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The Ides of March
简体
The Ides of March
总统杀局

Using "Would"

Date: Dec 21 2011

Themes: News

Grammar: Modal Verbs

Intro

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In general, politicians have a bad reputation. They’re seen as dishonest, power-hungry, and only out for themselves. But every once in a while, a politician comes along who seems genuinely trustworthy and interested in doing the right thing for his or her country.

George Clooney plays one of these seemingly “good” politicians in the new movie, The Ides of March, and Ryan Gosling plays the young assistant who wants to help make him President of the United States. But is there really such a thing as an honest politician? Hear Marni and Amy’s thoughts.

一般来说,政客的名声都不好。他们被认为不诚实、权利至上、自私自利。但是偶尔,政客也值得信赖,他们也会致力于为自己的国家做正确的事。
乔治·克鲁尼 (George Clooney) 在新片《总统杀局 》 (Ides of March) 中饰演了一位看起来“很好”的政客,瑞恩·高斯林 (Ryan Gosling) 饰演年轻的竞选总干事,他一心想成为美国总统。但是真的有诚实的政客吗?听听玛尼和艾米的看法。

Dialog

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

Amy

Amy

Marni

Marni

Amy:  Yet another movie starring Ryan Gosling came out, and of course I had to go see it.

Marni:  Because you love Ryan Gosling?

Amy:  He has a special place in my heart, definitely. I think he’s pretty cute.

Marni:  He is cute. You wouldn’t be talking about The Ides of March, would you?

Amy:  I am. I went and saw that this weekend.

Marni:  Well, not only is Ryan Gosling in it, but George Clooney, which is why I of course would go see it. But George Clooney playing a politician, which I thought was really interesting. You know, he’s running for president.

Amy:  It’s kind of interesting because I guess I think of him as, you know, being someone who believes that you can make a difference and that, you know, there are good politicians out there and everything. And this movie kind of questions that idea. It’s sort of a negative look at the world of politics, I would say.

Marni:  Absolutely. I mean, it just explores corruption, which I think that a lot of us are feeling. There does seem to be a lot of corruption, and politicians do sort of have a bad name. And I think a lot of times it’s deserved.

 

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Discussion

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Amy recently saw The Ides of March. She is a fan of Ryan Gosling, who stars in it along with George Clooney, whom Marni likes.

In the movie, George Clooney plays a politician who is running for President of the United States. Ryan Gosling is trying to help him win.

Amy explains that the movie is a negative look at politics. It questions the idea that there are any truly good, honest politicians out there. Marni says that a lot of people today feel that there is too much corruption in politics.

Do you think there are any honest politicians? Is there too much corruption in politics?

 

Comments

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Maria del Alba

Spain

I don’t think there are honest politicians at all, at least in my country. There are only 2 main political parties, and they only share the power between them and they change power every 4 years: if one party does bad, then comes the another party, and if it does bad too, then comes the first party… always the same story… then it is impossiblle they make real effort for the country because they already know they will be reelected even doing bad. 


I also think they do bad and then the people is who suffer from the result of their activities, and when it comes to a financial crisis, they don’t cut any of their huge salaries, but the salary of the poor people. And what it is worse, they sometimes commit irregular activities and steal the money of the government and the state (which it is of all the country). Even the family of the monarchy in my country has proved to steal money from the charity (Urdangarin case). We hope they got what they deserve at the end…

11:32 AM Jan 02 2012 |

Zambuka

Zambuka

United States

the corruption, dishonesty, power-hunger and other words with the negative tint can be applied to any person, disregarding his profession or hobbies…they are just the traits of human character which has nothing to do with politics or some other field

04:25 PM Dec 27 2011 |

1 person likes this

wwongsapun

wwongsapun

Thailand

I think , many countries are have dishonest politicians. Especially in the developing countries there are have many politicians selfish like to spend to public funds to themselves. It’s not fair for normal people. I get to know there are have to honest politicians but it’s less than dishonest politicians. Hmmm it’s true life.

02:43 PM Dec 25 2011 |

1 person likes this

 julito

julito

Argentina

Yes Candycandice, I quite agree , politicians need contacts and  a lot of money that comes from them  to run  for a higher post position  , and here they have a problem, nobody gives money for nothing in exchange , should they give one million to the campaing , they should expect to receive  a ten-fold  in return, to say the least. As you, I do believe  that in some countries  corruption is rampant and in another    is less evident.      

10:25 PM Dec 23 2011 |

i love life

Palestinian Territory, Occupied

we aspire to the reputation regardless all thing will happened with us.


we are greedy all of us need a vision In order to achieve his dream .


for me I guess those artists should do a role we want their efforts .


it.s Impossible to find a clean society we suffering from corruption In all aspects 


politicial and love and respect we have some disadvantage in our lives 


we should dispose of from some of  bad behaviours


I dont see any personality reflect we are living with the humanity right now.

06:21 PM Dec 21 2011 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Please Julito don’t rush Christmas, I have a whole list I have to shift through , I have two bears asking for an Ipad 2, I don’t know how I’m going to cough up for that (:


Wow, Butta I’m flattered. I named 4 different dogs snoopy, until my guardian thought  I was overdoing it. hehe! Washed out beach towel? were you a hippie back then , hehehe!?


Oh nooo! Russel Crowe, out of everyone? his scruffy beard, his chubby, but not cuddly face? he looks like a hobbo. (it’s all a joke) Thanks Julito, you too

03:51 PM Dec 21 2011 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

 Butta, who said you had it on your wall (: ? well , excuse me “real thing” lover…hehe!, which celebrity are you longing to meet in ‘real thing?’

03:28 PM Dec 21 2011 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

Buttyfly . I like the flow  that we have here. Let´s keep our good humor coming . merry Xmas to you and dear ones.

03:26 PM Dec 21 2011 |

1 person likes this

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Julito hahaha!, it takes more than that  to power the engine in my head.


I hate decaf tastes nasty, I might as well dip my socks in a cup of hotwater and drink it,

03:16 PM Dec 21 2011 |

1 person likes this

 julito

julito

Argentina

Snoopyboy , you might want to try decaf. 

03:08 PM Dec 21 2011 |

1 person likes this

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

 that’s more like it Butta, sharing a nice Ristretto with him huh? Come on Butta Spill it, we all know you have a life size cutout of him in your attic


, I didn’t know he liked Espressos, well like I cared.

03:06 PM Dec 21 2011 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

BUTTA  you are a woman you are supposed to swoon over George Clooney like all the other groupies out there, what are you talking about. Don’t you like his sexy gray hair? Just messing around (:


Haha@ Cather Rats with Ties, that would be Mickey Mouse  and we love him


@ Mnal F, power changes everything, it changes my gray light bulb to Bright Yellow


( I think , I had too much coffee , hahaha!)

02:55 PM Dec 21 2011 |

snoopyboy

snoopyboy

Antarctica

Debating about politics is definitely not my strong suit. It’s shady business. These men and women in suits and ties are cold-blooded crooks, compulsive liars, and preppy sex addicts. They tamper with the laws and regulations as they please. They are a bunch of hypocrites. One day they shake hands the next day they are backstabbing, and stomping on each other’s throat. To describe them as “power-hungry” is simply an understatement. The evil things they do behind closed doors are unethical and egocentric. Many men and women opt for politics in the hope of landing the ultimate job, or to be pampered with all privileges this world has to offer. And we, like a bunch of Muppets are the ones feeding them their most desired thing: “Power, power and more power”. We buy every sugarcoated lie they utter during their campaigns, we forgive them when they are caught red handed, we re-elect them every chance we get. I won’t ink my finger for any of these blood-thirsty egomaniacs.  Ever heard of the saying “One bad apple spoils the whole bunch”? It pretty much defines every political party there is. Despite all the good things I mentioned about politicians, we need them around; the world would have been chaotic without them. Anyone agrees?


 (Ah! I do sound like a great debater after all, more like a contrarian. Oh! By the way I’m running for office in the South Pole, time to teach Santa and his elf posse how things are run) Ok, Bye!Cool

02:49 PM Dec 21 2011 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

mnal-F     .  You nailed it !!!!!

12:14 PM Dec 21 2011 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

I don´t like and don´t understand much about politics , but one thing is clear to me, candidates while in campaing make a lot of promises, kiss  even more babies   and after been elected  they forget all about  making good  to their promises. Are people so gullible that still believe  in all this babbling of: follow me , I will save you. I don´t want to sound  too pessimistic  and it could be that you friends  have governments with  policies  that  are targeted  to help   people to grow. 

11:52 AM Dec 21 2011 |

cherrybirbie

Austria

Sometimes, people go in dishonest way. For once in a life time for some people perhaps. Money, power, and popularity make people go wild and choose the wrong path. Being dishonest is fine when it only affects on few people; however, when corruption includes the whole country, it could hurt lots of people. It is a big deal when we are talking about politics. For example, in my country, we citizens are depending on some politicians to amend the country, to try to earn us some right and some jobs. All we hope is they do good in some honest way as we are enough of some dishonest shit and crap.




07:21 AM Dec 21 2011 |

CatcheR

CatcheR

Iceland

Frankly speaking, I am not interested in talking about politics, they just talk too much, promises and bla bla, do they walk the walk? NO, yes maybe Julito’s right! good people can be driven into the bad one because there are rats on tie in the hole of politician’s house.

06:14 AM Dec 21 2011 |

kotlesya

kotlesya

Belarus

Usually, the sports and political subjects are favourite for men to discuss ( not for women). All I can say now is my country has the unique politicians and the unique policy within it ;)

04:57 AM Dec 21 2011 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

I believe that  there must be possible   that an honest politician run for the presidency, unfortunately , the  dishonest  politicians outnumber  the good ones.  Bad politicians ,they have so much craving for power , money  and fame  and very little interest  in  the welfare  of  the people  that  have put  their trust  in them. 

11:43 AM Dec 20 2011 |

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