Tom Cruise: Long Way To the Top

Tom grew up in a poor family dominated by a cruel father. «Dad was a bully and coward, and he often beat me», said Tom. «He was the kind of person where, if something goes wrong, they kick you». Tom’s mother struggled to support her four children.

As a child Tom has a form of dyslexia and it was difficult for him to study at school or make friends. «My childhood was extremely lonely. I was dyslexic and a lot of kids made fun of me. That experience made me tough inside».

By the time Tom was fourteen, he had changed 15 schools because his father moved the family around looking for a job. Tom felt lonely and unhappy because he had no friends: «I had no really close friend. I was always the new kid with the wrong shoes, the wrong accent. I didn’t have the friend to share things with and confide in».

Finally Tom’s mother had the courage to stand up to her husband and leave him. «People can create their own lives», said Cruise. «I saw how my mother created hers and so made it possible for us to survive. She held three jobs. She said, «We’re going to get through this». And I decided that I’m going to create my own life, too».

At first Tom wanted to become an athlete. He competed in many sports and was very good at wrestling but a knee injury closed the door on any athletic career he might have had. So Tom decided to try acting. After his success in a high school musical Guys and Dolls, he made up his mind to become a professional actor.

At the age of 18 Tom Cruise moved to New York. He was poor and in order to survive he had to work as a bus-boy, a porter in an apartment block and a table-cleaner in a restaurant. In the evenings he took drama classes, auditioning for TV ads whenever possible. He looked good, he had that winning smile, but he was never hired. Casting directors said he was «too muscular», «too angry», «too long-haired» and «too obsessed with success». Feeding on hot dogs and rice, Tom lived, he now says, «like an animal in the jungle».

Soon, however, his luck turned and Tom got his first small role in the film Endless Love. Next came Losing It and Taps, then the big one, Risky business. And in 1968, came the first huge hit, Top Gun.

Since then Tom starred in many top films and received lots of awards.

TEXT 10. Read and translate. Give some special detail about your biography.

Michael Jackson: the King of Pop

Michael Jackson was born on the 29^th of August in 1958. He was the eighth of the 10 children. He had 3 sisters and 6 brothers.

He was four years old when he began singing. He gave his first public performance at the age of five. When he was six everybody called him a singing and dancing genius. His show-business career began in 1970 when he and his brothers formed a group called The Jackson Five.

When he was a child his favourite books were Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving and The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemingway. His favourite cartoon character was Pinocchio.

He played a scarecrow in the Wiz, a 1978 remake of the movie the Wizard of Oz.

Michael Jackson was fond of animals. During his life he had pet rats, pet frogs, pet spiders (as a kid he used to put spiders in his sister’s bed), pet rabbits and pet dogs. He once had a boa constrictor called Muscles and a pet python called Crusher. He had two llamas called Louis and Lola. But his most famous pet was Bubbles the chimp. Michael saved Bubbles from a research clinic in Texas. Bubbles slept in Jackson’s bedroom and even used his private toilet.

One of Jackson’s earliest hits, and his personal favourite was Ben. It was devoted to his pet rat. Jackson was just 14 years old when he recorded the song, becoming the youngest ever singer at the time to top the US charts.

Michael was very ticklish.

His album Thriller became the best-selling album of all time, with 65 million copies sold worldwide. All in all, Michael Jackson has sold more than 300 million records.

Michael Jackson won 13 Grammy awards. In 1984 he won eight Grammys – the highest number ever won by one person in a single year.

In 1987, Jackson bought a large piece of land near Santa Barbara. He named it Neverland, after the fantasy island in J. M. Barrie’s novel Peter Pan. He built there a zoo, a cinema and an amusement park – with a roller coaster, a railway, a Ferris wheel and many other interesting things.

His favourite superhero was Morph from X-Men.

Jackson was a vegetarian. He was especially fond of Mexican vegetarian food.

In 1992 he founded the Heal the World Foundation which helped poor children all over the world.

He wore a black armband to remind people of hungry and sick children in poor countries.

In 1993 Jackson’s doctor said he had a rare skin disease called vitiligo, which causes the skin to lose colour.

Jackson has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (one for himself and one as part of the Jackson Five).

At the time of his death (June 25, 2009) Michael Jackson was rehearsing for his greatest comeback, with 50 shows in London.

TEXT 11. Read and translate the text. Be ready to discuss.