2020-06-10
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Task 10. Read the text and Fill in the gaps (1-6) with the phrases (A-G). There is one phrase that you do not need to use.
We want to be famous!
Ask kids in Britain what they want to be when they grow up and many will give the same reply: “I want to be famous!” That, at least, is the finding of a recent survey in the UK which suggests that the cult of the celebrity in Britain has reached such a level that traditional childhood dreams of becoming a pilot, an astronaut, or a ballerina, have been firmly replaced by the desire to become a celebrity.
Of course there is nothing new in childhood dreams of fame. Young children have always wanted to be superheroes, princesses, and rock stars. Nor, indeed, is there anything wrong with children dreaming of fame and fortune 1)...........?
The problem today lies in British children’s perceptions of the accessibility of fame. The rise of a new type of celebrity in the UK — one who has achieved fame, fortune and influence without doing anything of importance — has created a generation of children 2)............, it is something that can be got for nothing.
Reality TV shows (such as Big Brother) are partly responsible for the rise in this new genre of British celebrity. In the early 2000s, reality TV saw an explosion in popularity in the UK. Magazine covers in Britain became dominated by men and women 3).............. Such was the media coverage afforded to these reality TV stars that by 2007, according to one survey, one in seven UK teenagers were hoping to achieve fame by appearing on a reality TV show.
Of course, of the hundreds of thousands of people 4)............, few actually achieve it. Teachers in Britain worry that the ease with which reality show contestants find fame fails to get this message across to children.
British teachers are also very concerned that the obsession with celebrity is affecting both children’s attitudes to study and their career aspirations. Children look at celebrities today 5)............. Thus, they begin to see education as unnecessary for achieving success in life.
It is very important not to fall into the trap of believing the path to fame and fortune is easy. If it was, everyone would be rich and famous! Very few people will achieve fame from appearing on reality TV, 6)............. Still, the good news for kids today is that regardless of whether or not they achieve fame, there are more job options open to them than ever before. Most kids can still grow up to be anything they want to be!
Phrases to fill in:
A who had achieved fame merely because they had done something memorable on reality television
B that will become famous for no particular reason
C and even fewer will achieve long-lasting fame
D since aiming high and having great dreams can push a child to succeed
E who dream of fame and fortune
F and see that they have not achieved their fame because of any accomplishment
G who believe that fame is not only easy to achieve
Task 11. Read the text about Alex Morton and choose the correct variant for each gap.
Alex Morton is a talented writer who led/has led/ has been led a very interesting life. He was born in 1945 in Manchester and he was the youngest of six children. From the moment he could read, was never without a book in his hands. He was an avid reader throughout his schooldays, and he soon showed/had shown/was shown his talent for writing too. In fact, his teachers had given / gave/ give him extra assignments just to be able to read more of his work.
After he left/has left/had left school he went to Manchester University. By the time he got his BA, he already published/ was already published /had already published a number of short stories, and his first novel was almost finished. Over the next few years he wrote non-stop and each of his books was more successful than the last. Despite being so busy with his work, Alex still found/had found/ was found time for romance. He met Fiona Jones while he was at university and they were married in 1971.They have two children. He is always / has always been/ had always been a devoted husband and father.
Alex Morton has written/had written/wrote over twenty books so far and his name has been on the bestseller list more times than he can remember. However, the pinnacle of his career was when he had won / won/has won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1995. Since then, Alex has сontinued/continues/ continued to write and many of his books have been made into films.
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РАЗБОР РЕШЕНИЯ ТРЕНИРОВОЧНОГО ЗАДАНИЯ 10
