Nick Hornby Novel - Reading / Writing - Exercises

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25 first pages of novel plus activity

More: check out the TP Nick Hornby webpage (Library - Literature)

Breaking the ice: Starting Hi Fidelity in class
Classroom activity designed by michelle for Y5's (2007-08)

Aim: practicing reading aloud, the oral skills, teamwork; skimming and scanning.
NB: The text and the questions are given to students before the day of the activity,
so they can read it all at home first.

Questions
Which are your all-time top five… favorite people! in the world?
Review vocabulary! Make a list of the clothing and footwear items mentioned in this excerpt. (More: worksheet on Clothing and Footwear for Y3's, 2006)
Rev. voc. List the kinds of shops, too, and find out what they sell in them!
List the famous people, the movies and songs mentioned here and tick the ones you know. Find information about the others in class.
Jot down 5 words/expressions you’ve learned or whose use you’ve consolidated after this Reading.
Line 24, page 1: What’s a “suburb” in England, and in other English-speaking areas? How would you translate it into Spanish?
Line 30, page 1: According to the author, what was irony for him and his friends when they were teenagers? Is/Was this your experience? What is irony? How do you feel when people are being ironic?
Line 9, page 2: Without looking this word up in a dictionary, what do you think are Lemsips? Use your grammar knowledge, and your knowledge about actual life!
Line 14, page 4: Why does he say “I believed him”?
Line 30, page 4: What is the meaning of this sentence (starting in “Women who...”, yes). Does it have any meaning in your life?
Line 37, page 4: What is the meaning of “mock-adult sobriety”? What kind of personality did you try to live up to or did you like most when you were a teenager (or what kind now)?
How did he start going out with somebody?
Find descriptions of feelings in embarrassing situations
According to the author, what was the problem with his second girlfriend? How would you feel if you were that girl? (Q also for men.) In your opinion, what was what made that relationship fail?
What’s the author’s hypothesis on foreplay? Now quote the author.
What is the tattoo episode all about?
Why has Laura left him? Is there any information of this in this excerpt? Have you got your own hypothesis?