Fictional Characters

19) Look at the list of characters below. Ten of them appeared on a list of the "Top Ten Fictional Characters". Which ones do you think they were?

• Captain James T Kirk (from Star Trek)

• Harry Potter

• DarthVader

• Indiana Jones

• Homer Simpson

• Dr Evil

• Joey (from Friends)

• Buffy Summers (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

• Tony Soprano (from The Sopranos)

• The Joker (from Batman)

• Rachel Green (from Friends)

• Dr Gregory House

in its third season, the show boasts great ratings and plenty of awards. In the United States, House has recently managed to make it to the list of the top five most-watched television shows of the week, even beating hit shows such as CSI. So far, the record number of viewers for one episode is 27 million people. And House is just as successful abroad as it is in the US. It has a huge following in many European countries, often breaking records for its number of viewers. Plus, critics seem to be just as big fans of House as the viewers. Hugh Laurie has won two Golden Globes for his acting, and the show itself has received many Emmy nominations and an award for writing.

Solving mysteries

Although Dr House enjoys solving medical mysteries, the real mystery here seems to be how a cranky and insulting doctor has managed to win the hearts of television audiences. We may never know for certain, but there are several theories.

One is that Dr House's character is much more unique and interesting than the characters you would normally see on television. He's intelligent but he is definitely not the typical dreamboat doctor, and he has an unusual weakness: drug addiction. Plus, although he's always insulting people, he's also usually right about everything.

The writing?

Others say it's the writing and Dr House's humorous insults that make the show so great. Take one episode when Dr. House says, "Like I always say, there's no ‘I’ in team. There's a ‘me’ though if you jumble it up."

Maybe we like Dr House so much because he manages to say all of the clever things that we could never think of. Plus, you can't ignore the interesting plots and medical mysteries that form part of every show. In fact, the creators of the show modeled Doctor House on Detective Sherlock Holmes, a famous character from British literature who solved crimes by using small clues and logic. Like Holmes, Dr House uses small medical clues to solve mysteries such as why a patient won't stop bleeding or why a perfectly normal woman is suddenly paralyzed. And then there's the third theory: Dr House is hot. Despite his attitude, his limp, and his sometimes scraggly appearance, many find Dr House an attractive leading man. Whatever the reason for the show's rising popularity, one thing remains clear: the doctor is in the house.

41) Find the words or phrases that mean the following:

1) strange and unusual

2) cruel and not kind

3) a doctor who specializes in medical diagnosis and identifies diseases

4) to understand

5) angry and in a bad mood

6) a stick used to help someone walk

7) to mix up

8) a show that is very popular

9) to talk about something very good and positive that you have

10) strange

11) a large group of fans

12) the perfect doctor: handsome, rich, intelligent, etc.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14