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Hooray for Hollywood!
Can you describe the last movie you saw? In this unit, you'll learn language for movies and entertainment.
Vocabulary
UK ['kɔm.ən.tri] US a spoken description of an event on the radio
commentary noun or television that is broadcast as the event
['kɑ:.mən.ter]
happens
cool UK [ku:l] US [ku:l] adjective excellent; very good
UK [di'pres.iŋ] US making you feel unhappy and without hope
depressing adjective
[di'pres.iŋ] for the future
UK ['dai.ə.lɔg] US [ (a) conversation which is written for a book,
dialogue noun
lɑ:g] play or film
UK [,dis.ə'pɔin.tiŋ]
disappointing adjective making you feel disappointed
US [ºiŋ]
UK ['drɑ:.mə] US an event or situation, especially an
drama noun unexpected one, in which there is worry or
['dræm.ə]
excitement and usually a lot of action
UK ['dred.fəl] US very bad, of very low quality, or shocking and
dreadful adjective
['dred.fəl] very sad
UK [ik'sai.tiŋ] US [
exciting adjective making you feel excited
ºiŋ]
UK ['fæs.i.nei.tiŋ]
fascinating adjective extremely interesting
US [ºiŋ]
a series of moving pictures, usually shown in
film UK [film] US [film] noun a cinema or on television and often telling a
story
UK [hi'leə.ri.əs] US
hilarious adjective extremely funny and causing a lot of laughter
['ler.i]
Language focus
Articles: a, an and the
The indefinite articles a and an are used to refer to something for the first time, or something that is not specific.
For example:
Slumdog Millionaire is an original movie that won eight Oscars in 2009.
The indefinite articles a and an are also used before professions.
She is an actress.
Superlatives
Superlative adjectives end in est.
It was the coldest day of the year.
He is the richest man in the village.
Everest is the biggest mountain the world.
It’s the saddest movie I’ve seen.
Notice the structure the + adjective + est. All adjectives of one or two syllables can all be made into superlatives using
this rule. However, adjectives of two syllables can also take the following structure: the + most + adjective. Look at the
examples:
My birthday is the happiest day of the year. / My birthday is the most happy day of the year.
Adjectives of three syllables or more cannot take est, the superlative always being formed using: the + most + adjective.
She is the most beautiful actress in the world.
It’s the most interesting movie I’ve seen all year.
Adverbs of sequence
When relating a narrative story, different adverbs of sequence are used depending on which part of the story is being
told.
The adverb phrase is usually placed at the beginning of the sentence, followed by a comma.
For example:
First, they meet a guy who they think is a nice guy.
Next, the father of one of the girls finds out what happened and tries to find her.
Then, he goes to Paris to investigate.
After that, he discovers who took her and why.
Finally, he finds her.
In the end, he rescues her, and it's a happy ending.
Expressing agreement and disagreement
Notice the different discourse markers used to ask for and express opinions and signal agreement and disagreement.
I agree that not all actors are great.
I don’t agree that not all actors are great.
What did you think about the movie?
I think that it was too scary.
I feel that it was too scary.
If you ask me, I thought the movie was awful.
To be honest, I thought the movie was awful.
In my opinion, the movie was awful.
Actually, I felt that the movie was awful.
Stress and intonation when expressing opinion
To emphasize an opinion, the meaning words of a sentence are stressed.
'I hate that movie!’
'I love that song!’
If the stressed word is positive, the intonation is usually rising. If the stressed word is negative, the intonation is usually
falling.
That movie was terrible. (The intonation falls.)
That movie was amazing! (The intonation rises.)