PRE-READING: 

Look at the title and think about the topic. Answer these questions:

• What do I know about the topic already?

• Why is it in the news now?

• What do I expect to learn from the article?

Make a list of 10 words you predict will be in the article.

WHILE READING:

Set a time limit to read this article. An average reader can read at the speed of 250 words per minute. Note down your reading speed regularly to check your progress.

SKIMMING:

Within the time limit, read and summarize the main ideas of the paragraphs with your own words. Do not worry about unfamiliar vocabulary.

THE HARRY POTTER PHENOMENON: THE FACTS

This month finally saw the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, the final movie in the hugely successful Harry Potter movie franchise. Thus the cycle of seven books and 8 movies has been brought to a close. Here we look back at the global phenomenon by setting out some of the facts that have defined it.

THE NOVELS

* J.K. Rowling completed the manuscript of her first Harry Potter story, called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," in 1995, having written some of it in local cafes in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she was an unemployed mother living on benefits.

* After being turned down by a series of publishers, Barry Cunningham, then of Bloomsbury publishers, signed up Rowling, and the author and company never looked back. Rowling is known as the world's first "billionaire author."

* She has sold 400 million copies of her Harry Potter series about the young wizard, his adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and his battles with the evil Voldemort.

* The seven books are called: "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (published in 1997 and also as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in the United States in 1998), "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (1998), "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (1999), "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2000), "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2003), "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (2005), "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (2007).

* Rowling told U.S. television talk show host Oprah Winfrey in October 2010 that she cried uncontrollably when she finished the last of her best-selling Potter books.

THE STORY

* The death of Rowling’s mother from multiple sclerosis significantly influenced her writing, and death is a major theme throughout the Potter series.

* Author J. K. Rowling has revealed that Dumbledore is gay, and he had a crush on the wizard Grindelwald, whom he later defeated in a wizard duel.

* Harry’s birthday is July 31, 1980. Rowling’s birthday is also July 31—but in 1966.

Harry Potter and Rowling share a birthday on July 31st.

* The story starts with Harry Potter finding out in rather quick succession the following:

• He is a wizard;

• His parents were murdered by the evil wizard Lord Voldemort;

• Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, but his spell rebounded, destroying his body and power;

• Lord Voldemort is trying to find a way to come back and take over the world.

* The villain’s name, Voldemort, comes from the French words meaning “fly from death,” and his entire goal is to conquer death. In the second Harry Potter novel, Rowling shows us that “I am Lord Voldemort” is an anagram of “Tom Marvolo Riddle,” which is his actual full name.

* Voldemort’s immortality is based on horcruxes. These are magical objects in which Voldemort has hidden part of his soul. As long as the horcruxes are safe, Voldemort can never be killed. The making of a horcrux is black magic as it requires an act of murder to do it.

* In the final book, Harry's friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley help Harry fight back against the dark lord who now has control over the Ministry of Magic. They hunt for horcruxes, magical objects containing fragments of Voldemort’s soul. These must be destroyed before Voldemort can be killed.

THE MOVIES:

* The Harry Potter movies have so far amassed a worldwide box office tally of nearly $6.4 billion.

* The first movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone grossed the most of all the movies so far, with $974.7 million, the eighth biggest box-office takings of all time.

* The final movie premiered on July 7, 2011 in Britain and it opened in theatres eight days later.

* Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 has set a new box office record by taking $168m over its opening weekend. The previous opening weekend record was held by Batman film The Dark Knight (2008), which took $158m.

* Stuart Craig, the production designer, based his design for the castle, which is Hogwarts school, on a map which J.K. Rowling drew by hand for him.

Based on a Reuters article at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/07/us-harrypotter-phenomenon-idUSTRE76606320110707

Additional facts from: http://facts.randomhistory.com/2009/05/24_harry-potter.html

Graphic credit: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/RNGS/2011/JUN/POTTER_WF.jpg

Word count: 708 words

COMPARING WITH YOUR EXISTING KNOWLEDGE: Look back at the pre-reading questions. Answer the following questions:

Did the article confirm what I already knew?

Why is Harry Potter in the news now?

Did I learn something new? What? Was it what I expected?

Now look at your list of 10 words. Tick the ones which were in the article.

SCANNING:

Look for and complete the following facts about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling.

1. When J.K. Rowling began writing Harry Potter she didn’t have a ________.

2. The Harry Potter Books are published by ________________________.

3. About _________________ Harry Potter books have been sold.

4. The third book is called “Harry Potter and ______________________________.

5. When J.K. Rowling’s _______ died, it affected her writing.

6. Harry Potter and J.K.Rowling share the same_________________.

7. Voldemort killed Harry’s ________________.

8. Harry has to find and _____________some magical items called horcruxes before he can defeat Voldemort.

9. The Harry Potter films have earned over _______________worldwide.

10. J.K Rowling gave Stuart Craig a ________ to help him make the movie.

Answers:

1. Job.

2. Bloomsbury.

3. 400 million.

4. the Prisoner of Azkaban.

5. mother.

6. birthday.

7. parents.

8. destroy.

9. $6.4 billion.

10. map.

POST-READING:

Glossary:

Pay attention to how the word is combined with other words in context. Do not learn the meaning of the word without sentences. Vietnamese should be the last resort after you have tried all the learning strategies.

• Release (n): the act of making something available to the public (Việc phát hành)

• (Movie) franchise (n): a general title or concept used for creating or marketing a series of products, typically films or television shows (Loạt phim)

• Cycle (n): a complete set or series (Toàn tập)

• Manuscript (n): an author's handwritten or typed text that has not yet been published (Bản thảo)

• Benefit (n): money provided by the government to people who need financial help because they are unemployed, ill/sick, etc (Phúc lợi xã hội)

• Talk show host (n): the presenter of a television or radio programme (Người dẫn chương trình truyền hình, hay phát thanh)

• Multiple sclerosis (n): a chronic, typically progressive disease involving damage to the sheaths of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, whose symptoms may include numbness, impairment of speech and of muscular coordination, blurred vision, and severe fatigue (Chứng bệnh xơ cứng rải rác, đa xơ cứng)

• To reveal (v): to make (previously unknown or secret information) known to others (Tiết lộ)

• Gay (adj): homosexual (Đồng tính)

• Duel (n): a prearranged contest with deadly weapons between two people in order to settle a point of honour (Cuộc đọ kiếm tay đôi)

• Murder (n): the crime of killing someone deliberately (Sự sát hại)

• Spell (n): a piece of magic, or the special words that make magic happen (Bùa chú)

• Rebound (v): to have an unexpected adverse consequence for (someone, especially the person responsible for it) (Tác động ngược lại, dội lại)

• Anagram (n): a word, phrase, or name formed by rearranging the letters of another (Sự đảo các mẫu tự (thường để lập một tên mới))

• Soul (n): the part of a person which many people believe continues to exist after you die (Linh hồn)

• Horcrux (n): this is a special word invented by J K Rowling to describe a magical object which contains part of a human soul. This is translated into Vietnamese as “Trường Sinh Linh Giá”. • Fragment (n): a small part broken off or separated from something (Mảnh vỡ)

• Finale (n): the last part of a piece of music, an entertainment, or a public event, especially when particularly dramatic or exciting (Tập cuối, chương cuối)

• Premiere (n): the first performance of a musical or theatrical work or the first showing of a film (Buổi công chiếu đầu tiên)

• To amass (v): to gather together or accumulate (a large amount or number of material or things) over a period of time (Tích lũy)

• To gross (v): to produce or earn (an amount of money) as gross profit or income (Thu được lợi nhuận)

Phrasal verbs:

• Set out: present ideas or facts in an organized way (Liệt kê)

• Live on: depend on as a source of income or support (Sống dựa vào, sống nhờ vào) (nguồn nào đó/ ai đó)

• Turn down: reject an offer or an application made by someone (Bác bỏ, chối từ (lời đề nghị) của ai đó)

• Sign up: persuade someone to sign a contract (Mời ký hợp đồng)

• Find out: get information about someone or something (Khám phá, tìm hiểu về ai đó)

• Come back: return (Quay trở về)

• Take over: take control of something (Làm chủ, kiểm soát)

• Come from: originate in, have as its source (Bắt nguồn từ)

• Fight back: resist strongly or attack someone who has attacked you (Đánh trả)

• Base on: use an idea, a fact, a situation as the point from which something can be developed (Dựa trên (điều gì đó))

Idioms and expressions:

• To bring something to a close: to end an activity (Đến hồi kết)

• To have a crush on someone: to have a strong feeling of love for someone that continues only for a short time (Phải lòng ai đó, say mê ai đó (chỉ trong 1 thời gian ngắn))

• In quick succession (adv): following one another at short intervals (Liên tiếp nhau, lần lượt)

• Box office tally / box office takings (n): a record of a number of tickets sold at the cinema (Số lượng vé bán được)

• Open in theatres: (of a film) to be released in cinemas (Ra mắt, trình chiếu, ra rạp)

• To set a record (Lập kỷ lục)

Grammar:

Here we look back at the global phenomenon by setting outsome of the facts that have defined it.

Look back and set out are phrasal verbs. They consist of a verb and a preposition put together to make a single vocabulary item with its own meaning. Look back means to review; set out means to present a group of facts or ideas.

Find as many phrasal verbs in the text as you can. What do they mean? Use some of the phrasal verbs from the article to complete the following paragraph.

Our company has just been _____________(1) by an American firm. First, they carried out a review to ___________(2) about the health of our operations. They have now produced an action plan _____________ (3) this survey, and they have sent everyone an email, ____________ (4) their plans. As part of their plans, they have _____________(5) a new sales manager to replace me. They offered me a job on the sales force, but I ______them_______(6). I’d prefer to leave and look for a new job. I don’t know what I’ll _____________(7) though!

For more information on how to use phrasal verbs, please refer to Dr Grammar – Phrasal verbs – Introduction.

Discussion:

Find a study friend. Play a memory quiz game based on the article. Write 5 questions about Harry Potter, and ask your friend. Don’t let your friend look back at the article though!

Talk or write about a film or book you have seen or read. Say:

• what the film or book was;

• summarise the main story;

• describe the main characters; and

say why you enjoyed the book/film.

Answers to Grammar Exercise:

Our company has just been taken over (1) by an American firm. First, they carried out a review to find out (2) about the health of our operations. They have now produced an action plan based on (3) this survey, and they have sent everyone an email, setting out (4) their plans. As part of their plans, they have signed up (5) a new sales manager to replace me. They offered me a job on the sales force, but I turned them down (6). I’d prefer to leave and look for a new job. I don’t know what I’ll live on (7) though!

This material is provided by the Australian Centre for Education and Training (ACET).