2nd edition

Unit 1 Culture clip

1C George Orwell’s 1984: Worksheet

1 Watch the video report. Write notes about the dates.
a 1903
b 1917
c 1927
d 1936
e 1943
f 1949

2 Watch the report again and answer the questions.

1 Where did Orwell go to school?

2 What did he do in Burma?

3 Which war did he fight in?

4 How long did it take him to write Animal Farm?

5 Where was he buried?

6 How is his vision of the future described?

Vocabulary Extra
3 Match the words (1–5) with their definitions (a–e).
1 wounded
2 track
3 living rough
4 propaganda
5 database

a follow the movements of somebody/something, especially by using electronic equipment

b false or exaggerated political statements
c an organised set of information
d living or sleeping outdoors, usually because you have no home and no money
e hurt or injured in an accident

© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE Intermediate DVD clip Worksheet

 2nd edition
Unit 1 Culture clip

1C George Orwell’s 1984: Answer key

1
1 Orwell was born.
2 Orwell went to Eton College.
3 Orwell returned from Burma.
4 Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War.
5 Orwell started writing Animal Farm.
6 1984 was published.

2
1 Eton College
2 He was in the police.
3 the Spanish Civil War
4 two years
5 in a peaceful cemetery in the English countryside
6 alarmingly accurate

3
1 e
2 a
3 d
4 b
5 c

© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE Intermediate DVD clip Answer key

 2nd edition
Unit 1 Culture clip

1C George Orwell’s 1984: Script

Over sixty years ago, the British writer George
Orwell wrote a novel about a society in which the
government controls all aspects of people’s lives
through propaganda, surveillance, and violence.
That novel was 1984. Orwell wrote the novel as a
political satire, but some people believe that a lot of
his ideas have become reality. For example, in the
UK, we are constantly monitored by CCTV. Satellites
track our every move. Personal details are held on
huge databases. Even our phonecalls and emails can
be hacked or tapped.
But what do we know about Orwell himself? And
what influenced the writing of 1984 and his other
major political novel, Animal Farm?
Orwell’s real name was Eric Arthur Blair and he was
born in India in 1903. When he was fourteen he went
to Eton College, England’s most expensive school.
His first job, when he was just twenty, was in the
police in Burma, now also known as Myanmar.
When he returned from Burma in 1927, he lived in
London and Paris where he experimented with dressing
like a tramp and living rough. As a result he wrote his
first book, Down and Out in Paris and London.
In 1936, Orwell went to fight for the Republicans
in the Spanish Civil War, but he was wounded and
escaped back to England in 1937.
From 1941, he worked for the BBC in London, and
in 1943 he started writing Animal Farm. This was
published in 1945 and became an international
success which he followed four years later with 1984.
Both novels were based on Orwell’s experiences in
the Spanish Civil War, his life and work in England,
and the political situation at the time, particularly
in Russia.
In 1950, shortly after 1984 was published, Orwell
died and was buried in a peaceful cemetery in
the English countryside, unaware how alarmingly
accurate his vision of the future was.

© OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • PHOTOCOPIABLE Intermediate DVD clip Script