British Oscar success

BBC Learning English
News about Britain
March 2009
British Oscar success

News about Britain © British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
bbclearningenglish.com

The cast and crew of British movies will no longer be hailed as the underdogs at awards
ceremonies. At the recent 81st
Oscars ceremony, British actors and movies won no less than
11 awards.

The list of Oscar winners is usually dominated by American films and actors but 2009 has
seen a more international flavour to the ceremony. British actors and actresses have long
awaited such global recognition. Kate Winslet was nominated six times for an Oscar before
she eventually won the Best Actress award at this year's ceremony.

Slumdog Millionaire lived up to its status as a global success and movie phenomenon. The
low-budget movie swept the board winning eight Oscars, including Best Director and Best
Picture. The movie, which documents the life of a young Indian boy after he wins a TV game
show, has definitely helped to raise the profile of the British film industry.

Summarising the national feeling, British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, issued a statement
saying "Britain is showing it has the talent to lead the world".

A spokesman for the UK Film Council agreed with Mr Brown's comments but added that
many of this year's movie winners have benefited from national funding. "With our lottery
funding for Man on Wire and The Duchess, and Film4's support for Slumdog Millionaire, last
night proved that government support for film can deliver success on a global scale", he said.

Addressing the growing fervour for British film, Slumdog director Danny Boyle has urged
people to remain calm and to be realistic after his remarkable Oscar success. "You've got to
be careful of claiming that this marks the renaissance of the British film industry. It is one
film", he said.


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Glossary

cast and crew – actors and people who have
been involved in the filming
hailed as – called
underdogs – here, someone who is not
expected to win a contest
dominated – here, it means that it's American
films and actors who usually win most of the
Oscars
international flavour – if an event has an
international flavour, it means people from
many countries take part in it
global recognition – becoming popular/well-
known around the world
lived up to – hasn't failed, proved swept the board – had a lot of success (by
winning in several categories)
raise the profile – improve the reputation;
make (the British film industry) known more
widely
benefited from – took advantage of, enjoyed
lottery funding – money raised by selling
National Lottery tickets to the British public
and spent on various causes (here, on
financing film production)
on a global scale – around the world
fervour – extreme passion, great enthusiasm urged – strongly advised, encouraged
to be realistic – to take, or accept things as
they are, rather than have unlikely hopes for
the future
renaissance – a revival/rebirth, a new interest
in something

Read and listen to the story online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/newsaboutbritain/2009/03/090310_nab_oscars.shtml



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1. Reading Quiz


Are these sentences true or false? Or is the answer not given in the text? Circle the correct
answer.


1. The British film industry won 11 Oscars at the 81st
Academy Awards Ceremony.
True / False / Not given

2. British actors and actresses often win Oscars.
True / False / Not given

3. The success of the movie Slumdog Millionaire has helped the British film industry.
True / False / Not given

4. The British prime minister believes that a lot of talented people work in the UK film
industry.
True / False / Not given

5. Some of the winning movies had received money from the UK government or other
national organisations.
True / False / Not given



2. Order of Adjectives

Arrange the words to make sentences. Think about the order of the adjectives.


1. great is Chinese This a martial arts film.

2. horror It was a old terrible movie.

3. movie had classical brilliant a The soundtrack.

4. film rather a unrealistic has The ending.

5. British are two They outstanding actresses.


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3. Film genres


What type of movies were these people watching? Match a word from the box to each
comment:




action


animation


horror


musical


romantic
comedy


science
fiction


war


western




1. "The film was so frightening that I had to close my eyes".

2. "I don't usually like movies about love and relationships but this one was really
funny".

3. "The audience obviously enjoyed this movie because everyone was singing along".

4. "It was a typical cowboy film. There was a showdown at a saloon, a corrupt sheriff
and a girl in need of rescue".

5. "Although this was not a true story, I thought the film quite accurately depicted a
soldier's life during battle".

6. "I knew before I watched this movie that it was going to be fantastic. After all, the
film is about an alien invasion".

7. "The car-chase and the stunts in this movie were awesome".

8. "I think the person who illustrated this film deserves an Oscar".




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4. Wordsearch

Try to find the words associated with going to the cinema in the puzzle below.

There are ten words to find. Words can be written horizontally (g), vertically (i) or
diagonally (m)


c e r t i f i c a t e p
s c r e e n i n g a e r
i o t t i c k e t v m e
g h t r f i v s s t u m
h t i a g n i g a t v i
m o v i e e v s u t i e
o h s l h m f f d r e r
k g t e r a r s i a a v
f h t r g f s s e l g f
j n p o p c o r n s m i
n s f f h s r s c t a n
a g h c e r t s e d d g



ticket pop-corn cinema

film trailer screening audience

premier certificate movie




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Answers

1. Reading Quiz

1. The British film industry won 11 Oscars at the 81st
Academy
Awards Ceremony. True

2. British actors and actresses often win Oscars. False

3. The success of the movie Slumdog Millionaire has helped the
British film industry. True

4. The British prime minister believes that a lot of talented people
work in the UK film industry. True

5. Some of the winning movies had received money from the UK
government or other national organisations. True


2. Order of Adjectives


1. great is Chinese This a martial arts film.
This is a great Chinese martial arts film.

2. horror It was a old terrible movie.
It was a terrible old horror movie.

3. movie had classical brilliant a The soundtrack.
The movie had a brilliant classical soundtrack.

4. film rather a unrealistic has The ending.
The film has a rather unrealistic ending.


3. Film Genres


1. "The film was so frightening that I had to close my eyes".
horror

2. "I don't usually like movies about love and relationships but
this one was really funny". romantic comedy

3. "The audience obviously enjoyed this movie because everyone
was singing along". musical

4. "It was a typical cowboy film. There was a showdown at a
saloon, a corrupt sheriff and a girl in need of rescue".
western

5. "Although this was not a true story, I thought the film quite
accurately depicted a soldier's life during battle". war

6. "I knew before I watched this movie that it was going to be
fantastic. After all, the film is about an alien invasion".
science fiction

7. "The car-chase and the stunts in this movie were awesome".
action

8. "I think the person who illustrated this film deserves an Oscar".
animation


4. Wordsearch




c e r t i f i c a t e p
s c r e e n i n g r
t i c k e t e
r i m
a n a i
m o v i e e u e
l m f d r
e a i
r e l
p o p c o r n m
c
e