Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 35 to 42. SHAYNE’S DREAMS COME TRUE - BUT WILL THEY BE SHATTERED? It is a week before The X Factor live tour when I meet the winner of the series, Shayne Ward. “It has been mental.” he says, referring to the past six months of his life. “I’ve just been talking to Louis Walsh on the phone. Louis Walsh!” Walsh, a top record producer and The X...
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Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 35 to 42.
SHAYNE’S DREAMS COME TRUE - BUT WILL THEY BE SHATTERED?
It is a week before The X Factor live tour when I meet the winner of the series, Shayne Ward. “It has been mental.” he says, referring to the past six months of his life. “I’ve just been talking to Louis Walsh on the phone. Louis Walsh!” Walsh, a top record producer and The X Factor judge, now manages Shayne’s career. “I was talking to Simon Cowell (a celebrity record producer) yesterday!” He shakes his head in amazement. And these people are telling me they’re excited about working with me. “I can’t get my head round it.”
Shayne is about as natural as any pop star arriving in the public arena can be. “I just can’t accept where I am now” he says sincerely. “It doesn’t feel real. To me, this is just a job.” “What do you think being famous feels like?” I ask him. “I’m not sure, to be honest. Different from this?” he laughs, with only a hint of nerves. Since winning The X Factor, Shayne’s success has been phenomenal. His debut single took just three days to reach the number one spot. On tour, he’s going to play to audiences of 10,000 on average. He has already brought the house down at a gig in his home city. “I walked out after that performance and just thought, “I’m dreaming!”” Shayne is one of a family of seven children. Times were hard, but he has never wished or a different childhood. Although he thought about going to college, he ended up leaving school at sixteen, just to help his mother pay the rent. He set out on his reality show journey shortly afterwards. When he told he friends he had an audition for The X Factor, none of them really believed him. “I thought I’d go fot it because my family wanted me to, but I never really believed that I would win.”
Naturally, Ward is a fan of reality TV talent shows. “They’re brilliant, because people who want recording contracts try for years and get nowhere. Then these competitions come along the people at home decide whether they like the singers or not. So it's not just a few people at a record company deciding who gets a chance.” But the previous winner of The X Factor only had one hit. He hasn’t been heard of since then. Is Shayne Ward going to be another talent show flop?
A lot of people feel cynical about reality TV show winners and their chances of continuing success. Audiences usually lose interest in them as soon as the show has finished. In fact, contestants on shows like Big Brother are given severe warnings from the show’s producers beforehand, basically telling them “you will not be liked”. Talent shows like The X Factor have to offer contestants a kind of stardom though, and something they can think of as a career, months afterwards at least.
Which of the following statement is TRUE about Shayne Ward?
A. He is certain how well known he is.
B. He finds his present situation unacceptable.
C. He is confused about the nature of fame.
D. He thinks his job isn’t particularly glamorous.
Đáp án là B.
changed : thay đổi
converted: chuyển đổi [ từ dạng này sang dạng khác]
adapted:nhận nuôi/ thích nghi/ áp dụng
remade: tái tạo
I live on the first floor of a house that has been (31) _______ into three flats. Five months ago, a couple moved into the flat above and since then my life has been a nightmare.
[Tôi sống ở tầng 1 của một ngôi nhà đã được sửa thành 3 căn nhà. Cách đây 5 tháng, một cặp vợ chồng đã chuyển đến ở tầng trên và kể từ đó cuộc đời của tôi trở thành ác mộng.]