1

Glastonbury & its legend ©Podcards.com – 2007 – Activities developed by Difference Language School

Pre-Listening Activity

1. Speaking: Glastonbury is famous for its festival, the largest music festivals in the world, and for its historical connection with the famous King Arthur.

• Have you ever been to a musical festival? If so where/if not would you like to go? • Which rock band would you like to see perform live? • What do you know about King Arthur? • Was he a real king or just a legend?

Listening Activity Listen to the text and put the words on the right into the gaps in the text. You will hear the text TWICE. First time listen to understand, and the second time write in the missing words. Every year, _________________ the end of June, the Glastonbury festival takes place in Somerset in the south west of England. The population of this small town is not even 10,000 ___________________ when the festival is on there are as many as 150,000 music lovers attending the three-day event.

The tickets for the 2007 festival sold out in less than 2 hours, and the cost of each was £145. It's not ____________, but when you consider that there are dozens of different stages and almost every musical _______________ on show you do get quite good value for money. Obviously it's _____________________ to see all the acts on all the stages, but you can happily move around and see what's on. In 2007 such world-famous __________________ as Paul Weller, The Who, Bjork, Fatboy Slim, The Killers and Mika played over the weekend. In total 700 artists played on 80 stages making it the largest _________________ arts festival in the world. It all started back in 1970 and was influenced by the hippie movement of the time. It's had its _______________ over the years, including complaints from residents in nearby villages to severe floods thanks to the notorious British summer!

However, Glastonbury is more than just an arts festival. The town is _________________ in history and myth and is an important religious centre. Various legends are centred around Glastonbury Tor. A tor is a small hill and what makes this one so ________________ is the fact that it rises up as if out of nowhere on an otherwise completely flat plain. On top of the tor is a lone structure, St Michael's Tower, part of a ________________ church, traditionally the oldest above ground church in the world.

The tor became linked with the legendary King Arthur after his _________________, along with his wife Queen Guinevere's, was discovered at the abbey there in 1191. He was _________________ raised by the wizard Merlin and became King of England after he managed to pull the sword Excalibur from a stone. Many others had tried and ________________. Legend says that his body was laid to rest on Avalon, the mystical island. The area where the tor stands used to be flooded and it would have been an __________________. Indeed on his coffin there is an inscription, which reads: "Here lies King Arthur in the island of Avalon". However, many historians consider this to be a ________________.

In any case, a visit to the Glastonbury Abbey is a must do for anyone coming to the area as it's one of Britain's most beautiful _________________ sites. There are 36 acres of parkland around the abbey ruins and the scenery is quite breathtaking. Bring your _______________ and take some pictures you'll want to look at time and time again. Who knows, you may even catch a ____________________ of the ghost of King Arthur himself.

artists

although

cheap

former

performing

notable

impossible

failed

supposedly

coffin

steeped

towards

island

historic

genre

glimpse

camera

fraud

problems

2

Post-Listening Activities 1. What do these numbers refer to?

• 10,000 ____________________________________________________________

• 150,000 ____________________________________________________________

• 80 ____________________________________________________________

• 700 ____________________________________________________________

• 1970 ____________________________________________________________

• 1191 ____________________________________________________________

• 36 ____________________________________________________________

2. Comprehension Answer these questions:

• When does the Glastonbury festival take place? ___________________________________

• How fast did the tickets sell for the 2007 event? ___________________________________

• How much did the tickets cost? ___________________________________

• What problems have there been? ___________________________________

• What is a tor? ___________________________________

• How did Arthur become king? ___________________________________

• Who or what is Avalon? ___________________________________

3. Vocabulary Activity:

Find words or expression in the text that mean the following:

• to happen or occur (para 1) _______________________________

• a performance for which there are no tickets available (para2)

_______________________________

• to have an effect upon actions or events (para 2) _______________________________

• to be well known for some bad reason (para 2) _______________________________

• an idea or explanation which is widely held but untrue or unproven (para 3)

_______________________________

• a church associated with a religious community (para 4) _______________________________

• a box in which a corpse is buried or cremated (para 4) _______________________________

• causing awe or excitement (para 5) _______________________________

• a brief view (para 5) _______________________________

4. Speaking:

Imagine you were part of the organising committee for next year’s festival. Which groups, both modern and classic would you like to invite to perform at the festival?