Comunicazioni audiovisive

GLOSSARY

over- (prefix)

(in nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs)

1. more than usual; too much, excessive: overproduction, overload, over-optimistic, overconfident
2. completely: overjoyed
3. upper; outer; extra: overcoat, overtime
4. over; above: overcast, overhang [see also super- as in superpower a few lines below in the text]

hype (noun, verb)

noun (informal, disapproving)

advertisements and discussion on television, radio, etc. telling the public about a product and about how good or important it is: marketing / media hype. Don't believe all the hype—the book isn't that good.

verb (informal, disapproving)

to advertise something a lot and exaggerate its good qualities, in order to get a lot of public attention for it: This week his much hyped new movie opens in London. The meeting was hyped up in the media as an important event.

fare (noun, verb)

noun

[C, U] the money that you pay to travel by bus, plane, taxi, etc: air / bus / taxi fares

train / railfares [C] a passenger in a taxi: The taxi driver picked up a fare at the station. [U] (old-fashioned or formal) food that is offered as a meal: The restaurant provides good traditional fare. (figurative) His student drawings were not standard art school fare. verb ~ well, badly, better, etc. to be successful/unsuccessful in a particular situation tit for tat noun [U] a situation in which you do sth bad to sb because they have done the same to you: the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys tit-for-tat assassinations by rival gangs appal (BrE) (AmE ap•pall) / p l/ verb (-ll-) to shock sb very much: The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. The idea of sharing a room appalled her. main•stream / me nstri m/ noun (the mainstream) [sing.] the ideas and opinions that are thought to be normal because they are shared by most people; the people whose ideas and opinions are most accepted: His radical views place him outside the mainstream of

American politics. He was never part of the literary mainstream as a writer. — DERIVATIVES main•stream adj. [usually before noun]: mainstream education

cut sb/sth off [often passive] to stop the supply of sth to sb: Our water supply has been cut off. They were cut off for not paying their phone bill. (from sb/sth) [often passive] to prevent sb/sth from leaving or reaching a place or communicating with people outside a place: The army was cut off from its base.

rad•ical / ræd kl/ adj. [usually before noun]:

1. concerning the most basic and important parts of sth; thorough and complete: the need for radical changes in education demands for radical reform of the law radical differences between the sexes;
2. new, different and likely to have a great effect: radical ideas a radical solution to the problem radical proposals / measures;
3. in favour of thorough and complete political or social change: the radical wing of the party radical politicians / students / writers;
4. (AmE,

slang) very good
edge [sing.] ~ (on / over sb/sth) a slight advantage over sb/sth: The company needs to improve its competitive edge. They have the edge on us. [sing.] a strong, often exciting, quality: Her show now has a hard political edge to it.
deluge / delju d / noun [usually sing.] 1 a sudden very heavy fall of rain; a flood: When the snow melts, the mountain stream becomes a deluge. 2 a large number of things that happen or arrive at the same time: a deluge of calls / complaints / letters
invasion / n ve n / noun [C, U] 1 the act of an army entering another country by force in order to take control of it: the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 the threat of invasion an invasion force / fleet 2 the fact of a large number of people or things arriving somewhere, especially people or things that are disturbing or unpleasant: the annual tourist invasion. 3 an act or a process that affects sb/sth in a way that invasion of privacy is not welcome: The actress described

The photographs of her as an .—see also invade

COMPREHENSION

Exercise 1

Look at the sentences below and decide which are True and which are False, in the writer’s opinion:

1. American plays are not as good as the publicity for them claims .....
2. Only theatre in Britain is dominated by American product .....
3. Both Britain and the United States should support writers and actors from their own countries .....
4. American plays should be banned from Britain .....
5. There are twice as many American movies as there are European ones on British TV .....
6. The themes of British and American plays are very similar .....
7. American plays are more glamorous than British ones .....
8. The people who decide which plays and films we watch should choose to show things from other countries, not just the United States .....

Exercise 2

Match each brief summary below to the paragraph (A, B, C or D) being summarized:

1. Americans should encourage culture produced in their country. In Britain, local

erode - a. make less set - b. put into words stifle - g. stop from nurture - c. encourage stimulate - a. help to grow and develop neglect - f. ignore articulate - e. put in place

Exercise 4 – Collocation

1. beliefs / values / confidence _______________________________
2. dissent / debate / comment _______________________________
3. an opinion / a point of view / an observation _______________________________
4. the agenda / the table _______________________________
5. youth / talent / creativity _______________________________
6. interest / creativity / writing _______________________________
7. strengths / your health / children _______________________________

Exercise 5 – Lexical cohesion

a. The text contains a lot of emphatic words and phrases related to America that help convey the idea of something overwhelming and, thus, threatening as an impending invasion. Write them down on the lines below:

______________________ ______________________

____________________________________________

______________________ ______________________

____________________________________________

b. The article also uses a high number of expressions from the semantic field of military conflict, thus relating the cultural invasion to a siege*. There are also some strengthening repetitions.

siege* Note: a is a military operation in which an army tries to capture a town by surrounding it and stopping the supply of food, etc. to the people inside.

Text 2 2003 2006
SANREMO SANREMO

Italy’s Festival of Syrupy Songs Loses High Ratings to Low Politics

Twelve millions viewers and an audience share of But this year no holds are barred, and Silvio
40 percent sounds pretty good but the producer’s Berlusconi, the Prime Minister , who is popularly
undermining RAI toof Italy’s celebrated Sanremo song festival were believed to bedeliberately scheduled benefit its own Mediaset channels, has fighting off the "flop" word this week when their eye candy to run head to head - equally luscious opening show was watched by fewer people than taking millions of Sanremo's ratings.last year. Is the problem the A national obsession, Sanremo remains, however, hoary formula of syrupy love Italy's chirruping harbingers of spring. This year the songs alternating with vapid celebrity chatter shimmering sets? Sanremo, after all, is in guest, flying 22 actress Sharon Stone is the chief before begetter of the sizeable staff to make a its 53rd year, and was the only hours with husband and appearance for which she will Eurovision Song Contest. If you traced the word five-minute to its source you would probably find reportedly receive Euro 250,000 (£170,000). "Eurotrash" yourself in Sanremo in 1951. But that's not it: Peter Gabriel gave a brief anti-war oration, Italian television audiences can'tNon riesco a formattare il testo come richiesto perché non è stato fornito alcun testo.

On shows of The Independent, March 7, 2003 minority interest during the Sanremo week allowing RAI to fill its boots.

GLOSSARY

hoary /h ri/ adj. very old and well known and therefore no longer interesting.

syrupy /sIr pi/ adj. extremely emotional and romantic and therefore unpleasant; too sentimental. A syrupy romantic novel.

shimmer / Im (r)/ verb, noun; verb to shine with a soft light that seems to move slightly; noun something that shines with a soft light that seems to move slightly.

set /set/ verb, noun, adj.; noun used for a play, film/movie, etc. SCENERY

beget /bI et/ verb (formal or old-fashioned) to make something happen: Violence begets violence. DERIVATIVES begetter noun

trash /tr / noun, (AmE) things that you throw away because you no longer want or need them; (BrE, informal, disapproving) objects, writing, ideas, etc. that you think are of poor quality: What’s this trash you’re reading?