossip. Warm-up: speaking Task 1 1. What do people gossip about in your circle of friends, your family or your neighbourhood? 2. Do you know anyone who is a real gossip? Do you join in? 3. What do you think about gossip and people who are gossips? 4. Can you pass on a piece of gossip that you have heard lately? 5. Have you heard of any of the following British celebrities: George Galloway Donna Air Martin Clunes Alec Clunes? Reading for gist Task 2 You are going to read some gossip about each of the celebrities above. Write the name(s) next to the topic of the gossip. 1. a minor offence... 2. parent-child relationships... 3. marriage and sexual relationships... www.teachitworld.com 2012 18237 Page 5 of 10
Reading for detail Task 3 Read the texts more carefully and circle all the noun phrases which refer to each of the four celebrities. Task 4 Now tick the correct information below. George Galloway 1. He is a playboy. 2. He is a politician. 3. He is more than twice the age of his new wife. 4. His daughter is younger than Putri Gayatri. 5. His third wife had a baby four months before his marriage to Putri. 6. The baby was not George Galloway s. Donna Air 1. She is a television personality. 2. She blew hot air at her lawyer. 3. She was accused of trying to get more than one parking space. 4. She works, and brings up her daughter on her own. 5. She was sent to prison. Martin Clunes 1. He is an actor. 2. His father was not around when he was a child. 3. His mother judges people by the quality of their acting. 4. His father was a cruel and violent man. 5. His mother kicked his terminally-ill father out of the house. www.teachitworld.com 2012 18237 Page 6 of 10
Vocabulary: idioms Task 5 Find the phrases on the left in the text. Then match them to their meanings on the right. Write your answers in the spaces below. Phrase Definition 1. pull off a victory a. hold both positive and negative opinions about 2. a ladies man b. things people say which do not really mean anything 3. tie the knot (with) c. succeed in winning or achieving something difficult 4. have mixed feelings about d. choose a way of thinking or an argument and follow it to its conclusion 5. read the small print e. a man who enjoys spending time with and flirting with women 6. run with an idea f. passionate about the theatre 7. hot air g. marry someone / get married 8. stage-struck h. forgive someone 9. let someone off i. read the details of a contract (often not very visible) Answers: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Reporting gossip in writing Gossip is based on hearsay, or rumours, which may be true, false or have a grain of truth in them. We use special hedging language to show that a statement is not a fact. Task 6 How were the statements below reported in the texts? Write the version from the texts underneath. 1. her second son, who was fathered by the Respect MP. www.teachitworld.com 2012 18237 Page 7 of 10
2. He met Miss Gayatri six months ago. 3. She hadn t read the small print We can also use the verbs say, report, rumour, allege, suggest and suppose. These verbs are often used in the passive form, e.g: It has been suggested that he was two-timing his previous wife. It was reported that she spent 200,000 on a new dress. or: She was reported to have spent 200,000 on a new dress. It is rumoured that they had an argument on the day of the murder. or: They are rumoured to have had an argument on the day of the murder. Task 7 Convert the following statements from facts to hearsay using expressions from task 6 above: 1. The notorious ladies man flew to Amsterdam. 2. His new bride is two years younger than his eldest daughter. 3. He told the jury 4. Clunes Snr abandoned the family. www.teachitworld.com 2012 18237 Page 8 of 10
Reporting gossip orally When we report gossip orally we can use more informal prompts such as: Apparently Have you heard the latest about? Leo told me that I read in the paper that I saw on the telly that Rumour has it that I heard on the grapevine that On receiving gossip we can reply: No way! I don t believe it! How stupid can you get?! What a cheek! It takes all sorts to make a world. Aren t some people nasty/stupid/weird?! Serves him/her/them right! He s a right one, isn t he? What a bastard! Thought she could get away with that one, did she? Task 8 Can you add any more expressions to the lists above? www.teachitworld.com 2012 18237 Page 9 of 10
Task 9 Read the comments below and choose an appropriate response for each. The first one has been done for you. A: Did you know that George Galloway s got married for the fourth time? B: No way! A: Yeah, he could be her father he s twice her age! B: C: Have you heard the latest? George Galloway s new wife is younger than his eldest daughter! D: E: Apparently Donna Air said she hadn t read the small print. F: E: Did you know that her lawyer said all she had in her head was hot air? F: G: Rumour has it that Martin Clunes s dad, Alec, abandoned the family when Martin was a child. H: G: They say his mum worshipped Alec just because he was an actor. H: Task 10 With a partner, use the phrases for reporting and responding to gossip make up your own dialogues. Practise reading the dialogues together then, if you want, read them out to the class. Task 11 Look at a gossip magazine, such as Hello magazine (www.hellomagazine.com) and report a piece of gossip about one of the stars. www.teachitworld.com 2012 18237 Page 10 of 10