December 8th marks the 42nd anniversary since the death of John Lennon

 Watch:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og8uCSek-68

The man who killed former Beatle John Lennon has told prison authorities why he did it. Mark David Chapman, 67, explained his reasons to his parole board on September 7th. It is the first time he has given any explanation for murdering Lennon on the steps of the rock legend’s apartment in New York on December 8th, 1980. He said: "I felt that by killing John Lennon I would become somebody, and instead of that I became a murderer and murderers are not somebodies.” He added: "I made a horrible decision to end another human being's life for reasons of selfishness, and that was my decision at that time.” Chapman thought that by killing someone famous he would achieve "instant notoriety and fame."

Chapman is serving a sentence of 20 years to life for shooting Lennon. He was first eligible for parole in 2000 but prison officials decided not to release him. His next parole hearing will be in August 2023. He hopes that talking about his crime will help him get released. He revealed that his deepening belief in God while in prison has made him a better person. He admitted that he understands why members of the public want to keep him locked up forever. Another new revelation is that Chapman had other famous people on his hit list, including actress Elizabeth Taylor and former U.S. president Ronald Reagan. He chose John Lennon because he was “more accessible”. He said: "I found out what building he was at and went there."

And on the topic of John Lennon, a British cathedral will soon play the late Beatles song “Imagine”. This is a very unusual event, considering the song contains anti-religious lyrics. The cathedral in Liverpool, John Lennon’s birthplace and hometown, has agreed to let its bell-ringers play the tune three times on May the 16th. The idea came from British artist Cleo Evans. She teamed up with the cultural festival organizer, FutureSonic, and they developed the concept with Liverpool Cathedral. The song is one of the best-known tunes in the world. It speaks of a world in which everyone is at peace because there is no religion. Lennon’s song starts, “Imagine there’s no heaven,” and continues, “and no religion too”. These words will not be sung on the 16th; just the tune will be heard.

People have mixed feelings about the idea of playing “Imagine” in one of Britain’s biggest cathedrals. A cathedral spokesperson said: “Allowing “Imagine” to be [played] on our bells does not mean we agree with the song lyrics.” Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono loved the idea, saying it was "so beautiful, it made me choke up". The artist Cleo Evans agreed. She said: "Imagine is an incredibly gentle, philosophical and moving song which speaks strongly of the need for peace.” The FutureSonic festival director Drew Hemment was enthusiastic about using cathedral bells. He told reporters: “What we’re doing is twisting something that's already there; we're “hacking” the bells.” An online poll of “Church Times” readers found 64% were against the idea. 

And speaking of former Beatles,Sir Paul McCartney has become the first musician to broadcast live to an audience in space. The former Beatle woke up the crew of the International Space Station, orbiting 352 kilometers above Earth, with a special galactic rendition of two songs fittingly chosen for the landmark gig. The tunes were beamed into space from a concert he was giving in Anaheim, California. The first was the Beatles classic Good Day Sunshine and the second was a track titled English Tea from his new album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. The mini concert and live footage of the two-man space audience listening to it were broadcast on NASA’s own television channel. Astronauts are usually woken up with recorded songs, but this marked the first time live music was used.

Sir Paul said he decided to broadcast the Good Day Sunshine song to “repay the favor” after NASA had used it to wake the Space Shuttle Discovery crew earlier this year. He said he had been “extremely proud” the song was chosen to alert the crew to favorable landing conditions on Earth for the second attempt at returning from space. The initial landing attempt had been aborted due to bad weather. Before his performance, Sir Paul stated: “I can’t believe that we’re actually transmitting to space.…This is sensational. I love it.” It seemed astronaut Bill McArthur and his Russian counterpart, cosmonaut Valery Tokarev, were equally appreciative of their musical awakening. Mr. McArthur did a couple of zero-gravity flips in gratitude and told Sir Paul: “We consider you an explorer, just as we are.”

 

2.  SYNONYMS

SYNONYM MATCH A:  .

1.	former	a.	announcement
2	authorities	b.	superstar
3.	legend	c.	infamy
4.	somebody	d.	reachable
5.	notoriety	e.	entitled
6.	serving	f.	ex-
7.	eligible	g.	VIP
8.	belief	h.	carrying out
9.	revelation	i.	faith
10.	accessible	j.	officials

SYNONYM MATCH B: Match the following synonyms from the article:

1.	unusual	a.	collaborated
2	lyrics	b.	survey
3.	teamed up	c.	amazingly
4.	concept	d.	words of a song
5.	at peace	e.	excited
6.	mixed feelings	f.	surprising
7.	spokesperson	g.	calm
8.	incredibly	h.	unsure
9.	enthusiastic	i.	idea
10.	poll	j.	representative

SYNONYM MATCH C:

a.	rendition	aired
b.	fittingly	thankful
c.	gig	signified
d.	broadcast	terminated
e.	marked	version
f.	repay	opposite number
g.	aborted	aptly
h.	counterpart	thanks
i.	appreciative	concert
j.	gratitude	return

3.SPACE STATION LIFE: You have to go to the International Space Station for one year. You will meet an alien because, in this scenario, aliens are real and they are able to speak English because it is the most accessible langauge in the world. You can select one of these things and explain to the alien why it so special to you.  

THING	REASONS
A song
A book
A photograph
A software program
A personal memento
A painting
An item of clothing

4.LIFE SONGS: What are your favorite songs / pieces of music? Write the tunes that you feel are best to listen to in the situations below. Explain your choices.

a.   When feeling sad __________________________________________________

b.  To wake up in the morning ___________________________________________

c.   To feel good when going to work / school _______________________________

d.  To exercise to _____________________________________________________

e.   To add to a very romantic moment ____________________________________

f.    To annoy your neighbors ____________________________________________ _______________________________________

g.  To dance to

5.Role Play:

You think that this musician was the most influential singer-songwriter of the 20th Century.Tell us why. Or if they were not the most influential, tell us in what way were they influential.

Role A: John Lennon

Role B: David Bowie

Role C: Elvis Presely

Role D: James Brown

Role E : Michael Jackson

Role F: Bob Dylan

Role G: Madonna

Role I: Joaquin Sabina

Role J:Camaron de la Isla

Role K: Julio Inglesias

Role L: Buena Vista Social Club

Role M: Bob Marley

Role N:Celia Cruz

Role O : Nina Simone 

Role P: Alanis Morissette

Role Q: Lola Flores

Role R : Shakira

Role S: Edith Piaf

Role T: Montserrat Caballe

Role U :David Bisbal

Role V: Boy George

Role W : George Michael

Role X:Rosalia

Role Y: Billy Holiday

Role Z: Someone not on the list 

PEACE DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS  

c)	What do you think about the John Lennon song “Imagine”?
d)	What do you know about John Lennon?
e)	Do you think a church should play an anti-religious song?
f)	When do you think everyone in the world will be at peace?
g)	Does religion reduce or increase problems in our world?
h)	What would the world be like without religion?

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STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS  

c)	What are your favourite song lyrics?
d)	When was the last time you were choked up with emotion?
e)	Can songs and singers help bring about peace?
f)	What do you think of the sound of church or cathedral bells?
g)	What does “hacking the bells” mean?
h)	What’s the greatest musical event you’ve been to or seen?
i)	What single thing would help world peace?
j)	What questions would you ask John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono?

 

JOHN LENNON DISCUSSION

 A QUESTIONS 

d)	Do you think all celebrities are in danger of being killed by crazy people?
e)	Why do you think Chapman kept quiet about his reasons for killing John Lennon for 20 years?
f)	Was John Lennon the best Beatle?
g)	What’s your favourite John Lennon song and why?
h)	Would you like to be a somebody?
j)	Why do so many people want to be famous?

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B QUESTIONS

b)	Do you think Chapman should stay in prison for life?
c)	Do you think Chapman talking about his crime will help him?
d)	What did the world lose when John Lennon died?
e)	What do you think prison officials look at when considering someone for parole?
f)	People say John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ is one of the best songs ever written. What do you think?
g)	Was John Lennon better as a Beatle or as a solo artist?
h)	John Lennon said, “Everything is clearer when you're in love.” What do you think?
i)	Lennon said, “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” What do you think of these words? What questions would you like to ask Mark David Chapman? DISCUSSION Sir Paul McCartney STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B) a.   Did the headline make you want to read the article? b.  Do you like Sir Paul McCartney or The Beatles? c.   Do you think Sir Paul McCartney was a good choice of artist to make the first live broadcast into space d.  What song or piece of music do you think would be fitting to transmit into space? e.   How do you wake up in the morning? h.  Do you have a favorite Beatles song? i.     Do you think spending billions of dollars on the International Space Station is a good idea? j.    Do you think Sir Paul McCartney is an explorer? STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A) b.  Do you like to be woken up to music? c.   Would you like to spend some time on the International Space Station? d.  Do you like English tea? e.   Do you think this broadcast is really such a landmark event or more of a publicity stunt? f.    Why do you think it has taken NASA so long to arrange for live music to be broadcast into space? g.  What do you think astronauts or cosmonauts do all day on the International Space Station? h.  What questions would you like to ask those on board the International Space Station? i.     What do you think their answers would be? j.