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.
“Come one, come all, to the greatest show on earth!” This was the famous call from P.T. Barnum’s circus during the 19th century. Barnum loved showing the world amazing and grotesque discoveries. He had a big circus show, but he also had a huge sideshow business. In his sideshows, he had many exhibits, and the most famous was probably his Fiji Mermaid.
Barnum wanted people to believe that he had a real mermaid. He said that he found her mummified body near the ocean. Many people came to see this amazing creature, who was half-human and half-fish. However, people later learned that Barnum created the Fiji Mermaid. It was, perhaps, his greatest hoax.
Andy tells Marni that he is a truther. Listen to what he thinks about the Fiji Mermaid in today’s English lesson.
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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Andy_H: I was doing a little bit of research, and there’s a couple of societies out there… truthers, as they’re called… and they were discussing the Fiji Mermaid. You know what I’m talking about, right?
Marni: Uhhh… No. What is the Fiji Mermaid?
Andy_H: OK. You know P.T. Barnum…. He had the circus’s world of wonders and all that…
Marni: Like, the circus, like, sideshow kinds of things? Circus freaks… Is that where we’re going?
Andy_H: Yeah, sideshows…
Marni: OK.
Andy_H: And he made a… a taxidermy half-mummified man… or woman… half-fish… the Fiji Mermaid. So, essentially, he took a corpse… like, you know, some thousand-year-old corpse… and sewed it onto the back of a fish… or some other big, you know, water creature. And he started to show it around his exhibits and say that it was real. People actually bought the legend!
Marni: Oh, interesting!
Andy_H: Yeah. And I mean, take a look at this thing. I mean, it’s pretty grotesque.
Marni: Oh! Eww! Yeah! Eww!
Andy_H: Yeah! Mythical creature status.
Marni: Yeah… woo! Yeah… I wouldn’t want to see that in a dark alley.
Andy_H: But the thing is… there are some of us that believe the legend is no hoax.
Marni: Oh!
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Discussion
Andy tells Marni that he was researching the Fiji Mermaid online by talking to truthers. Marni has no idea what he is talking about. Andy explains that the Fiji Mermaid was created by P.T. Barnum. Marni does know who Barnum was. She remembers that he had a sideshow with lots of circus freaks.
Andy explains that the Fiji Mermaid was a famous hoax by Barnum. Basically, Barnum sewed the tail of a mummified fish onto the corpse of a monkey. Then, he showed the dead creature in his exhibits. He told people it was a real discovery, and many people believed him. Andy shows Marni a picture of the Fiji Mermaid, and she agrees that it is very ugly.
Have you seen a Fiji Mermaid before? What is your favorite famous hoax?
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