Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
Today is the day. Barack Obama becomes president of the US today.
His inauguration is going to be one of the biggest events in the history of the US. Hundreds of thousands of people are coming from all over the country to Washington DC to attend the event. There will be so many people there that most of them won’t be able to see Obama speak. But they will hear him and they just want to be there. It’s sort of like the opening ceremony at the Olympics in Beijing.
The inauguration takes place early in the morning, but Jason is up and excited. Listen to him call Devan on the phone.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
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Devan: Hello?
Jason: Dude, today’s the big day.
Devan: I’m so excited. This is, like, almost as exciting as election day.
Jason: Do you know anyone who’s going? Do you know anyone who’s there?
Devan: Um, I don’t know. But I’ve been watching on TV all the celebrities that are gonna be there, like Oprah and Beyonce.
Jason: It sounds crazy, like, people from all over the country are going to it. There’s just going to be so many people.
Devan: Yeah. It’s gonna be even more people than were at election day. I don’t know how many…was there like 300,000 people?
Jason: Wow. I remember you almost got crushed in a rally with, like, 70,000 people. So I can barely imagine…
Devan: Yeah, and that was just in Portland, Oregon, so just imagine how many people are going to be at the actual inauguration. It’s so exciting. This is, like, a huge moment in history, you know?
Jason: Yeah. Because, like, election night, we didn’t know how it was going to end at the start of it. Today you wake up and you’re like, “I can’t wait!”
Devan: It’s like the beginning of a new era. Well, do you want to come over and watch it on TV with me?
Jason: Do you think I can make it in time?
Devan: Well, if you hurry and get over here right now, we can watch it together.
Jason: Sweet. I’ll be right there.
Devan: OK. Bye.
Grammar Point
Go Super to learn "Present Progressive Tense" from this lesson
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Discussion
Jason and Devan don’t personally know anyone who is going to the inauguration, but it seems like every American celebrity will be there. They can’t imagine the size of the crowd. 300,000 people saw Obama speak on election night and they didn’t even know for sure if he would win when they showed up!
Jason decides to rush over to Devan’s place to try to watch the inauguration on TV. What was the biggest moment in the recent history of your country? What does Obama’s inauguration mean to you?
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Comments
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