Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. put (something) up for sale
    • ex. We’re moving to another country, so we’re putting our house up for sale.
  2. get (one’s) hands on (something)
    • ex. I can’t get my hands on his new book because it’s sold out everywhere.
  3. lyrics
    • ex. My sister wrote the music, and I wrote the lyrics.
  4. devastated
    • ex. He failed the university’s entrance exam, so he was devastated.
  5. a breakup
    • ex. We were shocked about Chad and Anne’s breakup. Everyone thought that they were a perfect couple.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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A rare copy of Ed Sheeran’s very first CD album titled “Spinning Man” was recently sold at an auction in the UK. The 29-year-old singer created the demo CD in 2004 when he was only 13. The album has 14 songs, and most are about a girl named Claire, Sheeran’s first love and heartbreak. It sold for over £50,000 (about ¥6.9 million).

According to Sheeran, only about 20 copies of the demo CD exist, and he has 19 of them. Sheeran gave one copy to a family friend in 2009 before he became famous. The family friend said that he put the CD in a drawer and forgot about it until recently. A relative of the family friend put the album up for sale via the auction.

In a book published in 2014, the singer wrote that he didn’t want anyone to get their hands on a copy of his demo CD. Sheeran said that the album is very embarrassing for him. He explained that the album’s song titles and lyrics show how devastated he was from his first breakup. An employee of the auction house, however, said that Sheeran’s demo tape was an important piece of music history.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Private Lives of Celebrities

  • Do you think celebrities should tell their fans about their lives before they became famous? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Do you think the media should release the full name of Claire, Ed Sheeran's first love? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • What should celebrities do if people don't respect their privacy (ex. share less information about their private lives, ask the police for help)? Why? Discuss.

Embarrassing Things

  • Do you think it was a good idea to sell the album even though Sheeran said that he's embarrassed about it? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • If Sheeran is embarrassed about his demo CD, what should he do with the 19 copies of it that he has (ex. lock them in a safe, throw them away)? Why? Discuss.
  • When something embarrassing happens, what do you think is the best thing to do (ex. talk about it, hide it)? Why? Discuss.