Riassunto esame Lingua inglese, Prof. Paravano Cristina, libro consigliato City branding and new media, Maria Cristina Paganoni

STONEHENGE: CLUES TO THE PAST

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bzgUHJARIU

STEP INTO ENGLAND’S STORY

Stonehenge is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world but there are still many

unanswered questions about its origins and use. Archaeologists continue to investigate the landscape

around the stones to see what it can tell us about Stonehenge and the people who built it.

A Lot of people that come to Stonehenge and look at the stones, look at the middle of the monument

but what we would really like them to do is to look out into the landscape and walk in it to discover for

themselves some of the monuments that were built around Stonehenge and some of the clues=

(indizi) in the landscape about how it looked like in prehistory.

The Stonehenge project is three major parts. Number one was opening a brand new visitor centre

here; number two was building and opening up these Neolithic houses to the public to show what

Neolithic life was like; and lastly, we’ve got a landscape in works going on at the stones.

Hundreds of acres have been converted from arable farmland to grass and there’s no better way to

appreciate the stones than to see them in their wide and natural setting. A walk through the landscape

is perhaps one of the best ways to reveal some of the secrets of Stonehenge. 34

Walking from the visitor centre at Stonehenge, we’ve got these interpretation panels scattered

throughout the landscape and by reading them and looking at the images you find out much more

about this area in prehistory.

We’re standing about some miles away from Stonehenge and this huge expanse of grassland before

me is all part of the World Heritage SIte, part of the Stonehenge landscape. And there are lots of

humps and bumps=(up and down) in this landscape that might not look like much but these are

actually burrows, round burrows. When they have been excavated, these burrow mounds have been

found to contain graves, often with really exotic grave goods. It seems that particularly on the ridges=

(creste) overlooking Stonehenge there was a prime=(the best quality) place to be buried and there are

actually about three hundred round burrows like this in the Stonehenge landscape.

Neolithic people would have used flint tools=(pietra focaia) – this is before the time of metal – and this

is a replica axe of the type that might have been used to carry out copse axing= (group of tree)

Prehistoric people were incredibly resource, we know that they were managing woodlands. It has got

quite a sharp edge= (border) and it is based on similar flint tools that have been found. It is mounted

into a wooden handle and securing it is resin, a special mixture of pine resin, bee wax = (cera d’api)

and charcoal. It is a nice sticky =(appiccicoso) substance to secure the axe securely in the handle=

(part usd to keep it) The axe would have been used at an angle to strike at the base of the tree, in this

sort of action.

But sometimes it is the really small things that tell us huge amount about prehistory. Archaeologists

can use techniques whereby they look at land snails. These snails have been extracted from soil

samples= (pieces of earth) and sediments in and around monuments, and when analysed you can

identify the different species of snails, and work out what the landscape must have been like at the

time they were living here.

There’s no better way to understand the Stonehenge landscape than by walking and exploring within

it, but of course a pinnacle= (combination, highest part) to anyone visiting is coming to the stones

themselves, and soon it’ll be within a much more dignified setting. We’ve been able to remove the

road from right next to the stones, reuniting Stonehenge to its processional avenue. And that’s

extraordinary and a really special thrust=(great achievement) we are about to achieve, because it

makes Stonehenge sit within the landscape that was designed to stand in.

VOCABULARY-TESTO

PRAIANO, Italy→ When tourists think of the Amalfi Coast, the stunning seaside towns of Positano

and Amalfi usually come to mind.

But Praiano,a small community hugging the cliffside between its famous neighbors,hopes to change

that.

Praiano, a town of about 2,000 people, is not blessed with an alluring wide beachfront or an elegant

seaside piazza where tourists can gather for a glass of Prosecco. The beach was the victim of a

landslide 90 years ago, and the town sprawls instead along the coast's steep cliffs.

Recently, residents unveiled a plan to lure visitors who want to take a break from the tourist-clogged

areas of the coast. Called NaturArte Project, it lines Praiano's streets with ceramic plaques and

sculptures, creating a kind of open-air museum that unfolds along eight different routes. The

inspiration, many of the planners say, was Antoni Gaudi's Park Güell in Barcelona, Spain, though on a

more subdued scale.

*We wanted to give a strong identity to the town and make it a final destination for visitors, not just a

place they pass through," said Roberto Pontecorvo, a board member of Agenda Praiano, a

community association founded in 2013 to jump-start the town's sense of civic responsibility and,

hopefully, its economy. 35

Praiano is not a place to gawk at from the comfort of an air-conditioned bus. It must be savored at a

slow pace, if only because many of the itineraries require steep climbs up and down terraced slopes

and alleyways, offering grand vistas of the coast as a prize.

Residents boast that the town offers the most beautiful sunsets on the Amalfi Coast.

Like many towns along the coast, Praiano has a tradition of ceramic decorations, including a network

of centuries-old small religious shrines made of majolica tiles. Ceramic tiles are also used to mark

street names and offer admonitions, like picking up after one's dog.

In the large square in front of the town's ceramic domed cathedral, a sign warns, "No soccer playing

allowed." But on a recent warm night, a group of young boys boisterously challenged the ban under a

string of colorful lights.

The eight art itineraries, unveiled in May, follow the same zigzag pattern as the streets, with ceramic

sculptures and panels inserted into the town's rough stone walls at irregular intervals. Some

Praianesi, as the locals are known, have added their own artistic touches to the walks.

Giuseppina De Rosa, who is retired, created a colorful raised garden of flowers and scented herbs -

thyme, fiery chili peppers and wild fennel - along a narrow alley that borders one of the walks. The

patch has become a tourist draw, she said, "perhaps because it's so beautiful."

The planners included artworks by eight artists with ties to the area.

The pieces, 150 in total, were inspired by landscapes, traditions and mythology. After all, this is the

area where Ulysses is said to have resisted the call of the Sirens, a theme several artists touched

upon.

"The idea was to install these ceramics in such a beautiful place, where people built their homes and

terraced gardens are inserted in nature,' said Patrizia Marchi, one of the artists. Her walk, which

includes colorful masks of humans and animals, climbs from Praiano into woods that lead to a

Dominican convent. "It seems like a magical site." Paolo Sandulli, a ceramist and sculptor, instead

focused on capturing the spirit of the fishermen who once provided the bulk of the town's economy,

before tourism became a more prosperous alternative for many families.

*I wanted to recount that old world of the sea," keeping the memory of long-gone fishermen alive, said

Mr. Sandulli, who works out of an old tower on the beach. Mr. Sandulli's seven terra-cotta panels line

a walking path that leads to Marina di Praia beach, a pebbly stretch wedged between the cliffsides.

Stunning→(extremely impressive or attractive)

Alluring→powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating, seductive;

To lure→tempt to do something or to go somewhere, especially by offering some form of reward.

Landslide→a collapse of a mass of earth or rock from a mountain or cliff

To sprawl→sit, lie, or fall with one's arms and legs spread out in an ungainly way

Subdued→soft and restrained

To jump-start→to improve a situation by taking a particular action

tiles→ tessere

ban→ divieto

to wedge→ to pick something in a small place

to spruce up →to improve the appearance of someone or something

Laden with →Of a vehicle or vessel, having been loaded with some kind of cargo

GRAMMAR: IDENTIFIER VS MESURE

1. IDENTIFIER→ My two-year-old son likes ice-cream (I have another son who is not two)

2. MESURE→ My son is two years old (My son's age is two)

1. Praiano is an Italian town by the sea.

2. Find an antonym for the word ‘alluring’ in the following sentence.=repulsive

Praiano, a town of about 2,000 people, is not blessed with an alluring wide beachfront. 36

3. The inspiration for the branding plan was Antoni Gaudí’s Park Güell in Barcelona, on a more

subdued scale.

4. Agenda Praiano is a community association founded in 2013.

5. Find a synonym for the word ‘sprawls’ in the following sentence =stretches

Praiano sprawls along the coast’s cliffs.

6. Residents boast that the town offers the most beautiful sunsets on the Amalfi Coast.

7. Praiano has a centuries-old tradition of ceramic decorations.

8. The Amalfi coast is the area where Ulysses is said to have resisted the call of the Sirens

9. What does ‘gawk at’ mean in the following sentence?= stare at in awe

Praiano is not the typical town a tourist would gawk at.

10. Mr. Sandulli’s seven terra-cotta panels line a walking path that leads to Marina di Praia beach.

11. The pebbly path, known as the Via Terramare, was built in the 1950s

12. People used to transport everything by hand down the path.

13. Along with the town’s City Hall, the association received a 250,000 euro grant (about $275,000)

from the European Union.

TOURIST VS TRAVELER Traveler: «A person who is

traveling or going from place to

place, or along a road or path;

one who is on a journey; a

wayfarer; a passenger.»

Tourist: «One who makes a

tour or tours; esp. one who

does this for recreation; one

who travels for pleasure or

culture, visiting a number of

places for their objects of

interest, scenery, or the like 37

What is the etymological / semantic

difference between traveler and tourist?

Undertake→

Affluent→

Worldliness→

Well-off→

Research “mass tourism” →

What does “foreign travel ceased to be

an activity – an experience, and

undertaking – and instead became a

commodity” mean

Dichotomy→

Contrived→

Prefabricated→

Ascribe→

What does “the idea of traveler is heavily

based on anti-tourism and tourism

angst” mean? 38