Upper Intermediate English: David Bowie Fever in London

To improve your Upper intermediate English, add these chunks or phrases to your vocabulary. You'll be amazed at how regularly you see them in newspaper articles. Look at the glossary at the bottom of the page to help you understand the advanced vocabulary.   David Bowie is hot again!   After making TV news bulletins and front page headlines with the release of a single (Where are we now?) in January to coincide with his 66th birthday, now Bowie has gone straight in at number one with his new album, the first in a decade. His success has not only been in the UK though; the album The Next Day has gone to the top of the iTunes charts in over 40 countries – not bad for a pensioner, is it? It seems that London is Bowie-tastic at the moment, with a brand new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum entitled, David Bowie Is. The retrospective look at his career has sold more than 42,000 advance tickets. That is double the amount of tickets sold before for the opening of previous exhibitions. This is the first international retrospective of Bowie's career and the curators have gained full access to David Bowie's personal archive. They have selected over 300 objects that display the creative songwriting process, his changing fashion style and the way that he constantly reinvented himself with iconic characters. As you would expect, the items on display include original costumes, photographs, film, music videos and album artwork. But there are also lots of personal items included such as Bowie's own sketches, diary entries, handwritten lyrics, his own instruments and never-before-seen items. All the buzz surrounding Bowie shows the power of the man, the music, the cultural icon and influential performer especially considering that he has shunned the limelight since 2004 when he suffered a heart attack shortly after a live gig.  

Upper intermediate English Vocabulary Chunks

making headlines
to be so popular that you are the main topic of conversation in a country
the release of a single
to have a new song available to buy
has gone straight in at number one
to be extremely successful as soon as you start something new
retrospective look at
an examination of the past history of something
gained full access
to be allowed to look at everything
iconic characters
a fictional person that symbolises something (usually positive)
never-before-seen
something that has not been previously available or perhaps even known about
the buzz surrounding
the hype, the media, people talking about a fashionable and opular subject
shunned the limelight
for someone who is famous to not look for publicity and not let people know about their private life

 

Related Posts

About St George International
big ben and

A leading ‘English as a foreign language’​ school in London helping you meet your learning objectives in the shortest time.

Popular Post