MEET THE CELEBRITIES in LONDON !  

     Many people like to see celebrities; but celebrities don't usually like being looked at - at least, not all day every day!
    There is, however, one place in England where you can look at celebrities - lots of them - every day: this is Madame Tussaud's, the most popular tourist attraction in London.
    On most days of the year, queues of visitors can be seen outside Madame Tussaud's, all wanting to get in and see some of the most famous people in the world - kings and queens, politicians, stars, and even famous criminals. They are all inside, just waiting to be looked at, or talked to.
    If you like, you can talk to film stars, politicians and even tyrants in Madame Tussaud's, but they won't say anything to you, because they can't! Madame Tussaud's is a wax-works, and the "famous people" in the building are really made out of wax.
    Judging by the popularity of Madame Tussaud's, that does not seem to be a problem! Ordinary people like looking at extraordinary people, even if they are only statues. It's better than nothing!

    Marie Tussaud was born in Strasbourg in 1765. As a child she learned how to make wax models of people, and later went to Paris. Then in 1802 she moved to England, touring round the country with her exhibition of wax figures. In 1835 (aged 70!), she finally settled in London. "Madame Tussaud's" has been one of the city's most popular exhibitions ever since.
    Naturally, the collection has changed and grown; Indeed, it keeps changing all the time. While there are some historic figures that do not change, others come and go, and others are "aged" as the years go by.
    The most popular figures in the exhibition are royalty and stars. Princess Diana has been the overall favourite for several years, and other popular figures include Tony Blair, David Beckham, Brad Pitt and Elvis Presley.... to mention just a few of them.
    Another popular part of the exhibition is the "chamber of horrors", with its famous murderers and its instruments of torture!

    At Madame Tussaud's, it is only the very famous who get a place in the exhibition. That is not surprising really; it takes about six months to create a really lifelike wax model.
    The sculptors use lots of photos and measurements, in order to obtain a perfect likeness. For example, it took 450 hours to re-create Spice Girl Mel G's famous curly hair! In all, a wax figure costs over £40,000 to make - a lot of money!
    And, you ask, what happens to yesterday's famous people? Well, they are taken out of the collection, and their heads are stored for a while. Then, if it is clear that no one will ever want to see them again, they are melted down and re-used for another person!
    Many people achieve passing fame; few achieve lasting fame!

WORDS:
tyrant: despot, very bad powerful man - wax: a soft paste, originally made by bees - statue: artificial person, sculpture - settled: established her fixed home - overall: general -  lifelike: realistic, true - sculptor: artist who cuts forms from a solid substance - likeness: imitation, copy - while: a period of time - melt: liquefy - achieve: obtain - fame : celebrity .




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Student Worksheet

Modal verbs:
Connect the phrases : correct the information

Here is some information about Madame Tussaud's: unfortunately the  sentences have been put together wrongly: each sentence contains two parts, (a) and (b). Join the parts in the most logical way!..

List A In Madame Tussaud's, you must not In Madame Tussaud's, you cannot Most days in summer,  visitors must Inside Madame Tussauds, you can If you are easily frightened, you should not If you don't like long queues, you should If you want to visit Madame Tussaud's, you have to If you have had enough, you do not have to

List B see everything in the exhibition. see a lot of famous people. visit the exhibition in winter. visit the Chamber of Horrors. have a conversation with the wax figures. buy a ticket. touch the wax figures. stand in a long queue.

 

   

Notes for teachers

Check that pupils are familiar with all these modals; make sure that they understand that must and have to are usually synonyms, but that must not and do not have to are NOT synonyms.
    Take this point further by having pupils make up 8 sentences, corresponding to the 8 modal forms used, referring to your school.




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Updated from an article originally published in Horizon, the Low-intermediate level English newsmagazine.
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