A. Say whether you think the following statements are true (T) or false (F)?

1. Cobain always hoped to become an international music star.

2. Nevermind sold more copies than Nirvana’s other albums.

3. Cobain formed Nirvana when he, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl were 25 years old.

4. Courtney Love is not interested in music.

B. Fill the gaps below to complete the crossword and reveal the three words that make up the title of one of Nirvana’s most famous songs

 

1. Kurt Cobain’s relationship with Courtney Love was not an ____________ one.

2. As a teenager, Cobain hated ____________.

3. Cobain ____________ Nirvana’s songs.

4. Nevermind was the ____________ Nirvana produced in 1991.

5. Millions of ____________ loved Nirvana’s music.

6. There was a lot of ____________ in grunge music.

7. ____________ were a serious problem in Cobain’s life.

8. Not many people would say grunge was cheerful music, but it was ____________.

9. Dave Grohl played the ____________.

10. Cobain’s daughter has an ____________ second name.

 

Lesson 19.

SPEAKING

1. Where is rap from?

2. When did it first appear?

3. Can you name two famous rappers or rap groups?

READING

Read the text and check your answers.

Rap music began in the 1970s in a poor black neighbourhood of New York called the Bronx. Rap was transmitted quickly from one urban area to another. People heard disc jockeys or DJs in clubs playing mixes of different music rhythms with a strong beat and they liked dancing to it. The words are not as important as the beat. Perhaps this can explain why young people like some rap songs even if they can’t understand the words and although they have violent and racist words. Disc jockeys made cassette recordings and gave them to their friends. This is how rap music was transmitted. At first there were no record companies and you couldn’t buy rap music in shops. Now it is million-dollar business.

In the beginning, there were no women rappers. When rap music first became popular, rappers were not kind to women in their lyrics. Rap record producers did not want to promote women rappers. The first successful female rap group Salt’n’Pepa made an album called “Hot, Cold and Vicious”. It sold over one million copies. Salt’n’Pepa had words in their songs that said that women should be independent from men. Queen Latifah, another female rapper, said that women should be optimistic and have pride in themselves. Women liked this and bought a lot of records.

Choose the correct answer according to the text.

a) Rap music began in a poor black neighbourhood of New York/of the Bronx.

b) Nobody/Lots ofpeople liked to dance to rap music.

c) At first you could/couldn’t buy rap music in shops.

d) Today, the rap music business is going badly/is a success.

Answer the questions with your partner.

a) What is a DJ?

b) In rap music, what is more important, the words or the beat?

c) Do you like rap songs if they have violent or racist words?

Match the sentences halves.

a) The first successful female rap group, Salt’n’Pepa	1) bought a lot of records.
b) Salt’n’Pepa had lyrics	2) should be optimistic and have pride in themselves.
c) Queen Latifah said that women	3) made an album called “Hot, Cold and Vicious”.
d) Women liked this and	4) that said that women should be independent.

 

3. Vocabulary: Music

Match the pictures with the people.

 

 

o Shakira o Justin Timberlake o Black Eyes Peas o Usher o Britney Spears	o U2 o Nelly Furtado o Keane o Eminem o Madonna	A.     B.
E. F.	C.   D.
G. H. I.

Music quiz

a) Who sang “I’m like a bird”? 1. Avril Lavigne 2. Nelly Furtado 3. Madonna b) What nationality is Madonna? 1. Italian 2. American 3. British c) In which group Robbie Williams sing before going solo? 1. ’N Sync 2. Backstreet Boys 3. Take That d) When did Kurt Cobain die? 1. 1995 2. 1989 3. 1994

e) What musical instruments does Carlos Santana play? 1. the guitar 2. the piano 3. the clarinet f) Where was Ricky Martin born? 1. Mexico 2. Puerto Rico 3. Spain g) Who formed “Spice Girls”? 1. Nelly Furtado, Britney Spears, Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown 2. Melanie Chisholm, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Britney Spears, Victoria Beckham 3. Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell

5. READING

Read the textBeyoncé

Although not yet 30 years old, Beyoncé Knowles, usually known just as Beyoncé, is already one of the most successful female singers in the history of pop music. She is probably the biggest name in R&B (‘R’n’B’ – a style of music that is a mixture of soul, dance and hip-hop) and one of the richest people in the music industry – according to Forbes magazine she earned about $90 million between June 2008 and June 2009.

Born on September 4th 1981 in the city of Houston in the United States, Beyoncé showed from a very young age that she might grow up to be a star. She started dance classes when she was still very small and, although usually quite a shy child, she discovered she loved singing on stage in front of an audience when she did it for the first time in a school show.

By the age of eight she was already singing in talent shows on US television, and when she was nine, in 1990, she became part of a singing group called Girl’s Tyme with five other young girls. They later changed their name to Destiny’s Child and had their first big hit in 1997, when Beyoncé was sixteen. By the end of the 1990s they had become the biggest-selling all-female pop group of all time.

Beyoncé’s voice was always one of the most important reasons for the success of Destiny’s Child, so few people were surprised when she also started a solo career. When her first solo album, Dangerously in Love, came out in 2003 it sold more than 300,000 copies in the US in its first week (and has since sold a total of more than six million worldwide). The album included a song called Crazy in Love that was played over and over again by radio stations, on MTV, and also as a mobile phone ringtone – many millions of people got to know the tune, even if they didn’t like R&B music!

Crazy in Love also includes the voice of famous American rapper Jay-Z, and many people started wondering whether Beyoncé and he were dating. Neither of them said much about their relationship, but eventually it became clear they were together. They got married in New York in April 2008.

In the last few years Beyoncé has also become an actress, starring in various Hollywood films. The most recent is a thriller called Obsessed.

She is currently in the middle of long tour, playing sold-out shows all around the world. Like those Crazy in Love ringtones in 2003, her huge success just goes on and on.

Complete the crossword below. If all the words are correct, the title of one of Beyoncé’s biggest hits from her latest album will read from top to bottom.

1. Beyoncé and Jay-Z got ___________ in 2008.

2. Destiny’s Child were a group of ___________ singers.

3. Crazy in Love was a huge ___________.

4. Beyoncé is currently on a ___________ tour.

5. The ___________ of Crazy in Love is very well known.

6. Beyoncé ___________ a huge amount of money.

7. R&B is a ___________ of music.

8. Beyoncé first ___________ on stage in a school show.

9. Dangerously in Love was Beyoncé’s first ___________ in her solo career.

10. Beyoncé has a great ___________.

11. Destiny’s Child became the biggest-selling all-female pop group in the

___________ of pop music.

Lesson 20.

READING

Read the text:

The Artist’s Sketchbook

Artists often keep track of their ideas by sketching images from their daily lives. These sketches of patterns and details provide inspiration for future paintings. Later, in their studios, artists craft their sketches into finished works on canvas. Such drawings are known as the artist’s studies. They are visual diary entries—a journal of the artist’s everyday impressions.

Artists do not usually intend their studies to be put on exhibition or offered for sale. The studies of some well-known painters however have become as famous and highly valued as the final masterpieces.

When the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh spent time in a French hospital, he spent hours in the hospital garden. There, he especially admired a plot of spring flowers in a sunny corner. He set up his easel and prepared a palette with paints in shades of purple, gold, and greens. Van Gogh painted Irises as a study on which to base a future canvas. Although he did not consider the work a finished painting, Irise s has become a treasured masterpiece.

WORD SEARCH

 

1. What nine-letter verb from the reading

means “making a simple, rough drawing

of something”? s ________________________

2. What eleven-letter plural noun from

the reading means “effects produced on

the mind”? i ________________________

3. What eight-letter plural noun from the

reading means “shapes and figures that

form a design”? p________________________

SCRAMBLED WORDS