A Monthly Newsletter for Teachers of English

October 2009

© Pearson Longman 2009 PHOTOCOPIABLE

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horror films science-fiction (sci-fi) films

westerns

cartoons/animated films

love stories

documentaries

current affairs programmes musicals

soap operas

war films

thrillers

comedies

fantasy films

sports programmes

S

TARTING OFF

Look at the words in the box and think of examples for each kind of film or programme. Then answer the questions below
in small groups.

example:

horror films

-

Dracula

1. Which kinds of films or programmes do you like best? Why do you like them?

2. Do you like being frightened by films? What frightening films have you seen? Did you like them?

B

EFORE YOU READ

Here are some events from a story about a famous radio programme. Work with a partner. What do you think the
programme was about?

a reporter reporting

live

some weather reports

an interview with an

astronomer

calm music

a warning about the

show

panic

a strange

announcement

anger

B

EFORE YOU READ

Read the text quickly to see if you were right.

A C T I V I T I E S S H E E T

October 2009

© Pearson Longman 2009 PHOTOCOPIABLE

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S

ECOND READING

Read the text again and put the events into the right order

V

OCABULARY

1

Ten words or phrases in the text are

highlighted

. Match them to the definitions below.

1. the action of one object coming forcibly into contact
with another (NOUN)

2. suppose that something will happen, without proof
(ADJECTIVE)

3. when you lose a fight or a competition it is a…
(NOUN)

4. look keenly or with difficulty at someone or something
(VERB)

5. become less intense, violent, or severe (VERB)

6. not particularly interesting or surprising (ADJECTIVE)

7. giving the impression that something bad or
unpleasant is going to happen (ADJECTIVE)

8. when a machine or a system is stuck because it is being
used the wrong way, too heavily or too quickly
(ADJECTIVE)

9. out of control because of some very strong emotion
(sadness, fear, happiness etc.) (ADJECTIVE)

10. unexpected and inappropriate or inconvenient
(ADJECTIVE)

V

OCABULARY

2

Complete the sentences using one of the words from Vocabulary 1. You may need to change the form of the word.

1. Something was wrong but they both tried to behave like nothing ____________________ had happened.

2. There was an ____________________ silence as they waited for him to speak.

3. It‟s an ____________________ building, nothing special to look at.

4. She ____________________ carefully around the corner, not knowing what she would see.

5. He was completely ____________________ after the accident, it was impossible to talk to him.

6. The waves ____________________ as the storm moved away.

7. We lost 10 - 0. It was our worst ever ____________________.

8. The key wouldn‟t go in. The lock was completely ____________________.

9. I ____________________ you got the letter. I‟m sorry you didn‟t - I should have checked really.

10. The car hit the tree with a terrible ____________________.

A C T I V I T I E S S H E E T

October 2009

© Pearson Longman 2009 PHOTOCOPIABLE

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T

EXT COHESION

The phrases below are from the text. Read the text again and decide where the phrases should go.

1. in other words

(PARAGRAPH 1: „This strange announcement...New Jersey‟)

2. once again

(PARAGRAPH 2: „More music...far from calm‟)

3. suddenly

(PARAGRAPH 4: „Moments later...ominous silence‟)

4. of course

(PARAGRAPH 6: „The programme continued...Orson Welles‟)

5. in fact

(PARAGRAPH 7: „The radio station...began to rise’)

6. at being fooled

(PARAGRAPH 7: „The radio station...began to rise’)

S

PEAKING

Discuss the questions below in small groups.

1. Why do people enjoy being frightened by horror films and so on?

2. Do you trust what you hear or read in the media?

3. Can you think of any occasions where radio, television or newspapers have got information wrong?

4. What do you think would happen if the Earth was visited by aliens? Do you think it will ever happen?

© Pearson Longman 2009 PHOTOCOPIABLE

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No ordinary radio programme

"We know now that in the early years of the
twentieth century this world was being watched
closely by intelligences greater than man's…"

This strange announcement was followed by some

unremarkable

weather reports (from “the Government

Weather Bureau”), some music, some chat – the broadcast
continued as it always did, just an ordinary radio programme.
This programme, however, on the 30

th

of October, 1938, was

far from ordinary. There were some interesting interviews: an
astronomer speaking from an observatory described seeing
explosions on the surface of Mars, but the music continued
and nothing

untoward

seemed to be happening. Then

another astronomer -

a „Professor Pierson‟ - described a

meteorite

impact

near Princeton, in New Jersey.

More music followed. Calm music. Music for dancing. Then
the music was interrupted. This time it was a reporter, Carl
Phillips, speaking from the site of the „meteorite‟ impact. His
words were far from calm.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the most terrifying thing I
have ever witnessed. . . . Wait a minute! Someone's
crawling. Someone or . . . something. I can see

peering

out

of that black hole two luminous disks . . . are they eyes? It
might be a face…”

Moments later the panicking reporter described the
appearance of a creature which attacked and killed
the people gathered around. His last words before
his report ended and the radio fell for a moment into

ominous

silence:

“Now the whole field's caught fire. The woods . . . the
barns . . . the gas tanks of automobiles . . it's spreading
everywhere. It's coming this way. About twenty yards to my
right...

”

The programme continued, describing the terrible
invasion, and final

defeat

, of the alien creatures. It was

fiction: a dramatisation of H. G.

Wells‟ novel „War of the

Worlds‟ by the great actor and director Orson Welles.

The radio station had announced before the start of the
broadcast that what the listeners were about to hear was
not real. The warning was repeated in the middle of the
programme and at the end, but many listeners did not
hear or did not pay any attention to it. All across the
United States people panicked. Thousands called radio
and television stations, newspapers, hospitals, the
police,

the fire brigades… telephone networks were

jammed

. People were

hysterical

. Thousands jumped into

their cars and tried to escape or gathered in churches to
pray. Only hours later did the panic

subside

– and the

anger, at being fooled, begin to rise.

Perhaps, in the end, a lesson was learned. People had
always

assumed

that the media - radio, television and

newspapers - were to be trusted; that they always told
the truth. Welles‟ broadcast, possibly, taught them a
valuable lesson and the Americans who returned home
may have been angry, but may also have been a little
less naive and a little wiser for their experience.

A great actor: Orson welles

Welles has been described as the
greatest director of all time. His first full-
length film, which Welles co-wrote,
produced, directed and starred in, was
„Citizen Kane‟, still generally regarded
as one of, if not the, greatest films ever
made. His

production of „War of the

Worlds

‟ made Welles famous, if not

popular, and started his great career.