1. Who are the famous people in the twenty-first century?
2. Most people don’t know pop stars and film stars, do they?
3. Do a lot of people know politicians and writers?
4. What famous people are known all over the world?
5. What makes these people famous?
6. Most of the famous people are in banking business, aren’t they?
7. Where can you often see stars?
8. What do many magazines like to tell about?
9. What does being famous mean?
10. Do famous people get a lot of money?
11. What sort of problems do famous people have?
12. What are the photographers that follow famous people called?
13. What happens when a famous person goes shopping?
14. Why can’t a famous person have a quiet meal in a restaurant?
15. Can famous people distinguish between a real friend and an enemy?
16. Who is one of the most famous people in the world?
17. Did many newspapers criticize Diana during her lifetime?
18. Could Diana lead a normal life?
19. Why do the press like scandals about a famous person?
20. What should you remember when you dream about being famous?
Training 1
Most famous people are in the world of show business. These are pop stars, film stars and TV presenters. You can see show-business stars on the covers of many magazines. Newspapers, magazines and the Internet tell about the lives of famous people. Famous people get a lot of money for their work. Being famous means wealth, an enviable life style and power.
Training 2
Being a famous person means that you don’t have a private life. If you go shopping or to a restaurant everybody knows you. There are a lot of photographers that follow you around. The most annoying ones are paparazzi. Paparazzi always wait outside your house just to take photographs and then sell them to a newspaper. And there is no better story for the tabloid press than a scandal about a famous person!
4. Best and Worst Teachers
It is really easy to find out who are the best and worst teachers. I guess most teachers are good. They are not bad, they are not excellent, but they are good and they give good lessons. And the best teachers are always very strict, but they make their lessons really interesting. You work hard and they don’t accept any sort of low quality homework. They pack a lot into the lessons. They talk to us as adults, as intelligent adults. They expect that we can understand what they are explaining, work fast, come up with questions and think for ourselves. I think the other teachers that are good, but not brilliant, are a bit too easy-going. You can give in poor homework and not learn anything. Our History teacher is one of the really good teachers. He gets us all arguing and discussing. That is really great. You have to read, try to think and analyze. So that is interesting. And this is the same with the English Literature classes. We analyze all the characters, the author and the style. It is interesting too. And the worst teacher. She teaches Religious Studies. She talks about religion and the Bible as if it is all a fairy story. And she can’t keep discipline. We do terrible things in her classroom. I think she is in the wrong profession. She can’t make the lessons interesting. I suppose the best teachers have a strong character and they are really interested in their subjects. My Mum can remember every teacher. It is something you never really forget. At the moment one of the worst teachers for me personally is our Maths teacher. That is not because she is a bad teacher. It is because I am bad at Maths. So I think she is a good teacher but just not for me.
1. Is it easy or difficult to find out who the best teachers are?
2. Are most teachers good or bad?
3. Are the best teachers sometimes very strict?
4. How do you work if your teacher is strict?
5. How do the best teachers talk to their students?
6. What do excellent teachers expect from their students?
7. What sort of homework do they accept?
8. What kind of teachers accept low quality homework?
9. Is Julia’s History teacher a good or a bad teacher?
10. What does Julia’s History teacher gets his students to do?
11. What does Julia do during the English Literature classes?
12. Who is Julia’s worst teacher?
13. How does the teacher tell the pupils about the Bible?
14. Why does Julia think that the teacher is in the wrong profession?
15. What sort of character do the best teachers have?
16. What are the best teachers really interested in?
17. What can’t Julia’s mother forget?
18. Is Julia’s maths teacher one of her best teachers?
19. Is Julia good or bad at maths?
20. What kind of teacher is she really?
Training 1
The best teachers are always very strict, but they make their lessons really interesting. You work hard and they don’t accept any sort of low quality homework. They pack a lot into the lessons. They talk to us as intelligent adults. They expect that we can understand what they are explaining and work fast. The best teachers have strong characters and they are really interested in their subject.
Training 2
The other teachers that are good, but not brilliant, are a bit too easy-going. They are not strict and don’t have a strong character. You can give in poor homework and not learn anything. They try to make their lessons interesting but they can’t keep discipline and their students don’t listen, and sometimes do terrible things in the classroom.
5. Birthdays and Name Days
We don’t actually have name days in Britain. So, we celebrate only birthdays. Of course, these are big events for children. Usually parents buy one big present for the child and other small presents. And, of course, all the other family members give the child presents, and school friends, too. Parents usually organize the birthday party. And children usually arrive in the early afternoon. There is always a birthday cake with candles. And the birthday child has to blow out all the candles and make a wish. Parents organize games. A birthday party for ten, fifteen or twenty small kids is a difficult experience. Teenagers are a different problem for parents. Teenagers want to have discos. They want beer and music and they don’t want their parents in the house. One of the most important birthdays for a teenager is their eighteenth birthday. That is usually the age where parents will try and give them a big important present, for example, driving lessons. Some rich parents give their eighteen-year-old a car. And the next important birthday is the twenty-first. I think a birthday is like a family holiday. And the family will come together for a meal in the evening. Sometimes friends or family organize a surprise birthday party. A person comes home. And suddenly everybody jumps out from the darkness and says, “Surprise! Happy Birthday!” I think that is really nice. That happened to me once. And we had a great evening. I think it was one of my best birthdays. Actually, I like special surprise birthdays, like surprise parties or surprise presents, like a flight in a hot air balloon. That is a really great present.
1. Do the British usually celebrate name days?
2. What do they celebrate?
3.