1A

The name game winners

Whats in a name?, asked Shakespeares Juliet. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, she concluded; in other words that the name of a person is irrelevant. However, research by psychologists suggests that our name can have a direct effect on our personal happiness. Having a popular name, it seems, can make other people think you are intelligent and attractive even before they have met you. This is because, according to psychologist Dr Philip Erwin, people associate a particular name with a stereotyped image. However, having an unpopular name can have the opposite effect. It can even affect your employment prospects, says Dr Erwin. Employers usually make up their mind within two minutes of a job interview. Part of that process is reading an applicants name on the CV, which may immediately create a negative stereotype in the employers mind. As a result, according to Dr Erwin, people with less attractive names tend to work harder to get on in life. As part of his research, he rated the first names of 68 psychology students for attractiveness, and then compared their exam marks. He found that students with unpopular, old-fashioned names did significantly better (an average of more than 3% higher marks). This suggested that they were aware that they had an unattractive name, and were working harder to overcome negative attitudes towards their name. Names considered to be less attractive were, for example, Norman, Ronald, and Albert for men, and Gillian, Pauline, and Agnes for women. More attractive names were Stephen, David, Emma, and Charlotte. Actors and pop stars certainly seem to take this into account and it is quite common for them to change the name they were born with to a more glamorous one, for example, Whoopi Goldberg (born Caryn Johnson), and Bono (born Paul Hewson). For many years now there has been a definite tendency among British parents to choose unusual or famous names. In the 1990s, Phoebe became popular for a while, almost certainly as a result of the hit US TV series Friends, and Jack, which had previously been considered an unattractive, old-fashioned name, became dramatically more popular because of Leonardo DiCaprios Titanic hero, Jack Dawson. Recently Keira has become a popular girls name (after the actress Keira Knightley), and William and Harry (after the princes) are invariably in the top ten names chosen for boys. But the question is, will these names still be considered attractive when their owners grow up? When I was at school there was no one in my class with the same name as me, says 34-year-old Farrah Stephens, who was named after the TV actress Farrah Fawcett, one of the stars of the 1970s TV series Charlies Angels. By the time I was 15 everybody had forgotten about her, and I was left with this really stupid name. In the end I decided to use my middle name, Diane. Clearly, the choice of a name for a child is a difficult decision to take. Dr Erwin gives some practical advice: Choose names for your children which they will be happy with in twenty years time, and choose a second name in case your child doesnt like the first one.

1B THEIR STORY
How did it all start? In November 1970 an unknown Swedish group called Festfolket played their first concert in front of five embarrassed couples in a restaurant in Gothenburg in Sweden. Their live performance was not a great success, and by the end of the week only three people turned up to hear them. Incredibly, just a few years later they would be the most successful pop group in the world. In 1977 when they played at Londons Royal Albert Hall, the box office received three and a half million requests for tickets! Festfolket consisted of two engaged couples, Agnetha and Bjrn, who had fallen in love at first sight in 1968 (they married in 1971) and Benny and Anni-Frid (who married in 1978). When the groups manager sent them messages he used to write to ABBA (using their initials) to save time and this became their new name. Their fortunes immediately improved. In 1974 Abba, singing in English, won the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo, which became an instant hit all over the world. For the next decade they dominated the pop music scene with hit records such as Fernando, Dancing queen, and The winner takes it all. Why were Abba so successful? First there were the songs themselves, which in the early years were catchy tunes with simple pop lyrics. Also, because Abba were Swedish, their English pronunciation was very clear and easy to understand and this definitely helped their worldwide appeal. Another attraction was their outrageous clothes. For Eurovision I wore a black jacket with pearls and satin trousers with silver boots, says Bjrn. I looked like a fat Christmas tree! But on stage and on record the magic ingredient was probably the two girls voices and the contrast between them. Although Abba broke up in 1981 there was a big revival in their popularity in the 90s, mainly because of two films: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Muriels Wedding, both partly inspired by the group and their music. In 1999 the London musical, Mamma Mia, based on the groups songs, sold out night after night, and twenty-five years after their first hit, Abbas album Greatest Hits was back at number one in the Top 20. Part 2 Why did they break up? The problems started when Abba went on their first world tour in 1976 to coincide with their new album Dancing queen. Anni-Frid enjoyed touring but Agnetha didnt. By this time she had a young baby. Agnetha didnt really want to go anywhere, says Bjrn, so it made things difficult. For her the family came first, and Abba second. I thought we could have both. In 1978 Bjrn and Agnetha separated. With the separation, the mood of Abbas songs darkened and the lyrics became, it seemed, painfully autobiographical. They came from the heart, says Bjrn. I wrote about a divorce in Knowing me, knowing you and The winner takes it all. Not necessarily our divorce, but I always wrote what I felt. When I asked Agnetha to sing The winner takes it all, it was strange to hear her when we recorded it. Afterwards there were tears, because there were no winners in our divorce. In 1980 Benny left Anni-Frid, and relations in the studio between the members of the group became increasingly tense. In 1981 the group split up. In Bjrns words, Wed all run out of energy. Where are they now? After the break-up Benny and Bjrn carried on writing music together, including the musical Chess. The women both had reasonably successful solo careers. All the members of the group remarried. After the break-up of her second marriage, Agnetha lived alone on a Swedish island and almost became a recluse. In a recent documentary for British TV, she was the only member of Abba who wouldnt be interviewed. Although the four members of

Abba have been offered huge amounts of money to make a comeback and play together again, they have always refused.

1C

Danger!

Sense of humour failure Bill Bryson is a best-selling American travel writer who has lived in both the US and the UK. He has written several humorous books and many articles about British and American life. 1 Heres my tip of the week. Dont make jokes in America. Even in experienced hands, a joke can be a dangerous thing. I came to this conclusion recently while passing through Customs and Immigration at Logan airport in Boston. As I approached the last immigration official, he said to me, Any fruit or vegetables? What does this question mean? Why does he ask it? 2 I considered for a moment. Sure, why not? I said. Ill have four pounds of potatoes and some mangoes, if theyre fresh. Instantly, I could see that I had misjudged my audience. He looked at me with one of those slow, dark expressions that you never want to see in a uniformed official, but especially in a US Customs and Immigration officer. Why did the customs official begin to get angry? 3 Luckily he appeared to conclude that I was just incredibly stupid. Sir, he enquired more specifically, are you carrying any items of fruit or vegetable? No, sir, I am not, I answered at once, and gave him the most respectful look I believe I have ever given anybody in my life. I left him shaking his head. I am sure that for the rest of his career he will always be telling people about the idiot who thought he was a greengrocer. Why do you think he gave the official a very respectful look? 4 The same thing happened another time when I was talking to my neighbour about a disastrous airline trip which had left me stranded overnight in Denver. Who did you fly with? he asked. What does this question really mean? 5 I dont know, I replied. They were all strangers. He looked at me with an expression of panic. No, I meant which airline did you fly with, he said. Soon after this my wife ordered me to stop making jokes with him, as our conversations were giving him a migraine. Why didnt his neighbour understand his answer? 6 Irony of course is the key word here. Americans dont use it very much. (Im being ironic; they dont use it at all.) The English writer Howard Jacobson says that Americans dont have a sense of humour. Actually he is wrong. Many of the funniest people who ever lived were or are Americans, such as the Marx brothers or Woody Allen. But it is certainly true that wit and sense of humour are not valued as much in America as they are in Britain. The comedian John Cleese once said: An Englishman would rather be told that he was a bad lover than that he had no sense of humour. Whats the difference between British and American humour? 7 It isnt that there are no people with an active sense of humour in America, its just that there are fewer of

them. When you meet one its like I imagine it must be when two Masons recognize each other across a crowded room. The last time I experienced this was a few weeks ago when I arrived at our local airport and approached a cab for a ride home. Are you free? I innocently asked the driver. What does the question mean in this context? Whats another meaning of free? 8 He looked at me with an expression I recognized at once the look of someone who can see the chance of a joke. No, he said, I charge like everyone else. I could almost have hugged him Why did he feel like hugging the cab driver?
Adapted from Notes From A Big Country, Bill Bryson

Glossary tip a piece of useful advice approach go near sb / sth misjudge form a wrong opinion of sb / sth enquireask for information respectful polite stranded not able to get home such as for example would rather would prefer charge ask for money for sth hug put your arms around sb to show love / affection