Mara B2 Julio 2017.

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Este: Exam practice.

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Exam practice

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07-07-2017

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One of the best films I have ever seen is The Last King of Scotland, starring
Forest Whitaker. His performance as Idi Amin is (1) frighteningly realistic and
cleverly illustrates how strange Amin's behaviour was at times. Alongside
Whitaker, newcomer James McAvoy displays some (2) excellent acting skills
as the young Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan, who arrives in Uganda just as
Amin takes power and who eventually becomes his personal doctor. Uganda
has some amazing landscapes and the film's (3) interesting locations show us
the real beauty of the country. The (4) fascinating storyline, based on a novel
by journalist Giles Foden, blends fact and fiction in a very clever way, sweeping
us along with the (5) historical events that were such a tragedy for Uganda in
the 1970s. There are a number of scenes of (6) shocking violence and the film
is frequently disturbing because of this, but at the same time it is totally gripping.
Last but not least, there is a (7) tremendous soundtrack, with a wide range of
African music that will have you dancing in your seat at times.
I thoroughly recommend this film to you.

2. Grammar
1 For questions i-8, read the film review below and think of the word which best fits each gap.
Use only one word in each gap.

The best film I have seen is LA Confidential, starring Kim Basinger and Kevin
Spacey.
It was set (1) in the 1950s Los Angeles, and (2) although/though/while/whilst
the budget wasn't particularly extravagant, the film had very powerful images
and seemed totally authentic. For example, the costumes looked just like what
people (3) must/would/might/could have worn; the cars seemed to (4) be
exactly what people used to drive around in. (5) All/Most of the actors played
their parts extremely well and Kim Basinger in particular gave (6) a truly
outstanding performance. The film was absolutely gripping, largely (7) because
the storyline was so carefully put together.
There were several ingredients: not only the obvious ones like murder and
blackmail, but also corruption, Hollywood lifestyles and some moving family
histories.
(8) This/ It is an impressive film.
Not to be missed!
Page 88 Listening. CD 2, Pista 2: DEBERES.

HOMEWORK:

You have been asked to write a short film review for a school
/college magazine. Choose any film which you think might be of
interest to your fellow students. The film can be in any
language and it can be of any type: comedy, thriller, science
fiction, romance, historical drama etc.
Your brief is to include a clear description of the story/contents,
to comment on what you think the most successful and least

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successful features are, and to give an overall
recommendation. Write about 250 words.

Example of a film review.

Crazy Plumber Plaza Cinema

If you have seen the advance publicity, you might imagine that this was a funny
film. Wrong. Its a film which tries very hard to be funny and fails consistently.
The story concerns a plumber who isnt very good at his job. When his
customers desert, and he cant pay his bills, he decides to turn to crime. He
tries a little shoplifting (he isnt very good at it, of course) but then he gets
involved in bigger things.
Wayne Gibson, who plays the hero, has one or two good lines but most
of the time hes struggling with a terrible script. There are a few good moments
the car chase sequence is memorable but the storyline is very slight and the
director seems to have run out of ideas very quickly. As the film progresses, the
level of violence increases. Despite the publicity, this is not a film for young
children.
A great deal of money went into the making of Crazy Plumber but in the
end spectacular effects are no substitute for real humour.

Useful language

Overview

The book / film / programme concerns a study of

deals with a survey of
shows a history of
describes
tells the story of

It contains a chapter on
It includes a section on

Pros and cons

really extraordinary quite interesting really

boring
fascinating amusing
unimaginative
absolutely amazing fairly entertaining completely
humourless
beautiful exciting
hopeless
stunning informative
amateurish
superb
attractive over the top

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successful predictable

Verdict

All in all In the last analysis In conclusion To sum

up On balance

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