Reading

The perfect body

Most people were surprised when Renee Zellweger got the part of Bridget in the film Bridget Jone’s Diary. The film is about a young woman who worries about work, her weight and men. Zellweger is a slim American woman – completely different from Bridget who is English and overweight.

So, what did Zellweger do to get the part right? She had lessons to improve her English accent and she put on about eleven kilos. For several months she didn’t do any exercise and she ate a lot of pizza, peanut butter sandwiches and chocolate. Although it was fun at first, she often felt quite sick.

 Zellweger put the weight on because she thought it was important to be as real as possible. She was surprised, however, by people’s criticism. People criticized her for being fat when she put on weight for the film. They often criticized her again for being too skinny when she lost weight after the film. She realized it’s almost impossible to have the perfect body in the eyes of media.

So why did she do it? Well, money was probably one reason. On top of her $ 15 million salary, she earned $ 225.000 for every kilo she put on. That’s an extra $ 2.5 million! And she didn’t stop there. A British slimming magazine paid her $ 3.5 million to lose all the weight again. So perhaps Zellweger doesn’t need to care about the criticism when she earns all this money!     

  Task 1. Put « +» if the statement is true and « - » if the statement is false                                                                              

Task 2. Choose a correct answer

1. Most people were _______  when Renee got the role of Bridget.

2. She often felt quite______ while eating fattening food.                                         

3. The article tells us that Renee_______. 

4. Why did she gain some kilos?

5. What was people’s reaction for Renee’s weight changes?

6. For several months she didn’t do any exercise and_____.