Stranger Things takes us back to the early 1980s. The narrative begins in 1983, in a quiet Indiana community called Hawkins. A 12-year-old boy is cycling back to his house at night, through the woods and close to a secret government research centre. When he never makes it home, his friends and family set out to find him. (1)______________ (COINCIDENCE) with his (2)_____________ (MYSTERY) (3)_______________ (APPEAR) is the (4)___________ (ARRIVE) of a young girl with (5)______________ (EARTH) powers, and a monster constantly (6)____________ (LURK) in the shadows.
The series is (7)________________ (BRIM) with references to the popular culture of the period. In between scenes of horror and suspense, viewers are treated to snapshots of 1980s life, from (8)_______________ (ICON) fashion and (9)______________ (HAIR) to the music and movies that defined the decade. We are offered an (10)______________ (SIGHT) into the gender norms of the era: mothers managing (11)_______________ (HOLD) duties while fathers went to work. (12)__________________ (ADD), the characters' (13)_______________ (RELY) on (14)_______________ (RELY) (15)_________________ (LAND) during emergencies will likely leave modern viewers feeling grateful for their smartphones.
It's difficult to suggest ways the (16)______________ (CREATE) could have improved Stranger Things as a (17)_________________ (VIEW) experience. The show is (18)____________ (GENUINENESS) creepy, and the acting of the young cast is absolutely superb.The concept of the small-town cop trying to get to the bottom of a mystery with no support from his department is (19)______________ (HARD) original, but makes sense given he is facing a supernatural enemy.
The series excels in (20)______________ (BLEND) horror, complex emotions, and (21)_______________ (NOSTALGIC) into a (22)______________ (COMPEL) package. If you're looking for a show that will (23)_______________ (THOROUGH) entertain and terrify you in equal measure, this is an (24)_____________ (MISS) choice
KEY
1. Coinciding
2. mysterious
3. disappearance
4. arrival
5. unearthly
6. lurking
to wait somewhere secretly, especially because you are going to do something bad or illegal.
Sp. acechar, merodear
E.g. Why are you lurking around outside my house?
7. Brimming
Brim: to be full of something; to fill something.
Sp: rebosar
E.g.
The team were brimming with confidence before the game.
8. iconic
9. hairstyles
10. insight
(C/U) an understanding of what something is like
E.g.
The book gives us fascinating insight(s) into life in Mexico.
11. household
12. Additionally
13. reliance
14. unreliable
15. landlines
16. creators
17. viewing
18. genuinely
19. hardly
20. blending
21. nostalgia
22. compelling
that makes you pay attention to it because it is so interesting and exciting
Not only did the promotion of appliances help balance (1)_____________, but they also had much wider social consequences.
In the 1930s, between 20 and 30 % of women’s (2)__________________ was in domestic service. However, by the (3)___________ ‘50s, that had virtually disappeared. While all households (4)_______________ domestic equipment so middle class households were losing their servants. As a consequence, middle class women ended up doing a lot more domestic work than they (5)__________________. For example there were stairs (6) _________, a hall (7)_______________ clothes to wash, and all that without a (8)_______________.
Using a (9)_________________ became more strenuous than never (10)_______________. Nevertheless, for working class women it beat (11)_____________________ hands down.
People were helped to avoid (12)______________ in the home and to (13)_____________ a career.
By the 1960s the society was much more (14)_____________. That is to say, working class women and middle class women were doing pretty much the same amount of (15)_____________________.
And by the 1990s, thanks to technological improvements in domestic equipment, the time spent on (16)____________________ by women of all classes had halved.
Bob didn't learn to use the washing machine or to (17)_________________.
Even though things have improved, women still bear the lion's share of the housework. There seem to be universal norms that prohibit (18)_________________.
Although some men were (19)_____________ domestic appliances, they found the (20)_______________ enormously appealing.
The fact that there was an increase in home ownership coupled with a (21)_________________ tradesmen kick-started a DIY epidemic.
When an electric wire was damaged by a power drill on Christmas Eve it caused (22)________________.
KEY
1. the load
The Grid: a system of electric wires or pipes carrying gas, for sending power over a large area:
the national grid (= the electricity supply in a country)
2. employment
mid to late
were acquiring
had done previously
to sweep
to polish
daily
Daily: (also daily help) (old-fashioned, BrE) a person employed to come to sb’s house each day to clean it and do other jobs
9. Hoover,
10. lifting a finger
11. a dustpan and brush
Beat beat, beaten: defeat
Dustpan: a small flat container with a handle into which dust is brushed from the floor.
Win (sth) hands down(informal): to win sth very easily.
12. drudgery
Drudgery: hard boring work (Sp. trabajo pesado)
13. pursue
Pursue: try to achieve sth
14. egalitarian
15. core domestic work
Core: most important; main or essential
16. household chores
17. iron (either)
18. male laundry
19. wary of
Wary: /ˈweəri/cautious. Careful when dealing with sb/sth because you think that there may be a danger or problem. (Sp. cauteloso)
20. electric/power drill
Appeal: a quality that makes sb/sth attractive or interesting (Sp. atractivo, encanto)
21. scarcity of /ˈskeəsəti/
Scarcity: if there is a scarcity of sth, there is not enough of it and it is difficult to obtain it. Shortage (Sp. escasez)
Tradesman: shopkeeper (Sp. comerciante). A skilled person (Sp. artesano).
Kick-start: to do sth to help a process or project start more quickly. E.g. The government’s attempt to kick-start the economy has failed (Activar)
About: (place) is anyone about? Sp. ¿hay alguien?
is Mr Brown about? Sp. ¿está por aquà el Sr. Brown?
22. mayhem
Mayhem: confusion and fear (Sp. caos)
Transcript:
Fill in the gaps with a word or phrase:
The Grid’s promotion of appliances helped balance ____the load________ but they also had much wider social consequences
In the 1930s, you _might have had______ something between 20 and 30 % of women’s employment actually in domestic service essentially,
and by the __mid to late_________ ‘50s, that had virtually disappeared,
so what actually happened over this period was that at the same time as all households ___were acquiring____________ domestic equipment so middle class households were losing their servants
Middle class women ended up doing a lot more domestic work than they __had done previously___
“Have any idea the work there is to do in this house? Stairs to sweep,
hall __to polish_____________
clothes to wash, and not even a __daily_____________”
Pushing the __hoover_______________ was harder than never _lifting a finger_________
but for working class women it beat __a dustpan and brush______ hands down.
“I was very keen to help other people to lead a different type of life, not so involved in ___Drudgery_______ in the home but rather giving them more freedom to choose whether they wanted to have leisure activities
or whether they wanted to go out and ___pursue a career____ and they could do if they actually cut some of the jobs that they’d had to do in the past”.
“By the 1960s it was a much much more egalitarian society. Working class women and middle class women were doing pretty much the same amount of __core domestic work_______, that’s cooking and cleaning and laundry”
And by the 1990s, improvements in domestic equipment had helped halve the time spent on ___household chores____ by women of all classes.
“The washing machine too is a great saving and I wouldn’t be without it now. Bob’s never learnt to switch on and he’s never learnt to _iron either__”
“Gender equality happens much slower than class equality. The difference between men’s and women’s unpaid work has probably halved over the last 40 years and we’re probably 40 years off -you know, two generations- of full equality still. There seem to be universal norms that prohibit __male laundry_____”.
But if some men were ___wary of__ domestic appliances then there was one electrical gadget that did hold an irresistible appeal.
“I even had an ___electric drill_______ thanks to my wife’s insistence on home improvements”.
Rising home ownership and a __scarcity of______ tradesmen kick-started a DIY epidemic. Do It Yourself magazine, “For the practical man about the house” was born in 1957 and the premier work tool was the electric drill.
“On one occasion I actually did use a power drill and go straight through an electric wire which _caused mayhem_____ because it happened on Christmas Eve and led to a whole series of domestic problems which we hadn’t anticipated”.
The winner is not the person (1)___________ gets the most votes overall.
(2)____________, both candidates compete to win contests held across the 50 states.
(3)____________ state has a certain number of so-called electoral college votes, partly based on population. There are a total of 538 up for (4)_____________ and the winner is the candidate that gets 270 or more.
All (5)__________ two states have a winner-takes-all rule, so (6)______________ candidate has the highest number of votes is awarded all of its electoral college votes.
Most states lean heavily towards one party or the other, so the focus is (7)___________ about seven states where (8)____________ of them could win. These are known (9)___________ the battleground or swing states.
It is possible for a candidate to win the (10)______________ votes nationally - as Hillary Clinton did in 2016 - but (11)_____________ be defeated.
KEY
1. who
2. Instead
3. Each
4. grabs
up for grabs
available for anyone who is interested
E.g.
There are £25 000 worth of prizes up for grabs in our competition!
