2C We Will Rock You!

A Match a–h with 1–8 to make collocations.

a corporate 1 instrument
b tyrannical 2 giant
c musical 3 regime
d boy 4 future
e music 5 band
f youth 6 domination
g corporate 7 industry
h distant 8 culture

B Find and check the collocations from A in the review of the musical We Will Rock You below.

We Will Rock You, with music and lyrics by the band Queen, is a show that all Freddie Mercury fans will love, with
hits like Bohemian Rhapsody, Radio GaGa, and I Want To Break Free. However, there is little here for the fans of
musical theatre.
The plot is mediocre to say the least and the comedy is contained in simple one-line gags that hardly raise a
titter. The story is based in the distant future at a time when musical instruments have been banned. Kids are
subjected to Global Soft’s computer-simulated virtual boy and girl bands, playing mindless boring tracks. Global
Soft, the corporate giant that now controls the planet’s music industry has destroyed youth culture.
Individuality is seen as a virus that threatens to destroy Global Soft’s market domination, and so the company’s
police are used to control any kids that do not comply. However, like all tyrannical regimes they have their
opponents. In this case it is the ‘Bohemians’, teenagers who keep alive the legend of rock music and live
subversive lifestyles outside Global Soft’s control. The Bohemians are awaiting their Messiah, the ‘Dreamer’ who
will locate the musical instruments that were hidden away by the rock band Queen who apparently anticipated
the enslavement of the world’s youth.
The Killer Queen, an evil dominatrix, is Global Soft’s Chairwoman who is determined to stop the Dreamer and
find and destroy Queen’s musical instruments. Will she succeed or will the Dreamer, Galileo, save Rock and the
world’s youth from her evil corporate domination?
As I said, not a great show – unless you happen to be a fan of Queen.

C Play the collocations game.

brass  blunt  brutal  complete  cottage  diverse  drug  foreseeable  global  immediate  industrial
literary  manufacturing   military  near surgical  pharmaceutical  political  precision  school
state-owned  street   tribute  undemocratic

corporate boy tyrannical musical

START domination band regime instrument

music corporate musical distant youth

industry giant instrument future culture

music youth distant tyrannical boy

industry culture future regime band

corporate youth tyrannical corporate

FINISH domination culture regime giant

Solutions 2nd edition  Advanced classroom activity © Oxford University Press • Photocopiable
 2C We Will Rock You!

Aims  To review and extend students’ knowledge of adjective-

noun collocations. To give students the opportunity to read a
theatre review.
Time  15 minutes
Materials  1 handout for each pair of students; you will also
need dice and counters
• Give each pair a copy of the handout and ask them to complete
the matching task in A.
• Ask them to read the theatre review and find the collocations,
checking their answers to task A.
Answer Key
A  2/6  B  3  C  1  D  5  E  7  F  8  G  2/6  H  4
• Divide students into groups of three and give them a dice and
three counters, which should all be put on START. They take
turns to roll the dice and move around the board. When they
land on a square, they choose a word from the box to make a
collocation and use it in a sentence. If the sentence is correct
they remain on the square. If it is wrong, they move back to
their previous position. The winner is the first student to the
FINISH square. Monitor carefully.
• When the students have finished ask for some volunteers to
share their collocations.
Suggested answers
band brass, school, tribute
culture diverse, drug, street
domination complete, global, military,
future foreseeable, immediate, near
giant industrial, literary, pharmaceutical
industry cottage, manufacturing, state-owned
instrument blunt, precision, surgical
regime brutal, political, undemocratic

Solutions 2nd edition  Advanced classroom activity © Oxford University Press • Photocopiable