Taking a Knee
Oct 07 2016
Intro
In the past, many people were oppressed in the United States. Throughout US history, many people weresubjected to unfair actions. However, groups beganstanding in solidarity with each other. Many people wanted life to be more equal and fair for everyone. Today, things are better, but people are not always treated equally.
There is still a lot of work to do before all people in the US are truly equal. This is why the Black Lives Mattermovement began. People created a peaceful protestagainst violence toward black people. Recently, someNFL players began to protest by taking a knee, instead of standing, during the national anthem. This peaceful action is their way of saying, “This country does not treat me as equal. Please, change the situation.”
Andy wants to talk about this elephant in the room. Listen as he and Gary share their thoughts in today’s English lesson.
There is still a lot of work to do before all people in the US are truly equal. This is why the Black Lives Mattermovement began. People created a peaceful protestagainst violence toward black people. Recently, someNFL players began to protest by taking a knee, instead of standing, during the national anthem. This peaceful action is their way of saying, “This country does not treat me as equal. Please, change the situation.”
Andy wants to talk about this elephant in the room. Listen as he and Gary share their thoughts in today’s English lesson.
Dialogue
Andy_H: We should talk about the elephant in the room… people taking a knee at football games.
Gary: Yeah. Did you watch any
Gary: Yeah. Did you watch any
Andy_H: We should talk about theelephant in the room… people taking a knee at football games.
Gar
y: Yeah. Did you watch any NFLthis weekend?
Andy_H: I did. And if anybody doesn’t know Colin Kaepernick, who is the starting quarterback for the 49ers… everybody takes the singing of theirnational anthem seriously…
Gary: Very much!
Andy_H: He took a knee, which is something that has drawn a lot of criticism for disrespecting the national anthem. And he is doing it as a protestin collaboration with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Gary: Yeah, he’s standing in solidaritywith people who have been oppressedin our country. And I think what’s really amazing is that it’s actually spread out beyond the NFL. Megan Rapinoe, who plays for the United States Women’s National Team, the soccer team, she also stood up in defense because she, being a gay woman in the United States, has beensubjected to lots of the same things that he has also been experiencing.
Andy_H: This has also spread all over. In high school games, they have been doing this.
Gary: I didn’t know that.
Andy_H: Yes! It’s a growing trend, and frankly, I think it’s something that we all need to look at.
Gary: The symbol for me is… it’s hisright.
Andy_H: It is his right.
Gar
y: Yeah. Did you watch any NFLthis weekend?
Andy_H: I did. And if anybody doesn’t know Colin Kaepernick, who is the starting quarterback for the 49ers… everybody takes the singing of theirnational anthem seriously…
Gary: Very much!
Andy_H: He took a knee, which is something that has drawn a lot of criticism for disrespecting the national anthem. And he is doing it as a protestin collaboration with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Gary: Yeah, he’s standing in solidaritywith people who have been oppressedin our country. And I think what’s really amazing is that it’s actually spread out beyond the NFL. Megan Rapinoe, who plays for the United States Women’s National Team, the soccer team, she also stood up in defense because she, being a gay woman in the United States, has beensubjected to lots of the same things that he has also been experiencing.
Andy_H: This has also spread all over. In high school games, they have been doing this.
Gary: I didn’t know that.
Andy_H: Yes! It’s a growing trend, and frankly, I think it’s something that we all need to look at.
Gary: The symbol for me is… it’s hisright.
Andy_H: It is his right.
Discussion
Andy knows that it is difficult to talk about the need for more equality in the US. However, he thinks it’s important. He and Gary are both NFLfans, and they have been watching many NFL players take a knee during the US national anthem. Although there are different opinions about this, Andy and Gary think it’s a good example of people using their US rightto protest peacefully.
Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback for the 49ers football team, began the protest. He wanted to show his support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Then, Megan Rapinoe, a famous soccer player, continued the protest. Now, many athletes are joining them. Some of these athletes are famous, but others are teenagers who play high-school sports. All of these people want the US to create a more equal society.
What do you have the right to do in your country? Do you think it is important to protest peacefully?
Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback for the 49ers football team, began the protest. He wanted to show his support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Then, Megan Rapinoe, a famous soccer player, continued the protest. Now, many athletes are joining them. Some of these athletes are famous, but others are teenagers who play high-school sports. All of these people want the US to create a more equal society.
What do you have the right to do in your country? Do you think it is important to protest peacefully?
Grammar Point
Verbs with “–ing”
Talking about NFL players taking a knee, Andy says, “Everybody takes thesinging of their national anthem seriously.” He uses a gerund.
You’ve probably seen a lot of verbs with -ing at the end of them, likesleeping, talking, or walking. There are two basic reasons to add -ing to the end of a verb: to form one of theprogressive tenses or to make agerund.
We use the progressive tenses to talk about on-going actions. There are progressive tenses for the past, present, and future. For example, thepresent progressive looks like this: “Iam walking to work right now.” Progressive tenses are formed with be + main verb + -ing, as in, “Joe stopped by while I was watching a movie.”
Verbs ending in -ing can also begerunds, which act like nouns in a sentence. In the sentence, “I do thecleaning, and my wife does thecooking,” both cleaning and cookingare gerunds. Gerunds often follow other verbs, as in, “I can’t stopthinking about you,” or, “I loveskating.”
Andy uses the gerund singing when he says, “the singing of their national anthem.” We know he is using agerund because the direct article the is before the verb with –ing. He could have said his idea differently and used a progressive verb: “People are serious when they are singing their national anthem.”
Which is correct, “Be singing is my favorite hobby,” or, “Singing is my favorite hobby”?
Talking about NFL players taking a knee, Andy says, “Everybody takes thesinging of their national anthem seriously.” He uses a gerund.
You’ve probably seen a lot of verbs with -ing at the end of them, likesleeping, talking, or walking. There are two basic reasons to add -ing to the end of a verb: to form one of theprogressive tenses or to make agerund.
We use the progressive tenses to talk about on-going actions. There are progressive tenses for the past, present, and future. For example, thepresent progressive looks like this: “Iam walking to work right now.” Progressive tenses are formed with be + main verb + -ing, as in, “Joe stopped by while I was watching a movie.”
Verbs ending in -ing can also begerunds, which act like nouns in a sentence. In the sentence, “I do thecleaning, and my wife does thecooking,” both cleaning and cookingare gerunds. Gerunds often follow other verbs, as in, “I can’t stopthinking about you,” or, “I loveskating.”
Andy uses the gerund singing when he says, “the singing of their national anthem.” We know he is using agerund because the direct article the is before the verb with –ing. He could have said his idea differently and used a progressive verb: “People are serious when they are singing their national anthem.”
Which is correct, “Be singing is my favorite hobby,” or, “Singing is my favorite hobby”?
Quiz
No comments:
Post a Comment