The world`s longest-running soap opera

Name:
Class:
Date:
units
9– 2
Potenziamento
Reading
1 Look at the photos of the British soap opera Coronation Street.
What do you think the main storylines are about? Tick (✓) a, b or c.
a
social issues b relationships c strong women
Now read the article and check your answer.
The world’s longest-running soap opera
T
he British soap opera Coronation Street started in
December 1960 and is the longest-running soap
opera in the world. The programme is about everyday
life in Weatherfield, a fictional, working-class area in
north-west England, near Manchester. The producers
originally planned to make just thirteen episodes of the
show, but Coronation Street’s quickly attracted millions
of viewers because people loved the show’s strong
characters, its sense of community and social realism.
The show gained the nicknames Corrie and The Street.
The opening scenes of the programme show typical
northern houses and give a strong sense of regional and
local identity. The storylines take place in the homes
of Coronation Street, the local pub, called the Rovers
Return, the corner shop and other local businesses.
The storylines of lots of other British soap operas seem
to focus on topical or social issues, but Coronation
Street concentrates on family relationships and
friendships. The show encourages viewers to
judge the character’s actions and
like or dislike them.
Like lots of other soaps, the show is famous for its
independent and assertive women characters. In
contrast, the men are often weak by comparison.
Only one character from the very first episode is still
in the programme – the character Ken Barlow, who
is played by the actor William Roache. A lot of nowfamous actors appeared in Coronation Street early in
their careers, and some famous writers and directors
started their careers on The Street, before moving on to
bigger projects.
2 Write questions for these answers.
1 In December 1960.
2 In north-west England, near Manchester.
3Thirteen.
4 People loved its strong characters, its sense of
community and social realism.
© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE
5 Homes, the local pub, the corner shop and other
local businesses.
6 Independent and assertive.
7 The only character from the first episode that’s still
in the programme.
8 Some famous writers and directors.
Network Concise Potenziamento • Units 9–12
61
9– 2
units
Name:
Class:
Date:
Potenziamento
Reading
P
1 Read the posting from a blog and tick (✓) the best title: a, b, or c.
a
b
c
A teacher and a friend
Friendly, but never too friendly
A person who influenced me
Posted by: Zoe Jones, UK
A person who really influenced me is one of my teachers,
Mrs Swift. Mrs Swift taught me Maths for two years at
secondary school. She was a clever, cheerful and kind
person, and she seemed to love her job. Mrs Swift was
always very friendly, but never too friendly.We were always
her students and she was always the teacher and the boss!
passed our end-of-year exams. And, she always made us
feel confident and proud of what we achieved.
But Mrs Swift was a lot more than just a teacher. We
could go to her with our problems too – about Maths
or about other things in and out of school. She always
tried to help us find answers to our problems, but at the
same time, she wanted us to try to discover how to do
She was a very devoted teacher who was very serious
something on our own. She cared about every student
about her subject. She always wanted her students to
learn and pushed us to do well, but she always taught in in her class and she never had any ‘teacher’s pets’ – we
an interesting, fun and challenging way. Her lessons were were all her favourites.
really inspiring, which meant she really motivated us to Mrs Swift was a really fantastic teacher and she had
learn and improve. In fact, a lot of students who couldn’t a great influence on me. Thanks to her, I really love
understand Maths at all at the beginning of the year
studying and discovering new things.
2 True or false? Write T or F. Correct the false sentences.
1
62
2
3
4
5
6
7
Mrs Swift was hardly ever grumpy.
Mrs Swift wasn’t formal enough with her students.
Mrs Swift didn’t make her students work hard.
Mrs Swift’s classes helped a lot of students to get better exam results.
Some students talked to Mrs Swift about their personal problems.
Mrs Swift never helped students to find solutions to their problems.
Mrs Swift preferred some students to other students.
8
Mrs Swift’s classes changed Zoe’s feelings about education.
Network Concise Potenziamento • Units 9–12
© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE
Name:
Class:
Date:
units
9– 2
Potenziamento
Writing
T
1 Read the job advertisement and answer the questions.
1
2
3
4
5
6
What job is the ad for?
Is the job in an office?
What are the main job responsibilities?
Is experience necessary?
What kind of personality is best for this job?
What skills does the applicant need?
Travel Photojournalist
Do you want to travel around
the world, and get paid for it?
We are looking for travel photojournalists
to work for our international travel
magazines. Duties will include:
• travelling around the world
• taking photos to illustrate stories
• writing articles about different places
• writing hotel and restaurant reviews
around the world
No experience is necessary, but you need
to love travelling, and be an out-going,
confident and adventurous person. You
need to be interested in different cultures,
and the ability to speak a foreign language
is essential. You need to be physically fit
and of course, you need to be creative and
good at photography and writing. We pay
a competitive salary and all travel costs
are covered.
2 Now write a job advertisement (100–150 words) for your dream job.
Use the advertisement and the questions in Ex.1 to help you.
© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE
Network Concise Potenziamento • Units 9–12
63
9– 2
units
Name:
Class:
Date:
Potenziamento
Writing
T
1 Read the essay about television. Tick (✓) the themes that are mentioned.
a
b
c
d
learning about world news
increasing knowledge
recreation and relaxation
watching and learning about sport
e
f
g
h
families (not) communicating
copying negative behaviour
being addicted to television
people talking about television
The advantages and disadvantages of television
Lots of people all over the world spend a large
percentage of their free time watching television. Most
of us believe that this is bad for us, but television has
advantages as well as disadvantages.
Firstly, television keeps us informed about world news.
When we see events on screen, they are more vivid and
immediate than in newspapers, books and magazines.
Secondly, there are lots of factual programmes and
documentaries on TV, so we can learn a lot and increase
our knowledge of the world. It is also a great way to
pass the time and relax after a hard day at work or at
school.
2 Make notes about the advantages and disadvantages
of the Internet. Think about the following ideas.
•communication/socializing
• security/identity theft
•learning/education
• reliability/accuracy of information
• schoolwork/exam practice
• buying/selling music/films
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Network Concise Potenziamento • Units 9–12
But television also has some disadvantages. Firstly, it
can make us unsociable. It stops us communicating with
each other and it can separate us from the real world.
Families don’t talk to each other as much as they did
in the past. Also, the influence of television can cause
negative behaviour. There are a lot of very negative
images on TV, such as violence and crime, and people
can copy this.
In conclusion, television is useful to us when we know
how to use it. But we need to be careful about what we
watch and about how much we watch.
3 Write a similar essay (100–150 words) about the
advantages and disadvantages of the Internet. Use the
essay in Ex.1 to help you. Include this information:
Paragraph 1: Introduction
Paragraph 2: Advantages of the Internet
Paragraph 3: Disadvantages of the Internet
Paragraph 4: Conclusion
© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE
units
9– 2
Potenziamento
T
Student A
1 Read the quiz. True or False? Write T or F.
✁
Speaking
Student B
1 Read the quiz. True or False? Write T or F.
1 What did Tim Berners-Lee invent in 1990?
1 What did Tim Berners-Lee invent in 1990?
He invented the Internet.
2 In which sport did Michael Phelps win eight
Gold medals at the 2008 Olympics?
He won eight Gold medals for athletics.
3 Which famous Italian artist was born in
Livorno in 1884?
Amedeo Modigliani was born there in
1884.
4 What country did Julius Caesar and
William the Conqueror both invade?
They both invaded Britain.
5 What were Heath Ledger, James Dean and
Marlon Brando all famous for?
They were all musicians.
6 Which country did the explorer Captain
James Cook explore in 1770?
He explored Australia.
7 Why did the writer Matt Groening choose
the names Marge and Homer Simpson?
They were his friends’ names.
8 In the Harry Potter books, who is Remus
Lupin?
Remus Lupin is a doctor.
9 Which famous composer went deaf in his
20s?
Beethoven went deaf.
10 Who created the website, Facebook?
Bill Gates created the website, Facebook.
2 Student B has got different answers to the quiz.
In pairs. Ask and answer questions 1–10. Then
choose the correct answer for each question.
Useful language
Which answer do you think is correct?
I think it’s…
Yes, I agree, I think you’re right.
No, I don’t think you’re right.
I’ve got no idea.
I’m not sure.
© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE
He invented computer games.
2 In which sport did Michael Phelps win eight
Gold medals at the 2008 Olympics?
He won eight Gold medals for swimming.
3 Which famous Italian artist was born in
Livorno in 1884?
Giovanni Fattori was born there in 1884.
4 What country did Julius Caesar and
William the Conqueror both invade?
They both invaded Greece.
5 What were Heath Ledger, James Dean and
Marlon Brando all famous for?
They were all actors.
6 Which country did the explorer Captain
James Cook explore in 1770?
He explored Canada.
7 Why did the writer Matt Groening choose
the names Marge and Homer Simpson?
They were his parents’ names.
8 In the Harry Potter books, who is Remus
Lupin?
Remus Lupin is a teacher.
9 Which famous composer went deaf in his
20s?
Mozart went deaf.
10 Who created the website, Facebook?
Mark Zuckerberg created the website,
Facebook.
2 Student A has got different answers to the quiz.
In pairs. Ask and answer questions 1–10. Then
choose the correct answer for each question.
Useful language
Which answer do you think is correct?
I think it’s…
Yes, I agree, I think you’re right.
No, I don’t think you’re right.
I’ve got no idea.
I’m not sure.
Network Concise Potenziamento • Units 9–12
65
units
9– 2
Potenziamento
Speaking
T
Student A
1 Find out Student B’s personality. Look at the quiz
and write complete questions for 1–5 using the
correct form of the verbs.
Find out your true personality!
1 Which kind of films/you/prefer?
a romantic ones b horror films c dramas
2 What/be/the most important to you?
a buying a lovely house and living there
b travelling around the world
c having a great job
3 In your free time, you/prefer…?
a going shopping
b playing on your computer
c tidying your bedroom
4 When you’re at school, you/enjoy…?
a looking out of the window
b chatting with your friends
c listening to your teachers
5 Which of these activities/you/prefer?
a picnic by the river
bsnowboarding
c visiting a museum
2 In pairs. Ask Student B the questions and tick
(✓) his or her answers. Then answer Student
B’s questions. Give reasons for your answers.
3 When you both finish, check your results in the
score section. Do you agree with the analysis of
your personality?
Useful language
In my opinion...
I (don’t) agree with...
I think...
I’m not sure I agree. I think...
Your scores
Mostly a: Try to think more with your head than
your heart sometimes. You aren’t very practical.
Are you a bit of a dreamer?
Mostly b: You’re a very impulsive person.
You’re happiest when you’re doing something
dangerous or scary. You are ambitious, confident
and energetic.
Mostly c: You’re very clever and you’ve got
a great future. But are you sometimes too
sensible and cautious? Don’t forget to have fun!
✁
Student B
1 Find out Student A’s personality. Look at the quiz
and write complete questions for 1–5 using the
correct form of the verbs.
Find out your true personality!
1 Which/you/think is the best job?
a an artist b a politician c a scientist
2 When you choose a book, you/prefer…?
a books that make you cry
b books that are scary
c books that teach you things
3 Your parents are watching a romantic comedy
on TV. What/you/do?
a watch the film and enjoy it
b make jokes about the film
c read a book
4 You want to change the world. What/you/do?
a help your friends and family
b give all your money to a charity
c work for a charity
5 At school, you/generally…?
a dream in the classroom
b do silly things in the classroom
c learn new things
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Network Concise Potenziamento • Units 9–12
2 In pairs. Answer Student A’s questions. Give
reasons for your answers. Then ask Student A
your questions and tick (✓) his or her answers.
3 When you both finish, check your results in the
score section. Do you agree with the analysis of
your personality?
Useful language
In my opinion...
I (don’t) agree with...
I think...
I’m not sure I agree. I think...
Your scores
Mostly a: Try to think more with your head than
your heart sometimes. You aren’t very practical.
Are you a bit of a dreamer?
Mostly b: You’re a very impulsive person.
You’re happiest when you’re doing something
dangerous or scary. You are ambitious, confident
and energetic.
Mostly c: You’re very clever and you’ve got a
great future. But are you sometimes too sensible
and cautious? Don’t forget to have fun!
© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE