English, baby!

A Civil Action

Date: Mar 16 2000

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.

Plot: Many children in a small town in the Northeast mysteriously die from leukemia. The families think poisons in the water are to blame. They find Jan Schlichtmann (John Travolta) and he agrees to be their lawyer in a lawsuit against the companies that may have let poisons leak into the ground, then into the water.
Clip: In this scene, Jan (John Travolta) is talking to his partner, Kevin. They have just lost the case, and Jan is still thinking about it. Kevin tells him that he doesn’t want to work with him anymore.

Dialog

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

Kevin

Jan

Kevin: Listen, the minute you put money on the table, things get ugly. It happens every time. Forget about it. *

Jan: She’s right.

Kevin: She’s not right. It’s cold, wet, we’re standing in a swamp. I want to go home.

Jan: Somewhere out here somebody had to have seen what happened. You can’t do what Riley did without somebody seeing it.

Kevin: You’re talking about the case – the case is over. (he pauses and looks up at the other partners waiting by the car) Jan…

Jan: Yeah, I know. They’ve had it (his other partners). They want out, right? It’s time they went their separate way. And you know what I think of that? Fine. Let ‘em. I can imagine worse things.

Kevin: Like what?

Jan: So what if we have to start over? We did it once, we can do it again. Two of us. (Kevin looks away) Oh, I see. When you say it’s over, you mean it’s over. It’s time for me to go my separate way.

Kevin: You always went your separate way, Jan. (Kevin walks away, leaving Jan by the river, alone)*

Lesson MP3

Go Super to download full lesson MP3

Go Super to Ask Ebaby! teachers your questions!

The iTEP^® test

Sponsored by

Schedule an iTEP^® test and take the official English Practice Test.
Take Now >

Discussion

This is a powerful scene in the movie. The firm that Jan and Kevin run has been through a very hard time recently. They came to a settlement on the case, but to Jan, it wasn’t enough. This scene shows all Jan’s partners leaving him. I have to say that I really enjoyed this movie. Sometimes I don’t like movies about courts and law, but this one had so many good actors in it, it made the story real. I do have to admit that the book is better, but that’s always true, right? I recommend you see this movie when it comes out near you. ‘Til next time…—Doc