The worst illness in the world

Freddie Mercury the victim of AIDS

                                                                               Compere:

Millions of people throughout the world have AIDS (СПИД). It’s an extremely serious disease and it often leads to death. Of the 30 million people living with AIDS in the world 9 out of 10 do not know that they are infected. 7 thousand young people aged 10-24 are infected with AIDS every day. 5 young people are infected with AIDS every minute. By the year 2020 there will be over 40 million orphans (сирота) under the age pf 15 in the world. Most of these children will have lost their parents to AIDS. South Africa is the country that has bun hit hardest.

Listen what different people say about the problem. Who do you agree with? Is it important to care about AIDS?

Student 1: I’ve got AIDS. I don’t want to die I don’t understand why people forget about this serious problem. Anybody – black or white, male or female, rich or poor – can get AIDS.

Student 2: We don’t realige that it’s only the top of the iceberg. People all over the world must combine their efforts and stop the father spread of this terrible disease.

Student 3: People with AIDS have medical problem but they are normal people. They want to have friends and enjoy themselves. Why do other people avoid them? You can’t get AIDS if you speak to a person with AIDS, can you?

Student 1: Everybody knows that AIDS involves unprotected sex and drugs. So if someone has AIDS, it’s their problem, not mine. It’s probably their fault (вина), too.

Student 2: Why should I care about AIDS? I don’t have it, and I don’t know anybody who has it. I’m sure I’ll never get it because I lead a healthy life.

Student 3: I think that people with AIDS are dangerous to society (общество). They have no right to live among us. They should be kept in reservations.

Compere: What is awful, that nobody and nothing can help you; neither money nor success as it was happened with the solist of famous group “Queen” – Freddie Mercury.

Student 1:

Nothing about Freddie Mercury was ordinary. He was Frederick Bulsara on September 5^th 1946, in Zanzibar, the large island off the coast of Africa. His father was of Percian descent. Part of his childhood was spent in comfortable surroundings in India, where he attended boarding school. These were the exotic beginnings of an exotic life.

Student 2:

When Freddie was thirteen, the family moved to England, and in the sixties he went to art college in London. For a while, he was studying design and running his own clothes stall in a market at the same time. He was helped by a friend, Roger Taylor, who also played drums in a band called Smile.

Student 3:

Freddie used to watch the band’s concerts, but he told Roger and guitarist Brian May that they were wasting their time. He thought their group lacked visual impact and showmanship. These qualities were never a problem for Freddie and in 1970, when Smile split up, he invited Roger and Brian to join him in a new group, for which he suggested the name Queen. He acquired his own new name as well – Freddie Mercury. A bass-player, John Deacon, was brought in through a newspaper advertisement.

Student 1:

The formula worked well. The group created a sound like no other, with their combination of heavy rock energy and complex vocal harmonies. Mercury was not only their singer and pianist, but one of the group’s main songwriters and his love of opera made its presence felt. It was his song “Bohemian Rhapsody” that became the most famous of the group’s releases. The single was at number one in Britain for nine weeks in 1975. In 1976, ali four of the group’s albums were in the top thirty of the British charts at the same time. (звучить запис «Богемської рапсодії»)

“Bohemian Rhapsody”

Is this the real life

Is this just fantasy

Caught in a landslide

No escape from reality

Open your eyes

Look up to the skies and see

I’m just a poor boy, I need no sympathy

Because I’m easy come, easy go,

A little high, little low,

Anyway the wind blows, doesn’t really matter to me,

To me.

Mama, just killed a man,

Put a gun against his head,

Pulled my trigger, now he’s dead,

Mama, life had just begun,

But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away

Mama ooo,

Didn’t mean to make you cry

If I’m not back again this time tomorrow

Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters

Too late, my time has come,

Sends shivers down my spine

Body’s aching all the time,

Goodbye everybody – I’ve got to go

Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth

Mama ooo – (any way the wind blows)

I don’t want to die,

I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all

I see a little silhouette of a man,

Scaramouche, scaramouche will you do the Fendango

Thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening me

Galileo, Galileo,

Galileo, Galileo

Galileo figaro-Magnifico

But I’m just a poor boy and nobody loves me

He’s just a poor boy from f poor family

Spare him his life from this monstrosity

Easy come easy go – will you let me go

Bismillah! No, we will not let you go – let him go

Student 2:

Queen continued to be popular well into the eighties. They played many stadium concert. In 1986, Queen’s last tour included a concert in front of 80,000 Hungarian fans in Budapest. But only a year later, rumours began to circulate that Freddie Mercury was HIV positive – that is, he had the virus responsible for Aids.

Student 3:

At first, Freddie denied this. He threw a gigantic birthday party, hiring a jet to take eighty of his friends to Spain. The celebrations included flamenco dancers, a fire-works display which flashed his name in lights across the sky, and a six-metre birthday cake.

Student 2:

But in the years that followed, Freddie lived a quieter, more secluded life. In 1990, he went into the studio with Queen, to record their last album, Innuendo. In early 1991, it entered the charts at number one. In the autumn, the group’s last single was released, and from the title and lyrics, “The Show Must Go On” was obviously a goodbye song. Freddie Mercury died of Aids on November 24^th 1991. He was forty-five. (звучить запис “The Show Go On”)

“The Show Must Go On”

Empty spaces – what are we living for

Abandoned places – I guess we know the score

On and on, does anybody know what we are looking for

Another hero, another mindless crime

Behind the curtain, in the pantomime

Hold the line, does anybody want to take it anymore

The show must go on

The show must go on

Inside my heart is breaking

My make-up may be flaking

But my smile still stays on

Whatever happens, I’ll leave it all to chance

Another heartache, another failed romance

On and on, does anybody know what we are living for

I guess I’m learning, I must be warmer now

I’ll soon be turning, round the corner now

Outside the dawn is breaking

But inside in the dark I’m aching to be free

The show must go on

The show must go on

Inside my heart is breaking

But my smile still stays on

My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies

Fairytales of yesterday will grow but never die

I can fly – my friends

The show must go on

The show must go on

I’ll face it with a grin

I’m never giving in

On – with the show –

I’ll drop the bill, I’ll overkill

I have to find the will to carry on

On with the –

On with the show –

The show must go on