The legendary Tata Young returns to Bangkok

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Read the following story by Melalin Mahavongtrakul from the Bangkok Post. Then, answer the questions that follow.

Tata Young’s upcoming concert next month will be packed with English music from her days as one of the biggest stars from Asia.

ASIA’S BRITNEY

Releasing her first album when she was 15, back in the days of cassettes, Tata became known as the wonder girl of the Thai music industry. Millions of copies of her albums were sold, leading her to become one of the most successful solo female artists of all time in the country. She soon expanded her range into acting and starred in TV dramas and movies, which were also a hit.

Her career reached new heights in 2004 when the singer lost her then-boyish look and became a more grown-up, sexy singer for her first English album, I Believe, which became a hit across Asia. Tata's career throughout the 2000s earned her the reputation as the Britney Spears of Asia.

From that period came hits like “Sexy Naughty Bitchy Me,” “El Nin Yo!,” “Dhoom Dhoom” and many more, which will be featured in her upcoming concert My Perfection. It's her first big concert in five years, and this is the first time that the set list will be made up entirely of English songs from her "diva era".

With the title My Perfection, Tata said that she aims for the concert to be perfect -- in her own way.

"Some did ask if I'm doing this concert to prove anything. I'm not. I do this because it makes me happy, and because I also get to make the audience happy. I want fans who miss me to come to my show and enjoy it. This is my perfection," said Tata.

Tata also talked about her "go inter" period.

"It was very tiring," she began. "I was travelling all the time. I got to be in many countries and learned about different cultures. It also took a lot to adjust. It was like I had to reintroduce myself, almost from zero. People already knew me in Thailand. But going abroad, I had to start over."

Back then, her transformation into the sexy singer was met with a lot of criticism, with conservatives upset at what they deemed too-revealing costumes and provocative dance routines.

"I wasn't a kid anymore," Tata said simply. She was in her early 20s at the time. "But I think people were still used to that younger image of me. So, it looked at first as though they weren't able to handle it. I was OK with that transformation, though. It wasn't bad. It's not something I was uncomfortable with."

TEEN STAR

Having been in showbiz since her preteen years, aspects of Tata's life have been under constant scrutiny for almost three decades. More or less, we've watched her growth and transformation since that moment when she won a national singing contest at age 11. Looking back, Tata doesn't feel she was lacking or missing out on those younger years.

"I guess you could say I'm used to being in showbiz. It has always been my dream to work in this industry. I consider it my luck. Many people search their whole life for what they want to do, to be, even to study. But for me, I wanted to be a singer and work in showbiz. I got to accomplish my dream."

Tata Young's My Perfection concert will be held at Royal Paragon Hall on Oct 11 and 12.

Section 1: Read through the story and answer the following questions. 

1. Tata will sing some Thai songs at her concert. True or false? …………….

2. How old was she when her debut album was released? …………….

3. When was I Believe released? …………….

4. Tata is doing the concert to prove something. True or false? …………….

5. She was uncomfortable with being a sexy singer. True or false?  …………..

6. When did she win a singing contest? …………….

7. Tata has accomplished her dream. True or false? …………….

8. The concert is on two consecutive days. True or false? …………….

Section 2: Write the noun form of the following words. 

9. expanded .…..…10. lost ……..…11. prove …….…12. happy.…… 13. younger .…………

Section 3: Read the following passage. Then, fill in the blanks with the correct words from the choices given.

After 27 years and …14… in this industry, Tata has witnessed artists and talents …15… and …16… . Cassettes went out and along came CDs, and then the days when people downloaded music onto their flash drive and now …17… . The singer is now married with a son. When asked about the future, she said she's not looking …18… far ahead, but did say she's not going anywhere anytime …19… .

14. a. counted  b. count c. counting

15. a. come b. came c. coming

16. a. went b. go c. been

17. a. steaming b. streaming  c. stream 

18. a. to b. too  c. two

19. a. soon b. now c. later

Section 4: Find words that match the following definitions.

20. a complete change in somebody ……………

21. the act of expressing disapproval of something ……………

22. a person against sudden or untraditional change……………

23. intended to make somebody sexually excited …………

24. careful and thorough examination ……………

Answers: 1. False. 2. 15. 3. 2004. 4. False. 5. False. 6. At age 11. 7. True. 8. True. 

9. expansion. 10. loss. 11. proof. 12. happiness. 13. youth.

14. c. 15. a. 16. b 17. b. 18. b. 19. a. 

20. transformation. 21. criticism. 22. conservatives. 23. provocative. 24. scrutiny.

SCORE 21-24: Excellent! 17-20: Good.   13-16: Fair.   12 or fewer: You'll do better next time!