Intermediate
Thomas Jolly Prepares Big Show for Paris Olympics Opening
July 20th, 2024
In Paris, they are getting ready for a big event on July 26, 2024. It's the start of the Olympic Games. A man named Thomas Jolly, who is 40 years old and good at acting and directing plays, is in charge of making this event special. He has won three big awards for his work in theater. This time, he will make a large parade in the middle of Paris near a river called the Seine. The parade will last almost four hours. Lots of people, more than one billion, will watch it on TV.
Thomas Jolly has done big shows before, like one that lasted 24 hours. For the Olympics, he wants to show the world what France is like. He plans to make the parade interesting by using ideas that people think about France and also by changing them. Thomas thinks the real Paris is more than what we see in movies; it's full of young people and different cultures.
This parade will look different from other opening ceremonies because it won't be in a stadium. Instead, dancers and boats with athletes will move along the Seine River. Thomas is working very hard to make it a surprise. Some people guess there might be submarines or famous singers like Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, and Aya Nakamura.
Thomas can't say much about what will happen at the parade, but he promises it will be special for everyone who will perform. Many people are excited and waiting to see this big event in Paris.
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💭 Discussion Questions
1
. What is happening in Paris on July 26, 2024?2
. Who is Thomas Jolly and what is he planning for the Olympic Games?3
. How will the parade for the Olympics in Paris be different from other opening ceremonies?📖 Vocabulary
🌐 Cultural context
The article is about preparations for the Olympic Games opening ceremony in Paris, France. The Olympics is a major international sports event held every four years. The Seine is a famous river in Paris. Paris is known for its arts and diverse culture.
🧠 Further reading
Global cultural flows
In our world today, many things move from one country to another because of globalization. This includes people, things, ideas, money, and even how we share stories and information. There are five main areas where we can see this movement:
1. People move to different places, which might be because they are looking for new opportunities or because of changes in their home country.
2. Technology is moving and changing quickly, and different places have access to different kinds of technology.
3. Money moves around in business, connecting countries through trade.
4. Stories, music, and movies reach across borders, creating networks that share culture.
5. Ideas and beliefs move around the world, often shared through media and sometimes changing the way we think.
These movements change the way we see ourselves and how we belong to our communities.
A man called Arjun Appadurai studied these movements. He thought it was important to look at how things flow in this big world, rather than just thinking about the differences between countries or places. He believed this could help us understand each other better.
Olympic Games ceremony
The Olympic Games are very special. They started a long time ago in Greece. Today, we still have Olympic Games. These games begin with a big show called an "opening ceremony," and they end with another big show called a "closingий" ceremony." Athletes who win get medals.
The old Olympic Games in Greece were similar. Winners got an olive branch crown, not medals. Today, Greece is very important in the Olympic ceremonies. In 2004, winners received an olive branch crown like in the old times.
The rules for the ceremonies are very strict. The Olympic Charter says what can and cannot be done. If the country hosting the Olympics wants to change something, they need to ask the International Olympic Committee.
Even though we have new technology and each country wants to show its culture, the ceremonies of the Olympic Games have not changed much. They are still about celebrating sports and tradition.
Tourism
People like to travel for fun. They visit places that are not their usual home for short times for enjoyment, work, or other reasons. They can travel in their own country or to other countries. When people from other countries come to visit, it changes the money in that country.
A few years ago, less people traveled because there was not as much money and there was a sickness called H1N1. But then, more people started to travel again. However, a new sickness called COVID-19 stopped people from traveling so much. Because of this, the money from travelers in the world could have gone down a lot in 2020.
Still, before this, a lot of money was made from people traveling to different countries. More than one billion people traveled around the world in 2012. Travelers from countries like China, Russia, and Brazil spent more money than before.
But, traveling can be bad for the Earth because it can make the air dirty. It can also make problems for the places where people visit. Now, there are groups that want to make traveling better for the Earth and for the people who live in these places. They want to make sure traveling does not hurt these places.