WRITING. 1. Scan the descriptions of the fads

D movies

Tamagotchi

Hula Hoop

READING

1. Scan the descriptions of the fads. For each fad, find the answers to the following questions:

· Where did the fad begin?

· When was the fad popular?

For many years, students in Australia used bamboo hoops in gym class. In 1958, Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr took this idea and made the Hula Hoop, which became one of the biggest fads of all time. Hula Hoops are round, thin plastic tubes that a person usually spins around his waist or arm, jumps through or uses as a jump rope. More than 100 million Hula Hoops were sold by the end of the 1950s. Today, almost 50 years later, the Hula Hoop is making a comeback and can be seen around the world again.

The Tamagotchi first became popular in Japan in 1996. It then soon spread to other parts of the world. For people who wanted a virtual pet, the Tamagotchi was perfect. It was a small toy, about the size of an egg, with a small screen and three buttons. On the screen, there was an animal that slapt, played and ate, just like a real animal. The owner used the three buttons to feed, clean and play with it. The animal stayed happy when the owner took good care of it. However, if the animal was not looked fter, it got sick and “died”.

In the early 1950′s Hollywood was in trouble as the movie industry had to compete with the growing success of television. As a result, ticket sales were miserable and studios searched for a novelty to get people to return to the theaters. On November 26, 1952, the line of people was waiting to watch a low budget independent feature film called «Bwana Devil» – the first three-dimensional-movie. A year later, the movie House of Wax was released. «House of Wax» caused a “3D” craze throughout Hollywood, with most major studios rushing to show their attempt at the novelty. Unfortunately, those 3D movies often caused viewers to suffer from headaches. The public disappointment was such that Alfred Hitchcock’s «Dial M for Murder», originally filmed in 3D, was released only in 2D.

2. Read the descriptions again and answer the following questions:

Which fad involves taking care of something?

Which fad involves wearing something?

Which fad involves playing with something?

In what ways are 3D movies different from the other fads?

Which of the eight fads do you find the most unusual? Why?

Learn more about fads. Go to the website Crazyfads.com or Badfads.com. Collect the information under the following headings:

· Name of fad

· Description of fad

· When did it start?

· Where did it start?

· How long …?

· Interesting information

Use your notes to write а description of the fad.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-27