And the Oscar Goes to…



Conversation, reading and video activity


Conversation & Discussion


Can you name a few movies that won the Oscar in past years? Have you seen any of them? Talk about your favorite ones and/or the ones that did not impress you much. Why (not)?
What do you think are the most important categories in these  awards?
Do you watch the Oscars on TV every year?
What do you think of the nominations, the show, the red carpet, the fashion, etc?
How important is winning an award for an actor?



Reading Segment


Read the text below and do the exercise that follows.


The Academy Awards, commonly known as The Oscars, is an annual  ceremony honoring mostly the American film industry. Winners are awarded the statuette,
popularly known as ‘Oscar’.

The first Academy Awards were presented on May 16, 1929, at a private dinner at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. At the time there were only a few categories and prizes. The event became more well-known about 24 years later, in 1953, when the first televised Oscar ceremony took place.

Oscar Awards have evolved with the passage of time. The number of categories has gone up to quite an extent and even new segments have been added. Presently, the ceremony has 24 categories, is one of the most awaited events of the year, and is watched by millions of people across the world.

All the prominent personalities of Hollywood are invited to the event. The Red Carpet is rolled out to welcome the guests and hundreds of photographers, TV cameras, and reporters from around the world try to capture a shot or a word of the most famous people on the planet.

The venues of this gala has been changed a number of times. The Chinese Theater in Hollywood, the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, The Dolby Theater, among others, have hosted the oldest entertainment awards ceremony on different ocasions.

The voting for the Academy Awards is kept in strict secrecy. First, the nominees are chosen by the members of the Academy, who are highly regarded actors and people in the movie industry. Then the nominees are announced to the public at an event in January. And finally the voting takes place and is guarded and controlled by the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. The results are kept secret until the envelopes are opened on stage, during the function.

Will your favourite movie, director or actor be announced at the next ceremony after the famous “and the Oscar goes to...”?


Sources: awardsandshows.com, oscar.com,and Wikipedia



Comprehension: Are these statements TRUE, FALSE or NOT MENTIONED?


  1. Academy Awards are also called by another name.
  2. Nobody knows who will be the winners of the statuette.
  3. There are more nominations at present that in the past.
  4. The Oscars have always been a TV hit.
  5. The first Oscar was given in 1953.
  6. The ceremony takes place at the Hollywood studios.
  7. You have to be an excellent film critic to be one of the voters.
  8. Photographers and reporters walk on the red carpet as well as the big stars.

 
Video :  Oscar Trivia - Fox News
Length: 4.36 min

What's Your Oscars IQ? When awards season rolls around, are you red-carpet ready? Test your knowledge of the Academy Awards, past and present, with this video clip from Fox News.


Answer the QUIZ below and then check your answers with the video to see how you did.

1.Which actor has never won an Academy Award for best actor?
a)Gary Oldman  b)Nicolas Cage   c)Tommy Lee Jones
2.Which famous director has never won an award for best directing?
a)James Cameron  b)Martin Scorsese  c)Afred Hitchcock

3.What is the highest grossing film that has never won Best Picture?
a)Titanic b)Avatar  c)Lord of the Rings:Return of the King

4.No actor or actress has ever won an Award for appearing in a Steven Spielberg film?
a)True  b)False

5.Who is the most nominated individual in Oscar history?
a)Meryl Streep  b)Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson  c)Walt Disney

 



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