Exercise 9C, page 5 - English File Studetn's book, pre-intermediate, Oxford

5 SPEAKING & WRITING

a

Think about an older person (a friend or a member of your family) who is alive and who you know well. Prepare to answer the questions below about their life and to tell your partner any other interesting information about them.

b

Interview your partner about his / her person. Ask for more information. Do your two people have anything in common?

I'm going to tell you about my grandmother.

(When was she born?

c

Wp.118 Writing A biography Write a biography of a person you know, or a famous person.

6 A BIOGRAPHY

a

Read the biography of Matt Damon. Then cover the text and try to remember three things about him.

b

Put the verbs in brackets in the past simple or present perfect.

Writing a biography – use of tenses

If you write a biography of a person who is dead, the verbs will all be in the past simple.

If the person is alive, all finished actions will be in the past simple (such as the person's early life, e.g. He was born, He went to university, etc. or specific actions in their life, e.g. He got married, He moved to another country, etc.).

However, you must use the present perfect for unfinished actions which started in the past and are still true now (and which might change), e.g. He has lived in Los Angeles since his wedding. (= he lives there now)

He has appeared in a lot of films. (= he might appear in more in the future)

Use the present simple (or present continuous) to talk about the present day, e.g. He lives in Los Angeles. He's working on a new film.

Matt Damon is an American actor and film producer. He 1 (be born) in 1970 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His father Kent worked in finance, and his mother Nancy was a university professor. His parents 2 (divorce) when he was two years old, and he 3 (live) with his mother and brother in a large house with five other families.

Matt Damon 4 (become) interested in acting when he was at high school, and he 5 (appear) in several school theatre productions. When he was 18 he 6 (go) to Harvard University to study English. He 7 (write) a film script as part of his course – the script was for the film Good Will Hunting. Matt and his friend Ben Affleck 8 (star) in the film and it made them famous. They both 9 (win) an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for their work on the script. Matt decided to become an actor and he 10 (not finish) university.

Since then, Matt Damon 11 (become) one of the most successful actors in Hollywood. He 12 (appear) in over 70 films, but he is most famous for playing Jason Bourne, a CIA assassin, in the Bourne films. He 13 (receive) many awards, and in 2015 he 14 (win) a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his performance in The Martian. He 15 (be) married to Luciana Barroso since 2005. They live in Los Angeles with their four daughters.

c

You're going to write a biography of someone you know, or a famous person, who is still alive. Plan and make notes for each paragraph before you begin.

d

Write the biography. Write three paragraphs using your notes.

e

Check your biography for mistakes (grammar, punctuation, and spelling). Show your biography to other students in the class. Which of your classmates' biographies is the most interesting?

Поставьте глаголы в скобках в Past Simple или Present Perfect.

Ответ:

1. was born - родился

2. divorced - развелись

3. lived - жил

4. became - стал

5. appeared - появлялся

6. went - пошел

7. wrote - написал

8. starred - снялись в главных ролях

9. won - выиграли

10. didn't finish - не закончил

11. has become - стал

12. has appeared - снялся

13. has received - получил

14. won - выиграл

15. has been - женат