Vocabulary

incredible = amazing, extremely good, great, or large ▪ a person of incredible [=extraordinary] skill/talent/intelligence ▪ a landscape of incredible beauty ▪ The new job is an incredible opportunity. ▪

affect = to produce an effect on (someone or something) and cause a change ▪ His decisions could affect [=influence] the lives of millions of people. ▪ We learned about the way the oceans are affected by the moon. ▪ This medication may affect your ability to drive a car. [= this medicine may make it dangerous for you to drive a car] ▪ This new evidence will affect the outcome of the trial. ▪ The incident really affected my opinion of him.

available = easy or possible to get or use ▪ The dress is also available in larger sizes. ▪ The articles are available at any drugstore. ▪ Fresh fruit is available during/through the summer. ▪ The report will soon be made available to the public.

newsworthy event = interesting or important enough to report as news

ears on the ground = to keep your ears to the ground – to make sure that you always know what is happening in a situation

current = happening or existing now; belonging to or existing in the present time ▪ the current month ▪ the magazine's current issue ▪ The dictionary's current edition has 10,000 new words. ▪ the current political crisis ▪ Who is your current employer? ▪ current trends/fashions ▪ current ideas about education

key moments = extremely important ▪ He's a key player/person in the organization. ▪ The key question is “Can we afford it?”

Comprehension check

1. What invention has brought a lot of changes to the way we communicate and get our information?

2. How do mobile phones help everybody become ‘citizen journalists’?

3. Are ‘real journalists’ happy with the idea that everybody can report news events?

4. Why do news agencies use the public as journalists?

5. What examples of ‘citizen journalism’ are given in the article? What important news events did members of the public cover?

6. What significant events which happened in the past could we watch today if current mobile technology had been around at key moments in history?

7. Summarise the main points of the article.

Unit 8. Susan Boyle: unlikely superstar? 20 May 2009

Reading and listening

Summary: A few weeks ago Susan Boyle was just a face in the crowd. Now her clip is the most watched in the world!

Read the story: Less than a few weeks ago Susan Boyle was not at all famous. However, since auditioning for Britain’s Got Talent, a televised talent competition, she has become widely known very quickly. It is true that technology such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter has helped to spread the word about Susan’s performance. In December 2009 her audition was named the most watched YouTube video of the year with over 120 million viewings.

The British press, the tabloids The Sun and News of the World, and many newspapers around the world carried articles on Boyle's performance trying to attract the reader’s attention to "Britain's newest pop sensation".

Global interest in Susan Boyle was caused by the contrast between her powerful voice and her plain appearance on stage. The audience's first impression of Susan was unpleasant because she is an ordinary, not a very attractive or interesting female. But she is a performer who has a very good singing voice and a pleasant manner. So Susan Boyle received a standing ovation during and after her performance. Immediately her performance led to an international media and Internet response. So just what is it about Susan that the people find so fascinating? Many have suggested that people like Susan because of her quiet character. She is a person who shows no desire for attention or admiration.

In fact, after her performance people began to ask themselves a question: Are we guilty of judging a book by its cover? Does appearance matter a lot? Boyle is perhaps the most unlikely star to be discovered of late.

So what’s next for Susan? For the moment, she is preparing for her next appearance on Britain’s Got Talent and she is most likely to win.

Looking forward, with talk of record contracts and celebrity duets, it is very likely that we’ll soon be seeing a Susan Boyle album in the charts!

Do you know? Boyle's debut album, I Dreamed a Dream (2009) remains as the UK best-selling debut album of all time. In her first year of fame, Boyle made a fortune of £5 million with the release of "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Wild Horses". The success was continued with her second album, The Gift (2010), and was followed by Boyle's third album, Someone to Watch over Me, released on 31 October 2011. On 12 May 2012, Susan returned to Britain's Got Talent to perform as a guest in the final singing "You'll See". The following day, she performed at Windsor Castle where more than 1000 Dancers, musicians, and performers from around the world came together to mark the Queen’s 60 years of reign.

Boyle's net worth was estimated at £22 million in April 2012.