START-UP 10 ANSWER KEYS

Extensive Reading

Sometimes the Best Adventures are Unplanned

Pre-reading

2.
a. 1. i; 2. r; 3. j; 4. g; 5. t; 6. s; 7. c; 8. m; 9. n; 10. q

While-reading

Starter – suggested answer: travel; surprise; no planning; excitement; youth; extreme sports; unknown; activities;
groups; holidays; enterprise; risk; amazement; danger.

I
1.
a. The author refers to the fact that people can’t plan everything and there are factors like the weather that can’t
be predicted. You should have a Plan B in case A doesn’t work.
b. Factors like the weather, an accident, bike problems, fog, etc.
c. It means you can still try an adventurous experience, but you must choose another plan.
2.
a. This is exactly what happened to me last weekend.
b. I loaded up my tent and mountain bike…
c. nasty dark thunderclouds were brewing…
d. I’ve done this trail in a torrential downpour at a full sprint…

3. 1. e; 2. a; 3. b; 4. d; 5. c
4.
a. turn, and swoop, and flow constantly.
b. had drawn the map of this exciting route.
c. it had been a completely different experience.
d. campers and tourists that dare to try such an experience.

II
1.
biking – loop, tires, climb, parking, ride, swoop, trail.
mountain – roads, trailbuilder, trailbook, alpine, slickrock, sagebrush, valley, hamlet, rock, hill, trail, high, peak,
picturesque.
2. 1. e; 2. i; 3. a; 4. d; 5. f; 6. h; 7. c; 8. b; 9. g; 10. j

Mozart in the 21st Century by Ron Pruitt

Pre-reading
1. f; 2. g; 3. e; 4. c; 5. b; 6. a; 7. d

1. Group discussion – personal answer.

2. Pair/group work – personal answer.
3. Personal answer.

While-reading
I
1.
a. He claims that he brought back Mozart from the dead.
b. He says that it is brilliant and full of memories of his short past life.
c. He bought a lock of Mozart’s hair. Then he used Mozart’s DNA, test tubes and the EMF field of Mozart’s
brain.
d. The scientist says that it was more complicated to revive Mozart’s mind.
e. No, he finds it difficult to explain. “How can I explain a theory that never existed?…Daniel Boone…I’ll try
anyway.”
f. The EMF field continues to vibrate, slowly fading into nothing.
2.
1. d; 2. b; 3. e; 4. f; 5. a; 6. c
3.
a. T; “…that dark night in Austria…signal…”

Virgínia Barros, Luísa Barros, Maria José Rodrigues, Vanessa Reis Esteves
START-UP 10 ANSWER KEYS

b. T; “…I walked out of the cemetery…laptop.”

c. F; “After that…new gray matter.”
d. F; “…matched the age of Mozart at his death, 36.”
e. T; “…it took much self-restraint to hold back…And in the end, I couldn’t…memories.”
f. T; “…that was what I told him, that he had been in a coma, which was true,…”

4. 1. expected; 2. learned; 3. prepared; 4. questions; 5. discovered; 6. patient; 7. experiment; 8. depressive; 9. coma;

10. die; 11. revive; 12. better; 13. interest; 14. composing

5. explaining a concept such as recorded music; returning to Austria; choosing one instrument to play instead of
another; experimenting with technology.
6.
a. the scientist recovered the brain signals of Mozart’s wife and child so that he could bring them back to life.
b. he wasn’t upset, because there were so many new things to discover and learn.
c. start from the beginning and assume a new identity.
d. played music and formed a band with other musicians online, he gave cyber concerts and so on.
e. around the country.
f.  other composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Haydn and Tchaikovsky.
g. chose to play different musical instruments from the ones they played in their other lives.
7.
a. there is a cure for death.
b. it would be difficult for you to find a body
c. changed to, taken on
d. every human could be brought back from the dead, resurrected
e. space is disappearing, becoming scarce
f. a special talented child

8. Personal answer.
9. Personal answer.

Follow-up
1. Personal answer.
2. Personal answer.
3. Personal answer.
4. Personal answer.
5. Personal answer.

The Descendants

Pre-viewing
1. a. science fiction; b. epics, historical; c. horror; d. adventure; e. war; f. comedy; g. crime, gangster; h. drama; i.
musicals, dance.
2. Personal answer.
3. Personal answer.

While-viewing

Part 1
2. a. T; b. F. The girl’s mother refuses to accept his excuses.; c. F. Matt has been an absent father and never cared
much about his family. d. T; e. T.
3.
a. 1. f; 2. h; 3. c; 4. a; 5. d; 6. g; 7. b; 8. e
b. We can conclude that Elizabeth’s condition is irreversible and as a doctor his legal obligation is to
disconnect the life support machine.
c. He is in shock and doesn’t know what to say about losing his wife in this way.
4. 1. f; 2. g; 3. e; 4. b; 5. c; 6. d; 7. a
5.
a. resourceful – thoughtful; lifetime – decade; object – refuse; brought – bought; raids – sprees; radical – thrill
b. 1. No, he sees someone else. She was not a good wife, she was frivolous, she cheated on her husband
and kept on wanting more and more pleasure and excitement.
2. He accuses Matt of being thrifty and not giving her the money and the attention she deserved.
3. He blames her for being silly and behaving badly at university.

6.
a. 1. f; 2. b; 3. a; 4. c; 5. e; 6. d

Virgínia Barros, Luísa Barros, Maria José Rodrigues, Vanessa Reis Esteves
START-UP 10 ANSWER KEYS

b. Matt and Syd, who didn’t get along first, have discovered they both worry about Alex and feel insecure
about the future. Gradually they begin to sympathise with each other’s problems and feel they can help
each other in their own way. Syd tries to show Matt he’s not a moron, he’s a decent boy, who’s also lost
someone dear and has to go on living.

Part 2
1. a. disconnected; b. discovers; c. daughters; d. recognizes; e. cousin; f. sell; g. introduces; h. chance.
2. Matt is a good looking man in his fifties. He’s not very tall but he is in good shape and his physical appearance is
attractive. He’s an absent father who suddenly realizes his family life was not as he pictured it to be. He accepts
his wife’s condition after he gets to know about her affair with Brian. Nevertheless, he wants to take revenge on
him and does everything he can to find him and tell him he knows all about it. He’s coherent with his ideals about
his ancestors’ lands and refuses to let them go.
Brian is a middle-aged man, he’s also good-looking and easy going. He works as an agent in the estate business
and wants to get richer by being involved in the new project of Matt’s family’s lands. He is vain and shallow and
doesn’t care about others’ feelings very much. He cheats on his wife, but argues that his affair with Elizabeth
wasn’t serious at all. At the end he apologises for his behaviour and for causing pain to both families.

Part 3
a. 1. a; 2. g; 3. d; 4. f; 5. e; 6. h; 7. c; 8. i; 9. b; 10. j.
b. Personal answer.
c. Personal answer.

Follow-up
1. Personal answer.
2. Life situations – The film focuses on an adultery after an accident that throws a woman into a coma, difficult
relationships between a father and his daughters in the aftermath of the accident. The characters are realistic and
the situation could well happen in real life. We see these characters at their best – for instance when they all go to
the island of Kaua i and at their worst when Matt finds Alex in a drunk state at the university campus or when they
talk near the pool. The affair between Elizabeth and Brian can, unfortunately, be considered almost normal in high
society and well-off families. Elizabeth’s accident is real but can be interpreted as a punishment for her infidelity.
The problem of disconnecting the life support machine in hospitals is very common these days. The little girl’s
disrupting behaviour at school can also occur when parents are distant and absent. Matt family’s greed is typical
of our materialistic society nowadays, whose only interest is money and power.

Real Steel
Pre-viewing
1. Personal answer based on the research each group carries out.
2.
a. Personal answer (dog shape, doll, girl, boy…).
b. Personal answer (washing the dishes, making the beds, saving people…).

While viewing
Part 1
1. 1. searching; 2. road; 3. walking on; 4. find; 5. mind; 6. night; 7. quietly; 8. shade; 9. breaking; 10. promise; 11.
rain; 12. find; 13. mind; 14. night; 15. friends; 16. bright; 17. night; 18. night; 19. right; 20. right

a. According to the lyrics, the singer’s life hasn’t really been what he once dreamt it would be like. It seems that
at a certain point he was probably very happy, he loved someone and he was probably loved by that person.
They had even made a promise which was broken and that probably changed their lives drastically. Up to a
certain point he seems to have been desperately looking for someone who was probably very important to
him. However, now he has learnt to live alone and to adapt to his new life. As a matter of fact he doesn’t
seem to want to fight and search for his dream anymore. Now everything feels all right, even his breathing. He
has obviously lost his will and determination to fight for his happiness.
b. The singer is a lonely person who seems to have adjusted to his new life. He doesn’t have any friends or
close family. He has probably become a very distant and cold person without any feelings, aims or even
dreams. Everything he does is just to survive one more day.
2.
a. Charlie lives alone. He is probably single (a bachelor), divorcee or a widower as he doesn’t seem to live with
anyone, just alone with his robot.
b. Charlie doesn’t have a common home, at least not a building in a specific place. The only furniture he seems
to have is a single bed, nothing else. He seems to be on the move and his truck is where he sleeps and
transports his accessories: robot and tools. It isn’t a very comfortable or cosy place, but he seems to be used
to it.

Virgínia Barros, Luísa Barros, Maria José Rodrigues, Vanessa Reis Esteves
START-UP 10 ANSWER KEYS

c. He doesn’t seem to have an ordinary job either. Surely he doesn’t work at a regular place. He probably goes
from place to place, from fairground to fairground entertaining spectators with his robot. Ambush seems to be
his source of income, that is, his survival tool.
d. He can’t be a man who is well off. As a matter of fact he has many debts. He is awoken in the morning by a
mobile phone ringing, and finds it is someone to whom he owes money. Actually, through that call, the viewer
gets to know that he owes money to more than one person. The fact that he seems to always be on the move
can have two interpretations: either that he is trying to get away from the people who he owes money to or
that he is simply looking for a better place to make some money so as to pay his debts. As far as his
belongings are concerned, they are all with him. He has a big modern truck which has all he needs inside: a
robot and odds and ends to repair his toy. He probably isn’t a very materialistic person. Even the clothes he is
wearing are very practical: a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
e. He doesn’t seem to have much patience with children or he is not used to looking after them. While on the
one hand he tries to satisfy their curiosity by showing them Ambush, on the other hand he asks them for
money (five dollars) so that they can take a photo of his robot. If he were used to having children around, he
would probably not only show the three girls his robot but he would also offer to take a photo of them standing
next to it.
3.
a. Debra Fallon Barnes tries to persuade the judge to give her full custody of her nephew, explaining to him that
her husband Marvin is wealthy and that they can more than provide for Max. She adds that besides this
Charles Kenton waived all of his rights for custody after the boy was born.
b. Charlie makes an excuse to leave the courtroom, saying that he has to phone his lawyer.
c. Marvin follows Charlie outside because he wants to try and make a deal with him without letting Debra know.
d. The first amount of money that Charlie asks Marvin for in exchange for the boy’s custody is 75, 000 dollars.
e. He then asks for 100, 000 dollars because Marvin asks Charlie to look after Max until the end of August
because Marvin, Debra and another couple are going to Italy and Marvin doesn’t want to take him along.
f. The story Charlie helps Marvin make up to justify to Debra why Max is staying with him until the end of August
is that Debra has made Charlie feel very guilty for being such a terrible absentee father and so he wants to
compensate for his (Charlie’s) deficiencies and inadequacies.
g. Charlie is going to buy another robot, Noisy Boy, with the money.

5.
a. In my opinion, the fact that Charlie tells his son the whole truth shows that deep down he is an honest person.
He isn’t trying to make the boy like him, so he isn’t going to pretend to be someone who he isn’t. Besides this,
he probably doesn’t intend to change his life and the last thing he is willing to have is a young boy running
after him calling him father. Whatever happened when he abandoned him, Charlie doesn’t seem to regret it.
He made an important decision at the time and he is not willing to go back. Furthermore, everyone knows we
shouldn’t lie to children because when they find out the whole truth they will suffer much more.
b. After this dialogue, Max probably feels very uncomfortable. He’d probably like to go to Italy with his aunt but
he is left behind with a man who is his father but who received money to look after him till the end of the
summer. There is no doubt that at this stage and especially after losing his mother and then being shoved
around like a bundle, Max probably feels a great sense of unfairness and even wants to take revenge. He
probably understands far more than what the adults in his life think he does. He is aware that his aunt wants
to have full custody but Marvin wants to have his holidays away from Max. At this stage the poor boy feels he
is a burden to everyone.
6. 1. a; 2. l; 3. g; 4. d; 5. i; 6. j; 7. c; 8. h; 9. f; 10. m; 11. b; 12. k; 13. e

7. At this stage the relationship between father and son has changed a lot, since they seem to be working as a
partnership. Both break their way into Metal Valley with the same aim: to take pieces from old robots so that
Charlie can build another one. The fact that Max falls down the cliff and his life is at risk seems to affect them very
much. When Max makes his way down the slope the only name that he desperately calls out for is Charlie’s. From
the moment that Charlie realises that Max is in danger he tries his very best to save him. When eventually he
manages to rescue Max he holds him tight in his arms and all he is able to do is say: “You’re safe! You´re safe!”
Even at the very end of the scene when on the next morning Max arrives at Charlie’s side dragging the cart after
him and then punches Charlie, we are presented with a father and son having fun and playing together.

Part 2
1.
a. False. Max needs simple straightforward instructions to work with his robot.
b. False. After cleaning the robot Max finds the robot’s name on its chest.
c. True.
d. True.
e. False. Max decides to take Atom out into the street in the evening.
f. False. Max runs around in front of Atom without fearing anything.
g. True.
h. False. Max feels enthusiastic when Bailey speaks to him about Charlie as a boxer.
2. a. 5; b. 3; c. 7; d. 1; e. 6; f. 4; g. 2

Virgínia Barros, Luísa Barros, Maria José Rodrigues, Vanessa Reis Esteves
START-UP 10 ANSWER KEYS

3. 1. feet; 2. amazing; 3. Ambush; 4. smart; 5. history; 6. box; 7. commands; 8. fight; 9. Saturday; 10. ring; 11. show;
12. nicknames; 13. kid; 14. eleven; 15. point; 16. help; 17. boxing; 18. program
4.
a. To a certain extent Max is an ordinary boy as most boys of his age have the same determination and strength
of will. However, it is not common at all to find a boy of his age being able to reuse parts of old things to repair
or change the characteristics of other things, especially robots.
b. Max seems to take after his dad. Charlie is someone who makes a living by buying and repairing robot
boxers. He seems to know how to operate and put robots together, something which Max also does. He
actually improves Atom by adapting features from the other broken down robots.
c. No, he didn’t. Even though he was making a great effort to get Atom to shadow his steps when dancing, he
wanted Charlie to play his part as well and teach him to box.
d. According to Charlie, when people go to shows or events they look for something completely different. They
want to have distinctly novel experiences for fun.
e. Yes, I do. Their deal makes them work as a partnership. In order to achieve success and to make money,
each one of them has a different role: while one “teaches” Atom to dance, the other “teaches” him to box.
5. 1. invited; 2. invert; 3. silent; 4. decoration; 5. magazine; 6. Farra; 7. buy; 8. accepts; 9. convince; 10. pleads; 11.
different
6.
a.
5
.
C
O 9.
N 1 S 6. 4.
.
F F W M 8. R
U 2 M A R V I N D E B R A I
.
S R M S E G
11 B E T T E R M S 12 F I G H T
. .
D A I U T
N 3. G E T S
G E
10 T O Y S
.
P
7. M O N E Y
O
L

b. Yes, it does. During their conversation Bailey tells Charlie that the way that Max looks at him is the way that
she looked at her own dad and that at that moment she’d do anything to have him back. Charlie says he can’t
be compared to her dad because he did everything wrong right from the start. However, she convinces him
that he knows where to start from. Her last words are actually: “Go get him Charlie”, which makes him think of
what her dad used to say to him before each battle.
c. 1. X; 2. √; 3. √; 4. X; 5. √; 6. √; 7. X; 8. X

Part 3
1.
a.
THE CROWD – Right from the very beginning the crowd is very enthusiastic because they are watching a
fight between Zeus and another robot. As Atom is able to get to the end of the first round they start supporting
him. From the second round onwards they seem to be even more enthusiastic and they shout louder and
louder. When finally the fight is over and Zeus is still able to keep his title they applaud him but they seem to
retain all their energy to applaud “The People’s Champion”, as everyone in the arena shouts out the name
“ATOM” at the top of their voices. No other robot had stood up so long against Zeus, so for them Atom is in
fact the real winner.
CHARLIE – Right from the very beginning Charlie concentrates on the battle and gives orders to Atom. When
the robot loses his voice recognition he no longer believes he is able to make it to the end. However, when
Max tells him that he can be set to shadow mode then he really gets involved and he tries to tire Zeus out as
much as possible. As the battle proceeds and Atom is able to resist and the crowd shouts louder and louder,
Charlie becomes so enthusiastic shadowboxing that he fights as if it were a real fight between himself and a
real life opponent and he goes right through to the very end successfully. Metaphorically Charlie seems to be
fighting for his own son. On the one hand he is fighting for his son’s robot to win the battle but on the other

Virgínia Barros, Luísa Barros, Maria José Rodrigues, Vanessa Reis Esteves
START-UP 10 ANSWER KEYS

hand he seems to be fighting for his own son’s custody, or at least trying to make up for what he hadn’t given
him when he was small.
MAX – Right from the start Max feels very enthusiastic about the whole fight because he is very proud of his
robot and he knows Charlie is going to do his best all the way through. As the battle proceeds he gets more
and more involved and starts believing Atom can make it right through to the last round. It is he who tells
Charlie to turn the robot to shadow mode when he loses his voice recognition and he actually begs Charlie to
fight to the end. As Charlie becomes more and more involved so does Max. In fact Max doesn’t seem to
concentrate only on what Atom is doing but also on what Charlie himself is doing. At the very end the boy is
extremely happy and he undoubtedly feels extremely proud of his father. As the poor child didn’t have the
opportunity to see his father fight when he was still a boxer it is as if the dream of seeing his father boxing
actually becomes a reality. At the very end Max feels so happy that he calls out for his dad and when they get
together he jumps into his arms and cries.
TAK MASHIDO – At the beginning of the fight Tak Mashido is concentrating very hard on what Zeus is doing
because he believes the fight is going to finish before the end of the first round as usual. However, as each
round goes by he becomes more and more nervous and when eventually he sees that Zeus is not answering
the commands he becomes so desperate that he himself takes over the control by switching the robot to
manual and operating him himself. Right at the end he isn’t able to make any comment because he is
extremely furious and he can’t seem to forgive himself for not being able to destroy Atom in front of all those
people.
DEBRA AND MARVIN – The couple are among the crowd right from the very beginning of the fight but in the
first scenes they don’t seem to be very enthusiastic. Actually they react as if they don’t quite understand why
everyone is becoming so mad. From the second round onwards they become more and more involved and
they start shouting their heads off and jumping up and down trying to support Atom right through the fight.
There is actually a point when Debra shouts out to Atom “Knock that little bitch”.
BAILEY – She is always there concentrating on the whole fight right from the very beginning. She shouts out
so as to support them. However, when Atom is set to shadow box and Charlie actually starts fighting she gets
completely carried away and seems to be having a déjà vu. In other words, as she watches Charlie fighting
she is able to follow all his movements and she even seems to know what he is going to do next. It is as if she
is given the opportunity to see Charlie fight once again as he used to in the past. She isn’t able to avoid the
tears rolling down her cheeks and at the end of the battle she runs up to him to hug him, probably just as she
used to do back in the old days. She is aware that father and son are experiencing a great moment of
happiness and she is very happy because she is undoubtedly the one who made that moment possible when
she persuaded Charlie to take Max.
b. At the end of the fight Max feels that he is the happiest child on earth. His robot is able to stand till the very
end of the fight and he is even considered “The People’s Champion”. Furthermore, he is able to see his father
fight right there in front of his own eyes and Atom shadowboxing all his gestures. He believes that the three of
them are a great team, and he is aware that he has gained a loving and caring father who is ready to fight for
him from now onwards and that Charlie will never turn his back on him or abandon him ever again. After all,
blood ties are forever.
When Max says to Charlie: “Your secret is safe with me.” he could be referring to the fact that Charlie actually
abandoned him and didn’t want to know anything about him when he was born. Now Charlie regrets his
behaviour, so he wants to make up for all the years they have been separated. He wants to apologise for all
the mistakes he has made as far as Max is concerned. He might also be feeling guilty that he accepted
money from Marvin to give Debra and Marvin full custody of the boy.

Follow up
1.
1. One of the three girls, who are curious to see Ambush, asks Charlie this question at the beginning of the film.
2. Debra says that to Charlie in the courtroom when he refers to Max as “the kid”.
3. Charlie shouts this out to Max while he is rescuing him from the cliff in Metal Valley.
4. Max says this to Atom after washing him and before they run out into the street one evening.
5. Bailey says this to Max when she is talking about Charlie as a boxer.
6. Tak Mashido says this to the reporters when he is interviewed at the Starblaze Center.
7. Farra Lemkova says this to Max and Charlie when they are called to her suite and she is about to tell them
that she is willing to buy Atom.
8. Max shouts this out at the end of the battle when Atom is considered the People’s Champion and he wants to
celebrate, but doesn’t see his father, so he calls him so that the three of them can celebrate their victory.
2. Personal answer.
3. Personal answer.
4. Personal answer.
5. Personal answer.

Virgínia Barros, Luísa Barros, Maria José Rodrigues, Vanessa Reis Esteves