Inglese orale 1 finito - riassunti di video e testi - Life student\'s book upper intermediate PDF

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Warning: TT: undefined function: 32 Warning: TT: undefined function: 32 Warning: TT: undefined function: 32INGLESE ORALE 1, RIASSUNTI PER L’ESAME ORALEUNIT 1o Video 1F “Lady Liberty and Ellis Island” o Reading 1B “A confused generation” o Reading 1C “Bloodlines”UNIT 2 o Video 2F “How not to climb a ...

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INGLESE ORALE 1, RIASSUNTI PER L’ESAME ORALE

UNIT 1 o Video 1F “Lady Liberty and Ellis Island” o Reading 1B “A confused generation” o Reading 1C “Bloodlines”

UNIT 7 o Video 7F “Eating insects” o Reading 7A “Cruel to be kind” o Reading 7C “Cultural conventions”

UNIT 2 o Video 2F “How not to climb a mountain” o Reading 2A “A key moment” o Reading 2C “Once upon a time”

UNIT 8 o Video 8F “What would you do if money didn’t matter?” o Reading 8A “Rise of the rocket girls” o Reading 8C “Saving Madagascar”

UNIT 3 o Video 3F “3D-printed prosthetic limbs” o Reading 3A “Is technology the answer?” o Reading 3C “Appropriate technology” UNIT 4 o Video 4F “Art for the people” o Reading 4A “Reverse graffiti” o Reading 4C “Why do we need music?” UNIT 5 o Video 5F “Scandinavian mega-bridge” o Reading 5A “From reality to fantasy” o Reading 5C “The teenage mind”

UNIT 9 o Video 9F “News: the weird and the wonderful” o Reading 9A “A life revealed” o Reading 9C “From hero to zero” UNIT 10 o Video 10F “Queen of Egypt” o Reading 10A “An ordinary man” o Reading 10C “The king herself” UNIT 11 o Video 11F “Paraguay shaman” o Reading 11A “Innovation in learning” o Reading 11C “Who’s a clever bird, then?”

UNIT 6 o Video 6F “The unexpected beauty of travellin o Reading 6A “Staycations” UNIT 12 o Reading 6C “Unusual places to stay” o Video “The farmery” o Reading 12C “Saving for a rainy day” o Reading 12A “Start-up”

RIASSUNTI ORALE INGLESE LT1|Corinna Povia

CAPITOLO 1 •

A confused generation (testo)

Nowadays Chinese society is facing a lot of changes because of China’s economic boom, that in the last twenty years has brought enormous material benefits, but it has also had a huge impact on family life and values. New values, such as popularity/fame and economic power spread throughout the society, by replacing the traditional Chinese culture based on respectability, importance of family and respect to older generations. As a consequence, Chinese people are trying to find a balance between the new and the old. This article shows the differences between two generations: the eleven-year-old Bella and her parents. Even though Bella is very young, she has already learned much more about the outside word than her parents. She knows everything about the western word and its trends and that’s why her parents are constantly learning new things from her. However, Bella’s mum is convinced that her child-raising has been a failure because Bella has grown up with western/modern ideologies, which are very far from the traditional Chinese ones. The title of the article mirrors the fact that in modern Chinese society different ideologies are fighting against each other. On the one hand, the older generations carry on respecting old values. On the other hand, new generations are influenced/affected by the new trends and lifestyles introduced by the Chinese economic boom and globalization. That’s why there is a sort of ‘gap’ between Bella and her parents. Personal opinion: the generational gap has always been a very discussed topic. I believe that it is quite natural for a generation gap to exist because it shows that mankind is evolving and changing for the better (=this means that the world becomes developed and so does mankind, each generation has seen new changes and things that the older generations have not). However, sometimes this gap impacts our lives wrongly by having a negative impact on relations. Different points of views between generations may lead to distanced relations, especially between parents and children. Parents usually tend to follow traditions and old values that in most cases want their children to follow. Fortunately, I have never had this problem with my parents because we have always found a balance. They’re quite open-minded so they accepted the fact that my sister and I were not going to follow all the rules and standards imposed by the tradition (such as going to church every Sunday). •

Bloodlines (testo)

The exact term ‘melting pot’ came into general usage in the United States in order to describe a fusion of nationalities, cultures and ethnicities. The United States have always been subjected to continuous migration flows, which produced changes in society. Nowadays this diversity is particularly evident in Queens, New York, where different generations of immigrants live together all united by a common feeling of pride and sense of belonging (sentimento d’orgoglio e senso d’appartenenza) to their American identity. However, these new generations of immigrants are also interested in learning more about their distant ancestors/in their ancestral roots (=it is important for descendants of immigrants to be aware of their family history). • The 38-year-old Richard explains that his great-grandfather came to America from Poland when he was fifteen because he didn’t get on with his new stepmother. He arrived in America

RIASSUNTI ORALE INGLESE LT1|Corinna Povia

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with nothing and began to work in construction with his brother, who met by accident in New York. Richard explains that the experience of his great-grandfather had a great influence on his family, because he taught to the new family members to struggle and to fight together in order to achieve important goals in their new country. Tanja, a first generation American, tells that her parents emigrated from Jamaica. Both her parents had a strong work ethic: when her father came to the US, he worked at night and studied at day to become a doctor. On the other hand, her mother worked as a nurse but at the same time she has always looked after the family. This taught Tanja that she can reach whatever she wants with dedication and hard work.

Personal opinion: Nowadays immigration has become a very discussed topic. I think that people migrate to other countries because they want to find better job and life opportunities, to get higher wages, to gain freedom of expression, to escape war, famine, poverty or political situations. In addition, people migrate to find chances for a better education or because they want to reunite with family members, which had already moved to another country. However, immigrants have to face several difficulties when they settle in a new country. They might have difficulties in learning a new culture/adapting to a new culture and they might face problems in housing or finding a job. They might face also integration problems and racism. If I had the possibility, I would emigrate to Switzerland, Germany or Austria because in these countries there is a better quality of life, the salaries are higher and there is a strong civic feeling/sense. In addition, I’ve always loved German culture and its history has always intrigued me. •

“Lady Liberty” and PERSONALE/ORIGINALE

Ellis

Island

(video)

>

AGGIUNGERE

QUALCOSA

DI

In this video we hear speaking some stewards of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, some visitors and also some descendants of US immigrants. • The first steward describes himself as the last resident of Liberty Island. Both his grandparents migrated to USA coming through Ellis Island. The steward focuses on the problems that immigrants had to face when they arrived in the USA. For example, they didn’t speak the language, they could carry only one or two bags with them, and they didn’t know, if they were going to see their families again. They relied on their faith that everything was going to be ok. • The other speakers talk about the experiences of their ancestors and how they felt when they first arrived at Ellis Island. For example, Judith’s grandmother arrived in the United States when she was only 20 and she never went back to Italy. She thinks that her grandma’s generation was really gutsy/brave and she believes that we don’t have to forget that most of the US inhabitants descend from immigrants. • A second steward reports that during the peak immigration period (=its busiest point), Ellis Island processed up to 12,000 immigrants a day. Today, in the summer months, Ellis Island receives up to 22,000 daily visitors. However, he reports also that in 2011 Ellis Island had to close down to do life safety renovations because of Hurricane Sandy, which destroyed all the infrastructure. Even though they were sad days for stewards, they saw the storm as an opportunity to make Ellis Island a more sustainable park (=to improve the park).

RIASSUNTI ORALE INGLESE LT1|Corinna Povia

New vocabulary: a faithful companion: un compagno fedele a travel companion: compagno di viaggio a mutual friend: un amico in comune an acquaintance: un conoscente flatmate: coinquilino blood relatives: parente di sangue mutual respect: rispetto reciproco a strong bond: un legame forte an odd couple: una strana coppia to get on with: andare d’accordo con make friends with: fare amicizia con to get injured: farsi male to keep up with: stare al passo con to hang around: andare in giro, girare nei paraggi to come round: andare a trovare qlc a dependable friend: un amico sicuro, affidabile outgoing: estroverso good-fun: una persona divertente funny: qualcosa di divertente laid-back: rilassato considerate: premuroso to stand by someone: restare vicino a qlc

melting pot: crogiulo a strong work ethic: una forte etica del lavoro a must: un must, cosa indispensabile to seek fortune: trovare fortuna ancestral roots: radici ancestrali, discendenza to make any sense: non aver nessun senso common sense: senso comune sense of humor: senso dell’umorismo sense of duty: senso del dovere sense of direction: senso dell’orientamento a feeling of pride: sentimento d’orgoglio to be forgetful: essere smemorato to have faith in: avere fede di qualcosa a moving sight: una vista commovente defiant: ribelle, spavaldo (refusing to be beaten) sth that chills down tour spine: sth that makes you frightened or excited steward: a person employed to look after a particular place

Functions: • Cos’hai combinato fino ad ora?: What have you been up to? • Come stai?: How are things? / How’s everything going? • Impegnato come sempre: Busy as ever • Sto bene, grazie: I’m doing fine, thanks • Ho appena ottenuto un nuovo lavoro: I’ve just got a new job • Ho studiato per i miei esami: I’ve been studying for my exams • Sembri molto rilassato, stare molto bene: you’re looking very relaxed, very well • Ti si addice: It suits you • Come se la cava?: How’s she getting on? • Salutala da parte mia: Say hello to her from me / Please give her my best wishes • Ha chiesto di te l’altro giorno: She was asking after you the other day • Beh, dovrei forse andare e…: Well, I should probably go and… • Scusa, ma devo correre: Sorry, but I’ve got to rush. • Sono un po’ in ritardo: I’m in abit of a hurry. • Non vorrei sembrare scortese, ma devo..: I don’t mena to be rude, but I need to… • È stato bello vederti: It was really nice to see you / It was great to see you • Buona fortuna con…: Good luck with…

RIASSUNTI ORALE INGLESE LT1|Corinna Povia

CAPITOLO 2 •

A Key Moment (testo)

This text is about the key moment in the film Rush, a film based on real events, which focuses on the rivalry between Formula 1 racing drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt. The turning point in the film comes with Lauda’s accident in 1976 during the German Grand Prix, which was held at an old track that run trough a forest. A few days before the race, Lauda tried to get the race stopped at a meeting of the drivers because it was in poor condition (it was narrow and bumpy) and unsafe. However, Hunt wanted the race to go ahead and won by one vote. During the race, Lauda lost control of the car while he was coming out of a left-hand corner too fast and the car immediately burst into flames. Fortunately, other drivers stopped in order to help Lauda, who had been trapped in the intense heat for over a minute and succeeded in pulling him free. Lauda was later sent/transported to the hospital by helicopter, where he spent many days fighting for his life because of the extreme burns. * A few weeks after he returned to the track at the Italian Grand Prix and finished fourth. *After Lauda’s accident, the race was restarted, and Hunt won.

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Once upon a time (testo)

The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, lived in Germany in the 19th century. The brothers were fond of enchanting tales and they began to collect their own ones in order to publish their own collection. They began also to collect folktales and stories of oral storytellers in order to save them from disappearing. Today they’re best known for their story collection called “Children’s and Household Tales”, a book of fairy tales that has been translated in 160 languages since the publication and that has fascinated millions of people. At first, their collection of stories had no illustrations and was full of scholarly notes, since the brothers considered themselves as students determined to save the local folklore. For this reason, they only sold a few copies in Germany. In addition, the collection was not even aimed at children because of some cruel details. However, the collection has become a global publishing phenomenon thanks to W’s reshaping, who made the stories more acceptable to parents by stressing the moral of each tale. Some people claim that these stories are still popular today because they are stories about our struggle for happiness. ‘Cinderella’, for example, is a the classic “rag to riches” story, where a poor girl finds her wealthy prince; ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is about this loving girl who falls in love with a bad-tempered beast and finds the good in him. On the whole, we can say that Grimm’s stories give people an escape from the reality of daily life and a hope for a better future.

RIASSUNTI ORALE INGLESE LT1|Corinna Povia

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How not to climb a mountain (video)

New vocabulary: Main character, hero: personaggio principale, eroe Plot, story: la storia, la trama (the plot focuses on…) Setting: ambientazione (time and place) Background, context: il contest Theme: tema Key moment, turning point: il momento principale, climax Funny: divertente Touching: commovente Creepy, scary: spaventoso Original: originale Imaginative: fantasioso Fast-moving: movimentato (?) Gripping: avvincente, coinvolgente Powerful: potente Thought-provoking: provocatorio, che fa riflettere Beautifully filmed: girato in modo magnifico Convincing: convincente, persuasivo Thriller, horror: film horror Adventure film: film d’avventura Historical drama: dramma storico Documentary: documentario Romantic comedy: commedia romantica

RIASSUNTI ORALE INGLESE LT1|Corinna Povia

Science fiction: film di fantascienza Fantasy: film fantasy To tell/share a story: raccontare, condividere una storia To expess/share an idea: esprimere, condividere un’idea To share a photo: condividere una foto To bring a story to life: portare alla luce una storia To express an emotion: esprimere emozione To present information: presentare informazioni To tell/engage/reach your audience: dire al pubblico, coinvolgere, raggiungere il pubblico To keep an eye on: fare attenzione a To keep your chin up: non mollare, stare positive To keep up with: stare al passo con To keep a secret: mantenere un segreto To keep track of: stare al passo con To keep a diary: tenere un diario To keep sb: intrattenere qualcuno (=to keep each other entertained with sth) To keep promises: mantenere le promesse To keep records: tenere un registro Functions: • Symphatizing when something bad has happened Che imbarazzo!: How embarrassing! Che disastro!: What a disaster! Oh, è orribile / è molto strano, imbarazzante: Oh, that’s awful / that’s really awkward / that’s odd Che strano!: How strange! Povero te!: Poor you! Che incubo!: What a nightmare! • Commenting on a good outcome to a bad situation Deve essere stato un sollievo: It must have been a relief E’ stata una buona idea: That was good thinking È stata fortuna: Thas was lucky È stato ingegnoso: That was clever • Talking about similar experience Posso capirlo: I can symphatize with that (sympathize with sth) Si, penso che avrei fatto lo stesso: Yeah, I think I would have done the same thing. Si, una cosa simile è accaduta anche a me una volta: Yeah, a similar thing happened to me once Si, una volta ho avuto la stessa esperienza: Yeah, I once had the same experience

RIASSUNTI ORALE INGLESE LT1|Corinna Povia

CAPITOLO 3 •

Is technology the answer? (testo)

This video is about overpopulation, a situation in which there are more people than there are resources, like food, water, land, energy, to support them. When an area becomes overpopulated, people normally have to face several problems, such as pollution, unemployment and lack of food and resources. But overpopulation is an issue that divides opinion. Some people, like the American biologist Paul Ehrlich, claim that population has to be controlled. The biologist wrote a book in 1968 in which he stated that medical science had advanced too far, and that we were keeping too many people alive. As a result, he predicted that millions of people would starve to death. However, his predictions weren’t true because the population has doubled since than to seven billion. As a matter of fact, mass starvation hasn’t happened because in the 1970s/1980s scientists developed better seeds and better pesticides to increase food production. That’s why today experts in the scientific community are saying that we are entering a more productive era of safer and cheaper food thanks to the help of biotechnology and nanotechnology. However, many scientists believe that people haven’t still taken into account the problem of overpopulation because they are basically lazy and they won’t act unless they have to. As the 18th century economist Thomas Malthus said, population will continue to grow until war, disease or famine arrive to stop it. •

Appropriate technology (testo)

In the 1930s, Mahatma Gandhi claimed that the advanced technology used by western industrialized countries was not suitable for the needs of his homeland, India. He wanted affordable technology that would lead to greater social equality. In other words, he wanted technology that could empower the poor villagers of India and help them to become self-reliant. The term ‘appropriate technology’ was first used by Schumacher, a German-British statistician and economist, who is known for his proposals for human-scale and appropriate technologies. In his book “Small is Beautiful”, Schumacher claimed that technology doesn’t have to be sophisticated but it has to be practical, long-term and related to the needs of the populations who are using it. In addition, appropriate technology has to take into account environmental and cost considerations. That’s why nowadays several industrialized nations are using environmentally friendly and cutting-edge devices such as solar-powered lamps, water purifiers and central heating systems in order to save energy and to reduce pollution. Finally, appropriate technology needs to be culturally appropriate: in other words, it needs to fit in people’s customs and social practices. This cannot always be guaranteed, as in the case of a device for shelling corn developed to help women in a Guatemalan village. The new device certainly saved time, but after a few weeks the women returned to the old manual method because they enjoyed the time they spent hand shelling together.

RIASSUNTI ORALE INGLESE LT1|Corinna Povia

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3D-printed prosthetic limbs (video)

Charlotte is a young girl who lost both hands and both legs due to meningococcal septicaemia. However, hers is not the sad story we are expected to listen to. In fact, she is mobile and independent: she can write, she can draw… thanks to the fine motor skills that she’s still got. In fact, Charlotte claims that she definitely doesn’t need any help with things. Charlotte has h...