1 Part 2
3 LISTEN BETTER
Learning topic vocabulary
Learning the vocabulary of a specific topic, e. g.
music or the media, will not only help you to speak
better, it will also help you to understand better
when you hear people talking about these subjects.
a Complete Vocabulary Builder 3 The media A, p.128.
b T1.5 You're going to hear an interview with a journalist
from a music magazine talking about Abba. First listen
and write down the seven questions the interviewer asks.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Why did they break up? 95 there were no winners in our
The problems started when
divorce.' In 1980 Benny left
Abba went on their first
Anni-Frid, and relations in
65 world tour in 1976 to
the studio between the
coincide with their new
members of the group
album Dancing queen. Anni-
100 became increasingly tense.
Frid enjoyed touring but
In 1981 the group split up.
Agnetha didn't. By this time
In Björn's words, 'We'd all
70 she had a young baby.
run out of energy.'
'Agnetha didn't really want to
go anywhere,' says Björn, so
Where are they now?
it made things difficult. For After the break-up Benny
her the family came first, and 105 and Björn carried on writing
75 Abba second. I thought we music together, including the
could have both.'
musical Chess. The women
In 1978 Björn and Agnetha both had reasonably
separated. With the
successful solo careers. All
separation, the mood of
110 the members of the group
80 Abba's songs darkened and remarried. Since the break
the lyrics became, it seemed, up of her second marriage,
painfully autobiographical. Agnetha has been living alone
'They came from the heart, on a Swedish island and has
says Björn. I wrote about a 115 become almost a recluse. In a
85 divorce in Knowing me,
recent documentary for
knowing you and The winner British TV, she was the only
takes it all. Not necessarily member of Abba who
our divorce, but I always wouldn't be interviewed.
wrote what I felt. When I 120 Although the four members
90 asked Agnetha to sing The of Abba have been offered
winner takes it all, it was
huge amounts of money to
strange to hear her when we make a comeback and play
recorded it. Afterwards together again, they have
there were tears, because 125 always refused.
c 11.6 Now listen to the whole interview. In pairs, tell
each other anything you remember from the journalist's
answers.
d Listen again for more detail. What exactly does the
journalist say about ...?
1 the song titles and lyrics
2 Agnetha's attitude to touring
3 stories the tabloid press made up
4 Anni-Frid's father
5 Björn and Agnetha's divorce
6 Agnetha after Abba split up
7 how often they still meet
e Do you think that famous people's private lives should
be respected by the press?
BETTER PRONUNCIATION
Sounding interested: intonation in questions
Using the right intonation helps you to sound friendly
and interested when you ask questions.
a 11.7 Listen again to questions 1-7. Tick (V) the
questions where the intonation goes up at the end.
b Listen and repeat the questions. Copy the intonation.
c What kind of questions have a rising (™) intonation?
What kind of questions have a falling() intonation?
HU
Adapted from Mojo magazine