Progress Test 2A – 9th grade

Name: ___________________________ Class: ______ No. ___ Date: ___________________

@Teacher: _______________ Mark: ____________________ @ Enc. Educação___________________

I – Reading
Read the text carefully.

Review: A Star Is Born Brings Gorgeous Heartbreak

By Manohla Dargis Oct. 3, 2018
A Star Is Born is such a great Hollywood myth that it’s no wonder
Hollywood keeps telling it. Whatever the era or the director, it tells the story
of two people on dramatically different paths: a famous man who’s falling to
the bottom due to alcohol; and a woman (Lady Gaga) who’s trying to reach the
5 top and to become a star. This latest and fourth version is a gorgeous
heartbreaker (bring tissues). It’s also an old-fashioned fantasy about men,
women, love and sacrifice and it makes it all the better.
This new film takes place in a contemporary music world that is by
turns exciting, suffocating and crowded with dangers – ravenous fans, crushing
10 performance demands, being unable to deal with fame. This is the world that
has helped create and come close to ruining Jackson Maine (played by Bradley
Cooper), a country-rock musician.
A waitress with a wonderful voice, Ally Campana (Lady Gaga) becomes Jack’s safe harbour1. She and Jack first
meet in a Hollywood club where she sings after her shift ends. After another concert and after drinking a whole bottle
15 of whisky, Jack walks into the club for more. There he watches Ally singing a French song by Edith Piaf, “La Vie en Rose”,
and both fall in love with each other. A few days later, Jack brings Ally onstage and then on tour, but she eventually
goes solo, becoming a star whose ascent is shadowed by his decline.
Part of what’s exciting about A Star Is Born is that Bradley Cooper (also its director) knows he’s telling one of
the defining Hollywood stories and has given the movie the polish it deserves. It isn’t enough that Jack drinks, Mr.
20 Cooper wants us to know why. Therefore, he fleshes out2 Jack’s past, turning melodrama into therapy and robbing the
character of mystery.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/03/movies/a-star-is-born-review-lady-gaga-bradley-cooper.html
(abridged and adapted), accessed in October 2018
Word check
1 safe harbour – a place of refuge; 2 flesh out – to add more details or information to something.

A. Match each word with its synonym or definition.

1. myth (line 1) (A) hungry, starving 1.
2. ravenous (line 9) (B) something that makes things look shiny and new 2.
3. ascent (line 17) (C) an ancient story or set of stories 3.
4. shadowed (line 17) (D) the act or moving upwards; starting to become successful 4.
5. polish (line 19) (E) haunted 5.

Inglês – 9.º ano – Ana Santos, Catarina Pedrosa, Clara Bugalhão

B. What do these words refer to in the text?
1. She (line 13) _____________________ 3. his (line 17) _______________________
2. both (line 16) ____________________ 4. he (line 20) _______________________

C. Mark the sentences TRUE or FALSE. Correct the false statements.

TRUE FALSE
1. This film review is about the third version of A Star Is Born.

2. Its main characters are a heavy metal musician and an actress.

3. Ally becomes a star but she’s haunted by the end of Jack’s career.

4. As a director, Bradley Cooper was able to clarify Jack’s past.

D. Answer the questions about the text. Give complete answers and use your own words.
1. What kind of dangers does the music world have?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
2. How did the main characters meet?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Why was Bradley Cooper a successful director in this film?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
II – Language
A. Look at the posters. Write the type of event under each one.

1._________________________ 2. __________________________

3._________________________ 4. _______________________

Inglês – 9.º ano – Ana Santos, Catarina Pedrosa, Clara Bugalhão

B. Circle the odd one out in each list of words related to music and films.

1. reggae pop perform heavy metal

2. musician
| conductor techno songwriter

3. cello drums piano lead singer

4. comedy musical audience documentary

5. frightening fantasy epic thriller

6. cast sequel character director

C. Read the sentences and write the correct book-related words.

1. A story in which very frightening and unnatural things happen. – H_________ story
2. Literature about imaginary characters and events and not based on real people and facts. – F______________
3. A set of books that have the same subject and the same characters. – S_____________
4. The story of a person’s life written by someone else. – B_______________
5. A book about characters and events that aren’t real but seem real. – N___________
6. A story with secret agents and about secret service agencies. – S__________ story

D. Write sentences in the present perfect. There is one example.

• Ally / sing / already / alone / . Ally has already sung alone.

1. Jack and Ally / be / together on stage / .

_________________________________________________________________
2. They / not meet / before / .
_________________________________________________________________
3. Jack / forget / the love of his life / ?
_________________________________________________________________
4. He / throw / his life away / because of alcohol / .
_________________________________________________________________
5. I / already / see / this film twice / .
_________________________________________________________________

E. Match the two halves to make sentences. Write the letters (A-E).

When Bradley began his career as an actor 1. (A) he was a talented actor until they saw him. 1.
After he had moved to L.A. 2. (B) after she had tried dancing and acting. 2.
His family had never believed 3. (C) he had already participated in some TV shows. 3.
Lady Gaga gave up being a singer 4. (D) Gaga and Cooper performed them brilliantly. 4.
After they had learned all about their roles in (E) he realised he wanted to stay in New York. 5.
the film 5.

Inglês – 9.º ano – Ana Santos, Catarina Pedrosa, Clara Bugalhão

F. Complete the sentences with the past simple or the past perfect.
1. When Jack __________________ (see) Ally at the club he forgot why he __________________ (go) there.
2. He __________________ (take) her to his concerts because he felt that they _________________ (meet) before.
3. Ally __________________ (try) to help Jack but he __________________ (fall) to the bottom.
4. When Ally __________________ (become) famous she knew her boyfriend __________________ (lose) his career
forever.
5. This film is about a famous musician who __________________ (put) his career at risk after he
__________________ (throw) his life away because of alcohol.

III – Writing

A. Imagine you want to see a new film and want to invite your best friend to go with you.
Write an email (90-100 words) inviting him/her. Don’t forget to: tell him/her the title of the film; explain why
you want to see it; suggest the place and time to meet; what you can do after it.

Inglês – 9.º ano – Ana Santos, Catarina Pedrosa, Clara Bugalhão

 Answer key
I – Reading
A. (5 x 1% = 5%)
1. (C) | 2. (A) | 3. (D) | 4. (E) | 5. (B)
B. (4 x 2% = 8%)
1. Ally (Campana) | 2. Jack and Ally / Ally and Jack | 3. Jack’s | 4. Mr. Cooper / Bradley Cooper
C. (3 x 3% = 9%)
1. False. This film review is about the fourth version of A Star Is Born. | 2. False. Its main characters are a country-rock
musician and a waitress. | 3. True. | 4. True.
D. (3 x 4% = 12%)
1. The music world can be dangerous because of ravenous fans, crushing performance demands and being unable to
deal with fame. | 2. The main characters met in a Hollywood club where Jack entered to drink and where he saw and
listened to Ally singing a French song. | 3. Bradley Cooper was a successful director in this film because he was able to
show everything about Jack’s past, making his life clearer and easier to understand.

II – Language
A. (4 x 1% = 4%)
1. World music tour / Concert | 2. Book fair | 3. Art exhibition | 4. Film festival
B. (6 x 1% = 6%)
1. perform | 2. techno | 3. lead singer | 4. audience | 5. frightening | 6. sequel
C. (6 x 2% = 12%)
1. horror | 2. fiction | 3. series | 4. biography | 5. novel | 6. spy
D. (5 x 1% = 5%)
1. Jack and Ally have been together on stage. | 2. They haven’t met before. | 3. Has Jack forgotten the love of his life? | 4.
He has thrown his life away because of alcohol. | 5. I’ve already seen this film twice.
E. (5 x 1% = 5%)
1. C | 2. E | 3. A | 4. B | 5. D
F. (5 x 2% = 10%)
1. saw… had gone | 2. took… had met | 3. tried… had fallen | 4. became… had lost | 5. put… had thrown

III – Writing

A. (24%)
Personal answer.

Inglês – 9.º ano – Ana Santos, Catarina Pedrosa, Clara Bugalhão