Упражнения
уровня IELTS по английскому языку. № 40.
Прочтите приведенную ниже статью о
мыльной опере "Даллас". Для вопросов с 1 по
6 выберите наилучший ответ (A-G). Есть одна буква, которую
вам не нужно использовать.
Read
the article below about the soap opera Dallas.
For questions 1 to 6 choose the best answer
(A-G). There is one letter that you do not
need to use.
A
JR Ewing B Bobby Ewing C Pamela
D Miss Ellie E Cliff Barnes
F Gary G Sue Ellen
According
to the article, which character…
(1)
was desperately unhappy?
G
(2) never appeared very often? F
(3) was seen less and less?
D
(4) set a high standard for similar characters?
A
(5) underwent a big transformation? B
(6) had to make unsatisfactory compromises?
C
DALLAS - KING OF THE SOAPS
My
favourite soap opera by far is none other
than Dallas. Dallas left its mark on a generation
of television viewers like no other soap
before it or since. First shown in 1978
as a five-part mini-series on the CBS television
network, it was so successful that it continued
to be made for more than a decade, with
the final episode being aired in 1991.
Dallas
was in essence the story of a struggle for
power and influence between and among two
feuding families, the Ewings and the Barnes.
Always melodramatic and occasionally absurd,
the real strength of the series lay in the
excellence of the characters and (for the
most part) the actors who played them.
The
character that stood out above all others
was JR Ewing, played by Larry Hagman. JR
was the villain that all other soap opera
villains have to measure themselves against.
Unscrupulous, manipulative and scheming,
JR was the man the audience loved to hate.
Bobby,
his younger brother, played by Patrick Duffy,
could not have been more different. Until
he was killed off, Bobby was a one-dimensional,
too-good-to-be-true character. On his return
from death, however, he had lightened up,
become more laid-back and even learned to
enjoy a joke or two.
Bobby's
wife Pamela was played by the beautiful
but hardly enigmatic Victoria Principal.
As a Barnes among the Ewings, Pamela was
inevitably torn between the two camps, caught
in the middle, never able to satisfy either
side. It was Pammy who had a year-long 'dream'
during which Bobby was murdered and she
married someone else. When she eventually
'woke up,' Bobby was back and her new husband
had gone. Ridiculous!!
Miss
Ellie had the task of holding together a
family which often seemed to be bursting
at the seams. As played by Barbara Bel Geddes,
this was a wonderful character, but one
season she fell ill and had to be replaced
by Donna Reed. In her own way, Reed was
as good an actress as Bel Geddes, but she
was simply wrong for the part. Thankfully
Bel Geddes returned for the following season.
However, as the series continued her declining
health meant that her appearances on screen
became more infrequent towards the end.
Cliff
Barnes was the local Assistant District
Attorney and he always sought to expose
JR's corrupt practices. He later set up
a rival oil company called Barnes-Wentworth
and this led to further feuding with the
Ewings. Cliff Barnes was played with great
self-assurance by Ken Kercheval.
The
third brother was Gary though his appearances
were sporadic. He spent most of his time
in another soap, Knots Landing. Gary was
played originally by David Ackroyd but later
more notably by Ted Shackleford. It was
also later revealed that the head rancher
at Southfork was also a half brother. He
was Ray Krebbs (played by Steve Kanaly).
The
storyline for which Dallas became most famous
was when JR was shot and we were all kept
guessing before finally discovering it was
his wife Sue Ellen's sister Kristin who
did it. Sue Ellen was a former Miss Texas
who becomes a hopeless drunk after marrying
JR. Sue Ellen was played by Linda Gray,
Kristin by Mary Crosby.
The
programme was at one time immensely enjoyable
but the later series were increasingly ridiculous
and the acting suffered. But I'll always
remember those early years when Dallas was
the best thing on television and JR ruled
not just Dallas but the world.
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