Comedy for ELT - Brave Bronze World
4,608 views · Published 22 July 2012 · 2:58 · Indexed 4 October 2026
Channel: Nick Michelioudakis · 2012 · Comedy
[To get a free worksheet (+KEY, +Script) just click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByC3QwWZuGXdaDJrcnFBeGx6bms/view?usp=sharing ]
How do people feel about new technology? Well, some embrace it, others feel threatened by it... It has always been like that -- even back in pre-historic times when bronze was making its debut! Here the chipper and the tier of a tribe have to attend a 'Bronze Orientation' session... The way Mitchell and Webb create a funny effect by making fun of the clichés advertisers use ('Bronze is your friend!') and by paraphrasing to show that certain concepts had not yet been expressed in words ('The time the sun is hottest') is fantastic! It also means that students can use this formula to come up with their own dialogues as a follow-up... Topic: Technology Level: B2 -- C1 Taken from the series 'That Mitchell and Webb Look' [NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
SCRIPT
B: ...?... Do you think if I finish this flint by the time sun is hottest, you could get it tied to a stick by the time we all get hungry?
R: I don't think so, Bigfeet. You are forgetting today we've all got to go to the clearing we all go some time from time when Cricket's shut up until time when we go back to our huts... *
B: Really? What for?
R: It's Bronze Orientation Day.
B: Bugger! I'm so sick of hearing about Bronze! Bronze -- bronze -- bronze -- bronze! * What's wrong with stone? Does stone not work all of a sudden??
R: Well, they say that bronze will revolutionize the way we hunt and gather!
B: Well... maybe... Well I can't be dealing (?) with it... Horrid, shiny stuff...
C: Hello, guys! This is Hairyback, from tribe in the valley who have lots of jewelry all of a sudden! He'll be leading our 'Bronze Orientation Day' * Hairyback -- this is Bigfeet and Redbeard; our foremost chipper and tier!
H: Oh, great! Well, you are exactly the kind of people I need to get through to! And my message to you is this: 'Don't be afraid of bronze!' * Really! Unless of course someone is attacking you with a bronze axe, in which case you should be afraid because 'Bronze is Brilliant!' * Meet bronze! Bronze is your friend! Bronze is user-friendly, multi-purpose, exciting, zeit-geisty, and most importantly of all -- it's slightly shiny! * Everyday we're finding new uses for bronze! Bronze plates, bronze cups, bronze hats, bronze shoes * even -- bronze windows!! * And bronze doesn't even need to be chipped; so -- 'Stone is dead, prepare for the age of bronze!' (they all applaud -- except for Bigfeet) Thank you... Yes -- you have a question...
B: Yes. When you say 'bronze doesn't need to be chipped', right, my question is... Doesn't it? *
H: No! With new modern smelting, old-fashioned chipping is a thing of the past!
B: Right... cause... I'm a chipper, you see...
H: Right... well, I won't lie to you; chippers, as a breed, are going to go the way of the sabre-tooth tiger! (Redbeard screams) * No -- I mean they're going to be extinct. * But have you thought about re-training as a smelter?
B: No! No, I haven't! Smelting may be fine for the lads, but I'm no smelter! And while bronze may be terribly clever, stone was all my old dad ever needed to feed a family of as many hands as I have and then more than that... * What I'd say is, as a tribe, why don't we leave the bronze to the smart-Alecs and the whiz-kids, and we'll just carry on using stone axes like we always do?
H: Because if you do, the tribes with the bronze axes will kill you. And then take your stone axes -- and then throw them away because they are rubbish... *
B: Oh... (Redbeard raises his hand)
H: Yes?
R: Will the bronze still need tying to sticks?
H: Oh yes!
R: Crikey! *
