Text One. «The King is Dead: Long Live the King»

«The King is Dead: Long Live the King»

(Elvis Presley – Story of a Superstar)

Vocabulary: to declare mourning unique to be jammed with to be surrounded by to broadcast feverish to record a record to drive smb mad disgusting perverse vulgar to be divorced to pay tribute

When Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977, radio and television programs all over the world were interrupted to give the news of his death. President Carter was asked to declare a day of national mourning. Carter said: “Elvis Presley changed the face of American popular culture…He was unique and irreplaceable.” His funeral was attended by eighty thousand people. The streets were jammed with cars, and Elvis Presley movies were shown on television, and his records were played on the radio all day. In the year after his death, 100 million of Presley albums were sold.

Elvis Presley had never dreamt of becoming a singer. He came from a very poor family which moved from the small village of Tupelo in Mississippi to Memphis in search for employment.

Elvis never had music lessons, but he was surrounded by music from an early age. His parents were very religious, and Elvis regularly sang at church services. He left school in 1953 and got a job of a lorry driver.

In 1953 Elvis paid $4 and recorded two songs as a present for his mother’s birthday. This event, however, did not make him famous. In 1954 he performed a song of a black blues singer “ That’s All Right, Mama” at the Sun Records Studio. That was a real turning point in his life. The record made him popular almost overnight. During the first day the song was broadcast several times on the radio. 20,000 copies were sold. People went crazy about its new and dynamic rhythm.

What was it that made an unknown nineteen-year old boy into a famous star? The answer lay not only in his expressive songs but also in his voice. Critics wrote that it was throaty, vibrating, feverish and as thick as syrup. That voice was a real revelation.

After Presley had recorded his second song “ Good Rockin’ Tonight”, he became well-known. Soon he began to give concerts which were attended by crowds of screaming fans. On stage he was like a volcano and had a peculiar power to drive the audience mad. Young people went into ecstasies over his voice, his unique songs and his manners. Many older people found Presley disgusting, perverse and vulgar. The young, however, adored him. Presley involuntarily became a “rebel” who started a cultural and sexual revolution. He gave American youths a sense of identity and encouraged them to be more active and liberated.

In March 1958, Elvis had to join the army. When his hair was cut, thousands of women cried. He spent the next two years in Germany, where he met Priscilla Beaulieu, who became his wife eight years later on May 1, 1967.

When he left the army, he recorded many beautiful and moving ballads. His “ Blue Christmas” won the hearts of all Americans. Since that time they began to call him the “King”. For twenty years Presley was number one on the world list of singers. He sold the highest number of records ever – over 500 million!

In 1972 his wife left him, and they were divorced in October 1973. He died of a heart attack at the age of 42. He had been working too hard and eating and drinking too much for several years. He left all his money to his only daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. She became one of the richest people in the world when she was only nine years old.

The cult of Elvis Presley has lasted till today. As someone put it, old rockers never die; they live through their music. Presley’s mansion in Memphis is visited by half a million people every year. They pay tribute to the memory of one of the greatest world-class stars.

Everyone knew Elvis was the king of rock’n’roll. And everyone knows he will always be the king of rock’n’roll. Long live Elvis!

Text Two

«An Amazing Crime»

Vocabulary: to rob a robber a getaway a trial a diamond a gang to steal to escape the jury violence daring to commit a robbery to go down in history a prison sentence to plan a crime to find guilty of

The Millennium Dome robbers wanted to go down in history as the gang who committed the biggest and most ambitious robbery of the Millennium – and they nearly did.

They never thought the police would catch them because they planned the crime and the speedboat getaway very carefully. At their trial, one of the robbers said, ‘It seemed possible at the time. Now it seems like an absolutely crazy James Bond kind of thing to do.’

The attempted diamond robbery at the Millennium Dome in London was an amazing crime. The British government built the Millennium Dome to celebrate the year 2000. One of the most popular exhibitions in the Dome was a fabulous diamond collection worth £350 million which included the magnificent Millennium Star diamond. The gang of five men tried to steal the diamonds. But unfortunately for the robbers, hundreds of police officers dressed as tourists and cleaners were waiting for them in the Dome when they attacked.

The huge police operation organized by Scotland Yard was as amazing as the robbery itself. It was called Operation Magician and over 200 police officers took part in it. The police knew the gang were planning a big crime but they didn’t know exactly what. So they followed the men for many months before the robbery.

One day, they saw one of the gang visiting the Dome with his friends. He filmed the diamond exhibition with a camcorder. The police now knew what the robbers planned to do. Another time, they saw the men sailing a speedboat up and down the Thames. They guessed how the robbers planned to escape and continued to watch them very carefully.

At their trial, the jury found the arrested men guilty of robbery with violence. The two gang leaders, Ray Betson and Bill Cockram, received 18-year prison sentences, and the other members of the gang received 15-year prison sentences.

British people like daring crime stories and the Dome robbers are already famous. A television channel even made a film of the robbery. It seems likely these men will go down in history as the robbers who attempted one of the most daring crimes ever.

Text Three

«An Appointment in Samarra»

(Death Speaks)

Vocabulary: a merchant a servant to tremble to jostle a gesture to lend (lent) to avoid one’s fate to mount the horse to dig (dug) to spur a flank a start of surprise

There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions. In a little while the servant came back, white and trembling. He said «Master, just now when I was in the market-place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at meand made a threatening gesture. Now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me.

The merchant lent him his horse. And the servant mounted it and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the market-place and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said ‘Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?’ ‘That was not a threatening gesture’, I said, ‘it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.’