UNIVERSITA’ CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE DI MILANO – ANNO ACCADEMICO 2018/2019
INGLESE 1 ORALE
LIBRO: LIFE “NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LEARNING” STUDENT’S BOOK UPPER INTERMEDIATE
(SECOND EDITION), WRITTEN BY PAUL DUMMET, JOHN HUGHES, HELEN STEPHENSON
DOCENTI: THOMAS COLLINS, LAURA FERRARIO
SUMMARY
1B: A CONFUSED GENERATION
This article tells about Zhou Jiaying’s life, also called Bella by her English teacher. Bella is 11 and she lives
in Shanghai with her parents, that are part of a confused generation. These words refer to a period
characterized by the fighting of different ideologies: the new ones and the old ones. The new values give a
fundamental role to the technology and especially to the money, that are considered as the measure of
success. The old values instead, refer to those “typical manners” that characterized the years of our
grandparents: respect and importance of the family are an example. Bella’s parents are facing the difficulties
to choose which side they should be part of: in fact, they started questioning their own education methods.
Bella’s mom thinks that her child-raising has been a failure.
Words:
- Duty: moral obligation dovere
- Burden: load, encumbrance carico, peso
1C: BLOOD LINES
The USA are a melting pot of different ethnic groups and cultures, but the diversity is particularly evident in
Queens, a borough in New York City. Here the different generations live alongside: they are very proud and
curious about their roots, but they are more interested in the history of their great parents than their family
tree.
Richard, 38 – At the age 15 his great-grandfather Tomas came from Poland to America on his own. After the
death of his mother, his father got married again but Tomas couldn’t stand his stepmother; he ran away to
Belgium, where he boarded a ship to America without a ticket. After he got a job on the railroads in
California, he started to work in construction with his brother, who came from Europe to get in touch with him
– they reunited in New York. Richard and his relatives (cousins, aunts, uncles) have a strong sense of
belonging to their family: they have been a family who struggled and fought together to succeed.
Tanja, 29 – Tanja is American, but her parents come from Jamaica. Both are nurse, well-educated and with
a strong ethic: in fact, her father’s aim was to be a doctor after he moved to the U.S. He studied during the
day and worked during the night. Tanja and her sister are both in the medical profession – she is a doctor at
the Mount Sinai Hospital in Queens. She likes to think that her parents passed down their dedication and the
desire to “go ahead”. She loves America because this country gives a lot of opportunities.
Words:
- Railroards: railway system ferrovia
- Inherit: in genes, from relatives ereditare
2A: A KEY MOMENT
This article tells us about an accident that involved Niki Lauda, a famous Formula 1 driver. After winning the
world Formula 1 championship in July 1976, Lauda’s next race was the German Gran Prix in Nürburgring.
The track was narrow and bumpy: it was considered unsafe by many drivers, Lauda included. Others argued
about the safety of the track: one of them was James Hunt, who though the circuit was safe enough. On 1st
August during the race, Lauda lost the control of his car and hit a bank on the far side of the road, before his
car burst into flames. Many people helped him to get out of the car but unfortunately, he was already burnt.
After some time in the hospital and a serious plastic face, he got back into racing. These two drivers had got
different approaches to life. Both drove hard and pushed themselves to their limits, but Lauda refused to take
unnecessary risks. While Lauda was more careful and wary sometimes, Hunt was more reckless and
fearless.
Words
