Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………5

Unit 1. Cinema………………………………………………………8

Unit 2. Theatre……………………………………………………...23

Unit 3. Music……………………………………………………….61

Unit 4. Sport………………………………………………………..79

Introduction

Have you ever stood in front of a large group of people and had to speak or perform? Some people perform in front of an audience every single day. They are the professional entertainers and their work is not always easy.

Every night in the theatre actors and actresses have to remember thousands of words. Every night in concert halls and night clubs, musicians try hard to make no mistakes when they play their music. Singers worry about singing the right notes. Magicians are nervous about making mistakes, worrying that one day a magic trick will not work. Perhaps circus clowns and night club comedians, however, have the hardest job of all. They have to make people laugh every day with well-told jokes and funny acts. No, being an entertainer is not such an easy way to make a living.

A lot of people also think that all entertainers are well-paid. Of course, there are a few film stars, pop stars and television personalities who make millions of pounds every time they open their mouth. There are also a few famous film directors who make a lot of money telling actors and actresses how to speak and where to stand. Some of the best stunt men and women are also well-paid for jumping out of moving cars and off high buildings, and for all the other dangerous things that they have to do. However, there are also thousands of those who find it very difficult to get work acting and singing.

At different times in out life we enjoy various pastimes and hobbies. Dummies and rattles and big soft teddy bears, dolls that walked and talked, bricks and jigsaw puzzles, crayons, plasticine, paints and chalk. Nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Swings and roundabouts, climbing frame, see-saw, castles in the sandpit. The magic of the circus!

Did you like going to the circus when a child? Do you know what the following circus people are engaged in? Look up the words you don't know. Suggest a definition for each entertainer for the others in the group to guess who you are talking about:

- a ringmaster - a clown

- a magician - a juggler

- a conjuror - a tamer

- a tightrope walker - an acrobat

- a ventriloquist - a high-diver

- a strong man - a midget

- a sword-swallower - a knife-thrower

Read the song about the circus and give the message of it in one sentence.

The whole thing's fake. The sawdust's like cake.

The tent itself's unsafe, and it tilts.

The singer's songs don't rhyme. The band can't keep in time.

And the chap can never climb on to his stilts.

But the one saving grace in this fifth-rate place -

The only act that's guaranteed to please -

The only reason that I go to this awful rotten show

Is that tiny little girl on the trapeze.

The juggler drops the balls. The tightrope walker falls.

And performing fleas are always such a pain.

The fire-eater's bald. And the audience are appalled

As the lion-tamer's mauled yet again.

The clowns aren't funny. It's a total waste of money.

I don't know why they have shows like these.

The only thing worth seeing in the whole performance being

That young twenty-year-old girl on the trapeze.

The ventriloquist moves his lips. The acrobat always trips.

And the conjuror's got no tricks left up his sleeve.

The high-diver's head is like a square loaf of bread.

I wouldn't be seen dead in there, believe me.

If it wasn't for the fact that there's this super little act

That gets me going weak at the knees,

I think you know the reason why I come back every season:

It's that middle-aged girl on the trapeze.

The ringmaster stutters. The comedian mutters.

And the strong-man splutters in despair.

The midget's five foot five; I'm surprised he's still alive

Because the knife-throwers knives go everywhere!

The Russian sword-swallowers have lost all their followers;

So many knives they've borrowed stay below.

And the disappearing rabbits with their rather special habits,

Keep appearing just as rapidly as they go.

So even now, I must confess, the thing I like the best -

I don't know if there's anyone who agrees -

I've really just come back for that one three-minute act -

It's that elderly artist on the trapeze.

The older we get the more sophisticated and sometimes eccentric our activities and pastimes become. Some people collect stamps, coins or antiques. Others join clubs where they can play cards, board games or musical instruments. Some become theatre- or movie-goers, lovers of classical music or fans of light music. Some take up participation sports, others enjoy spectator sports.