Books and Films
Part 1-style questions
Examiner: Do you like to read books?
Marie: Yes … I love reading … I like nothing more than to be engrossed in a good book … I regularly take out books from the library and usually read them from cover to cover in no time … and I can’t go to sleep at night without some good bedtime reading …
- to be engrossed in: to be completely focused on one thing
- bedtime reading: something to read in bed before you go to sleep
- to take out (a book from the library): to borrow a book from the library
- to read something from cover to cover: read a book from the first page to the last
Examiner: How often do you go to the cinema?
Jemma: Unfortunately we don’t have a cinema near us so we have to go into the nearest town to catch the latest movie … I usually avoid seeing popular box-office hits which I’m not always keen on seeing … I prefer low-budget films … sci-fi especially … and there’s a great cinema I go to that has frequent showings of films like these …
- showings: performances of a film
- a low budget film: a film made with a small amount of money
- a box office hit: a financially successful film
- sci-fi: science fiction
- to catch the latest movie: to see a film that has just come out
Examiner: Do you prefer reading books or watching films?
Louisa: I’m not really a big reader … I find books quite heavy-going … so I much prefer to see a film … perhaps it’s the special effects or the soundtrack … I don’t know … I just prefer a film …
- to be a big reader: someone who reads a lot
- to be heavy-going: difficult to read
- special effects: the visuals or sounds that are added to a film which are difficult to produce naturally
- soundtrack: the music that accompanies a film
Part 2-style task
Describe a book you have read or a film you have seen. You should say:
- what this book or film was
- when you read or saw it
- why you decided to see the film or read the book
and say if you enjoyed it and why.
Pauline I like reading … especially English novels … it’s a great way to improve your vocabulary and there are so many fantastic authors to choose from … one book that came highly recommended by my teacher was The Mayor of Casterbridge … I was studying at a school in The UK at the time and she said it would give me a picture of what life was like years ago in the area I was living … well I have to say I absolutely loved it … it was a real page-turner … it’s a historical novel and the setting was a fictional town called Casterbridge … but actually it was based on a town near where I was studying called Dorchester … it had such a great plot … to cut a long story short it tells the story of the downfall of a man called Henchard the central character who lives during a period of great social change around the time of the industrial revolution … the reason I enjoyed it so much … apart from the great story … it gave me a picture of what life had been like in the place I was studying at the time … I really couldn’t put it down … a fantastic story …
- a historical novel: a story set in the past
- a page turner: a book that you want to keep reading
- to come highly recommended: to be praised by another person
- to be based on: to use as a modal
- plot: the main events in a film or book
- the setting: where the action takes place
- couldn’t put it down: wasn’t able to stop reading a book
- the central character:the main person in a film or book
- to tell the story of: to outline the details of someone’s life or an event
Part 3-style questions
Examiner: Is reading as pleasurable in digital format?
Alise: Personally I prefer reading a paperback or hardback … especially if I’m reading a classic which I don’t think feels right as an e-book … but I can see it can be good for others … my grandmother has an e-reader and she loves the way you can enlarge the text …
- an e-book: a digital book
- an e-reader: a device for reading e-books
- paperback: a book with a flexible cover (see ‘hardback’ above)
- hardback: a book with a rigid cover (see ‘paperback’ below)
Examiner: Do you think bookshops will survive the digital revolution?
Thomas: I think so … at least I hope so … I love flicking through books in a bookshop … online shopping is useful … finding out on Amazon if a book you want has got a good review … maybe getting one that is difficult to find … but I still love the experience of being in a bookshop …
- to flick through: to look quickly through a book
- to get a good/bad review: to receive positive or negative feedback
Examiner: Statistics show that visits to the cinema are up despite the availability of DVDs and online downloads. Why do you think this might be?
Jamie: I think it’s the whole experience that the cinema offers … going out to see a film when it goes on general release … and seeing it on the big screen is more exciting than watching the film at home on TV … especially if it’s an action movie … and watching it with others makes it even more special …
- to go on general release: when a film can be seen by the general public
- on the big screen: at the cinema
- an action movie: a film with fast moving scenes, often containing violence
- to see a film: to see a film at the cinema (see ‘watch a film’ below)
- to watch a film: to watch a film on TV (see ‘to see a film’ above)
Addition:
- a blockbuster: a film that is a big commercial success
- a classic: of the highest quality