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T.I.

Date: Apr 20 2009

Themes: Music, News

Grammar: Simple Present Tense

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Intro

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

It’s one thing to write songs about being in prison. Plenty of rappers do that. But only a lucky few actually get to experience the real thing. Now T.I. is one of them. He was recently sentenced to one year in prison for owning illegal weapons.

Now T.I. is using his last few weeks of freedom to help some troubled teeangers turn their lives around with a new reality show called T.I.’s Road to Redemption. But can T.I. turn his own life around before it’s too late? Find out what Marni and Ella think.

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.

Ella

Marni

Ella: Marni, I’m so sad! T.I.’s going to jail.

Marni: Oh, yeah. For a weapons purchasing?

Ella: Yeah, he was trying to buy automatic weapons . You know, it’s a rapper thing to do!

Marni: Yeah, I mean isn’t that like the standard issue? You’re a rapper, you need to buy automatic weapons.

Ella: Yeah, but he’s gonna be there for I think less than a year, so he’ll be out, but…MTV’s been doing this big follow-up. It’s called T.I.’s Road to Redemption, this TV show.

Marni: Yeah, he’s helping at-risk youth.

Ella: Yeah, each show is a little…different kid who’s kind of living in the streets, in the hood, and he’s trying to show them the better life, you know, and then the worse life. He takes one kid to the mortuary and shows him a gangbanger that got beat up and killed, just to show them this is what could happen. But then he rewards them, like takes them to an awards show in one and helps pay for school in another.

Marni: He’s doing some good then with his…

Ella: Yeah, he’s doing lots of good.

Marni: Well I think it’s interesting. He’ll pay his dues to society and then…I’m glad that he’s already sort of on the road to redemption.

Ella: Can’t wait for him to come back to the rap scene.

Marni: Yeah. He will be missed.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Ella is sad because T.I. is going to jail for possessing illegal weapons. Lots of rappers talk about owning weapons, so it’s a little surprising to hear about one actually getting arrested for it. Many people see guns, violence, and jail as part of the rapper image.

Now T.I. has a TV show in which he tries to help at-risk kids by showing them what might happen to them if they don’t behave better. He also shows them how good their lives could be if they become better citizens. Ella believes that T.I. is on the road to redemption himself.

Do you believe that T.I. will keep getting in trouble with the law? Is it really possible for people to turn their lives around?