Підручник Англійська мова 9 клас (9-й рік навчання) - О. C. Любченко - Основа 2017 рік

Lesson 7 STRIFE OF LIFE

1. Answer the following questions.

1) Have you ever seen kids’ sports films?

2) Do you love them or not? What attracts you if you do? If you don’t, why? Give your reasons.

2. Look at the picture. What may the place be? Who are those people? What can you say about their facial expressions? What can be going on?

Read the story and find out one more opinion; pay attention to the words in bold. Do exercises after reading.

A Racist Plot Twist

(It’s a slow day at work. My coworker and I are standing behind the counter making idle chat.)

Me: «Know what I’ve been thinking about?»

Coworker: «What?»

Me: «Kids’ sports movies.»

Coworker: «Kids’ sports movies?»

Me: «Yuh huh. Specifically, the fact that they’re all exactly the same.»

Coworker: «What do you mean?»

Me: «I mean how they all have the exact same plot, the exact same characters, the exact same tone, everything.»

Coworker: (sounding unsure) «Hmmm…»

Me: «Think about it. You always have the exact same stereotypical characters: the nerd, the fat kid, the black kid who only talks in pseudo-racist manner, the girl playing on the boys’ team just to prove she can, and the guy who could be a superstar if he could just get past his emotional problems.»

Coworker: «You know, I think I see what you mean. Don’t forget the ex-coach trying to relive his glory days.»

Me: «Exactly. And our band of misfits always has to play in the championship game the team of rich snobs who taunted and defeated them at the beginning of the movie.»

Coworker: «And the coach of the rich snobs’ team was the one who humiliated our heroes’ coach long ago.»

Me: «Right. And our heroes lose their first couple of games until a pep talk from the coach inspires them, and then they destroy every opponent they face until the championship game, when the rich snobs are beating them at halftime. Then the would-be superstar finally gets his head out of where it is and helps them turn things around in the second half and they win.»

Coworker: «You know, you’re right.»

Me: «Like I told you, dude. They’re all the same.»

(A customer has just walked up to the counter and overheard the last thing I said.)

Customer: «How can you!»

Both Of Us: «Huh?»

Customer: «How CAN you say that all African-Americans are the same?! You RACIST!»

Me: «What? African-Americans? No, we were talking about kids’ sports movies.»

Customer: «You said ’They’re all the same’!»

Me: «Yes, ma’am. I was saying that all of those movies are the same.»

Customer: «Don’t you lie to me, you racist! Anyone who says ’They’re all the same’ is talking about African-Americans!»

Coworker: «Ma’am, I promise you that’s not what we were talking about.»

Customer: «Shut up, you racist! This whole store is racist! I don’t have to put up with this racist store! This is the MOST offensive thing I’ve ever heard in my whole life and I demand compensation for this insulting racism!»

Me: «Uh… I’m sorry?»

Customer: «You’ll be sorry when your racist face is out on the street!»

(She stomped off to the customer service counter to complain. Apparently she didn’t get the reaction she wanted from the store manager because she stomped out of the store all together a minute later. Also, she was white.)

Adapted from https://notalwaysright.com/category/movies-tv

3. Look through the text and find out the meanings of the words in bold from the context. Match them with their definitions. Share your results with the classmates.

Did you know?

The word ’television’ entered the language in 1907. The abbreviation TV was first used in 1948.

4. Decide if the statements are True or False. Explain your choice and correct the False statements.

1) The action has happened in a big store.

2) There were two seller-boys talking about sports films for children.

3) The narrator was thinking out loud more than was trying to prove something.

4) The coworker didn’t agree with the narrator.

5) The sellers were chatting because of a boring day at work.

6) After the customer had come in, the talk was not finished.

7) The customer overheard the most part of the dialogue.

8) The customer wanted to remove the author from his position.

5. Give answers to the questions. Prove your ideas with the help of the dialogue.

1) What do you think about the place where the shop is situated? Is it a city? A small town? What makes you think so?

2) Speaking about films the narrator insists that they all have similar features. Do you agree with this point of view? What arguments prove it in the dialogue?

3) The narrator’s coworker looks rather indifferent to the subject. Is he really interested in it?

4) Which of the film characters do the guys believe to be ’positive’ and ’negative’ ones? How can you tell?

5) Revise the human traits from Unit 3. Which of them could you use to describe the The guys? Explain why.

6. Work in pairs. Write down the basic common features of the most kids’ sports movies. Discuss the results with your classmates.

7. Imagine the story above is a script for a TV clip. Prepare to act it out as if you were going to shoot it.