Voby

short story
VOBY
iStockphoto
A short story by James Schofield
If you wanted to become famous,
how would you do it?
First published in Business Spotlight 1/2012
1 Business Spotlight
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VOBY
PRE-READING SUMMARY
Vocabulary
all talk and no action: be ~ [O:l )tO:k End )nEU (ÄkS&n]
argument [(A:gjumEnt]
audience [(O:diEns]
bed sb. [bed] ifml.
charge a lot of money [)tSA:dZ E lQt Ev (mVni]
cookery [(kUkEri]
date sb. [deIt]
euphemism [(ju:fE)mIzEm]
fat cat [)fÄt (kÄt] ifml.
for a change [)fO:r E (tSeIndZ]
get one’s hands on sb. [)get wVnz (hÄndz Qn]
grab sth. [grÄb]
lose one’s temper [)lu:z wVnz (tempE]
peak [pi:k]
phone-in show [)fEUn (In SEU]
pointless [(pOIntlEs]
prime minister [)praIm (mInIstE]
run sth. [rVn]
second helping [)sekEnd (helpIN]
sheik [SeIk]
sick and tired: be ~ of sth. [)sIk En (taIEd]
sound bite [(saUnd baIt]
squeak [skwi:k]
turn on sb. [(t§:n Qn]
etwa: ein Großmaul sein
Auseinandersetzung
Publikum
mit jmdm. schlafen, Sex haben
viel Geld verlangen
Kochmit jmdm. ausgehen
Euphemismus
Bonze; hier: überheblich
zur Abwechslung mal
jmdn. zu fassen kriegen
sich etw. schnappen
wütend werden
Gipfel
Sendung mit telefonischer Publikumsbeteiligung
sinnlos, gegenstandslos
Ministerpräsident(in)
etw. betreiben, etw. leiten
Nachschlag
Scheich
etw. satthaben
kurze, prägnante Äußerung
quieken
jmdn. attackieren
Language point
the Ladies: In English, euphemisms — harmless expressions used to describe something that
is generally considered unpleasant — are common when talking about going to the toilet. In the
UK, a woman might refer to “the Ladies” (Damentoilette) or ask where she can “powder her
nose”. Men excuse themselves to go to “the Gents” or “the men’s room”. An informal British
term is “loo”. In the UK, some people might ask to use “the toilet”, but North Americans wouldn’t. Instead, they say “bathroom”, “restroom”, “lavatory” or “washroom”.
wash your mouth out with soap: (etwa: es jmdm. zeigen): We use this expression when
someone, often a child, swears or uses “dirty language” — that’s why “soap” is mentioned
— and should be punished for it.
Reading activities
1. Read the story and complete the information in the story matrix (p 4). Compare your version with a partner.
2. Listen to the recording of “Voby” on Business Spotlight Audio (or your teacher reading
“Voby” aloud) and read the story at the same time.
3. Read the story silently. Time yourself. It should take about one minute for you to read 200 words.
4. Re-tell “Voby” to a partner using only the story matrix.
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Business Spotlight 2
Business Spotlight 2
short story
VOBY
STORY MATRIX
Theme:
Where:
Key
characters:
Main
action:
Key events:
Results:
1.
2.
3.
End result:
Key
phrases /
Vocabulary:
VOBY
POST-READING DISCUSSION
1. Make a list of celebrities. What do you know about them? What do you think of them?
2. “In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes”, Andy Warhol (1928-1987).
What did Warhol mean by this do you think? Has his prediction come true?
3. Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Kevin Federline are all examples of people who are famous for being famous.
This means they have no particular talent but have become well-known throughout the world. How do they
do it?
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