Unit 20: The Cult of Celebrity
Tenses
Select a unit
- 1 Nice to meet you!
- 2 What to wear
- 3 Like this, like that
- 4 The daily grind
- 5 Christmas every day
- 6 Great achievers
- 7 The Titanic
- 8 Travel
- 9 The big wedding
- 10 Sunny's job hunt
- 11 The bucket list
- 12 Moving and migration
- 13 Welcome to BBC Broadcasting House
- 14 New Year, New Project
- 15 From Handel to Hendrix
- 16 What's the weather like?
- 17 The Digital Revolution
- 18 A detective story
- 19 A place to live
- 20 The Cult of Celebrity
- 21 Welcome to your new job
- 22 Beyond the planets
- 23 Great expectations!
- 24 Eco-tourism
- 25 Moving house
- 26 It must be love
- 27 Job hunting success... and failure
- 28 Speeding into the future
- 29 Lost arts
- 30 Tales of survival
Session 3
Reality TV can be the first step on the road to world fame. In this session we see how Daisy's life changes after The Box. Watch a video of Daisy, read an article about her life, and practise useful language for talking about events in the past, present and future.
Activity 2
Daisy goes global
Daisy’s past, present or future?
Six months after winning The Box, how has Daisy’s life changed? Has she become more famous? What is she working on now? What is she going to do next? Find out in this report on her extraordinary career.
Read the newspaper article to see more examples of past simple (finished events in the past), present perfect (before now with no set time) present continuous (happening now) and will and going to to talk about the future.
Read the text and do try the activity
‘DAISY’ TO HIT THE STAGE
There are now plans for a musical called ‘Daisy’ to be staged in London’s West End. The show is going to cash in on the incredible success of Daisy, the hottest celebrity in town.
Daisy exploded onto our TV screens six months ago in February when she won reality TV show The Box. Her life since winning has been anything but quiet.
Soon after the show she made headlines when she got engaged to Italian pop sensation, Fabio. Together they had a hit song ‘No, No, Yes, Yes’ which gave her global celebrity status.
Then, in April she shocked Daisy fans when she broke off the engagement in order to pursue a solo career.
Since then Daisy has had a number one record and won the celebrity version of The Box. She has also recently moved to Hollywood where she hosts her own talk show – ‘Simply Daisy’.
Right now she is rehearsing for the musical in which she will play herself. She says it is the hardest job she has ever had because her character is so complex. The show is going to open in December. After that, Daisy is going to start work on an autobiography. The book is going to teach people how to become famous like her.
Has her rise to fame changed her? Daisy says not at all. She is still very close to her family, who helped her when she was an unknown. She doesn’t need their help anymore, but she now employs them as cleaners and gardeners at her three UK homes.
To do
When do the different events happen? Test what you understood with the quiz!
Daisy’s past, present or future? Multiple Choice
5 Questions
Are the events in Daisy’s life in the past, happening now or planned for the future? Choose the sentence that is true.
Help
Activity
Are the events in Daisy’s life in the past, happening now or planned for the future? Choose the sentence that is true.
Hint
Find the sentence that talks about each event in the article. Does it use past simple (finished), present perfect (before now) or present continuous (happening now), or does it use ‘will’ or ‘going to’ to talk about the future?Question 1 of 5
Help
Activity
Are the events in Daisy’s life in the past, happening now or planned for the future? Choose the sentence that is true.
Hint
Find the sentence that talks about each event in the article. Does it use past simple (finished), present perfect (before now) or present continuous (happening now), or does it use ‘will’ or ‘going to’ to talk about the future?Question 2 of 5
Help
Activity
Are the events in Daisy’s life in the past, happening now or planned for the future? Choose the sentence that is true.
Hint
Find the sentence that talks about each event in the article. Does it use past simple (finished), present perfect (before now) or present continuous (happening now), or does it use ‘will’ or ‘going to’ to talk about the future?Question 3 of 5
Help
Activity
Are the events in Daisy’s life in the past, happening now or planned for the future? Choose the sentence that is true.
Hint
Find the sentence that talks about each event in the article. Does it use past simple (finished), present perfect (before now) or present continuous (happening now), or does it use ‘will’ or ‘going to’ to talk about the future?Question 4 of 5
Help
Activity
Are the events in Daisy’s life in the past, happening now or planned for the future? Choose the sentence that is true.
Hint
Find the sentence that talks about each event in the article. Does it use past simple (finished), present perfect (before now) or present continuous (happening now), or does it use ‘will’ or ‘going to’ to talk about the future?Question 5 of 5
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
End of Session 3
That's enough for this session! We hope you enjoyed following the career of Daisy: a modern celebrity. We also hope you are more confident talking about the past present and future!
In Session 4 we'll talk about the dangers of fame and celebrity culture.
Session Grammar
Example sentences
Past simple (finished events in the past)
I was on TV yesterday.Present perfect (before now with no set time)
I have been on TV many times.Present continuous (happening now)
I am watching TV right now.Going to + infinitive (future plans and predictions)
I am going to be on TV next week.
Session Vocabulary
musical
a film or play that uses songs and music to tell the storyLondon’s West End
an area of central London that has many famous theatrescash in
to make money from the success of somethingexploded
(here) arrived and had a big impactreality TV
TV programmes that film ordinary people in different situationsmade headlines
was in newspapers and the newspop sensation
a singer who is very popular and causes a lot of excitementhit song
a tune that is very successfulglobal celebrity status
fame around the worldpursue a solo career
(here) make music on her own, not as part of a groupnumber one record
a song that sells better than any otherversion
(here) a form of the TV show that is slightly differenthosts
presents; talks to guests ontalk show
a TV programme in which people are interviewed and/or talk about a topicrehearsing
prepare and practise for a public performance of a drama or piece of musicplay
act the part of someone in a dramacharacter
a person who appears in a storyautobiography
a book written by someone about their own liferise to fame
the process of becoming famousan unknown
someone who is not famous at all