Brad Pitt
The American actor Brad Pitt probably makes a lot of other men envious, not least because he earns thousands of dollars for a day’s work and is always in celebrity magazines’ lists of ‘the world’s most beautiful people’.
He hasn’t always had a glamorous life, however. Before he got his first break in Hollywood, for example, his jobs in Los Angeles included trying to attract customers to a restaurant by standing outside wearing a chicken costume.
Pitt was born in the state of Oklahoma in 1963, and was interested in films from an early age. At high school, in the state of Missouri, his other hobbies included golf, tennis and swimming. He began studying journalism at university, but dropped out when he decided he wanted to try to become a professional actor.
After some minor roles in various Hollywood films, Pitt became famous in the mid-1990s by playing a police detective in the crime thriller Seven and a psychiatric patient in the science-fiction film Twelve Monkeys. Since then he’s been in one successful film after another, including Fight Club (one of a number of films in which he plays unconventional, slightly dangerous characters), Ocean’s Eleven (about a gang of thieves who plan to steal money from Las Vegas casinos), and Troy (in which he plays Achilles, a hero from Ancient Greek mythology).
Over the years there has been a lot of media interest in Pitt’s personal life, particularly his relationships with glamorous actresses. In 2000 he married Jennifer Aniston, star of the hit US sitcom Friends, but they split up in 2005 and soon after he started dating Angelina Jolie, who he had met when acting alongside her in the film Mr and Mrs Smith.
‘Brangelina’, as the couple are often referred to, have four children, but the number will soon rise to six as Jolie is currently pregnant with twins. Three of their children are adopted, and the other was born in 2006 in the southern African country of Namibia. Pitt and Jolie had gone there in search of privacy, but took advantage of the enormous media interest by selling the first photos of their new baby to a US celebrity magazine for around US$5 million, which they donated to charity.
Indeed, Pitt is known for his generosity in supporting various good causes, including environmental campaigns and efforts to combat the spread of AIDS in Africa. He also gave millions of dollars to help reconstruct New Orleans, where he and Jolie spend a lot of their time, after the city was hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Find the words in the text that mean the same as the words and phrases below.
1. attractive (in an exciting or special way)
2. huge
3. not very important
4. not normal, unusual
5. rebuild
6. give (in order to help a person or organisation)
7. fight, attempt to stop something
8. finish a relationship, break up
Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F), or if the text doesn’t say (D).
1. Brad Pitt didn’t finish his university journalism course.
2. The film Fight Club was made after the film Seven.
3. Pitt acted in the US sitcom Friends.
4. He always plays calm, friendly characters in his films.
5. He was in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit the city.
6. Angelina Jolie has never acted in any of the same films as Pitt.
7. When Pitt and Jolie went to Namibia in 2006, they hoped they would get less media attention there.
8. One of Pitt and Jolie’s adopted children is from Namibia.
Based on the language in the text, decide whether the following sentences are correct or incorrect.
1. He has played lots of different characters in Hollywood films.
2. She only had a minor role on that film.
3. ‘I did the course for two months, then dropped out.’
4. She’s pregnant for her third child at the moment.
5. He supports lots of different campaigns and gives a lot of money to charity.
Using the information in the text on Worksheet A, make questions using the words in the boxes. Use only one box for each question, and don’t repeat any questions. When you have prepared the questions, Team B will have to answer them as part of a quiz.
|
How many |
Why |
campaigns |
Achilles |
|
referred to |
Where … born |
What … study |
reconstruct |
|
Katrina |
When |
Seven
|
from an early age |
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Using the information in the text on Worksheet A, make questions using the words in the boxes. Use only one box for each question, and don’t repeat any questions. When you have prepared the questions, Team A will have to answer them as part of a quiz.
|
How much |
lists |
Who … marry |
a lot of their time |
|
How … meet |
When … born |
Why |
sitcom |
|
When |
patient |
Ocean’s Eleven
|
Where … high school |