R EADI N G. a Read the text. Which topic is not mentioned?

a Read the text. Which topic is not mentioned?

politics relationships business food sport

India

The dream destination for astrology addicts

While in Britain the general belief in astrology is limited to glancing at horoscopes in newspapers and magazines, in Idia people take their star signs very seriously indeed.

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Astrology prog rammes are shown on many of I ndia's 320 television channels, and at least a dozen stations are devoted entirely to astrology 24 hou rs a day. Calcutta housewife Lata

Banerji always starts her day by tu rni ng on the astrology channel,

Sh risti, to find out what the day holds for her and whether she wil l have to face any kind of domest_i_c crisis. She also receives

information on what foo"d she should eat to avoid i l l ness. 'It gives me the confidence I need to face the day,' she says. 'Americans

go to a therapist every week to cope with life. I get my sense of wel l bei ng from the advice I get from astrologers.'

One of the most famous displays of deep bel ief i n astrol ogy came when the Bol lywood actress and for mer M iss World, Aishwa rya Rai, 33, annou nced her engagement to 31-year-old actor Abhishek Bachchan. U nfortu nately, astrol ogists predicted i l l health or an early death for her husband, so Aishwa rya attempted to avert disaste1· by ma rryi ng a banana tree fi rst i n

the hope that the bad lck wil l affect the tree instead of her new husband. Although this may sound biza rre to us, only a few people i n India have been shocked by this behaviou r.

Indians seek astrological advice on everything from mar riage and havi ng chi ld ren to when to buy a new car and whether to accept a job offer. Some prog rammes specialize in medical

astrol ogy, with callers asking about health issues, while others provide investment and busi ness advice. Astrology is even important in pol itics with prime ministers asking thei r astrologers for a 'promisi ng' date before announci ng a general election.

N owadays it is almost obl igatory for Indian pa rents to have a horoscope drawn up when a baby is born.

Two people taki ng advantage of the boom in busi ness are l<al idas Sri ram and Vishi Babu, who have put up thei r tents

b Read the text again and choose a, b, or c.

I... radio stations are all about astrology.

a 320

b 12

c 24

2

b because she is very worried about getting ill. c because she can't afford a therapist.

3 The actress Aishwarya Rai married a tree a because she's very eccentric.

b because she wanted to protect her husband. c because her husband has a serious illness.

4 According to the text, Indians ask astrologers a how they should vote in the election.

b where they can get a good job.

l c for advice about many things.

5 Sunita Menon works as

a an adviser for a well-known company. b a tarot card reader.

c the presenter of a music programme.

c Look at the highlighted words and phrases. What do you think they mean? Check with your dictionary.

complete with laptop computer and pri nter right outside the city's hospital. They either visit the maternity wards or wait outsi de until new pa rents leave to offer their services. For the equivalent of €3 they use the baby's time and date of bi rth to pri nt out a horoscope for the del ighted pa rents.

Many Indians have no doubt that astrology can change people's l ives for the better. The glamorous Sunita Menon, India's most famous fortune-teller, was an ai r hostess unti l a tarot reader predicted that she would change jobs. Now she is the presenter

of a hugely popular television prog ramme and was recently hi red, by India's most famous musi c company to advise on investment

and busi ness decisions.

I

2 VOCAB U LARY personality

a Write a personality adjective to describe each speaker.

3 PRON U N CIATI ON word stress

a Write the words in the correct group according to the main stressed syllable.

1 'Don't panic! Everything is going to be fine.'

calm

2 'I will always be there for you. A friend is for

adventurous arrogant easy-going immature loyal open-minded

bad-tempered cheerful impulsive insincere

original practical

ever.' _ _

3 'I don't like talking to other people about my feelings.' __

4 Tm going to give you some advice because I've seen this happen many times before.' _

5 'I don't know why, but I just get angry with everybody all the time!'_

6 'He lives alone with ten cats and he always dresses in white.'__

7 'I'm always happy to do what everyone else wants to do.'_

8 'Even if I'm wrong, I'm not going to apologize.'

9 'I want you to stop seeing your friends so you can spend all your time with me.' _

b Complete the sentences with the adjective form of the words in bold.

1 My brother is really a mbitious. He's determined to get to the top. ambition

2 My colleague always thinks the worst will happen. She's really. pessimism

3 I have no problem leaving my children with Emily. She's very. response

4 You never know if you've offended Lauren. He's always so. mood

5 Phil is always there when you need him. He's completely. rely

6 Tania never remembers her appointments. She's terribly. forget

7 You have to be really careful what you say to Susan. She's very. sense

8 Rachel is the most person I know. She can do or mend anything in the house. practice

fjtttl'l!tn• Studenfs Book p.146 Vocabulary Bank

b Practise saying the words in a.

4 M I N I G RAM MA R the...the... + comparatives

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the words in brackets.

The more y_ou worry_ about it, the worse you'll feel. (worry, bad)

2 Thewe leave, thewe'll get there. (early, soon)

3 Theyou are, thehe'll be. (late, angry)

4 The my English, the I'll speak. (practise, good)

5 Theit gets, theit is to sleep. (hot, difficult)

6 The ___you do, the_ you'll get. (exercise, fit)

5 G RAM MA R auxiliary verbs

a Complete the sentences using so... and neither....

1 I'm an optimistic person and so are you.

2 My father works at home andmy mother.

3 I haven't tried speed dating andmy friends.

4

b Complete the dialogues with a question tag or an auxiliary.

I A Matthew asked you to go with him, didn't he? B Yes he did and I said yes.

him.

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