Inside Out

David Beckham WORKSHEET A

David Beckham, one of the worlds most famous footballers, was born in London in
1975 and grew up in the south of England.
Both his parents are football fans and support Manchester United, a very popular team
from the north of England. It wasnt surprising, therefore, that Beckham grew up with
a love of football and a dream that one day he would put on the famous red shirt of
Manchester United.
As a young footballer he developed the characteristics that would later make him so
successful. He played with a lot of energy and skill, and became especially good at
kicking the ball very accurately over a long distance.
In 1989, his dream came true when someone from Manchester United saw him
playing and asked him to become a junior player at the club. He began playing
regularly for Uniteds first team in 1995, aged 20, and went on to help the club win
lots of trophies. When he was 21 he played his first game for the English national
team, and at the age of 25 he became captain.
His career has had some low points, however. During the 1998 World Cup, for
example, he was sent off for kicking an opponent in a very important game for
England against Argentina.
By the late 1990s, Beckham (or Becks, to use his nickname) had become a celebrity
because of his good looks, his stylish clothes, and most of all his marriage in 1999 to
the singer Victoria Adams (also known as Posh Spice) from the British pop group
The Spice Girls. For years it seemed Posh and Becks were on the covers of almost
every gossip magazine.
In early 2003 Beckham had a bad argument with his manager at Manchester United,
so later that year he left for Spain to play for Real Madrid. By this time he had
become the richest footballer in the world, not only because of his huge salary but
also because he had advertising contracts for lots of different products.
He now lives with Victoria and their three young sons in Los Angeles, where he plays
for a team called LA Galaxy. He and Victoria are still frequently photographed, often
while socialising with their celebrity friends.

This page has been downloaded from www.insideout.net.

It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright Macmillan Publishers Limited 2008.
 Inside Out
David Beckham WORKSHEET B

Exercise 1

Team A

Here are the answers to some questions about the text on Worksheet A. Work with
your group and write the questions. When you have finished, Team B will have to
answer them as part of a quiz.

1. In 1975.
2. He went to Madrid/Spain after he left Manchester United.
3. They are red.
4. They got married in 1999.
5. He was sent off.
6. She was/is a singer.
7. His nickname is Becks.
8. They support Manchester United.
9. They have three children.

..

Team B

Here are the answers to some questions about the text on Worksheet A. Work with
your group and write the questions. When you have finished, Team A will have to
answer them as part of a quiz.

1. He was born in London.

2. Her name is Victoria.
3. He was 20.
4. Because he had a bad argument with his manager.
5. Her nickname is Posh (or Posh Spice).
6. They live in Los Angeles.
7. Because he kicked an opponent.
8. Manchester is in the north of England.
9. They dont have any daughters.

This page has been downloaded from www.insideout.net.

It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright Macmillan Publishers Limited 2008.
 Inside Out
David Beckham WORKSHEET C

Exercise 2

Student A
You have the same grid as your partner, but with different words completed. Take it
in turns with your partner to describe the words in the grid, and fill in the gaps. When
you have all the words, the name of the position David Beckham usually plays will
read from top to bottom.

1 M A N A G E R
2
3 A D V E R T I S I N G
4
5 G O S S I P
6
7 S A L A R Y
8
9 S U C C E S S F U L
10

..
Student B
You have the same grid as your partner, but with different words completed. Take it
in turns with your partner to describe the words in the grid, and fill in the gaps. When
you have all the words, the name of the position David Beckham usually plays will
read from top to bottom.

1
2 C A P T A I N
3
4 F O O T B A L L E R
5
6 C O V E R
7
8 S T A N D A R D
9
10 A C C U R A T E L Y

This page has been downloaded from www.insideout.net.

It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright Macmillan Publishers Limited 2008.