Everyone's a winner! ( Developing Collaborative Reading Skills)
Categoría: Reading el día 2009-02-06 18:21:51
Actividad para practicar la lectura en grupos colaborativos
Everyone’s a winner!
Level: 1st year bachillerato
A Gossips claim that the value of the gift bags is more than $100,000, but the contents are as secret as the names of the Oscar winners. No one knows exactly what they contain, but rumour has it that the organizers fill them with everything from holidays in luxury hotels to pearl necklaces, exclusive mobile phones and even gold slippers.
B There are some secrets which are very secret, such as the recipe for cola or the identity of the assassin who shot John F Kennedy, but there are others which are not so well kept. And in Hollywood, which is home to many big mouths, we now know the secret behind the smiles of those who lose at the Oscars.
C So what have we learnt from this tale of Tinseltown? There are some secrets that aren’t really secret, there are some people whose smiles aren’t as sincere as they appear on screen, and there are others who will do anything to get a look in that bag. That’s Hollywood folks.
D As we listen to the words, “And the Oscar goes to....”, those who have been nominated are not thinking, “Please, let it be me”; they’re thinking, “No, please don’t let it be me!”. The prize they really want, of course, is the official Oscar gift bag. What’s that? It’s the consolation prize the losers get, when the show is over and everyone has gone home.
E Why all the secrecy? Well, the companies donate their gifts because they want ordinary people to think that stars buy their products because they like them: it’s a good marketing strategy. But having people know that the stars only use the products because they were free is not such a good strategy. And the stars? They don’t want people to think that they are walking advertisements. So, the companies keep quiet about it, and the stars promise to use the contents of the bags without saying a word about where they came from.
QUESTIONS
1.- Read the text and put the paragraph in order.
2.- Answer the questions?
a) Which secrets are really secret?
b) When do the stars pick the gift bags up?
c) What is the estimated value of the gift bags?
d) What type of things do the bag contains?
From Julie McGuinness, February 2008, Studies in Bachillerato.
From “Definitions” Bachillerato textbook. Macmillan
Everyone’s a winner! KEY
1.- Paragraph Order
1 There are some secrets which are very secret, such as the recipe for cola or the identity of the assassin who shot John F Kennedy, but there are others which are not so well kept. And in Hollywood, which is home to many big mouths, we now know the secret behind the smiles of those who lose at the Oscars.
2 As we listen to the words, “And the Oscar goes to....”, those who have been nominated are not thinking, “Please, let it be me”; they’re thinking, “No, please don’t let it be me!”. The prize they really want, of course, is the official Oscar gift bag. What’s that? It’s the consolation prize the losers get, when the show is over and everyone has gone home.
3 Gossips claim that the value of the gift bags is more than $100,000, but the contents are as secret as the names of the Oscar winners. No one knows exactly what they contain, but rumour has it that the organizers fill them with everything from holidays in luxury hotels to pearl necklaces, exclusive mobile phones and even gold slippers.
4 Why all the secrecy? Well, the companies donate their gifts because they want ordinary people to think that stars buy their products because they like them: it’s a good marketing strategy. But having people know that the stars only use the products because they were free is not such a good strategy. And the stars? They don’t want people to think that they are walking advertisements. So, the companies keep quiet about it, and the stars promise to use the contents of the bags without saying a word about where they came from.
5 So what have we learnt from this tale of Tinseltown? There are some secrets that aren’t really secret, there are some people whose smiles aren’t as sincere as they appear on screen, and there are others who will do anything to get a look in that bag. That’s Hollywood folks.
2.-
a) The recipe for cola or the identity of the assassin who shot John F.Kennedy.
b) After the Oscar show.
c) More than $100,000
d) Expensive prizes, such as holidays in luxury hotels, pearl necklaces, exclusive mobile phones, gold slippers, etc.
