1 Disabled Access Friendly Campaign Think about us! Cinemas Text by Katie Quartano. Questions by Carol Everhard, Level Age Topic Grammar Vocabulary Skill B1 B2 Teenagers, adults Access to cinemas for wheelchair users Gerunds after verbs of liking and disliking Cinemas and their facilities Reading Do you like going to the cinema? Lots of people enjoy watching films. A night out at the cinema is a fun way to spend time with your family and friends. What about if you are a wheelchair user? Is this something you can do? About 10% of the population have a disability of some kind. It is therefore not surprising that about 12% of the 170 million visits to UK cinemas last year were from people with disabilities. A large British charity called the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, which looks after the interests of people with disabilities, did an undercover survey to find out what kind of facilities cinemas provide. They secretly visited 125 cinemas in the U.K. to see how cinemas welcome people with disabilities. The report they wrote shows that some cinemas provide a first class service. But many cinemas do not provide parking for people with disabilities. At some cinemas it is difficult or impossible for a wheelchair user to enter the building. Other cinemas had broken lifts, or did not provide a special place in the cinemas so that a wheelchair user can sit next to a friend to watch the film. Frank Smith loves going to the cinema. He is a wheelchair user and he says: I enjoy going to the cinema with my family and I want to have the same experience as everybody else. That means I need good access, disabled toilets, a good view of the screen, and I want to be able to sit next to my family so we can enjoy the film together. My local cinema in Winchester has all those things - it s nice, comfortable and the staff are friendly. I have tried other cinemas and found access a problem. I hope cinemas will take notice of the investigation by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and improve. Next time you go to the cinemas with your friends, think about how easy it would be if one of your friends was a wheelchair user. Maybe one day you will be a wheelchair user. We can all help change the world to make it a better place, but not if we say or do nothing. Based on an article by Rob George published in the Droitwich Standard.
2 GLOSSARY access = charity = disability = experience = facilities = first class = the way to enter a place or building or part of it an organisation that helps people in need a physical condition that means you cannot use a part of your body completely or easily an event or activity that affects you in some way e.g. the holiday was an exciting experience. buildings, services, equipment, etc. that are provided for a particular purpose e.g. the hotel has special facilities for people with disabilities. the best, the highest standard lift = a machine that carries people up and down to different floors in a building e.g. it s on the sixth floor, let s take the lift not the stairs. population = all the people who live in a city or a country screen = the large flat surface where films are shown at a cinema service = how customers are treated and served in hotels, restaurants, shops etc. staff = all the people who work for an organisation, e.g. the staff of a school or of a company survey = an investigation or general study of something undercover = done secretly in order to find out information wheelchair = a special chair with wheels used by people who cannot walk
3 Verbs of liking and disliking Verbs of liking and disliking are usually followed by a gerund (verbal noun). Look at these examples from the text: Example 1 Do you like going to the cinema? Example 2 Lots of people enjoy watching films. There are two more examples in the text. Can you find them? 1 Complete the sentences below with a gerund using the verb suggested in brackets. 1. Sylvia loves (cook) dinner for guests. 2. Both Peter and Tomothy hate. (get up) early in the morning. 3. What Victoria dislikes more than anything else is (arrive) late for work. 4. The Brown family enjoy both.. (ski) and (sail) in the winter. 5. Christopher likes (learn) foreign languages, but speaks none fluently! Sometimes we need to use gerunds in their passive form. Look at these examples: Example 1 Do you like being treated well in shops? Example 2 Lots of people enjoy being photographed. Example 3 Daniel and his friends love being driven around in a stretch limousine. 2. Complete the sentences below with a passive gerund using the verb suggested in brackets. 1. Maria s guests love. (entertain) in her simple but beautiful home. 2. Both Paul and Gertrude hate.. (wake up) early in the morning. 3. What Fred dislikes more than anything else is.. (delay) for work. 4. I enjoy. (pamper) and (spoil). 5. Mr Platt hates.. (shout at) by his boss. 3. Questions about the text 1. The writer tells us that 12% of visits to the cinema in the U.K. are by disabled people. Why does the writer want us to know this? Does this statistic surprise you? 2. The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign checks facilities for disabled people and conducts surveys. Do you think this is a good thing? What do you think they should do with the results of their surveys? 3. What do you think could be done to make more places of entertainment accessible to the disabled? 4. Disabled people have the same rights as everyone else. What could you and your family and friends do to make sure that the disabled enjoy equality?
4 Level B2 Cinemas Verbs of liking and disliking Verbs of liking and disliking are usually followed by a gerund (verbal noun). Look at these examples from the text: Example 1 Do you like going to the cinema? Example 2 Lots of people enjoy watching films. There are two more examples in the text. Can you find them? Line 18 Frank Smith loves going to the cinema. Line 19 I enjoy going to the cinema with my family. 1 Complete the sentences below with a gerund using the verb suggested in brackets. 1. Sylvia loves cooking (cook) dinner for guests. 2. Both Peter and Tomothy hate getting up (get up) early in the morning. 3. What Victoria dislikes more than anything else is arriving (arrive) late for work. 4. The Brown family enjoy both skiing (ski) and sailing (sail) in the winter. 5. Christopher likes learning (learn) foreign languages, but speaks none fluently! Sometimes we need to use gerunds in their passive form. Look at these examples: Example 1 Do you like being treated well in shops? Example 2 Lots of people enjoy being photographed. stretch limousine. Example 3 Daniel and his friends love being driven around in a
5 2. Complete the sentences below with a passive gerund using the verb suggested in brackets. 1. Maria s guests love being entertained (entertain) in her simple but beautiful home. 2. Both Paul and Gertrude hate being woken up (wake up) early in the morning. 3. What Fred dislikes more than anything else is being delayed (delay) for work. 4. I enjoy being pampered (pamper) and being spoiled (spoil). 5. Mr Platt hates being shouted at (shout at) by his boss. 3. Questions about the text 1. The writer tells us that 12% of visits to the cinema in the U.K. are by disabled people. Why does the writer want us to know this? Does this statistic surprise you? 2. The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign checks facilities for disabled people and conducts surveys. Do you think this is a good thing? What do you think they should do with the results of their surveys? 3. What do you think could be done to make more places of entertainment accessible to the disabled? 4. Disabled people have the same rights as everyone else. What could you and your family and friends do to make sure that the disabled enjoy equality? Students ideas