:J Music

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American music 1

T4.21 Ascolta

questi diversi generi musicali. Sei capace di dire di che genere si tratta? Scrivi il numero (1 – 5) di genere musicale che senti. Folk music Gospel music Rap

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Country and western music Marching bands Jazz

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Tutti i generi di musica nell’elenco dell’es. 1 hanno avuto origine negli USA. Ascolta e leggi questo testo. T4.22

Folk music

Marching bands

Early American folk music was from English folk music and German church music. The songs were about work, love or travelling. They were usually slow, sad songs. Modern folk songs are often protest songs about war or ecology.

Gospel music Gospel music started in the churches in the southern states of the USA. These churches were popular with black people. They enjoyed clapping their hands, dancing and jumping. The preacher (or priest) shouted a question and the gospel choir shouted an answer. It was like a conversation.

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Rhythm ’n’ blues (‘R&B’) Rock ’n’ roll

Country & western music Country and western music is a combination of cowboy songs and love songs. The best place to hear country and western music is Nashville, Tennessee. Dolly Parton is a famous country and western singer. A famous country song is Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree.

Marching bands are famous all over the USA. They are usually military or police bands. The bands wear uniforms and play music as they march in parades and processions, for example, on Independence Day. John Philip Sousa was a famous musician of the 19th century. People call him ‘The March King’ because he wrote over 135 marches for bands including The Stars and Stripes Forever.

Jazz

Rap

The city of New Orleans is important in the history of jazz. Many African-Americans lived there. At funerals, they played slow marching music. Later, this developed into jazz. It became popular in other American cities, especially Chicago. One of the most famous jazz musicians was Louis Armstrong. He played the trumpet and his nickname was Satchmo.

‘Rap’ is short for ‘rhythm and poetry’. A lot of rap artists are African-Americans, but Eminem is unusual because he is a white rapper. Rappers speak the words rhythmically over the music.

Rhythm ’n’ blues This grew out of jazz, gospel music and negro spirituals. This is the real sound of Black America. The rhythm and the story are important in R&B music.

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Rispondi a queste domande. 1 What were folk songs usually about? 2 Where did gospel music start? 3 Who is a famous country and western singer? 4 Who was ‘The March King’? 5 Who was a famous jazz musician? 6 What is important in R&B? 7 What does ‘rap’ mean? 8 Who was a very famous rock ’n’ roll star?

Rock ’n’ oll Rock ’n’ roll started in the 1950s. It was a mixture of R&B and country and western music. The first rock ’n’ roll singers were black. Buddy Holly introduced rock ’n’ roll to young white people. Elvis Presley (1935 – 77) was the ‘King of Rock ’n’ roll’. He played the guitar and was one of the world’s most famous singers.

Portfolio Rispondi a queste domande: • Che genere di musica ti piace? • Preferisci le canzoni e i cantanti italiani o quelli internazionali? • Chi sono i tuoi cantanti / gruppi preferiti? Scrivi un brano (25 – 35 parole) sul tuo cantante / gruppo preferito. Di’ che tipo di musica fanno e che tipo di canzoni cantano.

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Science

Pumpkins 1

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Ascolta e leggi il testo sulle zucche.



Pumpkin facts

Pumpkins are from the squash family. Cucumbers belong to this family, too. Pumpkins are sometimes very big. The winner of the Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Contest weighed over 667 kg.

Pumpkins are good for you • Pumpkins contain Vitamin A, potassium and fibre. • Pumpkins contain beta carotene, so they help to protect your body from cancer. • Pumpkins contain no cholesterol and almost no salt so they are good for your heart. • Pumpkins are good for your skin. Many skin creams contain pumpkin.

Anatomy of a pumpkin 1 Leaves They are green and they absorb energy from the sun.

9 Stem This is brown or green and you can find it at the top of the pumpkin. It brings nutrients (or food) to the pumpkin.

2 Pulp This is sometimes called ‘the meat’. You cook the pulp in stews or pies. You can make ice-cream and beer with the pulp.

8 Tendrils The pumpkin holds onto things with these curly little arms. They protect the pumpkin when the wind blows.

3 Seeds There are hundreds of seeds in a pumpkin.

4 Nut This is inside the seed. When the seed has water and it’s warm, the nut grows into a new plant.

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5 Fibres They are in the centre of the pumpkin.

6 Ribs The big lines on the sides of the pumpkin.

7 Skin The thin orange outside part of the pumpkin. It’s sometimes called the ‘rind’.

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Scegli le riposte corrette. 1 Pumpkins belong to the … family.

a cucumber

b squash

2 Pumpkins are good for your heart because they have no…

a sugar.

b salt.

3 The pumpkin skin is called the...

a peel.

b rind.

4 Fibres are on the...

a inside

b outside

5 You can make ... from the pulp.

a pies

b wine

Leggi la ricetta di biscotti alla zucca e metti le immagini nell’ordine corretto.

Recipe for pumpkin cookies You need: 1 cup of margarine 1 cup of cooked pumpkin 1 egg 1 cup of raisins 1 teaspoon of cinnamon 1 teaspoon of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

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D

B

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3/4 cup of sugar 1/4 teaspoon of salt 2 cups of flour 1/2 cup of molasses 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

Method: 1 Heat the oven to 190°C (375°F). 2 Mix the margarine and sugar.

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3 Add the pumpkin, egg and molasses and mix it well.

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4 Add the flour, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

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5 Put small amounts of the mixture on a baking tray.

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6 Bake the cookies in the oven for 10 –12 minutes.

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C

F

Portfolio Pensa all’Italia e rispondi a queste domande: • Ci sono concorsi per frutta o verdura giganti? • Quali pietanze italiane fanno bene al corpo? • Quali pietanze italiane fanno male al corpo? Poi riferisci le tue risposte alla classe.

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History 7

Ellis Island 1

T4.24

Leggi e ascolta questo testo su Ellis Island.

Ellis Island, in New York Harbor*, was a very important place in the late 19th century. Immigrants to the USA came here from Italy, Ireland, Germany and many other countries and registered to enter the country. They usually waited hours or even days to register. This was after a long sea journey to reach the USA. In total, around 12 million immigrants entered the USA through Ellis Island. About 50 percent of Americans can trace their family back to an Ellis Island immigrant. Now the old Immigration Station is a museum and tourist attraction. Ellis Island

Here is a time line of Ellis Island. 1670

Dutch settlers gave the island a name – Oyster Island.

1776

Samuel Ellis from New York opened a small bar and hotel on the island.

1808

The Ellis family sold the island to New York State.

1812

New York State kept all its guns and gunpowder on Ellis Island.

1892

The first Ellis Island Immigration Station opened.

1907

On April 17th 11,747 immigrants passed through – the highest number on one day.

1918

Ellis Island became a hospital for soldiers from World War I.

1924

The end of mass immigration.

1954

The Immigration Station closed.

1990

The new Ellis Island Museum opened. Since 1990 over 20 million people have visited the museum and the Immigrant Wall of Honour (the world’s longest list of names).

2001

The website (www.ellisisland.org) opened with the national records of 25 million immigrants to the USA from the years 1892 – 1924.

Factfile of immigrants to the USA: Numbers and country of origin 1820 – 1880

3 million (Germany) 2.8 million (Ireland) 2 million (Britain)

1880 – 1930

4.6 million (Italy)

1930 – 1965

940,000 (Germany)

1965 – 2000

4.3 million (Mexico)

390,000 (Italy) 1.4 million (the Philippines)

Immigrants at Ellis Island

Many other immigrants to the USA came from Vietnam, China, India, Russia, Iran and Jamaica.

*harbor (US)=harbour (UK)

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Usa il testo e la scheda dati per rispondere a queste domande. 1 How many immigrants entered the USA through Ellis Island in total? 2 How did the island get its name? 3 When did Ellis Island first become a post for immigration? 4 What happened on April 17th, 1907? 5 When did the station close? 6 How many Italian immigrants came between 1880 and 1930? 7 How many Mexican immigrants came between 1965 and 2000?

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The Immigration Hall today

Immagina che sia il 1898. Leggi la conversazione con un emigrante italiano tipico. Scrivi le domande (a – i) negli spazi corretti. Poi ascolta controlla le tue risposte.

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A 1 B Mario Bonomi. A 2 B Piacenza in Italy. A 3 B She’s at home in Italy. When I find a job I can send her money and she can bring the children. 4 A B I wanted to come here because America is the ‘land of opportunity’. My children are hungry. 5 A B I walked off the boat with all the other immigrants and entered the Immigration Office on Ellis Island. 6 A B About five or six thousand. A 7 B I was happy, nervous and hot. It was August and I was in my heavy winter suit. It was too big for my bag. 8 A B About five hours. We saw the doctor and the immigration officials. A 9 B Some were, but there were also Jews from eastern Europe, Irish families and Germans, too.

a What happened when you arrived in New York? b Where’s your wife? c Were all the other immigrants from Italy? d How did you feel? e What’s your name? f How long were you in the Immigration Office? g Where do you come from? h Why did you leave Italy? i How many immigrants arrived with you?

Portfolio Pensa alla tua famiglia e rispondi a queste domande: • Hai amici o parenti che vivono all’estero? • Dove si trovano? • Quando hanno lasciato l’Italia? • Sono contenti? Scrivi degli appunti e riferisci le tue risposte alla classe. Poi discuti su questa domanda: • Ti piacerebbe lasciare l’Italia? Perché? / Perché no?

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Science

The solar system

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T4.27 Quale pianeta? Ascolta e leggi il testo. Scrivi il nome dei pianeti sotto le immagini corrette.

Mars is a small, dry planet. It has a red, rocky surface and, because of this, it is called the Red Planet. Mars is much colder than Earth. It has two small moons, Phobis and Deimos.

Uranus, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune all have rings. The rings consist of rocks that are floating in space. Scientists don’t know how the rings formed or where they came from. Each planet has a different number of rings.

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Quante cose sai sul nostro sistema solare? Fai questo rapido quiz.

Quiz

1 How many planets are there in our solar system? 2 What are their names? 3 Which is the largest planet? 4 Which is the smallest planet? 5 Which planet is closest to Earth? 6 Which planet is closest to the Sun? 7 Which planet is furthest from the Sun? 8 Which is the hottest planet?

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Ascolta e leggi il testo per controllare se hai ragione. T4.26

The solar system consists of the Sun, the planets, moons, asteroids and comets. It formed about 4.5 billion years ago. There are nine main planets in the solar system. They are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto*. Venus is the hottest planet, but it isn’t the closest to the Sun – that’s Mercury. Pluto is the coldest planet and is the furthest away from the Sun. Pluto is also the smallest planet and Jupiter is the largest. Mars is the closest planet to Earth. *Pluto is now thought to be a minor or ‘dwarf’ planet.

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Neptune has four rings. It is very impressive because it has a blue surface. Neptune is as big as Earth. It also has four moons.

Uranus has 11 rings and 15 moons. The atmosphere around Uranus is a greenish colour and it consists of gases: methane, hydrogen and helium. Uranus is very cold – the average temperature is about -205° C.

Jupiter is the largest planet. It has a rocky centre, but it looks orange from space because it is covered in orange clouds of gases. Very strong winds blow these clouds and cause gigantic storms.

Saturn is nearly as big as Jupiter. Saturn’s rings are the only ones we can see from Earth. They are the most colourful of all the planets, and because of this, scientists say Saturn is the most beautiful planet. Saturn also has about 18 moons. Some scientists believe that Saturn has more moons than this. The moons came from a very large moon that broke up.

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T4.28 Ascolta e leggi il testo sulle sonde spaziali e rispondi alle domande.

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Space probes

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We have amazing pictures of the planets because of space probes. Space probes are space ships, but there are no astronauts. Scientists in space stations on Earth control their movements. Because there are no astronauts, space probes can stay in space for a very long time. The purpose of the probes is to find out about the planets and discover new things about them. They do this when they take photos. Voyager 2 is the most successful space probe. It travelled for more than ten years and went to every planet except Pluto.

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1 What are space probes? 2 Who controls their movements? 3 Why can they stay in space for a very long time? 4 What is Voyager 2? 5 How long did it travel around space? 6 Which planet didn’t it go to?

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Jupiter

Portfolio Trova informazioni sul pianeta Terra e scrivine una descrizione. Parla di: • i gas nell’atmosfera • il numero di lune • le caratteristiche della superficie (montagne, mari ecc.)

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History 7

Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement 1

Quante cose sai sugli schiavi americani? Sei capace di rispondere a queste domande? • Where did they come from? • Which parts of America did they work / live in? • When was slavery abolished in America?

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T4.29

Ascolta e leggi il testo per controllare se hai ragione.

An American slave market From the 16th century slave traders took African men, women and children from their country to work on the large plantations of the southern states of America. The slaves were very cheap labour for the plantation owners. The slaves worked until they died. They were not free. They belonged to the plantation owners. In 1865 slavery was abolished in all parts of the USA. By the 20th century, black Americans were no longer slaves, but they were not equal to American citizens. They could not vote; they could not sit on the same buses or in

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the same restaurants as white Americans or go to the same schools. They were second-class citizens.

protest movements of the 20th century. In 1955 the story of a black worker called Rosa Parks caused a massive public protest. Rosa lived in Alabama and she worked for a large department store. The police arrested her because she refused to give up her seat on a bus. The seat was reserved for white people. King protested against the bus company and for many weeks the black workers stopped going on the buses. This ‘boycott’ lasted until the buses agreed to end ‘segregation’ (separation between blacks and whites).

✗ This changed with Martin Luther King. King was a Baptist minister from Alabama and he became the leader of one of the largest

Rosa Parks

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I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character.

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Martin Luther King Martin Luther King’s movement continued and in 1963 he led 250,000 people in a march on Washington DC. He gave one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century. It is called the ‘I have a dream…’ speech because he used the words ‘I have a dream’ many times in the speech. In his speech King spoke about his dream for equality between black and white citizens in America.

King went to jail several times for his beliefs, but he continued to work for equality. Some people hated Martin Luther King for his work and in 1968 he was assassinated. But before this happened, he saw the abolition of racial discrimination laws in

1964 – 65 and he won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964. Martin Luther King was one of the most important people in American history. In 1986 the United States began to hold a public holiday in his name.

The Washington March , 1963

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Decidi se queste affermazioni sono vere (T) o false (F). Correggi quelle false. 1 By the 20th century, black Americans did not work as slaves. 2 Martin Luther King came from Washington DC. 3 Rosa Parks was a black woman. 4 Martin Luther King led 250,000 people in a march in Alabama. 5 King died before the racial discrimination laws were abolished. 6 King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1963.

Portfolio Pensa ad alcuni leader famosi della storia italiana e rispondi a queste domande: • Perché erano famosi? • Che cosa hanno influenzato? • Perché sono stati importanti per l’Italia? Adesso scrivi degli appunti e riferisci le tue informazioni alla classe.

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