GE B1 Unit 5 Reading Test A

Becoming a celebrity

Some people work for years to become a celebrity, only to fi nd that fame wasn’t as great as they expected. It’s not that they dislike it exactly, they just realise that there is more to life than being famous.

Formed in 2005, The Jonas Brothers quickly became world famous. Their albums sold in millions and they played to thousands of fans. But Kevin, one of three brothers in the band, suddenly decided he’d had enough. But why? Had he fought with his brothers? Or found something better? Actually, he felt the group were no longer making music he wanted to listen to, so he left. He created a restaurant-searching app called Yood shortly after quitting, and he’s a dad too these days. He’ll certainly have more time for his children now he’s not touring and recording!

Freddie Prinze Junior became famous after appearing in well-known Hollywood films such as I Know What You Did Last Summer. Recently, however, he decided to stop acting to follow another of his passions: cooking. He grew up seeing his mum creating amazing dishes for the family – she’s worked in restaurants all her life– and has been trying to cook as well as her ever since. He hasn’t launched a career as a celebrity television chef yet, but he’s written a book containing seventy-five of his favourite recipes.

When rapper Vanilla Ice released Ice Ice Baby in 1990, it became a huge hit. Although he still makes music, he’s never been able to repeat this success, at least musically. Ice bought his first house long before recording Ice Ice Baby. He was only seventeen, but even back then realised he could make money by buying and selling property. So that’s what he did after his musical success disappeared. He also started racing jet-skis (a small vehicle you sit on that travels fast across water), and became one of the best jet-skiers in the world.

Research suggests that wanting to be famous comes from a basic human need to be part of a group. This makes us want other people to like us. As these celebrities perhaps demonstrate, achieving fame doesn’t always meet this need and looking for other things in life is actually more likely to give us what we want.