SUPERMAN (1938)

 Superman is a direct result of writer and co-creator Jerry Siegel=s inability to get girls when he was a young man. AAs a high school student,@ he once explained, AI had crushes on several attractive girls who either didn=t know I existed or didn=t care I existed. It occurred to me: What if I was real terrific? What if I had something special going for me, like jumping over buildings or throwing cars around? Then maybe they would notice me.@

Siegel and Joe Shuster, the other creator, named their character after movie actors Clark Gable and Kent Taylor, and named his hometown after the Fritz Lang science fiction movie Metropolis. Lois Lane was inspired by a woman named Lois Amster, whom Shuster had a crash on when he was in school.

Superman never married Lois Lane -but Shuster, who modelled Clark Kent after himself, eventually married Joanne Carter, the woman he had hired to model for Lois Lane.

 

QUESTIONS

1. Find words or expressions in the text that have the same or similar meaning to (2 points):

 Perhaps:

Finally:

Film:

Incapability:

Maker:

 

2. Answer the following questions according to the text (1.5 points).

a. Who created superman?

b. Did girls like Siegel when he was at school? Why?

c. Who inspired the name of Clark Kent?

 

3. Choose the correct modal verbs. (1.5 points)

a. I might/can pass the exam. I=m not sure.

b. She=s very intelligent but she doesn=t get very good marks. She mustn=t/can=t be working very hard.

c. The man looks very important. He must/can be the head teacher.

 

4. Rewrite the sentences below, using modal verbs with perfect infinitives (2 points).

a. I am sure that she didn=t use a calculator.

b. It wasn=t necessary for you to tell him that.

c. She didn=t come to school today. I am sure that she was ill.

d. Perhaps she borrowed your dictionary.

 

5. Write 80 words about this topic: Do you like Superman adventures? What is your comic hero?