The cult of celebrity

UNIT 08

The cult of celebrity

Read and answer.

• This man was hiding behind a tree. Why would he do that? What kind of job do you think he has?

• Which celebrity would you cancel all your plans for the opportunity to see? Why did you choose this person?

• Think of a celebrity whom you'd like to meet. What are three questions you'd like to ask him or her?

Cult of a celebrity: Vocabulary

Let's see.

Appealing

Pleasing and attractive.

Background

The kind of work, life, and family experience you have.

Celebrated

Famous and much admired.

Cultivate

To try hard to develop something or make it stronger.

Exposure

Public attention that a person, company, or product receives.

Invest

To put time or money into something because you think it will be beneficial.

Notorious

To be famous for something bad.

Paparazzi

Photographers who follow celebrities, photograph them, and sell the pictures.

Remarkable

Unusual or special in a way that gets attention.

Renowned

To be famous for something good.

Socialite

A person who attends many fashionable upper-class social events.

Exercise 01

Read and choose the correct option.

Multiple Choice

Paris Hilton didn't have any background/socialite in acting, but she knew that she could get on TV by starring in her own reality TV show.

• background

• socialite

Multiple Choice

"The Simple Life" follows two wealthy socialites/paparazzi (Paris and her friend Nicole) as they worked as maids, farmhands, and fast food restaurant employees.

• socialites

• paparazzi

Multiple Choice

Soon everyone was talking about Paris, who unlike other celebrities, has cultivated/invested a relationship with the exposure/paparazzi.

• cultivated/exposure

• cultivated/paparazzi

• invested/exposured

• invested/paparazzi

Multiple Choice

Steve Jobs was the former CEO of Apple, Inc. Along with the company cofounder Steve Wozniak, he created one of the first commercially successful personal computers. He was renowned/cultivated for his notorious/remarkable business sense.

• renowned/notorious

• renowned/remarkable

• cultivated/notorious

• cultivated/remarkable

Multiple Choice

This shows in successful products such as the iPad and the iPhone, which consumers like because of their appealing/renowned design and simplicity.

• appealing

• renowned

Multiple Choice

Not afraid to cultivate/invest time and money into new ideas, Jobs was often called a "design perfectionist." His path to fame involved having good ideas and implementing them before anyone else.

• cultivate

• invest

Multiple Choice

Construction worker Wesley Autrey was waiting for the subway when he saw a young man have a seizure and fall onto the tracks. Autrey jumped down and protected the young man from an oncoming train. Since then, he has become a celebrated/notorious local hero and received lots of media background/exposure (inteviews on news programs and talk shows)

• celebrated/background

• celebrated/exposure

• notorious/background

• notorious/exposure

Multiple Choice

At a time when we hear so much in the news about remarkable/notorious criminals, this story about an ordinary man who acted heroically is truly heartwarming.

• remarkable

• notorious

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method? Which would be hardest to do? Why? Which of these methods would you try?

• invent something that everyone wants

• star on a reality TV show

• do the right thing and become a hero

• befriend a famous person

• get attention for being bad at something

• win a contest on TV