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Stars Behind Bars

Date: Mar 15 2006

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.

They abuse drugs, beat women, drive drunk, and commit lewd acts in public places. Not all of them, of course, but some. And the funny thing is, we love to read about it.

Some of today’s hottest celebrities have spent some time in the can: Johnny Depp, Vince Vaughn, Lindsay Lohan, the list could go on and on.

Listen to Taylor and I talk about stars behind bars.

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.

Taylor

Dave

Taylor: A lot of celebrities have problems with the law and end up getting arrested for either drug possession, carrying a concealed weapon, or whatever. I wonder if there’s really so much pressure about being a celebrity that leads you to do things that can get you arrested, or if everybody does those things and it’s only the celebrities that get arrested for it.

Dave: Right, or just that we all would like to do them, but there’s that privileged factor.

Taylor: Right.

Dave: Vince Vaughn, a year or two ago, was arrested in some, like Virginia or West Virginia, for getting in a bar fight, with Steve Buscemi, and they’re fighting some locals.

Taylor: Steve Buscemi?

Dave: And he was stabbed a number of times.

Taylor: Wow!

Dave: And then, like, Robert Downey Jr. is always being arrested for drug stuff.

Taylor: You know, he’s brilliant. It’s okay with him, you know. It’s not like some random, you know, no-talent hack getting arrested. He’s a skilled, skilled actor.

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Discussion

Of course, celebrities are not the only ones who break the law, though they are the ones we like to read about. Here are some things that some famous folks have been arrested for:

Musician George Michael was recently arrested in London after being found with drugs in his car. He was also arrested in 1998 for lewd behavior in a men’s restroom.

Johnny Depp has been arrested a few times. In 1999 he was arrested for fighting paparazzi outside a London restaurant. A few years earlier, was booked for trashing a New York hotel room.

Heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson began his life of crime and punishment at 12 years old, when he was arrested for stealing a purse. Since then, he has been arrested a bunch of times for rape, assault, and public misbehavior.