News-based lesson: 3rd September 2011
Dictator chic: all in the worst possible taste
Teacher’s notes and key
Level: advanced (C1).
Aims:




to practise scanning
to extract new vocabulary from a text
to discuss issues surrounding money and taste
to understand the gist of a comedy sketch.
Timing: approximately two hours.
Tasks 7 and 8 can be done in a separate lesson if you are short of time.
Preparation
 The accompanying text from The Week magazine is downloadable from
www.teachitworld.com.
 If you have an interactive whiteboard or data projector, you could use it to
display the pictures on p.5 for task 2.
 An interactive version of task 7 is available on www.teachitworld.com.
 For task 8 you will need access to the Harry Enfield sketch ‘Considerably
richer than you’, available on YouTube at the time of writing.
Note that students from the recently emancipated Arab countries could find the topic of
this lesson rather flippant!
Answers
Task 2 Vocabulary and speaking: taste
Positive connotations
understatement
minimalist chic
muted shades
Good taste, with a capital G
Negative connotations
vulgar display
gratuitous ostentatiousness
lurid colours
You could ask stronger students if they can add other expressions about taste (e.g. bad
taste, bling, garish colours, kitsch) or think of negative versions of the positive terms,
and vice versa (e.g. drab colours, cheerful colours).
Task 3 Reading: scanning
Saddam Hussein
gold-plated lavatory brushes
lurid paintings
© www.teachitworld.com 2011
Colonel Gaddafi
a gold tea trolley
a gold-plated machine gun
a fairground with a spinning teacup ride
a private zoo
an indoor swimming pool with vaulted
ceilings
a gold chaise longue in the shape of a
mermaid
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News-based lesson: 3rd September 2011
Dictator chic: all in the worst possible taste
Task 4 Reading: detailed information
Paragraph 3: to show the ordinary people how powerful they are.
Task 5 Reading: vocabulary race
a.
b.
c.
d.
despot (paragraph 1) and tyrant (paragraph 3)
gets the upper hand (paragraph 1)
the bar was set pretty high (paragraph 1)
boasted a vast indoor swimming pool (paragraph 1) = had something very
impressive and to boast about it (paragraph 2) = to say how good it is
e. secret/hidden riches (paragraph 3)
f. showing male pride/power (paragraph 3).
Task 7 Speaking: money
An interactive version of this task is available on www.teachitworld.com.
Opinions may vary on what is acceptable in students’ own cultures and in British culture,
but the main point in preparation for the listening task is that British people don’t
generally like discussing how much money they have with strangers in a social setting.
Task 8 Listening: comedy sketch
The main aim here is for students to get the gist of the humour, so pause the video for
them to discuss the answers as they go along.
1. the older couple: well-dressed, smart, rich, ostentatious, vulgar …
the younger couple: ordinary, average, dowdy …
2. the older couple (Pammy and Stanley)
3. hard work
4. cosmetic surgery
5. a) champagne cocktails
b) sangria
6. proud
7. alternative, hippyish, scruffy …
8. I doubt it, mate.
9. five, including the hotel
Stanley’s little sayings:
1. You get what you pay for and you earn what you’re worth. = Expensive
things are better quality and your salary depends on how hard/well you
work.
2. I’m a self-made man and she’s my man-made wife. = I’ve made all my
money myself and my wife has been made by a cosmetic surgeon.
If your students notice Pam and Stanley’s accent, you might want to explain that they
come from the Black Country in the West Midlands (between Wolverhampton and
Birmingham). This was traditionally a very poor, industrial area. You could follow on
with a discussion about the social status of different accents in Britain and in the
students’ own countries.
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News-based lesson: 3rd September 2011
Dictator chic: all in the worst possible taste
Worksheet
Task 1 Speaking: taste
Discuss the following questions in pairs:
What would you do if:
a. your partner was wearing an item of clothing that you really didn’t like
b. your partner said he/she didn’t like what you were wearing
c. your partner bought you an item of clothing that you really didn’t like
d. your best friend gave you an ornament that you thought was vulgar
e. your parents-in-law gave you an ornament that you thought was vulgar
f. you turned up at a party wearing a suit / cocktail dress and everyone else
was in jeans and t-shirts
g. you turned up at a party in jeans and a t-shirt and everyone else was wearing
suits and cocktail dresses?
Task 2 Vocabulary and speaking: taste
What do you understand by the terms below?
understatement
vulgar display
minimalist chic
gratuitous ostentatiousness
lurid colours
muted shades
Good taste, with a capital G
Which have positive and which negative connotations?
Which of the terms above (or others) would you use to describe the items on the next
page?
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Dictator chic: all in the worst possible taste
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Dictator chic: all in the worst possible taste
Which famous/infamous people do you consider to have
a. good taste
b. bad taste?
Why?
Task 3 Reading: scanning
Do you know what items were found in their compounds
when Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gaddafi were toppled?
Scan the article and check / find out.
How do you feel about what you have found out?
Task 4 Reading: detailed information
Read paragraphs two and three again, more carefully. What
answer is given to the question, ‘Why do dictators have bad
taste?’
Do you agree?
Task 5 Reading: vocabulary race
Work in teams.
Find the following vocabulary items in the text:
a. two synonyms for ‘dictator’
b. an idiomatic expression which means ‘gains
control’
c. an idiomatic expression which means ‘the level of achievement was difficult
to beat’
d. two different uses of the verb ‘boast’.
Work out what is meant by the following invented terms:
e. ‘stealth wealth’
f. ‘testosteronic’.
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Dictator chic: all in the worst possible taste
Task 6 Speaking: politicians and money
Discuss the following questions in small groups:
1. Should politicians be paid at all, or should they just
enter politics for the love of it?
2. If you think they should be paid, should they earn a
low, an average or a high salary? Why?
3. Where should money come from for election
campaigns? Should the amount that candidates can
spend be limited?
Task 7 Speaking: money
In your culture, in which of the following situations is it acceptable to discuss how much
money you have:
always
acceptable
sometimes
acceptable
never
acceptable
with your family, in private
with your family, in a social setting
with friends, in private
with friends, in a social setting
with strangers, in a social setting
in a shop
at a market stall
with a client/customer or supplier
with your boss (e.g. to ask for a pay rise)
with colleagues, at work
with colleagues, in a social setting?
How do people react if you mention money in an inappropriate situation?
What about in British culture?
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Dictator chic: all in the worst possible taste
Task 8 Listening: comedy sketch
You are going to watch a sketch about money, made in the 1990s by British comedian
Harry Enfield. The title of the sketch is ‘Considerably richer than you’. Try to answer
the questions below as you watch. Your teacher will pause the video so you can discuss
the answers.
1. Describe the appearance of the two couples.
2. Which couple is richer?
 the older couple (Pammy and Stanley)
 the younger couple
3. How did they get rich?
 luck
 inheritance
 hard work
4. Why is Pammy still beautiful?
 cosmetic surgery
 working out at the gym
 smoking to stay slim
5. What does the older couple order a) for themselves and b) for
the younger couple?
 champagne cocktails
 sangria
 beer
6. How does the older couple feel about not speaking Spanish?
 embarrassed
 indifferent
 proud
7. Describe the appearance of the single man.
8. What does he reply to Stanley?
 I’m sorry?
 Is that a fact?
 I doubt it, mate.
9. How many houses does the man have?
 one
 four
 five, including the hotel
Now discuss the following questions in pairs or small groups:
Did you find the sketch funny? If so, why? If not, why not?
If you want to, watch the sketch again and try to write down and explain ‘Stanley’s little
sayings’:
1. ...................................................................................................................
2. ...................................................................................................................
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Photo credits
Beige jumper
© dunikowski 2010 http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukasz-dunikowski/4897936977/
Eagle statue
© peter pearson 2007 http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterpearson/424047705/
Velvet sofa
© bbaunach 2007 http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbaunach/495087500/
Throne
© zoonabar 2010 http://www.flickr.com/photos/zoonabar/4945993691/
Black dress
© shotting brooklyn 2009 http://www.flickr.com/photos/shootingbrooklyn/4128057829/
Vaulted ceiling
© DominusVobiscum 2006 http://www.flickr.com/photos/27398485@N08/2555760494/
Lounger
© Temari 09 2010 http://www.flickr.com/photos/34053291@N05/5235092557/
Gold teeth
© uberculture 2008 http://www.flickr.com/photos/uberculture/2254899755/
Glittery slippers
© Northampton Museums Service 2010
http://www.flickr.com/photos/northampton_museum/4428456501/
Zen garden
© Raelene G 2008 http://www.flickr.com/photos/raes_antics/2939886146/
Teacup ride
© derekskey 2009 http://www.flickr.com/photos/derekskey/3700104612/
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