Ñòð.28 Unit 3 ÃÄÇ Âåðáèöêàÿ Forward 9 êëàññ

Ïðèâåäåì âûäåðæêó èç çàäàíèÿ èç ó÷åáíèêà Âåðáèöêàÿ, Ìàêêèíëè, Õàñòèíãñ 9 êëàññ, Âåíòàíà-Ãðàô:

LISTENING

1 Do you know any famous singers or bands who have taken part in Eurovision?

2 In pairs, look at the photos and try and guess which decades these artists took part in Eurovision.

3 Listen and decide which sentence best summarises the conversation.

a Eurovision is a great television tradition which brings Europe closer together,

b Eurovision is harmful and shouldn’t be allowed.

c The music is often terrible, and the competition is often dominated by politics, but it’s very entertaining television.

Òåêñò àóäèðîâàíèÿ:

Sally: [slight Scottish accent] Yes, as you’ve probably guessed, today we’re going to discuss the Eurovision Song Contest. With me in the studio is Martin Winton, specialist in television history, and Jacqueline Goodall, a lecturer in Music.

Martin/Jacqueline: Hello!

Sally: Let’s start by looking at the history of Eurovision. Martin, how did Eurovision begin?

Martin: [RP accent] Well, Sally, it was all the idea of the EBU, the European Broadcasting Union. That’s an organization where radio and TV companies from over twenty countries meet together and cooperate on different programmes and projects and ...

Sally: So Martin, sorry to interrupt, but why have countries like Morocco and Israel taken part in the competition? They’re not really in Europe, are they? Martin: Yes, you’re right — many countries from outside Europe belong to the EBU. Anyway, the first Eurovision was in 1956, over fifty years ago. There were only seven countries in the first competition. Quite different from today when more than forty countries want to take part. And of course the programme is still a huge success and often more than a billion people across the world watch it.

Sally: A billion people? A lot of people have strange musical taste. Which brings me to the next question ... the music. Jacqueline, is the music any good? Jacqueline: [soft Manchester accent] The short answer is no. The typical Eurovision song is full of nonsense words like ding, dong or, even better, bing, bong ... and of course lots of la, la, las. Very often people use the same ideas or even melody from a song that was successful the year before. But to be serious, quite a few singers and bands have become famous thanks to the Eurovision. Abba, of course, but also the Canadian singer Celine Dion, who sang for Switzerland.

Sally: Right. So has Eurovision brought Europeans closer together, knocked down borders between countries, helped Europeans to understand and enjoy the language and culture of their neighbors. Martin?

Martin: Er, not really. The Eurovision Song Contest has always been as much about politics as music. There are certain countries who always vote for each other. It doesn’t matter if the song is good or terrible. In fact, Eurovision is a very good barometer of how popular different countries are ... perhaps that’s why Ireland is the most successful country in Eurovision history because everybody seems to like them.

Sally: And the UK usually does so badly ...

Martin: And of course there are often arguments about whether songs should be in English or not. And arguments about how seriously to take the contest. For example, one year the French actually refused to take part. They said the competition was too silly. But they came back for the next year ...

Sally: Mm, fascinating. But at the end of the day, forgetting all those ding dongs and the politics, it’s great television, isn’t it?

Jacqueline: Oh, absolutely. It’s terrific fun.

Martin: I totally agree. I watch it every year.

4 Listen again and choose the correct answer.

1 The European Broadcasting Union

a produced twenty TV programmes,

b cooperates with twenty other organisations,

c came up with the idea of Eurovision.

2 Today Eurovision

a doesn’t have as many countries as before,

b is still very popular,

c Ls watched by a billion Europeans.

3 Jacqueline thinks that Eurovision songs often

a copy melodies from previous years.

b have very serious texts,

c are very short.

4 Abba and Celine Dion are artists who

a copied somebody else s song,

b sang for countries where they weren’t bom.

c became better known after Eurovision.

5 Martin thinks tliat

a Eurovision has helped to make Europeans understand one another,

b certain countries vote in a very predictable way.

c music is more important than politics.

6 Ireland is perhaps the most successful country in Eurovision because

a it is popular with other European countries,

b they always sing in English,

c the UK doesn’t do very well.

5 In pairs, answer the questions.

• Do you watch Eurovision?

• Does Russia take part? Has it ever won?

• Do you think Eurovision is a good idea?

• What other events are there where European countries compete against each other? Do you eiyoy diem?