Meeting 1

A Time to Remember

Talking about people; childhood; memories

 Nicole Kidman:
A New Hollywood Royalty
Actress Nicole Kidman was and dance through her teen
born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in years. She got a couple of TV
1967. Her father, an Australian, parts before she made her
was a student in Hawaii at the breakthrough: In 1985, the
time. When she was 4, the Australian Film Institute named
family returned to Australia, and her Actress of the Year for her
Kidman grew up in a suburb of role in the TV miniseries
Sidney. Vietnam. She was only 17.
Kidman became interested in
acting early on. Her first
experience came when she was 6
years old and she played a sheep
in her school’s Christmas
pageant. She trained in drama
In 1989, Kidman appeared in didn’t last. Kidman and Cruise
the creepy thriller Dead Calm. divorced in 2001. After the
This performance earned her the divorce, Kidman threw herself
lead role in her first American into her work. She starred in a
movie, Days of Thunder. Her number of high-profile movies,
costar was Tom Cruise. including the musical Moulin
Following a whirlwind Rouge. Then, in 2003, she won
romance, Kidman and Cruise both an Academy Award and a
were married in Colorado on Golden Globe for her role as
Christmas Eve, 1990. Virginia Woolf in the film The
During the marriage, Kidman’s Hours.
career continued to grow. She And what does she think of her
and Cruise adopted two fame? “It’s a fleeting moment,”
children, and they worked hard she has said. “How long will it
to balance their careers and last? Who knows? But it’s here
family life. and it’s now.”
Unfortunately, the marriage
 Glossary

Suburb (noun) = an area on the edge of a large town or city

where people who work in the town or city often live
Pageant (noun) = any colorful and splendid show or
ceremony
Breakthrough (noun) = an important discovery or event that helps
to improve a situation or provide an answer to a problem
Whirlwind (adjective) = describes an event that happens very fast,
and often unexpectedly
Fleeting (adjective) = short or quick
I. Number these sentences from 1 (first event) to 10 (last event)

…... a. She divorced Tom Cruise.

...... b. She had her first acting experience.
…… c. She won an Academy Award.
…… d. She moved to Australia.
…… e. She made her first American Movie.
… … f. She won her first award.
… … g. She adopted two children.
…1… h. She was born in Hawaii.
… … i. She studied drama and dance.
… … j. She married Tom Cruise.
II. Answer these questions below based on the passage above.

1. Who is the actress of the passage?

2. Where and when was she born?
3. When was she started her experience?
4. What was award she got in the first time?
5. When did she played in Dead Calm movie?
6. What is the first American movie that she played?
7. In 1990, who was she married with?
8. When was she got divorced?
9. What are the awards she got in 2003?
10. How did she got these awards?
 Vocabulary Focus
A. Birth
Diana had a baby yesterday.
It was born at 1.15 yesterday morning.
It weighed 3 kilograms.
B. Marriage
Bill and Sarah got married.
Sarah got married to Bill. [NOT with Bill]
They (got) married in church.
They went on honeymoon to Italy.
They were married for twenty years.
C. Death
Then Bill became ill.
Died (verb)
He died last year.
Death (noun)
He died of heart attack. Dead (adjective)*
*not now living (She’s been dead for twenty years now.)
Bill is dead.
 Exercises
III. When were these people born and when did they die? Write sentences.
1. Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) = Christopher Columbus was born
1451 and died in 1506
2. Elvis Presley (1935-1977) = ……
3. Genghis Khan (1162-1227) = ……
4. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) = ……
5. George Washington (1732-1799) =……

IV. Fill in the blanks with died, dead or death.

1. Jill’s grandfather ……last year.
2. His……was a great shock to her.
3. Her grandmother has been……for five years now.
4. She……of a heart attack.
5. Now all Jill’s grandparents are……
 Vocabulary focus
► Used to (habitual past) + infinitive
Used to refers to something that you regularly did in the past but don’t do
anymore.

I used to smoke, but I’ve stopped.

She used to be very shy.
I used to be very messy, but now I’m very neat.

In a formal style, used to can have the forms of a modal auxiliary verb
(questions and negatives without do)

Did you use to collect things? (informal)

Used you to collect things? (formal)
Yes, I used to collect comic books.
No, I didn’t use to collect anything, but now I collect art.
I didn’t use to like opera, but now I do. (informal)
I used not to like opera, but now I do. (formal)
► (be) used to + noun … -ing Used to + infinitive
After be used to, we used a noun or an-ing form.
The meaning is quite different from
If you say that you are used to something, you mean that you know it well.
You have experienced it so much that it is no longer strange to you.
Be used to + noun

I’m used to London traffic – I’ve lived here for six years.
At the beginning, I couldn’t understand the Londoners, because I
wasn’t used to their accent.

We can use an-ing form after be used to, but not an infinitive.

Be used to + …ing

I’m used to driving in London now, but it was hard at the beginning.
(NOT I’m used to drive…)
It was a long time before she was completely used to working with old
people.
 Exercise
V. Add an appropriate form of the be if necessary. If no form
of be is necessary, write ∅ in the blank. (The symbol ∅
means: “nothing is needed here.”)

1. I have lived in Malaysia for a long time. I am used to

consistently warm weather.
2. I ∅ used to live in Finland, but now I live in France.
3. I ___ used to sitting at this desk. I sit here everyday.
4. I ___ used to sit in the back of the classroom, but now I prefer
to sit in the front row.
5. A teacher ___ used to answering questions. Students,
especially good students, always have a lot of questions.