Pair Work for Week of 29 April 2008 (Fixes some typos)

Pair Work for the week of 29 April 2008

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FOR THE WEEK of 29 April 2008, prepare pair work based on the TomKat newscast that has been assigned for home listening. Your conversation should include as much of the vocabulary in the broadcast (below) as possible. Note: the discussion need not focus on Cruise and Holmes but celebrity gossip in general. Here are some model phrases and sentences you might use based on that vocabulary:

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ridiculous
    "It's ridiculous that people gossip so much about celebrities."

predicting
    "We spend too much time predicting which couples will break up, who will get divorced, or who will be the next celebrity in rehab." (*rehab=short for "rehabilitation," also the title of a recent hit by Amy Winehouse.)

celebrated
    "The media celebrated their wedding."

tabloid magazine
    "You can't believe what you read in the tabloids."

obsession
    "We have an obsession with famous people, which can be unhealthy."

syndicated radio
    "Syndicated radio programs spend too much time on celebrity gossip."
    "'Peanuts' is a syndicated cartoon published in our English language newspaper in Taiwan."
    "It's a syndicated program that can be seen at 5 p.m. in Taiwan and at 9 a.m. in Japan."
    "He's a syndicated columnist and his columns appear in two hundred newspapers around the world."

cult
    "Some call Tom Cruise's religion a cult. Here in Taiwan we have our cults too, such as. . . . "

guys
    "I disagree with you guys" (once used only for men, "guys" is now used for women too).

cover story
    "I bought the new issue of Elle with a cover story on Paris Hilton!"

pronouncing
    "The media is always pronouncing the end of a celebrity's marriage."

sinister
    "The press always sees something sinister in everything a movie star does."

puts us off
    "I think happiness in famous people puts us off. We enjoy it when powerful people fail."

Scientology
    "Can you tell me something about Scientology? What kind of religion is it?"

miserable
    "When famous people feel miserable it makes some people happy."

like a robot
    "She's doped up all the time and talks like a robot." ("doped up"=on drugs.)

plays into the fears we have
    "Celebrity gossip plays into the fears we have about failure."

they were done
    "I thought they were done as a couple when she caught him cheating but they got back together again."

doomed to fail
    "Some couples are so mismatched they're doomed to fail."

over the top
    (=exaggerated) "His behavior was so over the top, his fans always suspected him of being on drugs."

suspicious
    "Fans get suspicious if their idol goes out on a date even once."

mystique
    "Despite her drug problems, Amy Winehouse has a mystique about her."

doom and gloom
    "We love to read juicy gossip in the doom and gloom fanzines."
("Fanzine" is a blend word, like "brunch," made up of "breakfast" and "lunch." "Fanzine" combines "fan" and "magazine" into one word.)

scenarios
    "There are two scenarios for him: either he's arrested for drugs or he dies of an overdose."

secretive
    "Some Hollywood stars are very secretive about their romances."

let many people inside
    "Some celebrities don't let too many people inside their private lives."

live with it
    "He made a public mistake and now he's got to live with it." "There's a lot of bad press about him, but he can live with it." (Note the phrase is used in two different ways: positive and negative.)

deal with it
    "He knows how to deal with the media."

allegations
    "There have been many allegations about his affairs with married women."

bug him
    "He doesn't let the bad publicity bug him."

take it lying down
    "She's not about to take the libel lying down. Her lawyer just filed a libel suit against the magazine."

theory
    "One theory is he married her just for the publicity."

buying the relationship
    "Many of his fans aren't buying the relationship with that actress. They think it's just a show to prove he's a manly lover."

psychological terms
    "In psychological terms, he has a narcissistic personality disorder, so he can never be satisfied with just one woman."

fabulous lives
    "The fabulous lives of the rich and famous fascinate many people."

where it's at
    "People are trying to figure out where he's at."

portrayed
    "She's portrayed in the press as a gold digger."

a little bit negative
    "The press was only a little bit negative about the wedding reception."

shoddy lives
    "People who live dull or shoddy lives worship the rich and famous."

opened up
    "She opened up a little and started discussing her divorce."

anxiety
    "Her anxiety over her weight caused her to take drugs."

speculating
    "His fans are speculating when Michael Jackson will release another album."

casting aspersions
    "The magazine cast aspersions against the actor, saying he was temperamental and caused delays during filming of the movie."

took a toll
    "The drugs and gossip took a toll on her life and she died young."

identify with
    "Fans identify with their idols so much some try to kill themselves if their idol killed himself."

overly self-aware
    "She's not overly self-aware of her behavior."

add something into the mix
    "The new baby added something into the mix of their marriage."

toxic
    "Sometimes constant intimacy can be toxic."

creeping into the relationship
    "There's a sense of boredom creeping into their relationship."

emulate
    "He wanted to emulate his idol and he died young."

too controlling
    "Fans think he's too controlling of her life."

we personalize it
    "Fans tend to personalize each public fact about an idol's life."

ecstatic
    "She should be ecstatic since she just won the Oscar."

something going on
    "There must be something going on between them, since they've been seen together for nearly two weeks."

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