TEXT FAME AND FORTUNE
.docx1. Work with the article. Follow the tasks below.
Task 1 Read Part A of the article and complete the gaps (a) – e) by choosing the best option. Account for your choice.
A
Back in the twentieth century there was a British punk rock song that repeated over and over again the (a) claim that there were "no more heroes anymore". Calmer critics and social commentators have agreed that the age of the hero is over. In the past, people had heroes. They were the most (b) prominent figures in the public consciousness - people who had achieved great things, people who had done great deeds - proud, noble leaders and (c) bold pioneers. The myth of the hero, though, could not survive when public life came to be dominated by the mass media. The mass media (d) killed off the heroes and replaced them with celebrities. To become a celebrity what matters is not so much the greatness of what you have done but the (e) exposure you are given in the media.
a) 1) statement (утверждение) 2) suggestion (предположение) 3) claim (заявление) 4) assumption (обвинение) 5) belief (уверение)
b) 1) famous (известный) 2) well-known (общеизвестный, всеми узнаваемый) 3) notorious (нашумевший, пользующийся дурной славой) 4) prominent (заметный, важный, значимый) 5) loved (любимый)
c) 1) bald (лысый) 2) bold (наглый, смелый, отважный) 3) enthusiastic (восторженный, энергичный) 4) insane (сумасшедший) 5) determined (уверенный, твердо стоящий на)
d) 1) destroyed (уничтожить) 2) ruined (разрушить) 3) damaged (нанести ущерб) 4) killed off (стереть с лица земли, истребить) 5) smashed (разгромить, раздробить, разбить вдребезги)
e) 1) imposture (обман, жульничество, надувательство) 2) disclosure (раскрытие, разоблачение, разглашение) 3) exposure (воздействие, подвергание) 4) pressure (давление) 5) treasure (сокровище, богатство, достояние)
Task 2 Read Part B of the article and match the underlined words with their definitions below. Give Russian equivalents. There are two extra options.
B
The mass media are not solely responsible for the death of the hero. A democratic culture also undermines (подрывать, сводить на нет, разрушать понятие, идею - to make smth gradually weaker, less effective) the idea that certain individuals carry a divine spark and are therefore in a category superior to that of the rest of us. No one deserves to be worshipped and there is revulsion (отвращение - (formal) a strong feeling of disgust or horror) at the idea of bending the knee and kissing the hand of another individual. The critical gaze of the psychologist and sociologist has also entered public consciousness, adding to the forces tearing down (сносить - to destroy; to break into pieces) the statues of the past. The drives of a great individual are seen to have their roots in an unhappy youth, an obsession with his mother or being spurned (отвергать с презрением - to reject or refuse smb/smth, especially in a proud way) by a lover; and his great ambition is said to stem from (происходить - to be the result of smth) an early inability to simply hang out (проводить время с кем-то, тусоваться - to spend a lot of time in a place) with the boys and have a good time. The achievements remain but the man himself emerges from (появляться из - to appear or become known) the analysis without a shred of (капля, толика - a very small amount of smth) nobility.
Task 3 Rearrange the sentences (1) – 5) of Part C in the correct order. Explain the meaning of the underlined words and expressions. Give Russian equivalents.
C
3. Having killed the hero we have replaced him with a distinctively modern public figure: the celebrity. (a modern version of a hero, star – современный общественный деятель)
2. As one commentator put it ‘the celebrity is a person who is known for being well-known’. Как сказал один комментатор: знаменитость — это человек, который известен тем, что известен.
5. Any exposure in the media helps to increase someone's status as a celebrity.
Любая подвергание огласке в СМИ помогает повысить статус человека как знаменитости.
1. Celebrities offer exclusive stories to increase their exposure (to get noticed in the media, appear frequently), the media promote them to increase their ratings, and we collude (To act together, often in secret, to achieve an illegal or improper purpose – to be to blame, to tribute to it) by paying so much attention to the glossy (eye-catching but shallow) features, the exclusive interviews, and the various scandals and intrigues. (Знаменитости предлагают эксклюзивные истории, чтобы увеличить их воздействие, средства массовой информации поощряют их повышать свои рейтинги, и мы вступаем в сговор, уделяя так много внимания глянцевым функциям, эксклюзивным интервью и различным скандалам, и интригам.)
4. They have no reason to object to invasions of their private lives because this just keeps their names on everyone's lips, which is all that really matters. (to be in the public town, to be the talk of the town, to be under the public microscope, to make a lot of people talk about them - у всех на слуху)
Task 4 Read Part D of the article and reconstruct the exact words in bold type, rearranging the letters. For points (1) – 6) choose the best synonym (a) – d).
D
To become a celebrity, it is more important to have a good press agent than it is to be a big achiever, which is one of the reasons why figures from the worlds of (1) light entertainment and sports are some of the most successful celebrities. It is in these fields that being (2) a household name is the key to clinching the next big contract and the next (3) lucrative advertising deal. With (4) cleverly crafted media events in which managers (5) collaborate with magazine editors and programme directors it is possible to give these figures a level of exposure which is out of all proportion to their (6) actual achievements.
1) light c) not serious
2) a household name c) a well-known name
3) lucrative d) profitable
4) cleverly crafted c) skillfully managed
5) collaborate with c) work with
6) actual a) real
é
Task 5 Read Part E of the article and find the words defined below. Quote the context these words are used in. Come up with their Russian equivalents.
For many people, the heroes of the past were an inspiration; they broadened (расширять кругозор, осведомлять о чём-либо) our horizons by giving us an example of a course of action (линия поведения) that could be considered noble. Celebrities, on the other hand, with the string (вереница, куча, череда, ряд) of stories about their hardships and their lucky breaks (счастливый случай), their affairs (интрижка) and their break-ups (расставание), prove to be nothing out of the ordinary (исключительный, необычный, особенный, незаурядный). Reading about their lives does not inspire us or fill us with purpose. If it isn't just an idle diversion (праздное развлечение, отвлечение) - a way of killing time - it may well help us to resign ourselves to our own sense of purposelessness. It may be fun, but perhaps something that helped to raise the tone of (поднять тонус, сделать более комфортным) public life has been lost.
to increase people’s experience and knowledge is to broaden one’s horizons;
a way of acting in or dealing with a particular situation is a course of action;
a series of things joined together is a string of;
to accept something unpleasant that cannot be changed or avoided is to resign oneself to smth;
(inf) an opportunity to do smth, to achieve success is a lucky break;
the ending of a relationship is a break-up;
a relationship between two people, usually when one or both of them are married to somebody else is affair;
unusual, different from anyone else’s is out of the ordinary;
an action done for pleasure, to take your attention away from something else is an idle diversion;
to create a better or warmer atmosphere of something is to raise the tone of.