English Vocabulary Exercises for A2 – Films and TV programmes

1. Find ten kinds of film or TV programme in the word square → and ↓. Circle them and write them below.

1) g_____ s_____

2) d_____

3) r_____ c_____

4) r_____ s_____

5) p_____ d_____

6) a_____ f_____

7) c_____ s_____

8) t_____

9) s_____ o_____

10) s_____

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1) game show   2) documentary   3) romantic comedy

4) reality show   5) period drama   6) action film

7) chat show   8) thriller   9) war film   10) soap opera   11) sitcom

2. Identify the kinds of TV programme and film. Choose from the words below.

animation      comedy      fantasy film      horror film

musical      news bulletin      science fiction film      western

This kind of film or TV programme:

1) usually has stories which take place in the future. ______________

2) often has characters with magical or supernatural powers. ______________

3) often has cowboys and Native Americans. ______________

4) often has frightening characters like vampires or ghost. ______________

5) includes singing and dancing. ______________

6) tells you about important events in the world. ______________

7) includes cartoon characters, usually made with computers. ______________

8) makes you laugh. ______________

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1) science fiction film   2) fantasy film   3) western

4) horror film   5) musical   6) news bulletin

7) animation   8) comedy

3. Which words from exercises 1 and 2 are TV programmes only, never films? Which could be either films or TV programmes?

Only TV: chat show, ______________, ______________, ______________, ______________, ______________

TV or film: comedy, ______________, ______________, ______________, ______________, ______________, ______________, ______________, ______________, ______________, ______________, ______________

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Only TV : game show; reality show; soap opera; sitcom; news bulletin

TV or film : documentary; romantic comedy; period drama; action film; thriller; war film; science fiction film; fantasy film; western; horror film; musical; animation

4. Complete the adjectives for describing films. Use a, e, i, o, u and y. Tick (✓) eight adjectives that usually have a positive meaning when describing film and cross (✗) six that usually have a negative meaning.

1) bo ri ng

2) __xc__t__ng

3) f__nn__

4) gr__pp__ng

5) c__nf__s__ng

6) c__nv__nc__ng

7) __mb__rr__ss__ng

8) __m__g__n__t__v__

9) sp__ct__c__l__r

10) __nr__l__st__c

11) sc__r__

12) __nt__r__st__ng

13) m__v__ng

14) v__l__nt

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2) exciting   3) funny   4) gripping   5) confusing

6) convincing   7) embarrassing   8) imaginative

9) spectacular   10) unrealistic   11) scary

12) interesting   13) moving   14) violent

positive : exciting   funny   gripping   convincing   imaginative   spectacular   interesting   moving

negative : boring   confusing   embarrassing   unrealistic   scary violent

5. Listen to Anna and David discussing a film which they watched. Choose the correct answer.

1) Anna and David saw


a an action film.

b a war film.

c a thriller.

2)

a Anna and David both liked the film.

b One of them liked the film.

c Neither of them liked the film.

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1) a romantic comedy   2) One of them liked the film.

3) an action film   4) Anna and David both liked the film.

6. Listen again. Complete the table with adjectives from exercise 4. (Sometimes the people have different opinions, and sometimes their opinions are the same.)

Anna’s opinion

David’s opinion

characters

1)

2)

special effects

3)

4)

soundtrack

5)

6)

scenes

7)

8)

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1) boring   2) gripping   3) confusing   4) moving

5) unnatural   6) funny   7) convincing   8) convincing

9) interesting   10) interesting   11) spectacular

12) unrealistic   13) interesting   14) interesting   15) scary 16) violent

Transcript

1)

Liam Did you enjoy the film, Emily?

Emily Not very much. The plot was a bit boring. I expect a romantic comedy to be more exciting.

l Oh, I thought the plot was really gripping. Did you like the ending?

e No, I found it confusing.

l Confusing? I thought it was really moving. I cried!

e Well, it didn’t make sense to me. I think the problem was probably the script. It was so unnatural.

l I thought the script was funny. And the acting was certainly convincing, but you expect that from big Hollywood stars.

e Yes, I agree about the acting. Totally convincing. But not a great film.

l Oh, I really enjoyed it.

2)

Anna Did you enjoy that film, David?

David Yes, I did. The characters are often a bit boring in action films, but in this one, I thought they were very interesting.


a I agree. And weren’t the special effects great? They were really spectacular.

d Yes, but rather unrealistic, I thought.


a But they often are, aren’t they? That’s why they’re special effects!

d And the soundtrack was very interesting.


a Yes, it was. It added to the suspense, didn’t it? Some of the scenes were very scary.

d Yes, and very violent. I couldn’t look sometimes.


a Yes, there was too much violence. But overall, it was great.

d Yes, it was.

Extra exercises

1. Complete the sentences with the film and TV genres below. Use each genre only once.

action film      animation      chat show      period drama

documentary      fantasy film      game show      horror film

musical      news bulletin      romantic comedy      talent show

1) We watched a ________. on TV last night about climate change. It had a lot of new statistics and was quite scary.

2) The final Lord of the Rings film is a good example of a well-made ________.

3) That ________. was too much for me. When the ghost started killing everyone in the house, I couldn’t watch any more.

4) ‘What’s your favourite ________.?’ ‘I absolutely love The Sound of Music.’

5) In a modern ________. like Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s difficult to tell which stunts are real and which are created on a computer.

6) Frozen is one of the most popular ________.s of all time, among adults as well as children.

7) There are so many great singers on this ________. that I can’t guess who will win.

8) They stopped the regular programme for a ________. about the earthquake.

9) I enjoy this ________. because they interview interesting guests and talk about amusing topics.

10) No one ever wins the whole million pound prize on this ________. I wonder if it’s even possible.

11) I don’t want to watch another ________. ! It’s always the same old story of a man and woman who fall in love even though they are a totally unlikely couple.

12) Pride and Prejudice is a ________. that takes place in the early 1800s, but it tells a love story that never gets old.

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1) documentary   2) fantasy film   3) horror film

4) musical   5) science fiction film   6) animations

7) talent show   8) news bulletin   9) chat show   10) game show

11) romantic comedy   12) period drama

2. Choose the correct words to complete the sentences.

1) That vampire film was extremely ________. I had eyes closed half of the time!


a scary        b unrealistic        c moving

2) It was an action film, but it was so ________. that I nearly fell asleep.


a exciting        b convincing        c boring

3) Reality shows can be so ________. ! People do such stupid things!


a embarrassing        b spectacular        c gripping

4) For a comedy, that film wasn’t very ________. I didn’t laugh once.


a moving        b interesting         c funny

5) The plot wasn’t very interesting, but the special effects were ________.!


a unrealistic        b spectacular        c violent

6) That thriller was so ________. I couldn’t take eyes off the screen for a second!


a scary        b gripping        c confusing

7) That film was so ________. I couldn’t stop crying!


a thrilling        b moving        c imaginative

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1) a   2) c   3) a   4) c   5) b   6) b   7) b

3. Complete the film review with the words below. Use each word only once.

acting      actors      characters      ending      plot

scenes      script      soundtrack

This film has a lot of famous 1) _____ and the 2) _____ they play are really interesting, but unfortunately this isn’t a good film. The 3) _____ – based on a story by Joseph Paul – isn’t very exciting. The 4) _____ has some very unnatural lines and some of the 5) _____ are quite long and boring. Moreover, the 6) _____ of the film doesn’t make sense! I’m sure there was a better way to finish the story. The 7) _____ is excellent, though; all of the actors do a very good job. But probably the best thing in the film is the 8) _____ . It’s a collection of great old songs and modern hits.

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1) actors   2) characters   3) plot   4) script

5) scenes   6) ending   7) acting   8) soundtrack

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