Episode 269B

EPISODE 269
LEVEL B2

 

READING COMPREHENSION

 

AFTER THE CONCERT

Rodney leaves the concert hall visibly upset.

 

„You do not applaud until the end of each piece (= show your appreciation by clapping your hands)! Some longer pieces may have several movements (= sections) separated by a silent pause. The audience is not supposed to applaud between movements! Applause is reserved for the end of the last movement!”

„Give them a chance, they’ll learn”, Julia tries to calm him down. „Why don’t we check out the store they have here? I heard they have some very interesting CDs”.

„That’s right!” Rodney lets himself be led towards the store. „They have their own Special Editions label (= a company which produces goods for sale). Their outstanding (= superb) CD collections feature live performances (= they include live performances which are an important part of them). They really stand as a unique tribute to this fine orchestra – you can realize how great the orchestra is if you listen to their records.”
Julia is rather impressed – if also a bit amused – by Rodney’s literary manner of speaking. „Do they also sell sheet music?” she asks, hoping to keep him going.

„You mean notes?” Timothy, unaware of her plan, looks at her surprised.

„You should not confuse the two!” Rodney is quick to explain. „A note is a single sound at a particular level, or a written symbol which represents this sound. But sheet music is music in its printed or written form, especially single sheets of paper not formed into a book. Of course you can buy sheet music as paperbacks as well, which costs a bit less, and nowadays, I’m told, you can even download it off the internet, which costs the least…”

„Thank you, Rodney”, say Julia and Timothy in unison.

 

More contexts for the new words:

• The mayor paid tribute to the people who had fought the fire. (= to praise someone)
• Washing instructions should be on the label. (= a piece of paper or other material which gives you information about the object it is fixed to)
• Newsweek ran a double-page feature on global warming in their last issue. (= a special article in a newspaper or magazine, or a part of a television or radio broadcast, that deals with a particular subject)

 

 

EXERCISE 1

Write words and expressions next to their definitions.

 

1. ……………………………….. = to clap your hands
2. ……………………………….. = superb
3. ……………………………….. = music in its printed form
4. ……………………………….. = sections
5. ……………………………….. = to include
6. ……………………………….. = a single sound

 

 

EXERCISE 2

Complete the missing letters in the words.

Then decide which of these are the most important in a good concert. Rank the factors in order of importance.

 

1. being able to hear every n _ _ _ clearly
2. an o _ _ s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ performance of the orchestra
3. lots of _ pp _ _ _ _ _
4. being able to buy s _ _ _ _ music later on
5. pieces with short m _ v _ _ _ _ _ _, so that the concert finishes quickly
6. a u _ _ q _ _ location where the concert is held

 

 

ENGLISH IN USE 

 

In the text we have the sentence:

„You can buy sheet music as paperbacks, which costs a bit less, and you can even download it off the internet, which costs the least.”

The forms of the adjective LITTLE, which are LESS and THE LEAST. This adjective has two basic meanings, similar to „small” and to „young”. In both of these cases, it is more natural to use forms of these equivalents:

My bag is very little, but Eva’s bag is even smaller.
My baby brother is really little, but our cousin Lilly is younger than him – she is only two weeks old!

„Little” can also be used as a determiner which means „not much / not enough”. That’s where the forms of LESS and THE LEAST are mostly used:

Me and my family have little money, but our neighbours seem to have even less.
Darren has the least self-confidence out of his entire class.

 

 

IDIOM CLOSE-UP

 

A/ I have the weekend off. We can go to the opera!

B/ Really? That’s MUSIC TO MY EARS!

 

When something is music to your ears, you are very pleased to hear it.

 

 

PHRASAL VERBS CLOSE-UP

 

 

1. When you LISTEN IN (on something), you secretly listen to what someone says.

Rebecca was listening in on our conversation.

I wish Mum would stop listening in on my telephone conversations.

 

 

2. When you LISTEN OUT FOR something, you listen carefully to try and hear a sound.

She was listening out for their footsteps.

Would you listen out for the phone while I’m in the shower?

 

 

EXERCISE 3

Complete the mini-story by putting one word into each gap.

 

James spent the whole day waiting for a phone call from his girlfriend, Kate. All the time he was listening out (1)………………….. the phone – but it refused to ring. When he almost gave up and decided to go to bed, he heard someone talking in the garden. He started listening (2)………………….. on the conversation, and soon he realized that it was Kate and her best friend coming to visit him. Kate was telling her friend that she had missed James so much that she just had to come instead of phoning. It was music to James’ (3)…………………..!

 

 

 

NEWS

 

DEAF MUSICIANS

 

After the spectacular success of Evelyn Glennie, the deaf drummer, now came the time for a whole band of deaf musicians. The Deaferados, as they have dubbed themselves, are – perhaps surprisingly – a heavy metal band, and have all been deaf since birth. When asked (via a sign language interpreter) how they were able to play their music so well, they replied that they can just feel the musical vibrations with their whole bodies. And what do their fans think? Here are a few opinions:

“These dudes are awesome!”

“They’re amazing!”

“Are they really deaf? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

The band is scheduled to give a concert in Poznań in March, so don’t miss it!

 

GLOSSARY

– deaf – unable to hear

– dubbed – named

– sign language – the language used by deaf people, involving mainly the use of hands

– dudes – guys

– awesome – great

– scheduled – planned

 

download lesson (pdf)