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.
used to be all about eye patches, rum, and buried treasure. But modern-day pirates are a lot scarier. They attack shipping boats and sometimes even boats carrying tourists. They demand money in exchange for releasing the ship, its cargo, its crew and its passengers. Often, their hostages end up getting hurt or traumatized. As Jeff and Jason agree, it would be a lot better if pirates would just stick to sword fighting.
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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Jeff: You know what I’ve been seeing in the news for the last couple of years that caught me by surprise, Jason, is stories about pirates.
Jason: I know. I was really disappointed to learn that they don’t wear eye patches, and they don’t say, “Yarrggghh.”
Jeff: They don’t?
Jason: No. They’re Somalians on big boats with machine guns. It’s very different now.
Jeff: That’s still kinda cool in maybe a different way.
Jason: I guess it’s kind of cool in a music video kind of way. But it’s just scarier. It doesn’t seem like they’re interested in sword fighting anyone. They’re just interested in kidnapping people from the beach and then ransoming them.
Jeff: They’re obviously desperate for something. Why are they resorting to those measures, do you think?
Jason: Well, I guess their countries aren’t doing very well, so they just become rogues and take to the seas and steal. Sign of the times in a way, I guess.
Jeff: But also similar to the pirates we think of.
Jason: Yeah? Why did they become pirates? I thought they just liked the outfits.
Jeff: Yeah, and rum. They wanted lots of rum.
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Discussion
Jeff and Jason have both heard a lot on the news lately about pirates in Somalia. These pirates board shipping boats and hold the boats, cargo and crew for ransom. They’re very different from the pirates in books and movies like Peter Pan and Pirates of the Caribbean. Jason and Jeff say that those pirates were more interested in sword fighting and rum than in taking hostages.
Jeff says that the pirates in Somalia must be desperate, or they wouldn’t do such extreme things. Jason thinks that they probably became pirates because there weren’t many other opportunities for them. Maybe they believed the only way they could get rich was to steal. In a way, that’s the same as the pirates in stories, who were always searching for treasure.
Do you like stories about pirates? Are you surprised that there are pirates in real life?
Comments
Egypt |
China |
Indonesia |
United States |
Antarctica |
Antarctica |
India |
Peru |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Iceland |
South Korea |
Saudi Arabia |
Indonesia |
United States |
China |
United Kingdom |
Jordan |
Argentina |
Palestinian Territory, Occupied |