Monday, September 21st 2015.

Listen again to the report:

Listen to the song, Let it be:

Oral comprehension

A report on Let it be, The Beatles

This document is a recording of a radio programme from Liverpool News. The journalist is Steven Robson. He reports on / talks about / speaks about / his report deals with… the song “Let it be”. He raises a question at the beginning of his report: “ Is ‘Let it be’ the latest or the last Beatles’ single? ”. He asks this question because there were business and musical tensions between the four members of the group: they didn’t want to stay together, but split up / break up. The Fab Four released the song in March 1970 after john Lennon criticized Paul McCartney who had written the song in 1969. This song has a story: it was inspired by Mary, who is Paul’s mother. He had a dream in which his mother told him “everything’s gonna be all right”, and “forget your problems” so “Let it be”… (His mother had died when he was 14 years old).

Energy Crisis & Economic Collapse 

In 1973, the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) launched (t) an oil embargo. Consequently, it severely damaged (d) western economies and people began talking about energy conservation. In 1979, an energy crisis struck the USA. President Carter initiated (id) price controls and a “windfall profit tax.” So / As a result / as a consequence, gas prices - shot up = went up = increased (t).

Because of the energy crisis, the government economic policy, the worldwide economic conditions and the cost of the welfare state, the American economy collapsed. (t) The country faced (t) a double-digit inflation and unemployment.

Interest rates soared (d) over 20%. European nations faced (t) similar problems.

Meanwhile, the Soviets continued (t) to expand leading people to question whether or not capitalism and democracy could survive in the modern world.

The economic downturn led to the rise of Margaret Thatcher in Britain and Ronald Reagan in America.

Quiz about the 1970… Questions in the past…

When did Elvis Presley die?

How many demonstrators were killed on Bloody Sunday?

When did the OPEC launch an oil embargo?

How many people went to Woodstock?

What is the ideology / slogan of the Hippies?

Who was the American President at the end of the Vietnam war?

How many people were injured on Bloody Sunday?

What was the name of the agreement signed to stop the war in Vietnam?

When was the Apple II introduced?

What characters were there in Star Wars? Name 2.

When did the energy crisis strike the USA?

How many episodes are there in the Star Wars saga?

When was the first smiley button created?

What is the size / height of a platform shoe?

What does the smiley button mean?

Who reintroduced the platform shoe in the 1990s?

Army paratroopers attacked (t) unarmed marchers / protestors / demonstrators, on January 30th 1972, in Ulster / Northern Ireland – Londonderry: 29 people were injured (d) and 13 people were killed (d) by the Army while marching. It was a civil right march, to protest after catholic activists were arrested (id) and imprisoned (d) without trial.

President Nixon signed (d) an agreement (The Paris Peace Treaty) to stop the Vietnam war, in Paris, on January 27th 1973. He announced (t) the news on TV / television, saying it put an end to military involvement in Vietnam and it implemented (id) a ceasefire.

Monday, September 7th 2015

A time capsule from the past

was found in 2015…

Various objects were found in the time capsule: a platform shoe, smiley buttons, an Apple II computer, a magazine and a film poster of STAR WARS…

We can see characters who are bulky in the middle of the poster. There is a contrast between the dark background and the characters who wear white clothes. We can see Luke Skywalker in the center, who is the main character. Indeed, the lines made by laser beams all focus on the character in the middle: this is the focal point of the poster. There are nine represented, they are the most important ones: Luke Skywalker, Han Solo (on his right), Princess Leia (on his left), C3PO, R2D2, Chubaka, Darth Vador, Obi Wan Kenobi… In the top left-hand corner of the poster, we have the death star. All around the characters, there are space shuttles.

This episode is the first to be released but it’s episode 4 in the whole saga. It was released in 1977.

The hippie picture:

-     In the middle: a hippie couple.

-     Sitting in a van, side door = open

-     Look happy

-     Van: blue with flowers, VolksWagen van

-     Long hair (both boy and girl)

-     A plait (une tresse) on the forehead / a hair band…

-     They look out of the picture: the focal point is outside the frame of the picture: nature? Other people? Other people at Woodstock? (Music festival)… it’s somewhere else…

-     In front of the van: blankets / covers, pillows, BBQ or a lamp? Beds in the van? Sleeping bags?

-     Conclusion: they have travelled and they spent the night in the van.

-     Picture taken maybe in the morning…

-     Dressed in large / loose clothes, long clothes, vivid colours…

= makes the spirit of Hippies / Woodstock…