America

There are thousands of Spanish place names in America. a Match the name to its meaning. b Find the places on a map.

Colorado arida zona, dry zone Las Vegas land full of flowers Montana mountain Rio Grande snow-capped peak Arizona red-colored Puerto Rico rich port San Francisco the pass Florida the meadows Los Angeles the angels Nevada Saint Francis El Paso big river

LEONARD BERNSTEIN AND STEPHEN SONDHEIM America

This song is from West Side Story, a musical set in New York City. It is about a conflict between two street gangs, the Polish American Jets, and the Sharks, from Puerto Rico. The Sharks sing “America”. The song shows both sides of the immigrant experience, positive and negative. Anita and the other girls love life in America, but Rosalia remembers Puerto Rico as a wonderful place and longs to return.

West Side Story is a modern version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The musical first opened on Broadway in New York in 1957, and in London’s West End in 1958. It is still performed around the world today. Leonard Bernstein wrote the music and Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics. In 1961, the musical was adapted into a film with the same name. It won 10 Academy Awards that year, including Best Picture. A remake of West Side Story directed by Steven Speilberg was released in 2021.

port havn meadow eng Polish American polsk-amerikansk experience opplevelse lyrics teksten breezes bris pineapples ananas blossoms blomster diseases sykdommer hurricanes orkaner population befolkning money owing skylde penger bullets kuler fee avgift bloom blomstre wire-spoke wheel bilhjul med eiker Buick bilmerke current strøm shore strand knobs dørhåndtak get gone komme deg avgårde give big cheer her: ta imot oss med hurrarop

Vurderingseksemplar

From the film West Side Story (2021). The island of Puerto Rico is a US territory in the Vurderingseksemplar Caribbean. Most Puerto Ricans speak Spanish. The capital city is San Juan. Spanish-speaking people in North and South America are often called Hispanics or Latinos.

ROSALIA Puerto Rico, You lovely island Island of tropical breezes. Always the pineapples growing, Always the coffee blossoms blowing

ANITA Puerto Rico ... You ugly island ... Island of tropical diseases. Always the hurricanes blowing, Always the population growing ... And the money owing, And the babies crying, And the bullets flying I like the island Manhattan. Smoke on your pipe and put that in!

OTHERS I like to be in America! OK by me in America! Everything free in America For a small fee in America!

ROSALIA I like the city of San Juan. ANITA I know a boat you can get on. Bye bye! ROSALIA Hundreds of flowers in full bloom. ANITA Hundreds of people in each room! ALL Automobile in America, Chromium steel in America, Wire-spoke wheel in America, Very big deal in America ROSALIA I’ll drive a Buick through San Juan.

ANITA If there’s a road you can drive on. ROSALIA I’ll give my cousins a free ride. ANITA How you get all of them inside? ALL Immigrant goes to America. Many hellos in America; Nobody knows in America Puerto Rico’s in America! ROSALIA I’ll bring a TV to San Juan. ANITA If there a current to turn on! ROSALIA I’ll give them new washing machine. ANITA What have they got there to keep clean? ALL I like the shores of America! Comfort is yours in America! Knobs on the doors in America, Wall-to-wall floors in America! ROSALIA Vurderingseksemplar When I will go back to San Juan ANITA When you will shut up and get gone? ROSALIA Everyone there will give big cheer! ANITA Everyone there will have moved here!

“Smoke on your pipe and put that in” is an English idiom which means that you must accept something, whether you like it or not.

UNDERSTANDING

1 Which line in the song means ... a Fresh fruit grows in Puerto Rico.

Always the pineapples growing b Puerto Rico has bad tropical storms. c There is a lot of violence in Puerto Rico. d Anita likes New York City. e Rosalia prefers Puerto Rico’s capital. f The houses in Puerto Rico are crowded. g Cars are important in America. h The roads in Puerto Rico are bad. i Rosalia has a lot of cousins in Puerto Rico. j Electricity in San Juan is unstable. k People are poor and don’t have a lot of clothes. l Many Puerto Ricans have immigrated to America. VIEWPOINTS 2 Discuss the questions. a What does Rosalia miss about Puerto Rico? b What does Anita dislike about Puerto Rico? c Compare how the girls view Puerto Rico differently. Use the language of comparison while you discuss.Vurderingseksemplar d What do Anita and the others like most about America?

Language of comparison in comparison in contrast compared to different from however while but

SPEAKING SPOT

3 Find pairs of words that rhyme in the song. For example: growing, blowing. Practice saying the rhyme words with a partner.

4 Sing “America” in class. Find the Broadway version of the song on the internet for inspiration.

VOCABULARY

5 Spanish words in English With about 45 million speakers, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States after English. In fact, after Mexico, the USA has the largest number of Spanish speakers in the world. Many Spanish words are used in American English. Learn the words in the text box, then do the exercise. bodega – corner store desperado – dangerous criminal hola – hello hombre – man, dude loco – crazy nada – nothing plaza – public square pronto – quickly, immediately salsa – sauce (also a dance) siesta – nap Vurderingseksemplar

Find the missing word from the list above. a ___! How are you? b Would you like hot or mild ___ on your nachos? c Will you stop by the ___ and buy some soda? d What’s new? ___. e You look tired. I think you need a ___. f He went ___ and smashed the place up. g I expect to see you back here, ___. h There is an outdoor concert at the ___ tonight. i Hey, ___. What’s happening? j After a standoff, the police caught the ___.

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LANGUAGE LAB 6 Present continuous These lines from the song are in present continuous, but they are missing a verb. Find the missing form of to be. a pineapples are growing b coffee blossoms ___ blowing c hurricanes ___ blowing d the population ___ growing e money ___ owing f babies ___ crying LANGUAGE LAB Vurderingseksemplar g bullets ___ flying 7 Prepositions Find the missing preposition: in, of, to, over, or with. In recent years, a series ___ catastrophic category 4 and 5 hurricanes has hit the Caribbean islands. Scientists link this increase ___ climate change and predict there will be more to come. Hurricanes form ___ tropical waters in areas ___ high humidity and warm sea temperatures. As sea temperatures rise, more and stronger hurricanes form. ___ 2017 hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. It was the worst natural disaster ___ the island’s history and caused widespread destruction. Close ___ 3000 people lost their lives.

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