Vocabulary

behind the times = out-of-date, unfashionable, not modern

piercings = holes made in the body for wearing jewellery, such as rings or studs

glam = short for 'glamorous', i.e. dressed and/or made up to be extremely good-looking and very fashionable

finished off = completed, given final touches

rocker = someone who really likes rock music (and dresses like a rock music fan)

denim = a thick strong cotton cloth, often blue in colour, used especially for making jeans

scarf = a piece of cloth worn around the neck

tie-dyed = designs on cloth dyed by tightly tying portions of it with waxed thread so the dye only affects the exposed areas; sandals = light open shoes with straps

flared = (trousers or skirts) that widen significantly below the knee (popular in the late 1960s - early 1970s)

waistcoat = a sleeveless garment worn on the upper body over a shirt and usually having buttons down the front

out of place = strange, as if you don't belong

Comprehension check

1. What can be one of the biggest shocks to an outsider who arrives in Britain?

2. What do some girls who go for a 'glam' look wear in Britain?

3. What do some young people who want to go for the 'rocker' look wear?

4. How to look 'sporty'?

5. Do boys want to look good and fashionable?

6. Summarise the main points of the article.

Unit 5. Soap operas January 2009

R eading

Caption: Filming a soap opera

Read the story: Watching TV is a very popular pastime in the UK. But what kind of programmes do British people like to watch? Well, the most-watched TV programmes every week are very popular dramas that are usually on at least four times every week. They are dramas which take place in one neighbourhood that try to show ordinary life in the UK - we call these dramas 'soap operas' or 'soaps'.

In the early days of TV, there were often dramas on during the day. Back in those days, it was traditional for the husband to go out to work and for the wife to stay at home and look after the house and the children. Most of these daytime dramas were aimed at entertaining the housewives who would traditionally be at home, probably doing the washing. Companies selling washing powder would advertise their products at times when these dramas were on, and sometimes those companies would even sponsor the drama. This is how the word 'soap' became part of the expression.

So what about the word “opera”? Well, that's because these dramas are often an exaggeration of real life. They try to show ordinary lives but, to make them entertaining, lots of dramatic events, like murders, divorces, love affairs etc, all happen probably much more regularly than they would in a normal neighbourhood.

Most soap operas these days are shown in the evening. Each show usually has several different storylines happening at once that continue over several shows. The same cast members appear in every show, too.

There are lots of different soaps on in the UK on different channels but there are three main popular ones. 'Coronation Street' has been on since 1960. The action takes place in a suburb of Manchester and shows working class life in the north of England. Then there's 'Eastenders' which started in 1985, the action takes place in the East End of London, and 'Emmerdale', which takes place on a farm in Yorkshire, in the north of England.

The BBC even has a soap opera to help you learn English - so if you want to see one of these dramas in English, 'The Flatmates' would be a good place to start.