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Secretariat
Secretariat

Learn about comparatives and superlatives.

Date: Nov 24 2010

Themes: Sports

Grammar: Comparatives and Superlatives

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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It may not be as American as baseball, but horse racing is a sport with a long history in the US. The first racetrack was built in 1665, long before baseball was even invented.

These days, there are two different stereotypes of horse racing. One involves rich people in fancy hats and expensive summer clothes sipping iced tea while they watch a derby. The other image of horse racing involves desperate people hoping to make a killing by gambling on the races.

The new movie Secretariat shows a different side of horse racing altogether. It’s the true story of the horse that won the Triple Crown in 1973 against all odds. Find out if Amy and Mason will be racing to see this movie.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Amy

Amy

Mason

Mason

Amy:  I have to say, I love stories about athletes of any kind winning against all odds.

Mason:  Oh, yeah.

Amy:  You know, that classic Bad News Bears, come from behind…

Mason:  Yeah. It’s moving. That tugs at the heartstrings for sure.

Amy:  So I’m even thinking about going to see Secretariat. I mean, I just see the preview for it and there’s horses, and it’s very emotional. They’re at the derby, it’s atmospheric. And I get a little choked up just watching the commercial.

Mason:  Well, I mean, an underdog story is interesting.

Amy:  It is, and I sort of like the whole atmosphere of being at the derby. Women in hats.

Mason:  It’s got a classic feel to it.

Amy:  It does, yeah.

Mason:  To be honest though, the weird thing about horse racing to me is the jockey population. They’re like the smallest people on earth. It’s like the more petite you are, you’re just born to be a jockey.

Amy:  Tiny.

Mason:  They are kind of fighting humanity’s slow upward progression of like taller and taller people.

Amy:  And more power to them for not letting their height become a disadvantage, in fact turning it into an advantage.

Mason:  Right.

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Amy loves stories about underdogs who manage to win against all odds. So she is interested in seeing the film Secretariat, a true story about a horse that unexpectedly won the Triple Crown.

Mason agrees that underdog stories tug at the heartstrings. He also is interested in seeing a movie about horse racing because the racetrack is a classic setting. But Mason finds jockeys a little weird. Unlike most other kinds of athletes, it is important for jockeys to be very petite.

Is horse racing popular in your country? Do you like stories about underdogs?

 

Comments

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Marcelolic

Marcelolic

Brazil

Oh yeah,in Brazil horse racing is very popular but to make money on batting…I think a little boring this type of story about underdogs,sometimes I have no sac for this :P

12:30 PM Mar 23 2011 |

Golden Lena

Russian Federation

I like movies about underdogs when someoe wins against all odds, and people achieve their aims. I have never been at derby, but I want to.

09:30 PM Jan 09 2011 |

snoopghost_1985

Algeria

nice

04:04 PM Nov 28 2010 |

ggggggm

Syrian Arab Republic

yes ido  horse racing is so popular

08:47 AM Nov 27 2010 |

saro22

saro22

Egypt

i like that atmosphere too ,,unfortunately horse racing is not popular in my country i wish it would be


12:21 AM Nov 26 2010 |

cheng602

cheng602

China

i dont know if the horse rscing is popular in china,because i dont watch such games frequently.actually,it is a popular game all over the world.when i watch American tv shows,i always see people play horse racing.if i have the chance,i hope to watch the movie secretariat in cinema.

12:59 AM Nov 25 2010 |

blueskun

blueskun

China

The horses race is not very popular in china .The one who do this sport almost have great power .Like his dad was called li gang .I think there is no real sport race here.The underdog story is emotion .I like it .

12:40 AM Nov 25 2010 |

sam.xu

sam.xu

China

what"s the meaning of classic Bad News Bears?

12:02 AM Nov 25 2010 |

MUHAMMAD92

MUHAMMAD92

Saudi Arabia

horse racing is popular in our country ,and we have many poetry for horsess

06:45 PM Nov 24 2010 |

afufu

China

I don't think we have horse racing here in China mainland. It's illegal. So, I have never been to a horse racing.

I love stories about underdogs. Because I want to be a underdog. Now, I am nobody. But I believe I will make a difference someday.

Written English is so important for me now. Because I got a job in a foreign company. I have to communicate with foreigners by e-mails in English. So, I come here almost everyday to write something just to improve my English. I am just entertaining myself. If you find what I am writing is boring, move on to other interesting things, don't waste your time here.

03:14 PM Nov 24 2010 |

spacedragon

Brazil

here isnt popular too although we have a great racecourse here in sao paulo,to be honest i don't like horse racing or greyhound racing and etc …

02:31 PM Nov 24 2010 |

Doman

Doman

Poland

In Poland, horse racing isn't a popular sport. I heard about racehorse in Warsaw, but it's the only one. We love ski jumping (Adam Malysz) or volleybll. In fact, we love our athletes when they win, but if they lose we hate them for that.
An undergod stories are interesting, but not everyone likes it, for instance me.

12:34 PM Nov 24 2010 |

koxa

koxa

Ukraine

I hear often and often about derby that goes in my country on Tv so I guess this kind of sport is becoming popular

06:06 AM Nov 24 2010 |

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