Examen FP Grado Superior 2014 - The world's movie capital is not Hollywood but Bollywood

Bollywood is the nickname given to the Indian film industry. It is a combination of the word Hollywood and theletter “B” from Bombay (now known as Mumbai), a big city in India. Indian movies are becoming more and more popular around the world. Fourteen million Indians go to the movies every day (about 1.4% of the population of 1 billion) to see any of the over 800 films produced in Bollywood each year. That is more than twice the number of films produced in the United States.

Most Bollywood movies follow a similar format. They are three to four hours long. They have dozens of songs and dances with top stars and a hundred choreographed dancers. Between the songs there is a love story without any kissing or sexual contact, lots of action and a happy ending.The stars of Bollywood are very popular and highly paid. Movies are made so fast that actors can be working on four films at the same time.

Bollywood's biggest problem is piracy; not all films make more money than they cost to make, even though they can be seen by millions of people. Another problem is that younger generations sometimes find the stories a bit predictable and boring. Film-makers are trying to solve this by changing the movies to reflect real life stories.

The future looks good for Bollywood. Big US film companies such as Warner Bros and Twentieth Century Fox have opened offices in India. Indian film-makers have found it difficult to compete with Hollywood's special effects and this is seen as the next big area for Bollywood to develop.

Adapted from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/2003/bollywood/ 

and http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/bollywood.htm

READING COMPREHENSION 

 

Read the instructions for each question carefully before answering (Total score:10 points)

1. Answer the following questions. Write complete sentences. (1 point each = 2 points)

a) Why is Bollywood, instead of Hollywood, considered the world’s movie capital?

b) What are three characteristics of a typical Bollywood movie?

2. Underline the best option (0.5 points each = 1 point)

 a) Bollywood needs to…

• 1. increase piracy.
• 2. create more real-life stories and make movies a bit predictable.
• 3. improve special effects in movies.

b) Bollywood movie stars…

• 1. participate in plenty of singing, dancing and kissing scenes.
• 2. work in more than a movie at a time.
• 3. are badly paid so they work fast and make a lot of movies.

3. Find a synonym in the text for these words (0.5 points each = 1 point)

• a) double: 
• b) a little:

4. Are the following sentences true or false? Underline the correct option (0.5 points each = 1 point)

a) Hollywood produces special effects for Bollywood movies. TRUE / FALSE

b) Unauthorized copying and reproduction of movies is a major problem for Bollywood. TRUE / FALSE

5. Choose one of the following topics and write a text 60-80 words long (5 points)

a) Write about a movie you like (You can write the movie title in English or Spanish).

b) Write about what you do in your free time

 

ANSWER KEY

1.
Possible answers:
a) Bollywood, instead of Hollywood, is considered the world’s movie capital because it produces over 800 films each year, more than twice the number of films produced in the United States.
b) Bollywood movies are three to four hours long. They have a lot of singing and dancing. There is always a love story with a happy ending.
 

2.
a) 3. improve special effects in movies.
b) 2. work in more than a movie at a time.
 

3.
a) double = twice 

b) a little = a bit

4.
a) Hollywood produces special effects for Bollywood movies . FALSE
b) Unauthorized copying and reproduction of movies is a major problem for Bollywood. TRUE

+EXÁMENES RESUELTOS