Complete the reviews above with the words in the box.

atmosphere plot series episode chapter novel

 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the gripping and electrifying new 1______ from the incomparable J.K. Rowling. The 2___________is excellent and the book is full of suspense. It does contain some violent and frightening scenes, but I enjoyed reading every 3____________.

 

Hospital Drama

So far I have found nearly every 4 _________ of the hospital drama ER to be very moving, with powerful storylines and groundbreaking use of the

 

Radioweek

It's a laugh is an outstanding new radio 5 __________, on every Monday evening. Listen out for Shop Trek, a hilarious sketch based on shopping in the future.

 

FILM REVIEW

Another classic horror is released on DVD this week. Hitchcock’s Psycho, with its brooding dark 6 _______________in the house on the hill, and the breathtaking shower scene in the motel, is the perfect example of 'edge-of-your-seat suspense'.

7. Find adjectives in the texts that mean the following:

1 keeps your attention and interest

2 so good that no one else can be compared to them

3 has a strong effect on your emotions

4 using new ideas and methods

5 excellent, very good

6 very funny

7 important and typical of its type

8 incredible and exciting

 

 

8. Look at the mind map with some of the types of media mentioned in the reviews. Find examples of genres (e.g. documentary) from Exercises 2 and 4 and fit them in the mind map.

 

9. Add the words below to the mind map

sitcom page-turner soap jazz crime current affairs programme reggae reality folk country hip hop animation soul autobiography science fiction opera

 

 

Can you think of any other examples to add to the mind map?

 

11. In groups, discuss the following:

 

1. What type of TV and radio programmes, books, music and films do you like? Can you describe one of your favourites from each field?

2. Have any documentaries recently particularly impressed you? Which one(s)?

3. Tell your group about favoutite TV series.

Talk about the main characters and the plot and describe your favoutire episode.

 

SPEAKING

 

Work in three groups to have a debate about the media. Read the situation and your roles. Your organisation has just been awarded a grant from the Arts Council to set up a museum collection for either films, books or recorded music for entertainment. There is not enough money and resources to have a collection for all three.

 

Group A: you represent film.

Group B: you represent books.

Group C: you represent recorded music.

 

Prepare a case for why your media:

1 is important.

2 is better than the other two.

3 should be chosen

 

 

CREATIVE LIVES

 

LESSON 2

 

FRIDA KAHLO (1907-1954)

 

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter. Her colourful paintings show
her powerful feelings about herself and the world around her. Some of her recent fans include Madonna and Robert de Niro.

Life

Her life began and ended in Mexico City.

When Kahlo was six years old, she had a serious disease (polio) that damaged her right leg forever. However, she was a clever and determined young woman and went to one of the top schools in Mexico. When she was fifteen, she met the famous painter Diego Rivera. He was doing a painting on a wall at her school at that time. Then, at the age of eighteen, Kahlo was in a terrible accident. She was travelling on a bus when a tram crashed into it. She began to paint while she was recovering from the accident because she was bored in bed. During the rest of her life she had over 30 operations to try to correct her physical problems.In 1929, she married Diego Rivera but their relationship was often stormy. Soon after she got married, Kahlo started to wear traditional Mexican clothes and jewellery, and she also started to wear her hair high on her head. She visited the United States and France, and met many important people. While she was staying in Paris, she appeared on the front cover of Vogue magazine. When she wasn't working, she liked singing and telling jokes at parties.

Work

Kahlo produced about 200 works in her life. Many of them were self- 25 portraits - a mixture of dreams and reality. In them, we can see that she was very proud of Mexico. Her paintings also tell us about politics, power relationships between rich and poor countries, Eastern and Western philosophy and the position of women in society. Many people admired her work, including Pablo Picasso.

 

READING AND S P E А К I N G