Civic Duty

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

• ludicrous
• W
• big picture
• registered

• open elections
• take for granted
• shortsighted
• civic duty

• felony
• measly

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Does your country hold open elections? Voting is something a lot of Americans take for granted. It’s hard to see how one vote can affect an election. But it’s easy to forget that if everyone were so shortsighted, there wouldn’t be elections at all.

Watch Beren come up with all kinds of excuses for not voting in the upcoming election as Marni tries to convince her to do the right thing.

3. Watch - Watch the video without reading the dialog.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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

Marni

Beren

Marni:  So, you getting ready? Excited about Tuesday?

Beren:  What’s Tuesday?

Marni:  November fourth. The day America votes. Voting day. Election day.

Beren:  Yeah. I’m not gonna vote. I already decided.

Marni:  Why aren’t…What do you mean? Why aren’t you going to vote?

Beren:  Well, first off, I don’t have the time to vote. I have to work that day.

Marni:  Yeah, and it’s…You can get it off. It’s like our civic duty as Americans to vote. So, you can get it off.

Beren:  And it doesn’t matter though.

Marni:  What do you mean?

Beren:  If I could get the time off work, it wouldn’t matter who I vote for.

Marni:  Why do you say that? What do you mean?

Beren:  It’s like one measly vote out of, like, millions.

Marni:  OK.

Beren:  It’s not gonna change anything.

Marni:  That is the most ludicrous argument, because if everyone said that, there would be no vote…I mean, no one would vote. Every vote counts. It’s true. You hear that, right? But it’s very true. Like, every vote…I believe in voting so passionately, because it’s your chance to get your voice heard and put it out there. So, if you don’t vote, you have no right to complain for the next four years, is what I’m gonna say.

Beren:  That’s true. That’s true. I mean, I’m not complaining now. I voted once.

Marni:  When?

Beren:  Like, four years ago.

Marni:  Yeah. And you haven’t been complaining the past four years? Please. I’ve heard you complain plenty.

Beren:  I voted for the President.

Marni:  Right. Did you vote for…

Beren:  Our current President? Yes.

Marni:  You voted for W?

Beren:  I did.

Marni:  And you think he’s doing a good job? Never mind. Anyway…I’m going to encourage you to look carefully at the candidates. Look at the big picture.

Beren:  I’m not sure if I can vote, to be honest with you.

Marni:  You’re registered.

Beren:   I think I might have a felony. I don’t know. I just don’t want to go be surprised by anything. I don’t want to have any knocks on my door. And also, I just don’t really care anymore.

Marni:  So sad. Well, I really encourage you to go out and vote because I really do believe that this is your chance to get your voice heard. I really don’t think you have a felony and I think you would know. You wouldn’t be allowed to register if that was the case.

Beren:  I’ll think about it.

Marni:  I think you should vote. I encourage you to do so.

Grammar Point

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Lesson MP3

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