Mary Higgins Clark was no overnight success; the writer was 43 when she had her first hit, the 1975 novel "Where Are the Children?" Since then the New York Times bestselling author has written more than 50 books, from mysteries and historical novels to short stories, children books and a memoir. The "Queen of Suspense" talks with Erin Moriarty about her career, and how she never takes her readers for granted.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. How many books has Mary Higgins Clark written?
2. What is the fascination with murder?
3. Where does she get much of her inspiration?
4. What is her family background?
5. Why was she forced to work odd jobs?
6. When did her will-be husband, Warren Clark, proposed to her?
7. What happened when she was 37?
8. What did she do when she got her first book contract?
9. How many times has Where are the Children? been printed?
10. In what way do the main character in her books resemble Mary Higgins Clark?
Take a look at the complete body of work of author Mary Higgins Clark, the queen of suspense. She’s granted an audience to a woman who’s no stranger to mystery, correspondent Erin Moriarty of 48 Hours.
You’d never guess to look at her, but this sweet church-going mother and grandmother has a very dark side.
I mean, you have any idea of how many people have died at your hands?
At least one a book. One a book!
And we are talking about 52 books and counting. She is, of course, Mary Higgins Clark, the writer that many consider the Queen of Suspense. At 89 years of age, her dark imagination continues to fuel bestsellers. Her latest mystery, All By Myself, Alone, will be released this week, by Simon and Schuster, a subsidiary of CBS.
What is the fascination with murder?
Well, there was Adam and Eve. They had two kids, Cain and Abel, and one killed the other. So it’s been in our very nature since Day One.
Her stories are pure fiction, but Higgins Clark gets much inspiration from true life.
I used to go to trials a lot. You can get more out of the trial and the sadness in it and the poignancy in it than you could ever imagine.
The sadness and poignancy of ordinary lives is a common theme, something Mary Higgins Clark learned early, growing up with two brothers in the Bronx in New York during the Depression.
That’s when my father came over on from the ship.
Right here?
Luke Higgins.
And your father, Irish immigrant?
Irish immigrant, and he had a bar and grill, a successful one before everything went sour. But he died at 34 of a heart attack because the business went bad, and that’s what killed him.
She was only 11 years old.
It’s a heartbreak. I think any time one parent goes, it’s never the same. You’re flying on one wing.
Forced to work odd jobs to help support her family, she imagined one day she’d have a career as a writer.
I always thought I would make it. I was a telephone operator after school. ‘Hotel Shelton, good afternoon’, and if I got downtown early enough, I would walk past Fifth Avenue and pick out the clothes I would have when I was a successful writer.
At 22 she married Warren Clark, a boy from the neighbourhood, who proposed to her on their very first date, and she began sending short stories to magazines. She still has the rejection letters, 40 of them.
This one was my favourite, though.
“We are reluctantly forced, purely as a matter of timing, to decline your offering of this story to us at this time.”
That’s a very nice way to turn you down.
Oh, that was the nicest I ever got. There was one, ‘Mrs. Clark, your stories are light, slight and trite.’
That would hurt my feelings.
I thought, ‘I’ll get you, girl.’
Making her writing pay off became a necessity when history repeated itself, and her own husband suddenly died. She was 37 years old, with five children to support. Higgins Clark, who had to pawn her jewellery to pay bills, began writing radio scripts for a living, and novels on the side. Her first, a romantic novel about George Washington and his wife, Martha, did not sell well. But her second book…
Where Are the Children? was the big difference.
And how did that come about?
Well, I looked at my bookshelves and that’s when I realized I had so many suspense novels.
Where are the Children? was a hit.
I think I was 43 when that book came out.
So you were an overnight success?
No, dear heart, I was not an overnight success by any stretch!
She got her first book contract, and was able to buy back the jewellery she pawned, and more.
It became fun, when I started to be successful, to get a piece of jewellery to remind myself that I had worked hard.
She now has quite a jewellery collection, considering that nearly every book over more than 40 years has been a bestseller.
Where are the Children?, having been the big breakthrough, is obviously very dear, because it made all the difference in my life when that one came out.
I read that it is in its 75th printing, is that right?
Yes, yes, it is, because it just keeps going.
And so does Mary Higgins Clark. She is remarried, and lives on four acres in New Jersey in a home complete with an elevator that opens into her writer’s studio. Murder and mayhem may still drive her plots, but at the heart of each book is a character much like the author herself, a hero who turns adversity into advantage, while keeping her readers on the edge of their seats.
When your book is coming out, do you still feel some nervousness, will my readers like it as much as they have in the past?
Oh, of course, because I have never taken a reader for granted. Never. So each book is the best I can write under these circumstances, and then, pray God that it goes over well.
KEY:
1 fifty-two
2 it’s been in human nature since Cain and Abel/day one
3 from real life/trials
4 daughter of an Irish immigrant who grew in the Bronx with two brothers
5 to help support her family after her dad died
6 on their very first date
7 her husband died
8 she was able to buy back the jewellery she had pawned
9 seventy-five
10 they turn adversity into advantage
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Literature. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Literature. Mostrar todas las entradas
martes, 2 de mayo de 2017
martes, 28 de febrero de 2017
J. K. Rowling interview
A rare chance to see an interview with JK Rowling. The Harry Potter author talks about insomnia, the Scottish referendum and what her most favourite recent novel has been.
Self-study activity:
Watch the interview and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1 Rowling doesn’t know what she will be having for dinner tonight.
2 Rowling is a heavy sleeper.
3 She didn’t enjoy the book Fifty Shades of Grey.
4 Rowling thinks Scotland should remain in the UK.
5 Rowling enjoys reading crime novels.
6 Writer Iain Rankin thinks the Harry Potter novels are crime novels.
7 Rowling has already finished the next novel she is going to publish.
8 Rowling would feel flattered if someone said her novel The Casual Vacancy echoes 18th century literature.
9 Rowling used to be a teacher.
10 Rowling prefers the kindle to paper books.
11 Rowling reads to her children.
12 She doesn’t know what TV programmes her children are watching.
13 Rowling spent one week talking to the guy who wrote speeches for Teddy Kennedy.
14 Rowling was dressed in disguise to buy her wedding dress.
15 Rowling takes offence if someone doesn’t know how to pronounce her name.
Do you enjoy being interviewed?
Not parti…. Depends on who’s doing it. Yes I do. It depends on who’s doing it.
There you are. I haven’t taken offence. What's the worst thing about your life today?
Today?
Yeah, you know, as in now.
I can't think of anything particularly bad about my life right now, to be honest with you. I can't think of anything particularly bad. The very worst thing, the very worst thing actually right now, this second is that we've got nothing in the fridge for dinner, which I… while you were interviewing me I thought, oh hell, what are we going to have for dinner but, big deal, I can't think of anything dreadful in my life.
What keeps you awake at night?
Virtually anything, I'm completely insomniac. If I work too late, I can't get to sleep. If I read something I like or don't like, I can't get to sleep. Yeah, anything will disturb my sleep, absolutely anything.
Have your read Fifty Shades of Grey?
No, I haven't. Have you?
I have. Why haven't you?
Well, if I'm truthful it’s because I promised my editor I wouldn't. Anyway, I’ve read a story of oh… I, you know, I don't need Fifty Shades of Grey. I’ve read the real thing.
But why did you have to promise your editor that…
It was a joke. He said, oh, don't read it, so I said alright then I won’t.
I don't think you feel like you're missing out, do you?
Not wildly, no, but well I don't know, it could be amazing but no, I haven’t read it.
Which way were you voting in the Scottish referendum?
I would, I'm pro-union. I would rather we stayed. I think the evolution’s been fantastic for Scotland but I think independence, personally, I’m not pro-independence.
What's the best novel you've read in the last year?
I… I would say… our… Song of Apollo I loved and, yeah.
You have a guilty pleasure when it comes to reading?
Whodunits.
Whodunits.
I don’t feel particularly guilty about them. Whodunits of the golden age I really love. I love… I love a good Dorothy L. Sayers, yeah. I don't feel guilty about that, there’s nothing wrong with it.
There's no shaming.
No shaming in Dorothy, no, there’s no shame in Dorothy.
There were loads of rumours that you were going to write a crime novel?
Yes, it all started by Iain Rankin.
What happened, explain.
Well, I think, I think Iain and I did once have a conversation in which he quite rightly said that the Potter novels are in the main whodunits or, and there’s one whydunit, so we were talking about that and, you know, the construction of that kind of novel and that led to him telling everyone that I was writing a crime novel , which was never…
Never the case.
Well, I never told Iain that I wanted to write… as far as I remember it, I didn't tell him that I wanted to write a crime novel but, yeah, that's where that came from, I think.
And what happened to the political fairy tales for children… There was talk of that.
Yeah, they’re still on my laptop and, yeah, I really like it and I think at some point I will finish it, it's, it's very new completion, but it's going to take its place in the queue so quite a few things on the table.
Do you know what the next will be, what the next publishes will be?
Yeah, I think it will be a different novel for children, which is also quite near completion. It's just because… I don't know why, I just, I just think it will be that one but I wouldn't want anyone to hold me to that because I like to be able, free to change my mind. I spent a long time committed to the next thing I was going to write so it's, it just feels great now that I can choose.
And if you could be compared to any author in your fantasy literary review where they draw an analogy between you, which would be able the author that you would most love to be likened to?
Oh my God, well I've written such different things, so on the children’s side a writer I always loved as a child and I'd love her still was E. Nesbit and on the adult side, I don't really know. I think that The Casual Vacancy is quite, it’s quite Trollope, to coin a nice adjective in a way, so if if anyone wanted to say that it was like one of those 19th century quite parochial novels, Trollope or Dickens or something like that, that would be a very, very, very flattering analogy, yes.
Some people say, my child just simply isn’t interested in books and he/she is never going to read this, there's no point trying. Is there ever such a thing as a child who wouldn't and couldn’t enjoy a book?
No, no, well I mean unless that child is, God forbid, in a coma or something, no, I don’t, I don't accept that and I think the way in is to read them, read them books, start by reading them books. Some children, I mean as an ex-teacher, I can certainly testify to the fact that some children are very intimidated by the process of reading, of having to physically read, and some children have problems with that but you can still lead them to a love of books by you just finding a good story and reading it to them, it's not that difficult. Unless, of course, the parent has literacy problems, so sometimes then it is difficult but then you would hope that at the child's school there is a teacher who loves books enough that they will read to the class.
Is the kindle the future of literature or is it the death of publishing?
It’s somewhere in-between. It's certain in my view, I think it certainly has… there's no doubt it’s had a huge impact on publishing but for all the do-mongering among writers and and and publishers, some of them, not all of them, about kindle we should all be encouraging that people do still want to read on whatever device it is, so let's just be grateful for that, for number one. Me personally I will never… I will always be faithful to paper, I love a physical book, I love a, but I do understand the appeal of the digital book, particularly when you're travelling, particularly when you're away from home, so I think it can be both, yeah.
If parents want their kids to read, should they stop them watching telly?
It wouldn’t hurt but I think that personally I believe in a fairly balanced approach, I don't believe in making the television taboo or banning it completely, but I read to my kids nightly ideally, it doesn’t always happen, when the time is very late, you know, people need to be put down, put to bed but yeah, I read to my kids and they are allowed to watch telly but I'm watching what they're watching, you know, so it's not uncontrolled.
Who have you been most star-struck about meeting?
Oh, Barack Obama and there's a guy called Bob… I’m going to get his name wrong, which is terrible. He knew Bobby Kennedy and he was a speech writer for Teddy and he was unbelievably fascinating, I could have talked to him for days and days on end, it's something like Shrum. Anyway, he’s amazing. Yeah, I could have sat and talked to him for a week so, yes, that was bigger than star struck, he was just such a fascinating man.
Have you ever had to actually go out in disguise to avoid people stopping you in the street and talking to you about Harry Potter?
I've never done it for those reasons but I did buy a wedding dress in disguise.
And you bought your wedding dress in…
Yeah, my own wedding dress. I’m not around in a wedding dress for fancy dress purposes, no. I was… that’s the only time I've ever done that, I was just… I just wanted to be able to get married to Neil without any rubbish happening, so yeah.
What was your disguise, what did it consist of?
I don't want to tell you in case I need to use it again.
Glad you won’t be buying it back together I don't think so.
No, I won’t be buying a wedding dress again, but I might want to buy something else, I don't want everyone else to know about, and as it worked I'm going to, I'm going to…
Are you eternally grateful that people think that you’re called JK Rowling when your name is really Jo Rowling? Is that helpful?
I answer to both. I can't remember the last time I corrected someone when they said Rolling, in fact in America I don't think everyone thinks I'm JK Rowling, so I just answer to both. Rolling is a fairly horrible name anyway so, you know, some might argue it’s improved by by being mispronounced. Are you relieved now that your original publisher said you should be JK rather than Jo in terms of being able to protect your anonymity.
I really like, yeah, I do really like having my pen name and… yeah, I do, there's something about it. There’s something about having my identity. It makes me feel there's a nice division between Jo, the writer, and Jo, the mother, which is the main split in my life, you know, Jo the mother is the place where I want to be most private, it is the place where I suppose I'm the least writerly in a way and I'm the least the public persona, so yeah, it's nice to have a split.
Key:
1T 2F 3F 4T 5T 6T 7F 8F 9T 10F 11T 12F 13F 14T 15F
Self-study activity:
Watch the interview and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1 Rowling doesn’t know what she will be having for dinner tonight.
2 Rowling is a heavy sleeper.
3 She didn’t enjoy the book Fifty Shades of Grey.
4 Rowling thinks Scotland should remain in the UK.
5 Rowling enjoys reading crime novels.
6 Writer Iain Rankin thinks the Harry Potter novels are crime novels.
7 Rowling has already finished the next novel she is going to publish.
8 Rowling would feel flattered if someone said her novel The Casual Vacancy echoes 18th century literature.
9 Rowling used to be a teacher.
10 Rowling prefers the kindle to paper books.
11 Rowling reads to her children.
12 She doesn’t know what TV programmes her children are watching.
13 Rowling spent one week talking to the guy who wrote speeches for Teddy Kennedy.
14 Rowling was dressed in disguise to buy her wedding dress.
15 Rowling takes offence if someone doesn’t know how to pronounce her name.
Do you enjoy being interviewed?
Not parti…. Depends on who’s doing it. Yes I do. It depends on who’s doing it.
There you are. I haven’t taken offence. What's the worst thing about your life today?
Today?
Yeah, you know, as in now.
I can't think of anything particularly bad about my life right now, to be honest with you. I can't think of anything particularly bad. The very worst thing, the very worst thing actually right now, this second is that we've got nothing in the fridge for dinner, which I… while you were interviewing me I thought, oh hell, what are we going to have for dinner but, big deal, I can't think of anything dreadful in my life.
What keeps you awake at night?
Virtually anything, I'm completely insomniac. If I work too late, I can't get to sleep. If I read something I like or don't like, I can't get to sleep. Yeah, anything will disturb my sleep, absolutely anything.
Have your read Fifty Shades of Grey?
No, I haven't. Have you?
I have. Why haven't you?
Well, if I'm truthful it’s because I promised my editor I wouldn't. Anyway, I’ve read a story of oh… I, you know, I don't need Fifty Shades of Grey. I’ve read the real thing.
But why did you have to promise your editor that…
It was a joke. He said, oh, don't read it, so I said alright then I won’t.
I don't think you feel like you're missing out, do you?
Not wildly, no, but well I don't know, it could be amazing but no, I haven’t read it.
Which way were you voting in the Scottish referendum?
I would, I'm pro-union. I would rather we stayed. I think the evolution’s been fantastic for Scotland but I think independence, personally, I’m not pro-independence.
What's the best novel you've read in the last year?
I… I would say… our… Song of Apollo I loved and, yeah.
You have a guilty pleasure when it comes to reading?
Whodunits.
Whodunits.
I don’t feel particularly guilty about them. Whodunits of the golden age I really love. I love… I love a good Dorothy L. Sayers, yeah. I don't feel guilty about that, there’s nothing wrong with it.
There's no shaming.
No shaming in Dorothy, no, there’s no shame in Dorothy.
There were loads of rumours that you were going to write a crime novel?
Yes, it all started by Iain Rankin.
What happened, explain.
Well, I think, I think Iain and I did once have a conversation in which he quite rightly said that the Potter novels are in the main whodunits or, and there’s one whydunit, so we were talking about that and, you know, the construction of that kind of novel and that led to him telling everyone that I was writing a crime novel , which was never…
Never the case.
Well, I never told Iain that I wanted to write… as far as I remember it, I didn't tell him that I wanted to write a crime novel but, yeah, that's where that came from, I think.
And what happened to the political fairy tales for children… There was talk of that.
Yeah, they’re still on my laptop and, yeah, I really like it and I think at some point I will finish it, it's, it's very new completion, but it's going to take its place in the queue so quite a few things on the table.
Do you know what the next will be, what the next publishes will be?
Yeah, I think it will be a different novel for children, which is also quite near completion. It's just because… I don't know why, I just, I just think it will be that one but I wouldn't want anyone to hold me to that because I like to be able, free to change my mind. I spent a long time committed to the next thing I was going to write so it's, it just feels great now that I can choose.
And if you could be compared to any author in your fantasy literary review where they draw an analogy between you, which would be able the author that you would most love to be likened to?
Oh my God, well I've written such different things, so on the children’s side a writer I always loved as a child and I'd love her still was E. Nesbit and on the adult side, I don't really know. I think that The Casual Vacancy is quite, it’s quite Trollope, to coin a nice adjective in a way, so if if anyone wanted to say that it was like one of those 19th century quite parochial novels, Trollope or Dickens or something like that, that would be a very, very, very flattering analogy, yes.
Some people say, my child just simply isn’t interested in books and he/she is never going to read this, there's no point trying. Is there ever such a thing as a child who wouldn't and couldn’t enjoy a book?
No, no, well I mean unless that child is, God forbid, in a coma or something, no, I don’t, I don't accept that and I think the way in is to read them, read them books, start by reading them books. Some children, I mean as an ex-teacher, I can certainly testify to the fact that some children are very intimidated by the process of reading, of having to physically read, and some children have problems with that but you can still lead them to a love of books by you just finding a good story and reading it to them, it's not that difficult. Unless, of course, the parent has literacy problems, so sometimes then it is difficult but then you would hope that at the child's school there is a teacher who loves books enough that they will read to the class.
Is the kindle the future of literature or is it the death of publishing?
It’s somewhere in-between. It's certain in my view, I think it certainly has… there's no doubt it’s had a huge impact on publishing but for all the do-mongering among writers and and and publishers, some of them, not all of them, about kindle we should all be encouraging that people do still want to read on whatever device it is, so let's just be grateful for that, for number one. Me personally I will never… I will always be faithful to paper, I love a physical book, I love a, but I do understand the appeal of the digital book, particularly when you're travelling, particularly when you're away from home, so I think it can be both, yeah.
If parents want their kids to read, should they stop them watching telly?
It wouldn’t hurt but I think that personally I believe in a fairly balanced approach, I don't believe in making the television taboo or banning it completely, but I read to my kids nightly ideally, it doesn’t always happen, when the time is very late, you know, people need to be put down, put to bed but yeah, I read to my kids and they are allowed to watch telly but I'm watching what they're watching, you know, so it's not uncontrolled.
Who have you been most star-struck about meeting?
Oh, Barack Obama and there's a guy called Bob… I’m going to get his name wrong, which is terrible. He knew Bobby Kennedy and he was a speech writer for Teddy and he was unbelievably fascinating, I could have talked to him for days and days on end, it's something like Shrum. Anyway, he’s amazing. Yeah, I could have sat and talked to him for a week so, yes, that was bigger than star struck, he was just such a fascinating man.
Have you ever had to actually go out in disguise to avoid people stopping you in the street and talking to you about Harry Potter?
I've never done it for those reasons but I did buy a wedding dress in disguise.
And you bought your wedding dress in…
Yeah, my own wedding dress. I’m not around in a wedding dress for fancy dress purposes, no. I was… that’s the only time I've ever done that, I was just… I just wanted to be able to get married to Neil without any rubbish happening, so yeah.
What was your disguise, what did it consist of?
I don't want to tell you in case I need to use it again.
Glad you won’t be buying it back together I don't think so.
No, I won’t be buying a wedding dress again, but I might want to buy something else, I don't want everyone else to know about, and as it worked I'm going to, I'm going to…
Are you eternally grateful that people think that you’re called JK Rowling when your name is really Jo Rowling? Is that helpful?
I answer to both. I can't remember the last time I corrected someone when they said Rolling, in fact in America I don't think everyone thinks I'm JK Rowling, so I just answer to both. Rolling is a fairly horrible name anyway so, you know, some might argue it’s improved by by being mispronounced. Are you relieved now that your original publisher said you should be JK rather than Jo in terms of being able to protect your anonymity.
I really like, yeah, I do really like having my pen name and… yeah, I do, there's something about it. There’s something about having my identity. It makes me feel there's a nice division between Jo, the writer, and Jo, the mother, which is the main split in my life, you know, Jo the mother is the place where I want to be most private, it is the place where I suppose I'm the least writerly in a way and I'm the least the public persona, so yeah, it's nice to have a split.
Key:
1T 2F 3F 4T 5T 6T 7F 8F 9T 10F 11T 12F 13F 14T 15F
domingo, 25 de diciembre de 2016
Extensive listening: The origins of A Christmas Carol
Michael Slater explains the background to Charles Dickens's novel, A Christmas Carol, reveals his reasons for writing it and discusses its monumental success. Filmed at the Charles Dickens Museum, London.
You can activate the CC subtitles on the player to read a full transcript.
You can activate the CC subtitles on the player to read a full transcript.
sábado, 23 de abril de 2016
Reading test: Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary
Todays the literary world is commemorating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. We would like to join this momentous occasion by making Shakespeare the topic of today's reading test.
The task is based on The Guardian's article Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary: 'man of Stratford' to be celebrated in 2016, by Maev Kennedy. Read this text and choose the best sentence (A - K) for each gap. Two of the sentences do not correspond to any of the blanks. 0 is an example.
A - has never been filled
B - if his friends and fellow actors had not gathered together
C - it is more a mount with a hole where the birthplace should be
D - North Korea is still holding out
E - The world has not agreed with him
F - to open as a permanent visitor attraction
G - under which the writer is said to have sat and worked
H - when Shakespeare and his fellow actors dismantled a theatre
I - where he died on 23 April, the same day as his birth
J - where he lived and read and thought – 0 Example
K - which are all slightly different
The world shares him and London claims him, but Stratford-on-Avon intends to spend 2016 celebrating William Shakespeare as their man: the bard of Avon, born in the Warwickshire market town in 1564, and who died there 400 years ago.
Stratford remained hugely important throughout Shakespeare’s life, argues Paul Edmondson, the head of learning and research at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. “People have seen Shakespeare as a Dick Whittington figure, who turns his back on Stratford and his family, goes to London to earn his fortune and only comes back to die,” he said. “[But Stratford is] where he bought land and property, where he kept his library, (0) … . We are going to spend the year re-emphasising the importance of Shakespeare, the man of Stratford.”
The 17th-century diarist, antiquarian and gossip John Aubrey, born 11 years after Shakespeare died, was at pains to point out there was nothing so very special about the bard. Aubrey, university educated unlike Shakespeare, said that he acted “exceedingly well” and that “his Playes took well”. (1) … . The anniversary of the death of the man from Stratford, the most famous and the most performed playwright in the world, will be marked across Britain and the globe.
Macbeth is about to open in Singapore, Romeo and Juliet in Brussels. Shakespeare’s Globe is completing the first world tour in the history of theatre, in which it has taken Hamlet to almost every country –(2) … . The production will arrive back in London for the anniversary weekend of 23-24 April. They are also creating a 37-screen pop-up cinema, one screen to showcase each of Shakespeare’s plays, along the South Bank.
For a man famous in his own lifetime there is little documentary evidence for Shakespeare’s life and times. The plays would scarcely have survived (3) … every scrap of every play they could find – drafts, prompt scripts, scribbled actors’ parts, and 17 plays not known in any other version – into the precious First Folio published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare’s death.
Some of the most precious surviving documents will be gathered together in an exhibition at Somerset House in London, opening in February and jointly organised by the National Archives and King’s College London, including four of his six known signatures, (4) … .
The outgoing Globe director, Dominic Dromgoole, recently jokily claimed Shakespeare as a true Londoner – albeit conceding “some spurious claim” by Stratford-on Avon. Stratford, however, will be insisting that the town made and educated Shakespeare His old school room is being restored with a £1.4m Heritage Lottery grant, (5) … .
Shakespeare bought the splendid New Place, the second best house in the town, (6) … . “You don’t buy a house like New Place and not live there,” Paul Edmondson said. “The general public and many academics have consistently underestimated the importance of Stratford to Shakespeare.” Edmondson believes that after Shakespeare bought the house in 1597, all his thinking time was spent there, and that the late plays, including The Tempest, were at least planned in his library and probably written there.
Shakespeare’s house was demolished 300 years ago, and the house that replaced it, probably incorporating some of the original fabric, was flattened in 1759 by an irascible clergyman, Francis Gastrell, in a row over taxes. He had already cut down Shakespeare’s mulberry tree, (7) … , because he was irritated by all the tourists peering into his garden.
The gap in the Stratford streetscape (8) …, but a five-year archaeology project has peeled back the years, and the news that Shakespeare’s kitchen had been found in the partly surviving cellars went round the world. The whole site is being redisplayed for the anniversary, with the foundations marked and the garden restored.
“Without Stratford,” Edmondson said, “There would have been no Shakespeare.”
KEY:
1E 2D 3B 4K 5F 6I 7G 8A
The task is based on The Guardian's article Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary: 'man of Stratford' to be celebrated in 2016, by Maev Kennedy. Read this text and choose the best sentence (A - K) for each gap. Two of the sentences do not correspond to any of the blanks. 0 is an example.
A - has never been filled
B - if his friends and fellow actors had not gathered together
C - it is more a mount with a hole where the birthplace should be
D - North Korea is still holding out
E - The world has not agreed with him
F - to open as a permanent visitor attraction
G - under which the writer is said to have sat and worked
H - when Shakespeare and his fellow actors dismantled a theatre
I - where he died on 23 April, the same day as his birth
J - where he lived and read and thought – 0 Example
K - which are all slightly different
The world shares him and London claims him, but Stratford-on-Avon intends to spend 2016 celebrating William Shakespeare as their man: the bard of Avon, born in the Warwickshire market town in 1564, and who died there 400 years ago.
Stratford remained hugely important throughout Shakespeare’s life, argues Paul Edmondson, the head of learning and research at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. “People have seen Shakespeare as a Dick Whittington figure, who turns his back on Stratford and his family, goes to London to earn his fortune and only comes back to die,” he said. “[But Stratford is] where he bought land and property, where he kept his library, (0) … . We are going to spend the year re-emphasising the importance of Shakespeare, the man of Stratford.”
The 17th-century diarist, antiquarian and gossip John Aubrey, born 11 years after Shakespeare died, was at pains to point out there was nothing so very special about the bard. Aubrey, university educated unlike Shakespeare, said that he acted “exceedingly well” and that “his Playes took well”. (1) … . The anniversary of the death of the man from Stratford, the most famous and the most performed playwright in the world, will be marked across Britain and the globe.
Macbeth is about to open in Singapore, Romeo and Juliet in Brussels. Shakespeare’s Globe is completing the first world tour in the history of theatre, in which it has taken Hamlet to almost every country –(2) … . The production will arrive back in London for the anniversary weekend of 23-24 April. They are also creating a 37-screen pop-up cinema, one screen to showcase each of Shakespeare’s plays, along the South Bank.
For a man famous in his own lifetime there is little documentary evidence for Shakespeare’s life and times. The plays would scarcely have survived (3) … every scrap of every play they could find – drafts, prompt scripts, scribbled actors’ parts, and 17 plays not known in any other version – into the precious First Folio published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare’s death.
Some of the most precious surviving documents will be gathered together in an exhibition at Somerset House in London, opening in February and jointly organised by the National Archives and King’s College London, including four of his six known signatures, (4) … .
The outgoing Globe director, Dominic Dromgoole, recently jokily claimed Shakespeare as a true Londoner – albeit conceding “some spurious claim” by Stratford-on Avon. Stratford, however, will be insisting that the town made and educated Shakespeare His old school room is being restored with a £1.4m Heritage Lottery grant, (5) … .
Shakespeare bought the splendid New Place, the second best house in the town, (6) … . “You don’t buy a house like New Place and not live there,” Paul Edmondson said. “The general public and many academics have consistently underestimated the importance of Stratford to Shakespeare.” Edmondson believes that after Shakespeare bought the house in 1597, all his thinking time was spent there, and that the late plays, including The Tempest, were at least planned in his library and probably written there.
Shakespeare’s house was demolished 300 years ago, and the house that replaced it, probably incorporating some of the original fabric, was flattened in 1759 by an irascible clergyman, Francis Gastrell, in a row over taxes. He had already cut down Shakespeare’s mulberry tree, (7) … , because he was irritated by all the tourists peering into his garden.
The gap in the Stratford streetscape (8) …, but a five-year archaeology project has peeled back the years, and the news that Shakespeare’s kitchen had been found in the partly surviving cellars went round the world. The whole site is being redisplayed for the anniversary, with the foundations marked and the garden restored.
“Without Stratford,” Edmondson said, “There would have been no Shakespeare.”
Portrait of Shakespeare, 1598
Photograph: Alfredo Dagli Orti/The Art Archive/Corbis
from The Guardian
KEY:
1E 2D 3B 4K 5F 6I 7G 8A
sábado, 6 de febrero de 2016
Five Shakespeare's plays on video for B1-B2 students
The British Council has uploaded five Shakesperean plays on video in the Literature UK section of their site Learn English Teen.
2016 sees the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death and to mark the occasion The British Council has put together a number of resources so that (young) students of English get to know Shakespeare and his works better.
The five plays are Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Much Ado about Nothing and The Tempest. The set of materials for each play consists of a 5-minute video, listening comprehension and vocabulary exercises, key and transcript.
An article which explains five famous Shakesperean phrases ('To be or not to be...'; 'Blood will have blood') can also be found here.
Click on Literature UK to get to the plays or on the image below.
2016 sees the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death and to mark the occasion The British Council has put together a number of resources so that (young) students of English get to know Shakespeare and his works better.
The five plays are Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Much Ado about Nothing and The Tempest. The set of materials for each play consists of a 5-minute video, listening comprehension and vocabulary exercises, key and transcript.
An article which explains five famous Shakesperean phrases ('To be or not to be...'; 'Blood will have blood') can also be found here.
Click on Literature UK to get to the plays or on the image below.
lunes, 4 de enero de 2016
Listening test: Agatha Christie
In this week's listening test we are going to pracise the heading-matching kind of task.
Listen to some extracts of a biography on Agatha Christie and match headings A-J with the corresponding extract. There are two headings you do not need to use. 0 is an example.
A - A best-selling author -0 Example
B - A larger-than-life character
C- A real-life mystery
D - Background
E - Her formula to creativity
F - Her start as a writer
G - Pioneering in many ways
H - Record-breaking intuition
I - Restarting her life after disaster
J - Thinking up plots in an unusual way
A best-selling author -0
She wrote 80 detective novels, six romances (under a pseudonym), 13 plays, and 154 short stories. All of her books are still in print, selling around 500,000 copies a year, and she's the eighth most borrowed author from British libraries. With more than 2 billion of her books around the world, she is one of the most published authors in history outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible.
Background -1
Her life is as interesting as her writing career. She was born Agatha May Clarissa Miller in Devon, England in 1890, the youngest of three children in a conservative, well-to-do family. As a child she never attended school. She was home-schooled and started creating games to keep herself occupied at a very young age.
Her start as a writer - 2
At the age of 24, she married Archie Christie, a World War I fighter pilot. That’s where her name comes from. During the war, she worked as a nurse. She came up with the idea of writing a detective novel while working in a hospital. The ”Mysterious Affair at Styles" gave the world Hercule Poirot, a retired Belgian police officer, a meticulous, tidy always neat and orderly little man with a waxed moustache. Christie wrote more than 30 novels featuring Poirot. Among the most popular were "Murder on the Orient Express" (1934), and "Death on the Nile" (1937).
A real-life mystery - 3
In 1926, her husband asked for a divorce because he had fallen in love with another woman. What happened after that could have been an exciting scene from an Agatha Christie novel. On December 3, 1926, Agatha kissed her daughter goodnight, then promptly got in her car and left. Her abandoned vehicle was found a few miles away, but the writer herself had completely vanished. Lakes were dredged, 15,000 volunteers combed the area. All of England was involved in the case of the famous missing writer. She was found three weeks later in a small hotel registered under the name of her husband's mistress explaining to police that she had lost her memory. Whether it was true or not nobody knew.
A larger-than-life character - 4
Another of Christie's most well-known and beloved characters was introduced in "Murder at the Vicarage" in 1930. Miss Jane Marple, an elderly spinster, solved all kinds of mysteries with intense concentration and intuition. Miss Marple lived her entire life in the fictional village of St. Mary's Mead, a prototypical English village whose chief occupation was gossip. She never had any formal training as a detective and relied primarily on her keen intelligence, powers of observation, and knowledge of the human nature. She never married and was a sweet, frail-looking sort of person from a by-gone era. She did typical maiden auntie things, like knitting. The character was based, in part, on Agatha Christie’s step-grandmother and “some of my step-grandmother's Ealing cronies – old ladies whom I have met in so many villages where I have gone to stay as a girl" – as she herself stated.
Record-breaking intuition - 5
One of Agatha Christie’s Guinness World Records is connected to Miss Marple and her adventures. The Complete Miss Marple is the thickest book of the world. The massive volume is a collection of 12 novels and 20 short stories. It is 4032 page long, its spine is 322 mm and it weighs 8.02 kilograms. It is bound inmaroon leather with gilt writing on the cover. Reading at a pace of 30 pages an hour, it would take around 134 hours to finish the book. As for more numbers about the book: Miss Marple solves 43 murders: 12 poisonings, 6 strangulations, 2 drownings, 2 stabbings, 2 people pushed to their deaths, 1 rather grisly burning, 1 blow to the head, and 1 arrow through the heart. In all, 68 crimes are committed, including the murders. There are 11 philandering spouses, 21 romances, 22 false accusations, and a whopping 59 red herrings. And, as solid evidence of either Miss Marple's ability to keep a cool head in all this or the English obsession with tea, characters drink 143 cups of tea.
Her formula to creativity - 6
Agatha Christie was a very productive writer. When asked about how she was able to create so many books, she once called herself “a sausage machine, a perfect sausage machine.” For many years she was on a tight schedule of two books per year, including one that was always released right before the holiday season, which was marketed as “Christie for Christmas.”
“People often ask me what made me take up writing ... I found myself making up stories and acting the different parts. There's nothing like boredom to make you write. So by the time I was 16 or 17, I'd written quite a number of short stories and one long, dreary novel. By the time I was 21, I finished the first book of mine ever to be published.” – she said.
Pioneering in many ways - 7
She liked doing extraordinary things. She and her first husband Archie were some of the first British people to ever try surfing. They first met surfing in Hawaii in 1922. “I learned to become expert, or at any rate expert from the European point of view – the moment of complete triumph on the day that I kept my balance and came right into shore standing upright on my board!” she wrote about surfing in her autobiography.
Key:
A - A best-selling author -0 Example
B - A larger-than-life character - 4
C - A real-life mystery - 3
D - Background -1
E - Her formula to creativity - 6
F - Her start as a writer – 2
G -- Pioneering in many ways - 7
H - Record-breaking intuition - 5
I -Restarting her life after disaster
J -Thinking up plots in an unusual way
Listen to some extracts of a biography on Agatha Christie and match headings A-J with the corresponding extract. There are two headings you do not need to use. 0 is an example.
A - A best-selling author -0 Example
B - A larger-than-life character
C- A real-life mystery
D - Background
E - Her formula to creativity
F - Her start as a writer
G - Pioneering in many ways
H - Record-breaking intuition
I - Restarting her life after disaster
J - Thinking up plots in an unusual way
A best-selling author -0
She wrote 80 detective novels, six romances (under a pseudonym), 13 plays, and 154 short stories. All of her books are still in print, selling around 500,000 copies a year, and she's the eighth most borrowed author from British libraries. With more than 2 billion of her books around the world, she is one of the most published authors in history outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible.
Background -1
Her life is as interesting as her writing career. She was born Agatha May Clarissa Miller in Devon, England in 1890, the youngest of three children in a conservative, well-to-do family. As a child she never attended school. She was home-schooled and started creating games to keep herself occupied at a very young age.
Her start as a writer - 2
At the age of 24, she married Archie Christie, a World War I fighter pilot. That’s where her name comes from. During the war, she worked as a nurse. She came up with the idea of writing a detective novel while working in a hospital. The ”Mysterious Affair at Styles" gave the world Hercule Poirot, a retired Belgian police officer, a meticulous, tidy always neat and orderly little man with a waxed moustache. Christie wrote more than 30 novels featuring Poirot. Among the most popular were "Murder on the Orient Express" (1934), and "Death on the Nile" (1937).
A real-life mystery - 3
In 1926, her husband asked for a divorce because he had fallen in love with another woman. What happened after that could have been an exciting scene from an Agatha Christie novel. On December 3, 1926, Agatha kissed her daughter goodnight, then promptly got in her car and left. Her abandoned vehicle was found a few miles away, but the writer herself had completely vanished. Lakes were dredged, 15,000 volunteers combed the area. All of England was involved in the case of the famous missing writer. She was found three weeks later in a small hotel registered under the name of her husband's mistress explaining to police that she had lost her memory. Whether it was true or not nobody knew.
A larger-than-life character - 4
Another of Christie's most well-known and beloved characters was introduced in "Murder at the Vicarage" in 1930. Miss Jane Marple, an elderly spinster, solved all kinds of mysteries with intense concentration and intuition. Miss Marple lived her entire life in the fictional village of St. Mary's Mead, a prototypical English village whose chief occupation was gossip. She never had any formal training as a detective and relied primarily on her keen intelligence, powers of observation, and knowledge of the human nature. She never married and was a sweet, frail-looking sort of person from a by-gone era. She did typical maiden auntie things, like knitting. The character was based, in part, on Agatha Christie’s step-grandmother and “some of my step-grandmother's Ealing cronies – old ladies whom I have met in so many villages where I have gone to stay as a girl" – as she herself stated.
Record-breaking intuition - 5
One of Agatha Christie’s Guinness World Records is connected to Miss Marple and her adventures. The Complete Miss Marple is the thickest book of the world. The massive volume is a collection of 12 novels and 20 short stories. It is 4032 page long, its spine is 322 mm and it weighs 8.02 kilograms. It is bound inmaroon leather with gilt writing on the cover. Reading at a pace of 30 pages an hour, it would take around 134 hours to finish the book. As for more numbers about the book: Miss Marple solves 43 murders: 12 poisonings, 6 strangulations, 2 drownings, 2 stabbings, 2 people pushed to their deaths, 1 rather grisly burning, 1 blow to the head, and 1 arrow through the heart. In all, 68 crimes are committed, including the murders. There are 11 philandering spouses, 21 romances, 22 false accusations, and a whopping 59 red herrings. And, as solid evidence of either Miss Marple's ability to keep a cool head in all this or the English obsession with tea, characters drink 143 cups of tea.
Her formula to creativity - 6
Agatha Christie was a very productive writer. When asked about how she was able to create so many books, she once called herself “a sausage machine, a perfect sausage machine.” For many years she was on a tight schedule of two books per year, including one that was always released right before the holiday season, which was marketed as “Christie for Christmas.”
“People often ask me what made me take up writing ... I found myself making up stories and acting the different parts. There's nothing like boredom to make you write. So by the time I was 16 or 17, I'd written quite a number of short stories and one long, dreary novel. By the time I was 21, I finished the first book of mine ever to be published.” – she said.
Pioneering in many ways - 7
She liked doing extraordinary things. She and her first husband Archie were some of the first British people to ever try surfing. They first met surfing in Hawaii in 1922. “I learned to become expert, or at any rate expert from the European point of view – the moment of complete triumph on the day that I kept my balance and came right into shore standing upright on my board!” she wrote about surfing in her autobiography.
Key:
A - A best-selling author -0 Example
B - A larger-than-life character - 4
C - A real-life mystery - 3
D - Background -1
E - Her formula to creativity - 6
F - Her start as a writer – 2
G -- Pioneering in many ways - 7
H - Record-breaking intuition - 5
I -
J -
martes, 3 de noviembre de 2015
10 Questions for Poet John Ashbery
American poet John Ashbery talked to TIME some time ago about fame, poverty and art criticism.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1 John Ashbery doesn't think of himself as the most important living poet in America.
2 John Ashbery reads what critics say about him.
3 John Ashbery enjoys reading his poetry in public.
4 John Ashbery thinks poetry is less popular these days.
5 John Ashbery is gay.
6 John Ashbery lives off poetry.
7 John Ashbery would rather be America's most important living poet than anything else.
Hi, I’m Belinda Luscombe. I’m an editor-at-large at Time Magazine, but you’re not here for me. You’re here for John Ashbery, often called America’s most important living poet. Thanks for letting us come here, Mr Ashbery.
Thank you for coming.
You won an award from the National Book Association last night. Are you, in fact, America’s most important living poet?
I don’t think so important. I get talked about a lot. But for many years the jury has been out and probably will be on the question of my importance. I enjoy writing the way I do, which doesn’t please a lot of people, pleases others enormously.
Do you ever read what the critics write about you, what poetry and literary critics write about you and just think, this is hysterical or this is ridiculous?
No, I don’t feel that this is ridiculous because I don’t know. Maybe they’re right. I haven’t got that much confidence in my writing. That’s more like, you know, hope rather than confidence.
Do other forms of poetry interest you, poetry slams, those kind of things?
I don’t really like poetry readings very much, including my own. I hate the sound of my own voice, for an instance I can’t stand listening to myself reading poetry. And that goes true for most other poets.
Do you think that there’s any way in which poetry, which in my lifetime and probably in yours seems to have become less and less popular, do you think there’s a way that it can become more part of people’s life again?
No… My perception is…
I’m prepared to be wrong.
… is that there’s a much bigger audience for poetry than there was when I was young. In fact, when I began writing there was really only one poetry magazine in the country. Poetry. Today there seems there’s so many magazines, presses, so many poets I have the impression that poetry is liked more by those who like it than was the case in the past.
Now you grew up in an era where it was considered shameful to be gay, and that is no longer the prevailing view, I would say.
Oh, really?
You don’t… well? I guess the jury’s out.
Nobody told me.
It’s certainly not as prevailing as it was. Would you go that far with me?
Sure.
Do you think if that attitude had been current in your life it would have changed your work?
I’ve never been sure how that would’ve worked. There’s a school of criticism who says that my poetry is so tortuous and obscure because I’ve been trying to cover up the fact of my sexuality all these years. And I think that’s an interesting possibility and there may indeed be some truth in it. But I’m not quite sure how much and whether that’s the generating force in my poetry. I think I would’ve been attracted to this kind of poetry anyway.
Do you currently make a living off your poetry?
Heavens, no. I mean, gosh, no. Sucks, no. No, not at all. I’ve made a living teaching, which I’m now retired, that’s one thing poets can do and many of them do to survive.
If you could swap places and you could, instead of being America’s most important living poet, you could be America’s most important living something else, what would you like it to be?
I don’t think I’d wanna be anything else. I think I, I’d rather stick with poetry.
Mr Ashbry, thanks very much.
Thank you.
KEY:
1T 2F 3F 4F 5T 6F 7T
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and say whether the statements below are true or false.
1 John Ashbery doesn't think of himself as the most important living poet in America.
2 John Ashbery reads what critics say about him.
3 John Ashbery enjoys reading his poetry in public.
4 John Ashbery thinks poetry is less popular these days.
5 John Ashbery is gay.
6 John Ashbery lives off poetry.
7 John Ashbery would rather be America's most important living poet than anything else.
Hi, I’m Belinda Luscombe. I’m an editor-at-large at Time Magazine, but you’re not here for me. You’re here for John Ashbery, often called America’s most important living poet. Thanks for letting us come here, Mr Ashbery.
Thank you for coming.
You won an award from the National Book Association last night. Are you, in fact, America’s most important living poet?
I don’t think so important. I get talked about a lot. But for many years the jury has been out and probably will be on the question of my importance. I enjoy writing the way I do, which doesn’t please a lot of people, pleases others enormously.
Do you ever read what the critics write about you, what poetry and literary critics write about you and just think, this is hysterical or this is ridiculous?
No, I don’t feel that this is ridiculous because I don’t know. Maybe they’re right. I haven’t got that much confidence in my writing. That’s more like, you know, hope rather than confidence.
Do other forms of poetry interest you, poetry slams, those kind of things?
I don’t really like poetry readings very much, including my own. I hate the sound of my own voice, for an instance I can’t stand listening to myself reading poetry. And that goes true for most other poets.
Do you think that there’s any way in which poetry, which in my lifetime and probably in yours seems to have become less and less popular, do you think there’s a way that it can become more part of people’s life again?
No… My perception is…
I’m prepared to be wrong.
… is that there’s a much bigger audience for poetry than there was when I was young. In fact, when I began writing there was really only one poetry magazine in the country. Poetry. Today there seems there’s so many magazines, presses, so many poets I have the impression that poetry is liked more by those who like it than was the case in the past.
Now you grew up in an era where it was considered shameful to be gay, and that is no longer the prevailing view, I would say.
Oh, really?
You don’t… well? I guess the jury’s out.
Nobody told me.
It’s certainly not as prevailing as it was. Would you go that far with me?
Sure.
Do you think if that attitude had been current in your life it would have changed your work?
I’ve never been sure how that would’ve worked. There’s a school of criticism who says that my poetry is so tortuous and obscure because I’ve been trying to cover up the fact of my sexuality all these years. And I think that’s an interesting possibility and there may indeed be some truth in it. But I’m not quite sure how much and whether that’s the generating force in my poetry. I think I would’ve been attracted to this kind of poetry anyway.
Do you currently make a living off your poetry?
Heavens, no. I mean, gosh, no. Sucks, no. No, not at all. I’ve made a living teaching, which I’m now retired, that’s one thing poets can do and many of them do to survive.
If you could swap places and you could, instead of being America’s most important living poet, you could be America’s most important living something else, what would you like it to be?
I don’t think I’d wanna be anything else. I think I, I’d rather stick with poetry.
Mr Ashbry, thanks very much.
Thank you.
KEY:
1T 2F 3F 4F 5T 6F 7T
lunes, 31 de agosto de 2015
Listening test: Interview with Donna Leon
In this week's listening test we are going to listen to seven excerpts of a BBC interview with American crime writer Donna Leon. Listen and match each of the headings A to I with its corresponding extract. There are two headings you do not need to use.
A - Attitude to life
B - Describing a hero
C - Family life
D - Not in control of everything
E – Discussing a project
F - The story of a failure
G - True character
H - Two jobs
I - What a town is like
1
… is a Venitian, Venitian, Venitian whose, I’d like to think, intelligent, articulate, humorous, well-educated, well- read in the classics, whose job it is to investigate crimes of some importance that are committed in these books supposedly in Venice but crimes like these seldom happen in Venice.
2
He’s married to a nice, intelligent woman. He has two decent kids. He lives well. He eats well. His wife is a university professor. They talk about books, they talk about literature, they talk about art, they talk about painting, not because these are snobbish people but because this is what people at that level of education talk about, I think.
3
I think that cynical is too strong a word. I really do. I think that they are resigned and accept, because Italians are very good at this, they’re resigned to accept human nature as it is. They have no illusions about human nature or human society or human politics, so they are distressed to find that things don’t work, but things don’t work.
4
I still believe that the bulk of the Italians that I’ve, I know that the bulk of the Italians I chat with are decent, hard-working people and I believe that that is true of most of the people in the country, but I believe that Pollyana-like of most people. I think most people are basically good, otherwise we wouldn’t, we wouldn’t be able to wake up every morning safely in our beds. I think that Italians just don’t have illusions about human behaviour, and they don’t attempt to perpetuate them.
5
I think, what I provide, I like to think what I provide is a view of Venice that is not romanticized, that is not transmuted into some Disneyland idea of the magic fairy city, the beauty, beauty, beauty place. Venice is a small provincial town where people gossip, they gossip about people’s grandfathers, they gossip about people’s fathers. Everybody knows everybody. There are no secrets. It’s really a small town, 58,000 people, that is disguised as a cultural hub and a sophisticated modern city. It’s none of those things.
6
It’s probably easier to write a detective novel because you just sit in your desk and you go on until it’s done. But with an opera first you have to decide which one. Then you have to figure out who to sing the different parts, and then who to play in the orchestra and then you have to find out who of them is free. Then you have to find the place to record, you have to find the recording company, and then you have to find places that will agree to take it as a concert because in order for any opera recording today to be made it must be able to defray some of the cost by a concert tour which will get back some of the money spent for the recording.
7
I had lunch with people from the BBC yesterday. We’ve been talking with increasing agreement for the last couple of years and I’m reasonably optimistic that this will happen in the next couple of years, that the BBC will produce them, and I’m very enthusiastic about that.
Key:
1B 2C 3A 4G 5I 6H 7E
A - Attitude to life
B - Describing a hero
C - Family life
D - Not in control of everything
E – Discussing a project
F - The story of a failure
G - True character
H - Two jobs
I - What a town is like
1
… is a Venitian, Venitian, Venitian whose, I’d like to think, intelligent, articulate, humorous, well-educated, well- read in the classics, whose job it is to investigate crimes of some importance that are committed in these books supposedly in Venice but crimes like these seldom happen in Venice.
2
He’s married to a nice, intelligent woman. He has two decent kids. He lives well. He eats well. His wife is a university professor. They talk about books, they talk about literature, they talk about art, they talk about painting, not because these are snobbish people but because this is what people at that level of education talk about, I think.
3
I think that cynical is too strong a word. I really do. I think that they are resigned and accept, because Italians are very good at this, they’re resigned to accept human nature as it is. They have no illusions about human nature or human society or human politics, so they are distressed to find that things don’t work, but things don’t work.
4
I still believe that the bulk of the Italians that I’ve, I know that the bulk of the Italians I chat with are decent, hard-working people and I believe that that is true of most of the people in the country, but I believe that Pollyana-like of most people. I think most people are basically good, otherwise we wouldn’t, we wouldn’t be able to wake up every morning safely in our beds. I think that Italians just don’t have illusions about human behaviour, and they don’t attempt to perpetuate them.
5
I think, what I provide, I like to think what I provide is a view of Venice that is not romanticized, that is not transmuted into some Disneyland idea of the magic fairy city, the beauty, beauty, beauty place. Venice is a small provincial town where people gossip, they gossip about people’s grandfathers, they gossip about people’s fathers. Everybody knows everybody. There are no secrets. It’s really a small town, 58,000 people, that is disguised as a cultural hub and a sophisticated modern city. It’s none of those things.
6
It’s probably easier to write a detective novel because you just sit in your desk and you go on until it’s done. But with an opera first you have to decide which one. Then you have to figure out who to sing the different parts, and then who to play in the orchestra and then you have to find out who of them is free. Then you have to find the place to record, you have to find the recording company, and then you have to find places that will agree to take it as a concert because in order for any opera recording today to be made it must be able to defray some of the cost by a concert tour which will get back some of the money spent for the recording.
7
I had lunch with people from the BBC yesterday. We’ve been talking with increasing agreement for the last couple of years and I’m reasonably optimistic that this will happen in the next couple of years, that the BBC will produce them, and I’m very enthusiastic about that.
Key:
1B 2C 3A 4G 5I 6H 7E
lunes, 16 de septiembre de 2013
Jane Austen to appear on Bank of England notes
Chris Salmon, the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England, talks about a new note with the picture of Jane Austen, its design and when it will come into circulation.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video clip and answer the questions below.
The activity is suitable for intermediate students.
1 Why has Jane Austen been chosen to appear on a new note?
2 What can you see on the right-hand side?
3 What does '1817' refer to?
4 What are we commemorating this year?
5 About the quote, who was reading a book and who said the quote?
6 What is Elizabeth Bennet doing in the image in the background?
7 Who owned Godmersham Park?
8 What information is given about Winston Churchill?
9 What is said about a publicity campaign?
To check the answers you can read the transcript below.
The Bank of England has confirmed that Jane Austen will appear on a forthcoming Bank of England banknote: the next new character to follow Sir Winston Churchill. Chris Allen, executive director of banking services and chief cashier is here to tell us more. Chris, thank you for joining me.
Thank you.
First, can you give us some background on why Jane Austen was chosen?
Well, as you know we are very fortunate to be able to use our bank notes to celebrate the contribution of eminent figures of our past, to give people the chance to remember and enjoy their contribution to our lives. Austen is undoubtedly one of the most popular and widely read authors in the English language. People come to her novels for the books, for the serializations, for the films. Many people enjoy and love and know her work. Moreover, from the more literary perspective, many critics emphasize the importance of her novels in the development of the British writing tradition.
The Bank has released the concept image of what the reverse of Jane Austen note will look like. Can you talk us through to the design and explain the significance of each of the features?
So as you noted, the concept contains a number of different elements. Most obviously, on the right-hand side is the image of Jane Austen herself. The other elements are drawn from her books, which is how we relate to Jane Austen today, but also we believe captured aspects which has been important to Jane Austen during her life.
First and most important is the image of Austen herself. It’s from an 1817 memoir published by James Edward Austen Leigh, her nephew, and it was on the frontispiece of that book. The illustration itself is by James Andrews and was based on an original sketch of Jane Austen that her sister herself Cassandra Austen drew.
The next two elements I want to emphasize are both taken from Pride and Prejudice. This year, of course, is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice and it is the book that Austen herself described as her own darling child. The first element is the quote ‘I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!’ Now actually if you read the book it was said with a degree of irony by Miss Bingley when she was seeking to catch the attention of Darcy and failing, and he was reading a book. But, of course, this is the impression that many of us feel when we are reading a work by Jane Austen herself.
The second element drawn from Pride and Prejudice is the image in the background of Elizabeth Bennet undertaking an examination of all the letters which Jane had written to her, from the drawing by Isabel Bishop that illustrated a 1976 edition of Pride and Prejudice.
The final element that I want to mention is the house itself, which is of Godmersham Park, a house which was owned by Austen’s brother, Edward Austen Knight, and which she visited often and it’s believed to be the inspiration of a number of her novels.
When will the Jane Austen note be issued into circulation?
So as you know, we announced early this year that Sir Winston Churchill will appear on the next bank note to be issued, currently the plan is that he will appear on the five-pound note, the plan is that Austen will then appear on a ten-pound design and we have a strong intention that the two new notes will be issued within around a year of each other. Currently we are planning for Churchill in 2016, which will imply Jane Austen will be issued in 2017.
When will the public find out more information about the Jane Austen note?
So when we get to the point that we are ready to issue the Austen note, we’ll gradually withdraw the current Darwin design, we will run a very energetic publicity campaign to make sure everyone is aware that that is happening and to educate the public about the new security features that we’ll introduce along with the Austen design. But the correct time to do that is when we issue the new note, in a few years time.
Thank you very much, Chris Allen.
Thank you.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video clip and answer the questions below.
The activity is suitable for intermediate students.
1 Why has Jane Austen been chosen to appear on a new note?
2 What can you see on the right-hand side?
3 What does '1817' refer to?
4 What are we commemorating this year?
5 About the quote, who was reading a book and who said the quote?
6 What is Elizabeth Bennet doing in the image in the background?
7 Who owned Godmersham Park?
8 What information is given about Winston Churchill?
9 What is said about a publicity campaign?
To check the answers you can read the transcript below.
The Bank of England has confirmed that Jane Austen will appear on a forthcoming Bank of England banknote: the next new character to follow Sir Winston Churchill. Chris Allen, executive director of banking services and chief cashier is here to tell us more. Chris, thank you for joining me.
Thank you.
First, can you give us some background on why Jane Austen was chosen?
Well, as you know we are very fortunate to be able to use our bank notes to celebrate the contribution of eminent figures of our past, to give people the chance to remember and enjoy their contribution to our lives. Austen is undoubtedly one of the most popular and widely read authors in the English language. People come to her novels for the books, for the serializations, for the films. Many people enjoy and love and know her work. Moreover, from the more literary perspective, many critics emphasize the importance of her novels in the development of the British writing tradition.
The Bank has released the concept image of what the reverse of Jane Austen note will look like. Can you talk us through to the design and explain the significance of each of the features?
So as you noted, the concept contains a number of different elements. Most obviously, on the right-hand side is the image of Jane Austen herself. The other elements are drawn from her books, which is how we relate to Jane Austen today, but also we believe captured aspects which has been important to Jane Austen during her life.
First and most important is the image of Austen herself. It’s from an 1817 memoir published by James Edward Austen Leigh, her nephew, and it was on the frontispiece of that book. The illustration itself is by James Andrews and was based on an original sketch of Jane Austen that her sister herself Cassandra Austen drew.
The next two elements I want to emphasize are both taken from Pride and Prejudice. This year, of course, is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice and it is the book that Austen herself described as her own darling child. The first element is the quote ‘I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!’ Now actually if you read the book it was said with a degree of irony by Miss Bingley when she was seeking to catch the attention of Darcy and failing, and he was reading a book. But, of course, this is the impression that many of us feel when we are reading a work by Jane Austen herself.
The second element drawn from Pride and Prejudice is the image in the background of Elizabeth Bennet undertaking an examination of all the letters which Jane had written to her, from the drawing by Isabel Bishop that illustrated a 1976 edition of Pride and Prejudice.
The final element that I want to mention is the house itself, which is of Godmersham Park, a house which was owned by Austen’s brother, Edward Austen Knight, and which she visited often and it’s believed to be the inspiration of a number of her novels.
When will the Jane Austen note be issued into circulation?
So as you know, we announced early this year that Sir Winston Churchill will appear on the next bank note to be issued, currently the plan is that he will appear on the five-pound note, the plan is that Austen will then appear on a ten-pound design and we have a strong intention that the two new notes will be issued within around a year of each other. Currently we are planning for Churchill in 2016, which will imply Jane Austen will be issued in 2017.
When will the public find out more information about the Jane Austen note?
So when we get to the point that we are ready to issue the Austen note, we’ll gradually withdraw the current Darwin design, we will run a very energetic publicity campaign to make sure everyone is aware that that is happening and to educate the public about the new security features that we’ll introduce along with the Austen design. But the correct time to do that is when we issue the new note, in a few years time.
Thank you very much, Chris Allen.
Thank you.
sábado, 10 de agosto de 2013
Best books for language learners
International House is celebrating its 60th anniversary and they have had the great idea of inviting top names in the English Teaching world to give learners tips on ways they can improve their English.
In today's video, Tim Brombley, Jeremy Harmer, Scott Thornbury, Alastair Grant and Nicky Hockley express their opinion about their favourite books for learners of languages.
In early July we also published a similar International House video under the title Best TV Shows for English Learners.
In today's video, Tim Brombley, Jeremy Harmer, Scott Thornbury, Alastair Grant and Nicky Hockley express their opinion about their favourite books for learners of languages.
In early July we also published a similar International House video under the title Best TV Shows for English Learners.
domingo, 9 de septiembre de 2012
Remembering Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal, the American writer, died on 31 July this year. He belonged in the generation of Norman Mailer and JD Salinger and was known for his novels, essays and media appearances, always showing an interest for social and historical topics, and the identity of America.
This nine-minute video clip from PBS looks back on his life and his achievements.
You can read a full transcript here.
This nine-minute video clip from PBS looks back on his life and his achievements.
Watch Gore Vidal Raised the Dust of the Nation in His Writing on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.
You can read a full transcript here.
viernes, 27 de abril de 2012
JK Rowling
Watch this short Biography Channel video clip about bestselling writer JK Rowling and answer the questions below.
3 What illness did her mum die of?
4 What did she use initials in her first Harry Potter book?
5 How did she manage to continue writing?
6 What did the series fourth installment become?
7 How many legal disputes are mentioned?
8 How many copies were sold of the sixth installment in 24 hours?
1 When was JK Rowling born?
2 What happened in 1987?3 What illness did her mum die of?
4 What did she use initials in her first Harry Potter book?
5 How did she manage to continue writing?
6 What did the series fourth installment become?
7 How many legal disputes are mentioned?
8 How many copies were sold of the sixth installment in 24 hours?
Key:
1) July 31, 1965 - 2) she graduated - 3) multiple sclerosis - 4) to attract more male readers - 5) through a grant [from a Scottish arts council] - 6 the fastest selling book in the history of publishing - 7) two, a claim that the books were based on a 1984 series and a parent school who wanted the books banned from school libraries - 8) 6.9 million copies
jueves, 12 de abril de 2012
The Life of Charles Dickens
In mid-February we posted a number of resources on Charles Dickens to commemorate his 200th anniversary. These resources included the BBC video The Life of Charles Dickens.
Chance has it that I have stumbled upon some online activities around this video created by English Exercises.
The activities include a fill-in the blanks listening activity, two vocabulary activities, and a general comprehension activity. A transcript of the video is also provided.
If you are Básico 2 or Intermediate 1 student, click on this link to be redirected to English Exercises and do the above-mentioned activities on The Life of Charles Dickens.
Along these lines Oxford University Press also published in their February newsletter a number of online resources on Charles Dickens, which I list below.
Charles Dickens Gad's Hill Place
The Literature Network
Victorian Web - Web. Date viewed
BBC - Follow this link to complete a 'Get to know your favourite writers!' activity
Oxford Bibliographies
BRITAIN EXPRESS - Copyright David Ross and Britain Express.
British Council Literature
Dickens Book Club on Twitter and Facebook - Content available until June 2012
Dickens 2012
Chance has it that I have stumbled upon some online activities around this video created by English Exercises.
The activities include a fill-in the blanks listening activity, two vocabulary activities, and a general comprehension activity. A transcript of the video is also provided.
If you are Básico 2 or Intermediate 1 student, click on this link to be redirected to English Exercises and do the above-mentioned activities on The Life of Charles Dickens.
Along these lines Oxford University Press also published in their February newsletter a number of online resources on Charles Dickens, which I list below.
Charles Dickens Gad's Hill Place
The Literature Network
Victorian Web - Web. Date viewed
BBC - Follow this link to complete a 'Get to know your favourite writers!' activity
Oxford Bibliographies
BRITAIN EXPRESS - Copyright David Ross and Britain Express.
British Council Literature
Dickens Book Club on Twitter and Facebook - Content available until June 2012
Dickens 2012
jueves, 29 de diciembre de 2011
Garfunkel's poem for Simon's 70th birthday
Art Garfunkel, the musician, has performed the poem he wrote for Simon, his long-time collaborator. He read it on Radio 4, where you can listen to it.
When I said: "You'll outlast me, you live more carefully."
He said: "Write out what you want to."
Ok, it's hard to say I knew him well,
He was enigmatic to himself.
Which of us was more aware?
Which the elder?
I was born November fifth.
He on October 13th - a few weeks premature, you following me?
He was born three weeks before me, my dear,
But he was a premature baby.
Were we both conceived at the same instant?
February 5th 1941, the dead middle of winter,
In the heart of World War Two
Was I born at the right time?
For 70 years his arm has been around my shoulder,
He's dazzled me with gifts.
I nurtured him in his youth.
He brought me into prominence.
I taught him to sing.
He connected my voice to the world.
I made him tall.
All of our personal belongings are intertwined.
We say it's exhausting to compete,
But we shine for each other.
It's still our favourite game.
It goes on, this embrace, whether I speak for him or he for me:
Love ruled our lives.
It rules the mourners,
And the winter of longevity.
When I said: "You'll outlast me, you live more carefully."
He said: "Write out what you want to."
Ok, it's hard to say I knew him well,
He was enigmatic to himself.
Which of us was more aware?
Which the elder?
I was born November fifth.
He on October 13th - a few weeks premature, you following me?
He was born three weeks before me, my dear,
But he was a premature baby.
Were we both conceived at the same instant?
February 5th 1941, the dead middle of winter,
In the heart of World War Two
Was I born at the right time?
For 70 years his arm has been around my shoulder,
He's dazzled me with gifts.
I nurtured him in his youth.
He brought me into prominence.
I taught him to sing.
He connected my voice to the world.
I made him tall.
All of our personal belongings are intertwined.
We say it's exhausting to compete,
But we shine for each other.
It's still our favourite game.
It goes on, this embrace, whether I speak for him or he for me:
Love ruled our lives.
It rules the mourners,
And the winter of longevity.
domingo, 30 de octubre de 2011
Charles Dickens's characters in pictures
Opening a year-long celebration marking the bicentenary of Charles Dickens's birth, The Guardian has compiled a guide in words and pictures to some of the most vivid personalities in literature, from Miss Havisham to Mr Micawber, the Artful Dodger to Little Nell.
Click on the picture below to see the full guide and read some short descriptions Dickens wrote about these characters.
Click on the picture below to see the full guide and read some short descriptions Dickens wrote about these characters.
viernes, 1 de abril de 2011
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
The Virtual Globe is a walk back in time to Shakespeare's times, where we can read about life in England in the XVIth century and the way customs and laws affected literary creatitivy and the works of writers like William Shakespeare.
The Virtual Globe is part of Converse, a British site devoted to creating online materials to deepen and broaden 11-to-19-year-old English students' experience of literature.
The Virtual Globe is part of Converse, a British site devoted to creating online materials to deepen and broaden 11-to-19-year-old English students' experience of literature.
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