1 Collecting' posters of Brad Pitt and scrapbooks about Princess Di may suggest more than empty celebrity crushes. While attachment to world-famous icons molds self-identity, a Canadian study found that starry-eyed 18- year-olds do not acknowledge their influence.
2 Professor of psychology Susan Boon and doctoral candidate Christine Lomore asked more than 200 Canadian undergraduates about their attachment to celebrities. The 79 students who expressed strong feelings toward an idol were then asked how seriously they took the relationship, and whether they had ever tried to emulate that person by dressing or behaving like them. They were also asked questions that ranged from how much time and money they had spent on their idol to how well they felt they knew the celebrity they admired. They answered questions on how much influence their idol had had on who they were and on how good they felt about themselves.
3 Participants indicated that despite strong attractions to their idols, they were not inspired to change their own behavior based on these celebrities’ lives or accomplishments. Nor did they feel the media figures influenced their self-concept or feelings of self-worth.
4 Participants’ responses to specific questions, however, told a very different story. Relatively few respondents reported that they had altered their physical appearance to appear more similar to their idols. However, one quarter indicated that they had made efforts to change aspects of their personality to bring it more in line with that of their favorite idol. Almost 60 percent admitted that an idol had influenced their attitudes and personal values, including their work ethic and views on morality. What’s more, nearly half said that the celebrity inspired them to pursue activities in which their idol engaged - acting, music, sports - or to undertake a variety of pursuits such as creative writing or becoming a vegetarian.
5 Boon is not surprised by this inconsistency. “It’s often hard to realize how much anyone influences us,” she says. “We may also like to think that we develop our identity and sense of self rather than being influenced by others.”
6 The majority of favorite idols listed by participants were movie stars and musicians. Actors from Cher to Tom Cruise topped the list, as did musicians such as Bono and Barbra Streisand. Interestingly, 85 percent of the celebrities cited were male. Boon attributes this finding to fewer female role models in categories like televised professional sports. In addition, “Men often choose other men as mentors and heroes, while women tend to select guys they are attracted to,” she explains.
7 The list was peppered with icons who are dead, including John Wayne, Princess Diana and Albert Einstein. “Even if there’s no possibility of interacting with an idol, celebrity attachments can still affect people’s behavior and feelings about themselves,” says Boon, who published the study in Human Communication Research. Parents perennially worry about teens’ obsession with idols, but Boon notes that relatively few celebrities cited can be deemed negative influences. Most of the idols are well-respected idols in their fields - the kind of celebrities both young adults and their parents might easily admire. “Perhaps,” concludes Boon, “the perception that celebrity attachments are harmful needs reexamining.”
Adapted from Psychology Today and Human Communication Research.
Using previous knowledge
How much do you know about celebrities and their fans? Mark each statement true (T) or false ( F ). w
1. Fans always change their appearance to look more like their idols.
2. Fans never change aspects of their personality to be more like their idols.
3. Celebrities influence the attitudes and personal values of their admirers.
4. The celebrities most people admire are movie stars and musicians.
5. The celebrities most people admire are male.
_ 6. Women tend to have female idols.
Scanning
Scan the text to check your answers. Then read the whole text.
Recognizing
audience
Who do you think the text was written for? Check (|/)the correct answer.
1. members of celebrity fan clubs
2. executives in the entertainment industry
3. psychologists who conduct similar studies
4. people who are interested in psychology
Understanding
details
B
1. Aim of the study: To determine whether attachment to celebrity affects people's
behavior and feelings about themselves.
2. Number of participants in first part of the study:
3. Number of participants in second part of the study:
4. Sample questions participants answered in second part of the study:
a.
b.
c.
ck
e.
5. Summary of the findings:
Relating reading to personal experience
Answer these questions.
1. Which celebrities in your country have the biggest influence on young people?
How do these fans try to be like their idols?
2. Have you ever pursued an activity because of a celebrity? If so, what was it?
3. Has a celebrity ever influenced your attitudes or values? If so, how?
79
Unit 10 Celebrity
WRAP-UP
The prefix out- often means "better than or more than." For example, in Reading 1 outweigh means "more important than." Match each word with its meaning.
f 1. outdistance
2. outdo
3. outgrow
4. outlast
5. outlive
6. outnumber
7. outplay
8. outrun
9. outsell 10. outsmart
a. be better or more successful than
b. use intelligence to gain advantage over someone
c. be greater in number than (someone or something)
d. sell more of or faster than another product
e. run faster in order to escape or arrive before others
f. go faster or farther than, especially in a race
g. continue to live after someone else has died
h. win a game by using more skill than the other players
i. become too large for something
j. continue to exist or work longer than something else
B
1. The thief_ outsmarted _the police by changing his appearance.
2. Today, manufacturers are making smaller cars. They’re cheaper, so they _larger cars.
3. Children usually their parents.
4. The winning team completely_the other team.
5. My cousin is very competitive. He is always trying to_
the rest of us.
6. The children needed new clothes because they clothes from last year.
their
it. Foxes move much faster
girls. I think there are 20 boys
7. If you see a fox, don’t try to_
than humans.
8. In this class, boys and 10 girls.
9. James should be in the Olympics. Whenever he’s in a race, he _the other runners.
10. These batteries are more expensive, but they should be good for a long time. They’ll the cheaper ones.
Think of a celebrity you would like to interview. What area of the celebrity’s life or work would you like to find out about? Write five questions to ask the celebrity. Then compare questions with your classmates.
Unit 10 • Celebrity
PREVIEW
You are going to read three texts about the circus. First, answer the questions in the boxes.
Read this newspaper article to find out what makes people want to become circus clowns.
1. Do you like clowns? Why or why not?
2. What qualities do you think a clown needs?
3. Why do you think some people want to become clowns?
This newspaper article provides a glimpse into the lives of circus performers.
1. Have you ever been to the circus? f %‘SWM 2 - What circus acts do you like? Dislike?
*' 3. What do you think a circus performer's life is like?
Read two editorials on the issue of using animals in the circus.
1. Which animals typically perform in the circus?
2. Do you like circus acts involving animals? Why or why not?
3. What kinds of tragedies can take place at the circus?
Find out the meanings of the words in the box. Then write each word under the correct heading.
acrobat aerialist pantomime slapstick stilt-walking animal trainer
CIRCUS PERFORMERS CIRCUS ACTS
Unit 11 • The circus
81
1 The first batch of college acceptance letters goes into the mail next Friday. This means some anxious waiting for Gary Wheeler, although it’s not one of the country’s top colleges he has his sights set on. It’s Clown College.
2 “I’ve got a positive attitude. I know I’m gonna make it,” said Wheeler, one of 33 circus clown wannabes who auditioned for a spot at Ringling Bros, and Bamum & Bailey Clown College, a grueling two-month regimen of pratfalls and pantomime, slapstick and stiltwalking. Sound like fun?
3 John Deaton thinks so, which is why he’s willing to fork over about $2,500 if he’s accepted for the six-day-a-week, 14-hour-a-day summertime session. A 33-year-old massage therapist and storyteller, Deaton hoped to impress recruiters with the shiny red nose he kept pinched to his face throughout the two-hour audition. It’s all part of the attraction of running off with the circus, which Deaton has wanted to do since he was 10. So if Clown College calls? “I’ll drop and run. In a heartbeat. I’m on the bus, the plane, whatever.”
4 “It’s the world’s biggest sandbox,” agreed Brad Aldous, 25, a Clown College alum who now travels with Ringling. “It was very intense but it was a blast,” he said of the rigorous course, required of all Ringling clowns.
5 Indeed, while many are called by the lure of the circus, only a few are chosen for Clown College. Each summer’s class of 30 or so comes from more than 1,500 applicants who try out at sites
where the circus performs. The college lists 1,400 graduates, about a third of whom have signed clown contracts with Ringling.
6 The art of clowning has been traced back to 2270 B.C., when a nine-year-old Egyptian pharaoh recorded this critical appraisal: “A divine spirit - to rejoice and delight the heart.” Clowns and circuses have continued to delight down through the centuries. In the United States, which hosted its first circus in 1793, assessment has been mixed. “It’s an art form that people don’t appreciate in this country,” said Lavahn Hoh, a drama professor at the University of Virginia who also teaches at Clown College. Hoh raised a few eyebrows at the university several years ago when he proposed a class on circus history. The only course of its kind in the country, it is now in its fourteenth year and so popular that 150 students had to be
turned away one semester. Hoh, who caught the circus bug at age four, says it’s where people can sit back “and forget about paying the mortgage and other worries.”
7 That hasn’t changed over the years, but clowns have, Hoh said, “A lot more college graduates are going into clowning. It’s not just run-away-and-join-the-circus anymore.” When she finishes college, sophomore Ashley Van Valkenburgh can’t think of anything she’d rather be. “Eve always wanted to go to Clown College,” she said at her tryout. “Instead, I went to regular college.” Paul Hood, 19, a freshman, said the circus is a natural for him since “I’m just a big kid at heart.” He said he’d talked with his parents “and they’re behind me all the way. It’s just leaving one school for another school.”
Adapted from The Washington Post.
Predicting
Scanning
Look at the title and the picture on the opposite page. Then check (✓) what you think the text will be about.
1. Clowns are trying to be more serious in their acts.
2. Circuses are trying to help clowns with their problems.
3. Training to become a clown is a serious business.
Scan the text to check your prediction. Then read the whole text.
Recognizing similarity in meaning
Understanding
details
Relating reading to personal experience
Match each word or phrase with a word that is similar in meaning.
g 1. have one’s sights set on (par. 1) a. fun (par. 2)
b. attraction (par. 3)
c. rigorous (par. 4)
d. graduate (par. 5)
e. assessment (par. 6)
f. pay (par. 6)
g. want (pars. 3, 7)
h. tryout (par. 7)
B
2. grueling (par. 2)
Z. fork over (par. 3)
4. audition (par. 3)
5. alum (par. 4)
6. a blast (par. 4)
7. lure (par. 5)
8. appraisal (par. 6)
CLOWN COLLEGE
TFhink it’s impossible to learn how to be a (1)
Think it takes years and years? At Clown College, we teach all you need to know in classes that meet a total of
(2)_hours a week over a (3)_period.
Learn the art of (4)_, (5)_,
(6)_, (7)_, and much, much more.
Interested? Come in for an (8)_with our
recruiters. It’ll take just (9)_
clown
hours of your
time and could change your life!
1. Would you ever consider going to Clown College? Why or why not?
2. How do you think Clown College decides which applicants to accept?
3. What would your parents do if you told them you wanted to go to Clown College?
Unit 11 • The circus
1 Somewhere in America on any given night exists a little town of 285 souls, all busily manufacturing delirium. Where, exactly, this town is located depends on Gaipo, general manager of the 131st Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Red Unit. Gaipo leads his people in many directions, and what a people they are: Brazilian dancers, Russian aerialists, Hungarian acrobats, Mexican stagehands and American clowns, plus an exotic assortment of tigers, zebras, elephants, camels, llamas, and horses.
2 As ancient lore would have it, the circus is a refuge for restless boys, freaks, and losers with violent pasts. In fact, aspiring entertainers don’t run away with the circus - they audition. If they’re lucky, they get two-year contracts, health insurance, and subsidized housing aboard the circus train. Gaipo is a college-educated company man, and the circus he presides over is a wholesome, if nomadic, enclave.
3 “We have everything you can imagine here,” says Mark Oliver Gebel, the star animal trainer who followed in the footsteps of his father, Gunther Gebel-Williams. “We have our families, we have a school. I grew up here. It’s been my whole life.”
4 Growing up in the circus means dealing with extremes of both constancy and change. For Karen Stewart, the two-year-old daughter of the clown, Jay Stewart, each week brings a new lot in which to park the family’s motor home, a new playground, library, and mall. But within that shifting landscape, Karen spends her days steeped in a communal
warmth and comforting
predictability that the village provides. Before a show, she
marches through Clown Alley with a serious expression,
inspecting the antics of her father’s painted colleagues, whom she proudly calls “my clowns.”
At 10 a.m. Thursday, as the arena filled with thousands of screaming children bused in from local schools, the circus’ own children were in school
backstage. Pam Boger, the head of the costume department, says of her 14-year-old daughter Whitney, “My daughter’s in a very controlled environment, with a lot of people looking after her. I don’t have to worry about drugs or anything else like that.” (Boger’s husband, Rick, does the camel and llama act.) With one teacher responsible for just five students, who range in age from 8 to 15, nobody gets left behind. If such constant scrutiny and scarce privacy might make an adolescent squirm even more than usual, Boger says that Whitney hasn’t found out yet. “I don’t think she really knows that she doesn’t have her own space, because she’s never experienced it. And she has friends: There’s another girl in her class that she’s close to, and also a boy.”
6 Some of those children eventually will grow into their parents’ - and their grandparents’ - trades. While many of the performers are only passing through, some stay for life: Bello Nock, the show’s high-risk comedic star, for instance, is a seventh- generation circus entertainer. Gebel, 31, acquired his seniority by upbringing, family tradition, and an uncanny bond with his beasts. “Some of these elephants have watched me grow up since I was a toddler,” he explains. “And I’ve raised some of them from birth. Everybody in the circus is close. But this goes deeper.”
7 Intimacy is an inescapable part of circus life. For the most part, the cast, crew, equipment, and animals all live on the train. Privilege is measured in an extra few square feet of space. Privacy is ensured by a thin partition. There is usually enough water onboard to go around, but not always. Still, nobody complains, at least not in public.
__
' Always pay attention to words and phrases that show contrast - such as in fact, but, while, and still. They are important for understanding the meaning of a text. For example, In fact (par. 2) is used to introduce surprising information. While (par. 6) is used to illustrate an exception.
Adapted from Newsday.
Thinking
about
personal
experience
Look at the title on the opposite page. Then check (✓) the statements about circus life that you think are true.
-1- Circus performers come from all over the world.
-2- The circus was once a place for runaway boys and criminals.
3. Circus performers receive contracts, health insurance, and housing.
- 4. Children of circus performers don’t go to school.
-5. Many performers run away from their families to join the circus.
6. Performers and animals all live on a crowded circus train.
Scanning
Scan the text to find out which statements above are true. Then read the whole text.
i
Guessing meaning from context
Find the words in the reading that match each definition.
1. _ delirium : feelings of excitement and happiness (par. 1)
2. _: traditional knowledge and stories (par. 2)
3. __: likely to benefit you physically, morally, or emotionally (par. 2)
4. __: belonging to or used by a group of people (par. 4)
5. _: amusing, silly, or strange behavior (par. 4)
6. _: show signs of embarrassment or discomfort (par. 5)
7. ____: connection (par. 6)
8. _: something that separates a room (par. 7)
Understanding main ideas
B
1. Paragraph 2:
2. Paragraph 3:
3. Paragraph 4:
4. Paragraph 5:
5. Paragraph 6:
6. Paragraph 7:
a. People in the circus are college-educated.
©The circus is for professionals.
a. Mark Oliver Gebel has lived with the circus all his life.
b. Living with the circus is like living in a village.
a. For circus children, life is changeable but predictable.
b. Each week the circus children’s families move.
a. Circus children get more attention than other children.
b. Circus children probably don’t realize their lives are different.
a. Some children who grow up in the circus never leave.
b. Circus children develop close bonds with the animals.
a. People who live on a circus train don’t complain.
b. Life on a circus train has some inconveniences.
Relating reading to personal experience
Answer these questions.
1. What information in the text surprised you about circus life?
2. What would you like about being a circus performer? What would you dislike?
3. Do you think the circus is a good place for a child to grow up? Why or why not?
READING 3