Teen_01_2012

Your English Monthly

TEEN Anno XXXIII - N. 1 - September /October 2012 - Imprimé à Taxe Réduite

B2/C1

®

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Culture and Society

Ed Sheeran

Find TEEN online (see page 2 for details)

www.elimagazines.com

Common European Framework Intermediate Advanced (B2 – C1)

Contents

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Happy Reading!

LIZ

In this issue look out for: • ‘did’ for emphasis • present perfect v. simple past • subclauses • time words and phrases • constructions with ‘ing’ • compound adjectives • the present tense • vocabulary of computer technology

Audio A subscription to the magazine allows you to download for free, in MP3 format, the audio of all the magazines in the resources section of our website www. elimagazines.com. You can do this by inserting the access code found in each issue of the magazine.

Teacher’s guide For teachers, the subscription to the magazine allows you to download for free the audio material in MP3 format, as well as the teacher’s guide for all* the magazines available in PDF format. The teacher must first register in the teachers’ resources section on our website www. elimagazines.com Access Code: 0004 7000 0010

Around The World

A Musical Trip to the Moon It’s 110 years since the first science fiction film was made! Called Le voyage dans la lune (Voyage to the Moon), it was directed by French film maker, Georges Méliès. Martin Scorsese’s recent hit Hugo honours the work of Méliès and his visionary film.

Le voyage dans la lune was made before the invention of talking movies, so it was originally accompanied by a musical score (also written by the director) and played live. This fourteen-minute film was restored in 2011 and shown with a new score recorded by French band Air. In fact, Air have released a whole album inspired by Méliès’ extraordinary film and the album cover has an iconic image taken from it: a space ship that has landed in the eye of the moon.

Do you know…?

Which music video included a number of clips from Méliès’ silent classic?

a b c d

Sing for Absolution (Muse) Radio Gaga (Queen) Tonight Tonight (Smashing Pumpkins) Sweet Sacrifice (Evanescence) The answer is on page 15.

NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS OR FOR ANY PURPOSES WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION. THE PUBLISHER IS PREPARED TO MAKE PAYMENT FOR ANY COPYRIGHT OF PHOTOGRAPHS WHERE THE SOURCE HAS BEEN IMPOSSIBLE TO TRACE. ALTHOUGH WE CHECK THE CONTENT AND SUITABILITY OF THE WEB SITES FEATURED OR REFERRED TO IN OUR MAGAZINES AT THE TIME OF GOING TO PRESS, WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CHANGES WHICH MAY HAVE OCCURRED SINCE, AS THESE WEB SITES ARE IN NO WAY ASSOCIATED WITH ELI.

ELI srl, C.P. 6, 62019 Recanati, Tel. (071) 750701, Fax (071) 977851 Direttore responsabile: Lamberto Pigini. Realizzazione testi: Liz Ferretti. Autorizzazione Trib. di Macerata N. 237 del 4 luglio 1984. Realizzazione: Realizzazione: Tecnostampa, Loreto © ELI Italy 2012

Welcome Hello everyone, and welcome to a new year with TEEN! In this action-packed issue we celebrate the fortieth birthday of email, look at the changing face of the British high street, visit cities that are going green, investigate reality TV and meet the UK’s latest singer-songwriter.

3 People James Franco 4 UK Today The Only Way is…

The Secret Life of Reality TV 6 Report Happy Birthday Email!

8 Money Money Money The Death of the High Street 10 Eco Living Cities Making A Difference 12 Culture and Society Ed Sheeran 14 Games and Activities NEW

People

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‘did’ for emphasis; simple past v. present perfect

James Franco

e

ELI srl, C.P. 6, 62019 Recanati, Tel. (071) 750701, Fax (071) 977851 Direttore responsabile: Lamberto Pigini. Realizzazione testi: Liz Ferretti. Autorizzazione Trib. di Macerata N. 237 del 4 luglio 1984. Realizzazione: Realizzazione: Tecnostampa, Loreto © ELI Italy 2012

s’

James Franco is an actor, an artist, a model and he’s also a writer and film maker.

He has appeared in a wide variety of films from indie to Hollywood, period* to modern – is there anything this man can’t do?!

Roots James Edward Franco was born in Palo Alto, California, in 1978. His mother is a poet and writer of Russian-Jewish origin, his father, of Portuguese and Swedish origin, ran a shipping agency. His paternal grandmother has written books for young adults, while his maternal grandmother runs a well-known art gallery in Cleveland, Ohio.

Art runs in the family!

He did go to university to study English, but dropped out* after only a year because he wanted to act. He studied hard and worked hard (to pay his fees*), and in 1999 he starred* in cult TV series, Freaks and Geeks.

and more commercial movies, such as Eat Pray Love or Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

The Perfectionist One of James Franco’s talents is his ability to empathise with and understand the characters he plays. He takes his job seriously. Over the last few years he’s learnt how to ride a horse, how to box and do sword fighting and has even got his pilot’s licence.

In Danny Boyle’s tense drama 127 Hours he plays a man who gets trapped in a climbing accident. It was a very demanding role. He didn’t leave the set* once during the five weeks of filming.

He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for that!

Just like James Dean In 2001 James Franco was asked to play James Dean in a biopic* of the iconic American actor. James wanted to understand the man he was playing, so he learnt to ride a motorbike and play the guitar and the bongos, and he immersed himself in books and films on James Dean. His hard work was rewarded – he was given a Golden Globe award for this performance.

His big break* came in 2002 in the blockbuster, Spiderman, where he played protagonist Tobey Maguire’s best friend. Since then he has been in a lot of films, including Sam Raimi’s sequel to Spiderman. James likes to alternate between independent films, like Milk, which he starred in with Sean Penn,

Facts About Franco • At Palo Alto High School he was voted “Student with the Best Smile”.

• Writer Jonathan Franzen has described him as the Lady Gaga of cinema.

• He is the “face” of Gucci for Men and has appeared on many lists as one of the world’s sexiest men.

• His favourite writers are Allen Ginsberg, Jonathan Safran Foer, JD Salinger, John Updike, Muriel Spark and Patrick McCarthy.

James Franco is currently working on the film of McCarthy’s third novel, Child of God, which is due for release in 2013.

Art is Life James Franco has always been interested in all aspects of art and the media. He has presented the American TV show Saturday Night, worked on US soap opera, General Hospital, and a number of sitcoms and he has directed short films and documentaries.

He’s also a visual artist. In 2011, he had his first exhibition of paintings in Los Angeles and his first European exhibition in Berlin.

“I am living the life I always dreamed of!” says James. “I live every day to the full, I have so many interests and so much energy. I invest everything I earn in art and in financing new projects and ideas.”

The Writer In 2010, he published a book of short stories called Palo Alto: stories by Franco where he tells the lives of adolsecent boys in the city he grew up in. The following year he published the Dangerous Book Four Boys, a catalogue of an exhibition he staged in Tribeca* which featured photographs, videos and sculpture. “Acting is not enough for me, I love books and I am happy anywhere as long as I can take photos or do my painting.” James has recently written a third book which is a novel.

Glossary big break: first big success biopic: biographical film dropped out: (informal) left fees: (here) money you pay to study period: (film) set in the past

set: (short for film set) place/ stage where a film is filmed starred: (film; theatre) had an important part in Tribeca: a part of Lower Manhattan

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Uk Today

vocabulary of TV

The Only Way is‌

The Secret Life of Reality TV

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Reality UK Here are some of the UK’s most talked-about reality TV shows.

• Big Brother started it all off at the beginning of the 2000s and when we got bored with that we got Celebrity Big Brother • I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here – semi-famous people live together on an island and are asked to do outrageous things • The Apprentice – young people go into business with scary businessman, Lord Alan Sugar • Masterchef – a cookery competition for non-professional cooks, which also gave us: Celebrity Masterchef, Masterchef: The Professionals and Junior Masterchef • Britain’s Got Talent, The X Factor and The Voice – competitions for non-professional singers and performers

Reality TV is a global phenomenon, across the world we love watching other people’s lives. In the UK, the channels are filled day and night with reality TV shows of all kinds. TEEN takes a look at two of the most popular, and most controversial, and asks, ‘why do we care?’

The Only Way is Essex This popular reality TV show features young people from Essex, a county to the east of London. It is affectionately known by its fans as TOWIE, an abbreviation of the show’s title, and has already run for five series, with ‘special’ episodes, like one from Marbella for example. TOWIE shows the lives and loves of a group of twenty-somethings* who love fashion, fake tan* and partying. Some work as beauticians* or models, others run small businesses, like shops or a night club.

The show has proved controversial of course, there’s plenty of bad language and bad behaviour and it’s about as fake as their fake tan – the people are ‘real’ and what they say is unscripted*, but many of the situations are created by the production company filming it.

Many Essex residents are unhappy at the stereotypical representation of Essex girls and boys as vacuous* and superficial, but as one of the members of the cast* says, “We live in Essex, we come from Essex, so that means we are Essex.”

Made in Chelsea

Odd One Out

At the other end society, Made in Chelsea follows the lives some of the most privileged young people in the country.

Developed as a rival to TOWIE, Made in Chelsea, or MiC, is set in some of the most expensive areas of West London – Chelsea, Knightsbridge and Belgravia. “In Chelsea, the truth is more fabulous than fiction,” as one of the cast says.

Which of the following is NOT a reality TV show?

The twenty-somethings in this show are heirs* and heiresses, stockbrokers* and designers and they wouldn’t dream of wearing fake tan (“I think fake tan is probably the most offensive thing in the world.” Rosie) or going to Marbella. It’s fashionable Dubai and designer gear (High-street fashion… is not allowed under any circumstances.” Mark), and the accents are posh, not Essex! It does have one thing in common with TOWIE though, many of the scenes are set up*, or, as the programme makers prefer to say ‘created for your entertainment’!

Why? At first, episodes of these shows regularly attracted audiences of over 500,000 people. The gossip columns of the tabloid press are filled with stories about TOWIE and Made in Chelsea, not to mention the thousands of tweets* and dozens of fan pages. Perhaps we love to look at the lives of people who are different from us? Like a soap opera, maybe we want to know what will happen next? But there are signs that the British public are beginning to get bored, viewing figures are starting to drop. Is fake reality more fabulous than fiction after all?

Airport: documentary about people working at Heathrow airport b Wife Swap: two women exchange lives for a month c Celebrity Rubbish Bin: Experts look through the rubbish of famous people d Secret Millionaire: Millionaires go incognito into the lives of poor people and give away money

a

Mirror Use a mirror to read what humorous US writer, Jarod Kintz, says about reality TV. EHWVTYTILAERHCTAWYHW NILBYMNEPOTSUJNACIN NIWYMFOTUOKOOLDNASD NACIYTILAEREHTLLAOTWOD ?ELDNAH Answer on page 15.

Glossary beautician: person who does beauty treatments cast: people who appear in a TV programme, play, film fake tan: cosmetic skin colour; makes it look as if you’ve been in the sun a lot heirs: (male) people who will inherit a lot of money (female = heiress) stockbrokers: agent who buys and sells investments (eg at London Stock Exchange or NASDAQ in New York) set up: (here) artificially created tweets: messages on Twitter twenty-somethings: (informal) people in their twenties unscripted: not written vacuous: unintelligent, mindless

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Report

subclauses; time words; present tense; vocabulary of computer technology

Happy Birthday

Email!

Email was invented forty years ago as one of the first ways of using the Internet.

In the four decades since then it has had a huge impact on all our lives. Let’s take a look at the world of email.

The first email was sent in late 1971 by US computer programmer, Raymond Tomlinson. He had been working on a creating a network between a small number of US universities so that people could send messages to each other electronically. We cannot be sure exactly how many emails have been sent since then, but it is in the quadrillions*!

or wifi* connection. It is the most popular application on the internet.

Checking our emails is often the first thing we do when we go online and many people have more than one email address.

At the moment there are over 3 billion active emails addresses in the world – that is one and a half email addresses for every person using the internet!

Electronic mail

Speedy Delivery

Email is the abbreviation of electronic mail. According to the Associated Press Stylebook, email should be written without a hyphen.

Email is a service most often provided for free on the internet which anyone can use to send and receive messages from their computer or, increasingly, other electronic devices like smartphones and tablets*, as long as you have an internet

Email has one major advantage over traditional printed post, it arrives almost instantaneously no matter where* you are sending it in the world. In fact, since the invention of email, printed post is often called ‘snail* mail’ in English. Email also allows you to attach electronic documents, songs, video clips and photos to your message. It is estimated that 290 billion emails are sent every day! That must mean

each of us receives 147 emails per day. On average, we throw 71 of these 147 into the trash* within the first five minutes of opening our email account, spend the next 90 minutes reading the remaining 75 emails, and discover that we are only interested in 12 of those! If you really want someone to read your email the best time to send it is at dawn. Then it won’t get mixed up with all the other emails and accidentally get put in the trash.

A Work of Art Every country has its own name for the @ symbol we use in our email addresses.

In English it is called ‘at’, in French it is ‘arobase’ and in Spanish ‘arroba’ . The symbol is used to separate the name of the person using the email from the domain name* at the end of the email address.

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!

294 billion email messages are sent every day, which makes 90 trillion per year.

These are such large numbers they are difficult to imagine!

Across the planet, during one minute 13,000 iPhone apps are downloaded, 100,000 messages (or Tweets) are posted on Twitter, 70,000 status updates are posted on Facebook and 170 million emails sent.

Email etiquette Here are a few polite rules about email.

• Always write in lower case, because capital letters are the equivalent of SHOUTING! • Don’t use characters not used in other countries, use an American keyboard.

• Try and limit the size of your emails (never more than 100 kb) excluding attachments of course.

• Use a “smiley” to show you are joking (to avoid misunderstandings!)

• Never include any personal financial information such as credit card or debit card numbers, passwords or other sensitive personal information – emails can be hacked!

• If you are sending an email to more than one recipient, make sure there isn’t anything in your email that might offend or upset one of them.

• Always respect other people’s privacy, and ask permission before using someone’s personal email address.

The @ symbol is a typographical character.

It looks like an ‘a’ with a long tail. Some countries think it looks rather like a snail – its name in Italian, Spanish and French means snail, while in Holland it is a monkey’s tail and in Finland a cat’s tail.

The Hungarians call it a little worm and in the Czech Republic it is known as ‘zavinac’ which means pickled herring*!

In 2010, New York’s museum of modern art, MOMA, added the @ symbol to its architecture and design collection, because, they said, it has become such a powerful symbol of the way we communicate today.

Spam Businesses and advertisers have been using email from the beginning. If it is a product or service you are interested in, then fine, but often huge numbers of

emails are sent out whether you want them or not. This is called spamming.

Spam is in fact a kind of tinned meat which was very popular in the UK during the Forties and Fifties. So how did those annoying emails come to be called spam?

The name ‘spam’ was used in a Monty Python sketch set in a cafe where we hear the word spam repeated over and over again until it becomes very, very annoying.

Spam is also known as junk mail.

Today about 70% of all email traffic is spam. Often, we have given permission for it to be sent to us! When we sign up for newsletters or visit a website there will almost always be a box to tick (or ‘untick’!) that lets companies send these emails to us, and this is why anti-spam filters don’t always stop junk mail.

Another negative type of email is the ‘chain email’, you know the type that says

What do you think are the best and worst things about email? ..............................................................

Do you prefer emails or social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter? ..............................................................

What kind of emails do you send, and what do you most often receive? ..............................................................

Are you on any mailing lists? If so, which ones, and do you find them useful? ..............................................................

you will have bad luck if you don’t pass it on to your friends, but often they are a way for unscrupulous people to collect email addresses. There are also scams* which trick us into giving our bank details, or there are trojan horses*, which look friendly but are not, and viruses which can infect your computer if you open an attachment from an unknown source.

Glossary domain name: the name of an organisation or business on the internet no matter where: wherever pickled herring: type of fish preserved in vinegar quadrillion: a huge number; it can mean one thousand million million (1015) or 1024 scams: tricks (usually illegal) snail: animal with shell on its back; moves very slowly tablet: hand-held computer, eg iPad trash: (US) rubbish bin trojan horse: the wooden horse left outside Troy with soldiers hiding inside wifi: wirelss internet connection

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Money, Money, Money

phrasal verbs - vocabulary of retail and business

Help Our High Streets Many high streets* in the UK are suffering*. The economic recession, outof-town* shopping centres and more of us doing more of our shopping on the internet, are all leading to boarded-up* shops in towns and cities across Britain.

But it’s not all bad news – a new project is hoping to find ways to reverse that trend. Let’s find out more.

Mary Portas Mary Portas is a successful entrepreneur* and marketing guru, and, following her TV Series Mary Queen of Shops, she is also famous. In Mary Queen of Shops, Mary went around the UK advising failing* shops on how they could improve their sales and profits. Mary Portas also runs a successful marketing consultancy business in London and has a reputation for getting things right.

With over a third of UK town centres currently in decline*, in 2011, Mary was asked by the British Prime Minister to lead an independent review on the future of the British high street. The

review concluded that town centres, and not just the individual shops and businesses in them, should be run more like businesses. “Every town centre should be managed by ‘town teams’, who would be responsible for developing business in the area,” Mary Portas said.

plans into action.

Mary Portas says, “These towns will need to deliver fresh, vibrant and exciting ideas that will reinvigorate* their locality and will mobilise the whole community under their new town teams.”

And the winners are…

The twelve Portas Pilot towns now have a lot of work to do to turn their local economies around*. Their ideas range from improving transport and parking to creating music and art centres, offering mentoring and financial support to new businesses and improving education, as well as revamping* markets and

The next step was a competition to find the towns with the best ideas on how to improve their town centre. The twelve winners, known as Portas Pilots*, were chosen out of 371 entries, and will each get a share of £1.2M (€1.5M) from the government to help them put their

Portas Pilots

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offering street theatre and other public events.

The twelve towns have been called ‘pilots’ for a good reason. Mary Portas wants their ideas and their example to spread around the country.

A resident of one of the winning towns said, “Just look around you, it’s so depressing at the moment with all the empty shops. We want people to come back to the town centre and enjoy it.

Crossword

Glossary

Write the correct definitions in the box below and find out what Mary Portas thinks town centres need to do.

1 City and town centres will now be run by town ...

2 Many UK high streets are not growing, they are in …

3 When you make something look more attractive.

4 The twelve winning towns are called Portas …

5 Mary Portas is an expert in …

1 2

We want it to start living again, so that it will be a place people want to come to do their shopping, or go out in the evening and meet their friends.”

3 4 5

The answers are on page 15.

boarded-up: (compound adj.) windows covered over with wood etc decline: (here) dying entrepreneur: person who sets up a business failing: not succeeding high streets: main shopping streets out-of-town: (compound adj.) outside the town centre pilot: a test or experiment reinvigorate: give new life to revamp: improve the image/ appearance of something suffering: experiencing something bad turn smth. around: make something go in the opposite direction

10 Eco Living

constructions with ing; compound adjectives

Cities Making a Difference

Across the world, people are experimenting with innovative ideas to help reduce energy consumption and make better use of* the world’s resources. Here are some inspiring examples of cities… making a difference.

Home Sweet Home We can all do something to make our cities and towns more energy efficient.

Because so much heat is lost from our homes through our windows, you can reduce your energy consumption by installing double- or even triple-glazed* windows. You can also put solar panels on your roof to heat your water, and there are special shower heads and taps that help reduce the amount of water we use by mixing air with the water to create fine spray*. You can also save a lot of water through rainwater capture*. It takes energy to make clean water so it makes sense to use less of it.

In Chicago ‘green roofs’ are the latest trend in energy efficiency. These are special roofs where plants can grow, keeping houses cool in the summer, reducing the need for air conditioning,

and insulating them in winter. In Washington, people have been painting their roofs white. This reflects the sunlight which keeps houses cooler.

the flow of the water turns a turbine to produce electricity. In Nashville and Buffalo they burn sewage sludge* and rubbish to create electricity.

Electricity from Renewables

Green Transport

We are seeing more and more photovoltaic panels on the buildings around us. These convert sunlight into electricity, but did you know they can also keep buildings cool by providing shade*?

In Berlin, they have even started using a kind of photovoltaic film on south-facing walls of apartment blocks.

People in the US are coming up with some brilliant ideas, like underwater turbines in tidal waters or on river beds, where

The cars, motorbikes, buses and lorries on our roads create huge amounts of greenhouse gas in the form of carbon dioxide, and they are the biggest cause of pollution in our towns and cities.

Unfortunately, the number of cars driving around is increasing, which is only making the problem worse. There are some solutions though. Many of the taxis in San Francisco and New York are hybrid vehicles – vehicles that use two or more fuel sources,

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eg petrol and electricity – and in Portland, Ohio they have created a system of traffic tunnels, leaving the roads above ground free for pedestrians and cyclists.

Clever Parking Creating better parking is another way of making cities more energy efficient.

Underground car parks near commuter destinations, or even ‘smart*’ car parks like ones in London where digital parking meters can let your phone know where the nearest free parking space is.

In Stockholm, Singapore and central London you not only have to pay to park, but you also have to pay to drive in the busiest parts of the city. In London this is called the Congestion* Charge.

Infrastructure Projects Rotterdam and London both have enormous tidal barriers. These huge gates can be closed when there are exceptionally high tides or to protect against tidal surges to stop flooding.

The city of Los Angeles has set up a citywide*, satellite-tracking* system which lets them control the irrigation in their parks and green spaces. This system has reduced the amount of water being used and has reduced waste.

In many parts of Europe, electricity, telephone and high-speed internet cables are buried underground. This means that the wires and cables are less likely to be damaged as a result of bad weather, reducing the need for repairs.

The buildings around us are big producers of greenhouse gases both while they are being built and while we are using them.

An international project called LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is helping to change that.

In this project, residential and commercial buildings have to follow the highest standards of sustainability in their design, the materials used and the way they are built and used.

Can you guess?

Berlin has one of the world’s biggest solar energy trade fairs, can you guess what it is called?

A B C

Ecological life Green power Solar energy The answer is on page 15.

Glossary city-wide: (compound adj.) which covers the whole city congestion: when there is too much traffic make better use of: be more efficient with rainwater capture: rainwater collected from the roofs satellite-tracking: (compound adj.) which uses satellites to follow/track sewage sludge: semi-solid after sewage (waste water and excrement) has been treated shade: out of direct sunlight smart: intelligent spray: tiny drops of water triple-/double-glazed: (compound adj.) windows with two or three layers of glass

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Culture and Society

present tense; vocabulary of music and new media

Ed Sheeran Ed Sheeran is not a traditional pop sensation, he hasn’t been discovered on a talent show, or gained success through a million-pound marketing campaign*. So what is the secret of this young English singer-songwriter?

Hard Work Ed Sheeran plays and plays and plays.

In 2008, he moved to London from his home in the rural* county of Suffolk and played in small venues* every day, sometimes in front of audiences of only five people. In 2009, he played over 300 gigs*! In 2010, he went to Los Angeles and played open mic* nights all over the city including The Foxxhole (a comedy TV channel owned by US actor and comedian Jamie Foxx). Jamie Foxx was so impressed he let Ed use his Hollywood recording studio. During this time, Ed still found time to write all his own songs and self-release* records, which he started doing in 2005 when he was fourteen!

New Media Ed Sheeran understands the power of the internet and social networking and makes good use of it to promote his music. His website is a great introduction if you don’t know him. Helpfully, it includes all the lyrics* to his songs, as well as links* to his Twitter account, music videos on Youtube and recordings on Soundcloud and Myspace. (www. edsheeran.com)

Honesty and Simplicity People love the simplicity of Ed Sheeran’s music – for many he is a refreshing change from the highly produced, electronic music so prevalent at the moment. He is a talented songwriter, acoustic musician and singer, and puts a lot of emotion into his performances. He often performs alone with a guitar (his fans say his music is best enjoyed live), his lyrics talk honestly and intelligently about what it is like to be young, and while he performs in front of huge audiences, he still sometimes plays at small, intimate gigs.

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Critical and Commercial

Fact File

Ed has become commercially successful since 2010. To date, he has sold over a million copies of his debut album, + (pronounced “plus”). His UK tour this year was sold out weeks in advance and you can expect the same to happen in his European tour happening this November. His first four singles were top ten hits, his debut album got to number one in the UK, and he has over a million followers on Twitter.

• Ed was born on 17 February 1991.

• He started singing in his local church choir when he was 4.

• Ed wrote his first song when he was 11, after meeting his idol Damien Rice.

• He began recording CDs in his bedroom.

• The official video for the single The A Team cost about € 25 euros to make.

Honouring Excellence Ed Sheeran was this year’s winner of the “Best Song Musically and Lyrically” at The Ivor Novello Awards for his song The A Team.

The “Ivors” are the UK’s most presitigious awards for music writing, where winners are chosen by writers and musicians (not the music industry).

‘It was always my goal to get an Ivor,’ he said when he received his award, ‘but I was really surprised to get it for my first single.’ He also won best British Breakthrough Artist and Best Male Solo artist at the Brit Awards earlier in 2012.

The Future?

Whether or not you like his music, you have to admire his style. He avoided getting sucked into* the “music machine”, finding success on his own terms, releasing his own EP*s and playing hundreds of gigs to build a loyal fan base*. Now that he has signed to musicindustry giant, Atlantic, he doesn’t seem to have changed what he does. Ed’s message to his fans is simple, ‘Work hard, Be Happy J’.

Well, it’s worked for him!

Do you like listening to live music or do you prefer recordings? What’s the difference for you? ..............................................................

How important is music to you? ..............................................................

Have you ever tried to write a song? ..............................................................

Glossary campaign: organised plan EP: (short for Extended Play) record with four or five songs on it fan base: group of people who are your permanent fans gigs: (informal) concerts links: (here; internet) place you click on to go to a different site lyrics: the words of a song open mic: (prononced ‘mike’) event where anyone can perform rural: opposite of urban self-release: self-publish sucked into: pulled into venues: place where concerts etc happen

14 Games and Activities

Crossword Have you read our article on email?

Use the clues below to complete the crossword!

1 Raymond Tomlinson worked as a computer….

2 Viruses are designed to …. your computer.

3 What does the ‘e’ stand for in email?

4 The city where MoMA is based.

5 Wireless internet connection is called...

6 Another name for ‘junk mail’.

7 Another word for trick.

8 Unwanted emails get thrown in the ...

9 The Spanish name for @.

10 Short for application.

2 1 4 3

6

5

7 10 9

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Shopping Idioms and Phrases in English Below are some common expressions to do with shopping. Can you match them with their correct meaning?

1

shop til you drop

2

put it on plastic

3

retail therapy

4

window shopping

5

go on a shopping spree

6

shop around

A look in shops and shop windows but don’t buy anything B buy something using a credit card C spend time looking around to get what you want at the best price D to buy a lot of stuff (and spend a lot of money) all in one go E the idea that buying things can make you feel happier F to spend a lot of time shopping and get very tired

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Musical Wordsearch Find words to do with music in the box below and discover the name of Ed Sheeran’s fifth single. album audience EP gig live number one open mic performed pop

score self-release singer single songwriter tour video venue

S S E P S I N G E R

M E S C O R E A S N

P L A O G P G U O U

E F L P A O U D N M

R R L E L P V I G B

F E L N B T I E W E

O L I M U O D N R R

R E V I M U E C I O

M A E C B R O E T N

E S V E N U E M E E

D E S I N G L E R P

Portas Pilots Read this quote about Portas Pilots from UK Government Minister, Grant Shapps, and fill in the gaps with the correct word.

BEATING • EXPERT • FINANCIAL • IMAGINATION OVERWHELMING • RENAISSANCE • UNIQUE “The best local high streets offer more than simply shopping – they are the 1. .................................................... heart of their neighbourhoods: places to meet, work, relax and come together as a community. It’s why this competition to become a Portas Pilot has captured the 2. .................................................... of the nation, with communities across the country uniting to support their high streets.

“The number of applications has been 3. ............................................. ....... . The 12 winning towns now have the chance to receive 4. ... ................................................. advice and 5. .................................................. .. support, but I believe more towns deserve to be selected. We have decided to choose 15 more town centres who will benefit from this 6. .................................................... opportunity. Together these pilots can be the start of a high-street revolution, the start of a 7. .................................................... of our town centres.”

Answers P 2: Do you know?: c).

P 4-5 Odd One Out: c); Mirror: Why watch reality TV when I can open my blinds and look out of my window to all the reality I can handle?

P 8-9 Crossword: 1. teams; 2. decline; 3. revamp; 4. pilots;

The answers are at the bottom of the page.

5. marketing: adapt P 10-11 Can you guess?: C. P 14 Crossword: 1. programmer; 2. attack; 3. electronic; 4. New York; 5. wifi; 6. spam; 7. scam; 8. trash; 9. arroba; 10. app.

Shopping Idioms: 1. F; 2. B; 3. E; 4. A; 5. D; 6. C; Musical Wordsearch: Small Bump; Portas Pilots: 1. beating; 2. imagination; 3. overwhelming; 4. expert; 5. financial; 6. unique; 7. renaissance

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