Ready for C1 p 22. Berlin With Matt Frei. Listening

 

YouTube Video starts: 50'40''

Listen to a BBC documentary about Berlin and fill in the gaps with a word or phrase.

1. Every June West Berlin is home to the Film Festival with its ____________

2. In 1961 the Berlin Wall was built to ___________________________ heading West.

3. Berlin had spent centuries behaving like a _________________ of two sides, now it had literally become one.

4. Both the East and West could access each other’s television and radio and waged a battle of words ________________Berlin

5. For the East Germans, the Western sector ____________________.

6. In response to what they saw as the ______________________ of the west, Communist government in East Berlin resurrected a feudal icon of Prussia’s past, Frederick the Great.

7. The Communist regime now saw Frederick the Great as a great example of tolerance, of compassion and of ____________________________.

8. Frederick the Great: “justice must be the main responsibility _____________.

9. Frederick had always wished for ________________ on the hill at Sanssouci, next to his beloved dogs.

10. Love him and ____________ him, even from his self-effacing grave.

 

 

 

 

 

KEY

VHS Tape 121

DVD from the beginning w/ subtitles

1. glamorous stars. 



2. stem the haemorrhage of refugees. 

 

Stem: to stop sth that is flowing from spreading or increasing. E.g. “The cut was bandaged to stem the bleeding”

Haemorrhage: (of sb/sth) a serious loss of people, money, etc. from a country, a group or an organization: e.g. “Poor working conditions have led to a steady haemorrhage of qualified teachers from our schools”.

 

 

3. schizophrenic city 

 

Schizophrenic: frequently changing your mind about sth or holding opinions about sth that seem to oppose each other

 

 

4. in the ether above Berlin 

 The ether: the air, when it is thought of as the place in which radio or electronic communication takes place

 

 

5. had ceased to exist 

 

 

 

6. relentless Americanisation 

Relentless: not stopping or getting less strong (incesante)

 

 

7. enlightened thought 

Enlightened: having or showing an understanding of people’s needs, a situation, etc. that is not based on old-fashioned attitudes and prejudice:
enlightened opinions / attitudes / ideas” (progresista)

 

 

8. of a sovereign 

 

 

 

9. a simple burial 

 

 

 

10. loathe

 

Vocabulary:

Wage sth (against / on sb/sth): to begin and continue a war, a battle, etc.



Perch: a high seat or position:
He watched the game from his precarious perch on top of the wall” (posición elevada).


Goose-step: a way of marching, used by soldiers in some countries, in which the legs are raised high and straight (paso de ganso)

Beleaguered: surrounded by an enemy (sitiado)

Self-effacing: not wanting to attract attention to yourself or your abilities (modest)

 

 

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