Enjoyable parodies of Hollywood hits

From screen to book

A new type of a character

An award-winning cartoon

Similar to a real person

A.          

Somewhere in a far-away magic kingdom there lived a beautiful princess and a prince and animals who could talk like humans. This is a typical plot for many fairy tales. In 1990, a short story for children about Shrek, a big green troll, appeared. Unlike previous heroes he looked ugly and scary but had a big, kind heart. In 2001, DreamWorks studio made the first animated Shrek cartoon that was followed by three full-length ones.

B.           

The story of the troll called Shrek became very popular, especially with children. All the characters of the cartoons are easy to remember and have a good sense of humour. The cartoons are full of episodes about friendship, good and evil, love, and family values. The cartoons present an amusing mixture of traditional fairy tales and real-life events familiar to everyone.

C.           

Few people know that Shrek’s appearance copies that of Maurice Tillet, called the ‘French Angel’. He was a famous professional French boxer and wrestler of the 20th century. Unfortunately, at the age of twenty he got a rare disease which changed his body and appearance. It made him look like a huge troll but, in contrast to the cartoon character, Maurice Tillet was highly intelligent – he spoke fourteen languages and was good at writing prose.

D.          

Several scenes in cartoons about Shrek are based on scenes from famous films. For example, the ‘Welcome to Duloc’ song sounds like the popular Disney tune ‘It’s a Small World’. During the fight between Fiona and Robin Hood’s men, the camera moves as in ‘The Matrix’. There are hints of the ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Mission Impossible’.

E.           

The famous story was also made into a Broadway show, ‘Shrek the Musical’. Technically, the musical is not the same as the movie but it has its advantages. Children and adults enjoy seeing celebrities in the roles of Shrek and Princess Fiona. The success of the musical was also based on a nice combination of new and old popular songs.

F.           

The stories about the green troll and his friends are for all ages. Teenagers and grown-ups may enjoy modern computer games about Shrek. Computer stories have attractive design and dynamic plots, so gamers and fans will not be bored. Though the images of Shrek and Fiona are a bit different from the film, they are quickly recognizable.

G.          

Reading is Shrek’s favourite hobby. He reads in nearly every film. In the final movie, he puts a volume on the shelf where the viewer may notice a cover with the name of the next DreamWorks film, ‘Puss in Boots’. In the end, Shrek himself has become a literary character. The first electronic novel based on the cartoons is available on the Internet.

Чтение 51.

Прочитайте тексты и установите соответствие между текстами и их заголовками: к каждому тексту, обозначенному буквами A–G, подберите соответствующий заголовок, обозначенный цифрами 1–8. Используйте каждую цифру только один раз. В задании есть один лишний заголовок.

 

Lost music

In search of a style

Famous songs

Conquering another continent

How it started

National triumph

A meaningful name

Their first manager

A.          

The ‘Fab Four’, the famous Liverpool musical group commonly known as ‘the Beatles’, got to the peak of its popularity in the 60s. But the real story began much earlier when Paul McCartney heard the skiffle country music played by John Lennon’s group at St.Paul’s church in Liverpool. McCartney was a brilliant guitarist, so they let him join the group a week later.

B.           

The group changed its name several times, from ‘Johnny and the Moondogs’ to ‘Long John and the Silver Beatles’ and finally ‘The Beatles’. The short title is in itself a smart mixture of two words. The ‘beat’ is a synonym for musical rhythm, while ‘the beetles’ describes insects producing sounds using their shiny wings.

C.           

Lennon, Harrison, McCartney, and Starr were the heart of ‘the Beatles’ while the other members constantly changed. Many guitarists and drummers joined but finally left the group. The style changed too. When ‘the Beatles’ left Britain to perform in Europe, they turned from folk to rock-n-roll to win over the public. They also played foreign music and composed their own songs.

D.          

Soon the group issued their first single ‘My Bonnie’, which became popular in Liverpool. Once a customer asked for it in a music shop but there were no copies left. When Epstein, the shop owner, finally got the disc he was surprised to hear a good quality song by the group that played in the club next to his shop. The same month he signed the first contract with ‘the Beatles’ as their musical agent.

E.           

1963 is thought to be the beginning of the glorious history of the group and the ‘Beatlemania’ period. The young musicians managed to record their first album in less than ten hours and held the top of the hit parades in Britain for six months. They gave their first concert at the London ‘Palladium’, which was broadcast and watched by over fifteen million viewers.

F.           

Although in 1963 the group issued more than three hundred thousand copies of its second album at home, they only broke the American market a year later. During their first tour to the USA the group was welcomed by thousands of fans at Kennedy airport in New York. For half a year ‘the Beatles’ were touring the USA and were top of the charts.

G.          

During their USA tour ‘the Beatles’ visited Elvis Presley. They talked a lot and played music, and managed to record several priceless compositions. The reason why none of the songs have been issued is widely discussed today. No matter how hard musical agents tried to find the recordings, they failed. This is one of the secrets ‘the Beatles’ left unrevealed.

 

 

Чтение 52.

 

Прочитайте тексты и установите соответствие между текстами и их заголовками: к каждому тексту, обозначенному буквами A–G, подберите соответствующий заголовок, обозначенный цифрами 1–8. Используйте каждую цифру только один раз. В задании есть один лишний заголовок.

 

Educational policy

Disputed territory