UNIT 2. WHAT’S THE STORY?

VOCABULARY 1: Films & books

1. Test your film and book knowledge!

How much do you know about popular films and books?

How many of these questions can you answer?

1. Which film trilogy, set in Gotham City, has a cast which includes
Christian Bale and Michael Caine?
A The Matrix B Superman C The Dark Knight D Star Wars

2. Which award-winning film has a storyline inspired by the true

story of a man who survived a bear attack?
A The Revenant B Everest C Legend D Django

3. Which actor is famous for his incredible stunts in the Mission

Impossible films?
A Matt Damon B Tom Cruise C Brad Pitt D Chris Pratt

4. Who played the lead role in the popular Hunger Game films?
A Scarlett Johansson B Emma Watson C
Jennifer Lawrence D Emma Stone

5. Which famous musical film based on the memoir The Story of

the Trapp Family Singers has a plot about a young girl, Maria, who
takes a job as a governess to a large family in Austria?
A West Side Story B The Wizard of Oz
C Grease D The Sound of Music

6. Which well-known film franchise doesn’t feature Marvel Comics

characters?
A X-Men B Iron Man C Power Rangers D Avengers

7. What was the first sequel to Twilight called?

A Eclipse B New Moon C Breaking Dawn D Full Moon

8. Which film won a Grammy award for its soundtrack?

A Frozen B Joker C Suicide Squad D Bohemian Rhapsody

2. Match the definitions with some of the red words and phrases in the quiz.
a) a group of actors in a film:

b) the story of a film or book (two answers):

c) dangerous and difficult actions done to entertain people:

d) the most important character:

e) using the same facts and ideas:

f) happen or take place in a location:

g) a biography:

h) a film or book which continuous the story of the first one:

VOCABULARY TIPS
Compound words often have a meaning that is different
from, or more specific than, the two separate words. They
can be written as single words, two separate words, or two
words joined with a hyphen. You need to understand both
parts of a compound word to understand its meaning.

3. Match the definitions 1-5 with the compound words in the box. Which part of the
compound word relates to the underlined words in the definitions?

award-winning film franchise leading role

soundtrack storyline

1- receiving an important or valuable prize:

2- the main acting part:
3- a series of motion pictures that have the same or similar titles and actors:
4- the plot and timetable of events in a play, book or film:
5- the recorded music to accompany a film:

4. Complete the article with the words below. There are three words that
you don’t need to use.

award-winning based cast memoir sequel

set soundtrack storyline stunts

Hidden Figures
Hidden Figures is an (1) ____________________ film directed by Theodore Melfi and adapted
from a novel by Margot Lee Shetterly. (2) _________________ in Virginia, it is (3) ___________
on the true story of three African American women who worked as mathematicians for NASA
and helped send the first American astronaut into orbit in 1962.
As well as fascinating (4) _________________ , it has a great (5) __________________ , which
includes Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe. It also has a fun and lively (6)
___________________ that includes songs by Pharrell Williams.

LISTENING
5. 1. Watch Catrin, Tom and Sophie talking about films and books. Answer the following
questions for each speaker.

1) Is the speaker talking about a film, a book or both?

- Catrin: both
- Tom: film
- Sophie: book

2) What genre of film / book is it (comedy, romance, etc.)?

- Catrin: fantasy
- Tom: cience-fiction
- Sophie: romantic comedy

3) What happens in the film / book?

- Catrin:
- Tom:
- Sophie:

5. 2. Look at the Useful phrases. Watch the video again and identify which phrases each
speaker uses (Tom, Catrin or Sophie).

Useful phrases: talking about films & books

Films
I was on the edge of my seat.
It was a big box-office hit.
It was / is really dated.

Books
I (just) couldn’t put it down.
I read it from cover to cover.
I’m not really a big reader, but …
It was a real page turner.

Films and books

I found it really moving. / a bit disappointing.
I’m a big fan of …
It’s a classic.