Open World p 31. Mediterranean Tales. Venice. Listening
Writer and journalist Irma Kurtz takes a journey around the
Mediterranean, following in the path of Mark Twain's The Innocent
Abroad. This edition of the BBC 4 programme explores the city of Venice, where Irma meets crime
novelist Donna Leon, walks out with Casanova scholar Maurice Agosti and
discovers the true life of a gondolier.
Quiz: True or False
1. Venice has lots of rivers.
2. Over 2 million tourists visit Venice every year.
3. No other city in the world has more canals than Venice.
4. Most Venetian residents use gondolas every day to go to work.
5. Venice has no internal roads for cars.
6. Leonardo da Vinci was born in Venice.
7. Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice
KEY
1. (False – it has lots of salt water canals)
2. (True)
3. (False – Birmingham, England’s 2nd largest city, has more miles of canals)
4. (False – nowadays these are mostly only used by tourists and for ceremonial occasions).
5. (True)
6. (False – he was born in Florence)
7. (True)
Culture notes
Venice is a city in Northern Italy, which is famous for its rich
culture, history, and architecture. It has a population of around
272,000 and is popular with tourists from around the world. It is unique
in its geography in that it is composed of 117 small islands, and the
main form of transport is by river, with the maritime part of Venice
having no roads or cars. The most famous form of transport is the
gondola, though this is now mostly used by tourists and for ceremonies.
Venice was a very powerful city during the Middle Ages and Renaissance
period, and is the birthplace of the composer Antonio Vivaldi.
1.Venice, wonder of the world, is her first Italian
_____________ as she follows Mark Twain around the Mediterranean.
2.Venice is a handmade, manmade city ___________
watery nature.
3.There
is a ___________of characteristic sarcasm in The Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain’s chronicle
4.Take
one look and fall in love as never before: overwhelming, ______________,
supernatural first love.
5.The
________ Mr Twain- himself a Venice
virgin- fell hard.
6.Mark
Twain: Narrow streets, vast __________ marble palaces, no dry land visible
anywhere and no sidewalks worth mentioning.
7.Mark
Twain: If you want to go to church, to the theatre or to a restaurant, you must
call a gondola. It must be a paradise for _________, for man has no use for
legs here.
8.Donna
Leon: It’s like living on a ___________- it’s all beautiful but real.
9.Donna
Leon: It’s a constant assault of beauty to which a person becomes a little
blinded. It’s a constant __________ joy
to live here because everything one looks at is beautiful.
10.Dona
Leon:
Venetians are ______________ proud of this city and its traditions.
11.Dona
Leon: Venetians don’t
______________ how glorious and beautiful Venice
is.
12.Lord
Byron named one of the bridges the Bridge of ___________.
13.Irma
Kurtz: I went for a little ___________ on my own and instead of finding myself
in a magical place with people living and doing things, I found myself in St
Mark’s Square.
14.Irma
Kurtz: I got off the ______________, I got off the canals and I was back in the
Campo Santa Margarita.
15.When
in Venice you
must pay _____________ for the most romantic boat ride on the planet.
KEY:
-Tape 192 h2’50
-DVD
1.landfall
Landfall:(literary)
the land that you see or arrive at first after a journey by sea or by air: After three weeks they made landfall on the coast of Ireland.
2.at odds with
Be at odds (with sth): to be different from sth, when the two
things should be the same. Conflict. E.g. These findings are at odds with what is going on in the rest of
the country.
3.touch
4.ravishing
Ravishing extremely beautiful. Gorgeous. E.g. A ravishing blonde
5.wry
Wry: /raɪ/ amusing in a way that shows irony. Sp. irónico. E.g. a wry comedy about family life. A wry comment. Wry humour.
fall hard for - To become instantly and/or intensely infatuated with.
6.gloomy
Gloomy: nearly dark, or badly lit in a way that makes you feel sad. Depressing. E.g. a gloomy room/atmosphereIt was a wet and gloomy day.
7.cripples
Cripple: (old-fashionedoroffensive. People now use disabled person instead of ‘cripple’.) a person who is unable to walk or move normally because of a disease or injury. Sp. mutilado E.g. (figurative) He's an emotional cripple (= he cannot express his feelings).
8.film set
Film set: the scenery and props as arranged for shooting a film. Sp. plató
9.aesthetic
aesthetic:/iːsˈθetɪk/ /esˈθetɪk/concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty. E.g. the pictures give great aesthetic pleasure
10.fiercely
Fiercely: Extremely. Venetians are fiercely proud
of this city.
11.bang on about
bang on aboutsth (BrE, informal)
to talk a lot about sth in a boring way. Go on. Sp. dar la lata. E.g. He keeps banging on about his new job.
12.Sighs
Sigh: /saɪ/ a long, deep audible exhalation expressing sadness, relief, tiredness, or similar. E.g. she let out a long sigh of despair.
13.wander
Wander: a short walk in or around a place, usually with no special purpose. E.g. I went to the park and had a wander around.
14.main drags
The main drag: the most important or the busiest street in a town
15.over the odds
Over the odds (BrE, informal) more money than you would normally expect. E.g. Many collectors are willing to pay over the odds for early
examples of his work.
Vocabulary:
Afloat: floating on water:Somehow we
kept the boat afloat.
Placid: calm and peaceful, with very little movement
SYN tranquil: The placid waters of the lake
League: (Sp. legua) a unit for measuring distance, equal to about 3 miles
or 4 000 metres
Drowse: to be in a light sleep or almost asleep.
Landfall:(literary)
the land that you see or arrive at first after a journey by sea or by air: After three weeks they made landfall on the coast of Ireland
Be at odds (with sth): to be different from sth, when the two
things should be the same
SYN conflict: These findings are at odds with what is going on in the rest of
the country
Bold: (Sp. bien definido, marcado) that can be easily seen; having a strong
clear appearance: The bold outline of a mountain against the sky
Display: (Sp. Exhibición) an arrangement of things in a public place.
Butch: [bʊtʃ ](of a man) big, and often behaving in an
aggressive way
Perverse: /pəˈvɜːs/ Showing deliberate
determination to behave in a way that most people think is wrong, unacceptable
or unreasonable. Sp. obstinado, retorcido, perverso. E.g. A perverse decision (= one that most people do not expect and
think is wrong). She finds a perverse pleasure in upsetting her parents.
Overwhelming: (Sp. abrumador, sobrecogedor)
very great or very
strong; so powerful that you cannot resist it or decide how to react.
Ravishing extremely beautiful. SYN gorgeous. E.g. A ravishing blonde
Wry: /raɪ/ amusing in a way that shows irony. Sp. irónico. E.g. a wry comedy about family life. A wry comment. Wry humour.
Gloomy: nearly dark, or badly lit in a way that makes you feel sad. Depressing. E.g. a gloomy room/atmosphereIt was a wet and gloomy day.
Cripple: (old-fashionedoroffensive. People now use disabled person instead of ‘cripple’.) a person who is unable to walk or move normally because of a disease or injury. Sp. mutilado E.g. (figurative) He's an emotional cripple (= he cannot express his feelings).
Film set: the scenery and props as arranged for shooting a film. Sp. plató
Fiercely: Extremely. Venetians are fiercely proud
of this city.
bang on about sth(BrE, informal) (dar la lata)
to talk a lot about sth in a boring way. SYN go on. E.g. He keeps banging on about his new job.
Drift: to move along smoothly and slowly in water or air: Clouds drifted across the sky. The empty boat drifted out to
sea
Lagoon: Laguna
Peremptory: /pəˈremptəri/ expecting to be obeyed immediately and
without question or refusal.
dole sthout (to sb) to give out an amount of food,
money, etc. to a number of people in a group. E.g. the scanty (too little in amount) portions of food doled out to them.
Landmark: (Sp. monumento emblemático) a building or a place that is very important
because of its history, and that should be preserved SYN monument
Wander: a short walk in or around a place, usually with no special purpose. E.g. I went to the park and had a wander around.
The main drag: the most important or the busiest street in a town.
Get off, get sb off: (Sp. salir)to
leave a place or start a journey; to help sb do this: We got off straight after breakfast.He got the children off to school
Over the odds (BrE, informal) more money than you would normally expect. E.g. Many collectors are willing to pay over the odds for early
examples of his work.
Glide: To move smoothly and quietly, especially as
though it takes no effort. Sp. deslizarse. E.g.Swans went gliding past. The skaters were gliding over the ice.
Steer: (Sp. conducir) to control the direction in which a boat, car, etc. moves. E.g. [vn] He steered the boat into the
harbour.
Dashing: (Sp. elegante) (usually of a man) attractive, confident
and elegant. E.g. A dashing young officer. His dashing good looks
Long-range: made for a period of time that will last a long way
into the future. E.g. a long-range weather forecast. Long-range plans
Opalescent: /ˌəʊpəˈlesnt/ adjective (formal or literary) showing many small points of shifting colour against a pale or dark ground. E.g.an opalescent sky.
Silhouette: /ˌsɪluˈet/the dark outline or shape of a person or an object that you see against a light background. E.g. A figure stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the light
Ravishingly: in a very beautiful manner. Enchantingly, delightfully. Sp. de un modo
deslumbrante. E.g. She is ravishingly beautiful
Stiletto: a woman’s shoe with a very high narrow heel.
Grim:
looking or sounding very serious. Sp. .serio, severo. E.g. a grim face/look/smile. She looked grim
Renown/rɪˈnaʊn/ (formal) fame and respect because of sth you
have done that people admire. E.g. He won renown as a fair judge. A pianist of
some / international / great renown.
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