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2012

2012

Date: Dec 16 2009

Themes: Pop Culture, Time

Grammar: Verbs with "-ing"

Intro

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Nothing says the holidays like a good old fashioned disaster movie. With Christmas coming up, you may be wondering what a fun movie would be to see with your family. Well, how about one that features the entire state of California falling into the ocean? If that sounds like a good time to you, then you might want to check out 2012.

The film 2012 is inspired by the “2012 phenomenon,” or the idea that a series of apocalyptic events, from mega-earthquakes to super-tsunamis, will take place on December 21, 2012. The special effects in the movie are sure to be impressive, but will this latest film about the end of the world be more than just eye candy? Find out what Marni and Beren think.

Dialog

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

Beren

Beren

Marni

Marni

Beren:  Three years from now it’ll be 2012.

Marni:  Ah, are you referring to the Mayan myth that the world might potentially end in 2012?

Beren:  Yes, the doomsday myth that…I’ve heard different things about 2012, like the aliens will come back and harvest us or spaceships will come out of the pyramids…

Marni:  Well there’s a new movie out called 2012, and it’s loosely based on the idea that the world is gonna end in 2012. What it is is that the Mayan calendar is actually ending in 2012. It’s like a little over a 5,000 year old calendar that’s ending. And so people have interpreted that to mean the end of the world, like you said, aliens are gonna come, floods…

Beren:  There’s all these different conspiracy theories.

Marni:  Exactly. And the film certainly is basically just a big disaster movie, and it’s of course, like all good disaster movies, it’s told through the eyes of a family, a family that’s struggling to get together and reconnect and survive against all the odds.

Beren:  I just don’t understand how they could make a movie out of that.

Marni:  It’s pretty…I mean, it’s definitely an eye candy movie.

Beren:  It’s a spectacle.

Marni:  You go in and you know you’re gonna see lots of explosions. The entire West Coast is wiped out and yet your cell phone is still working.

Beren:  It’s Hollywood.

 

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Discussion

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There are different myths associated with the year 2012. Some people think aliens will land on earth. Others believe that there will be major natural disasters. This is the year when the Mayan calendar, a 5,000-year-old calendar, will end. Some people think aliens will land on earth in 2012.

The new movie 2012 is based on these theories. Marni likes disaster movies, so she recently saw 2012. She says it was a big spectacle. There were a lot of amazing special effects, but the movie wasn’t very believable. As Beren says, Hollywood isn’t really known for making realistic movies.

Do you think anything unusual will happen on December 21, 2012?

 

Comments

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ciccleo

ciccleo

Brazil

I think a lot of things unusual are happen nowadays!

04:52 PM May 22 2010 |

Iniakee

South Korea

uh..

08:28 AM Mar 25 2010 |

jayyy

jayyy

India

I don't think so.

05:56 AM Jan 06 2010 |

jayyy

jayyy

India

Amazing!

 

04:32 AM Jan 02 2010 |

Marcelolic

Marcelolic

Brazil

I saw this movie,it is amazing! I love the special effects these disaster movies…

Humm I don't know if it will happen something in that date,by the way if people of worldwide don't do something to contain the overheating of the earth,we'll are in trouble!

10:43 AM Dec 28 2009 |

cristianino

Costa Rica

sound interesting to watch this movie but nobody really knows what is gonna happen in the future. Maybe they misunderstood something but anyway it is just a movie. all about myth in this case 2012 is just eye candy.

09:48 PM Dec 22 2009 |

kukuka

kukuka

Ukraine

I maintain a healthy scepticism about all kinds of conspiracy theories. Fictional things like the humanity getting wiped out and Doomsday and other apocalyptic myths seem unreal to me, to put it mildly. Still I do like watching disaster movies. It's usually a great spectacle, a real eye candy, partly due to big budgets which are a common case referring to disaster movies.The story of the movie is usually told through the eyes of one of its characters, who always conquers evil against all the odds.

11:33 AM Dec 22 2009 |

mac.ma

mac.ma

China

Cherish every day.Maybe it could happend in a far future!

06:30 AM Dec 22 2009 |

mionfabian

mionfabian

Brazil

I agree with Cutebaby1 … :)  

09:01 PM Dec 21 2009 |

mahalo39

mahalo39

Japan

I saw the movie and I believe something will have in the near future. The world is gradually coming to an end but I don't think it will come in 2012. If every single person don't take any actions to stop global warming, the end might come soon….  

10:15 AM Dec 20 2009 |

1 person likes this

Santi977

Santi977

Ecuador

Amazing, movie really interesting…

but maybe it could happend in a far future

06:04 AM Dec 20 2009 |

csh1215

csh1215

South Korea

Now, I saw this movie. The produced time is about 2 and half hours.

During this time, I extremely tensioned and worried.

Someday, I might be reached at the movie story. 

I have to love my family and earth in my life. 

05:46 PM Dec 19 2009 |

cutebaby1

cutebaby1

Russian Federation

I think it's just another fairy tale. Everything will be OK and humanity is going to live long. It's just like wnen people were concerned about new millenium. But nothing terrible happened!!!!

11:59 AM Dec 19 2009 |

zheyeshiyiqie

Hong Kong

so easy

 

11:54 AM Dec 19 2009 |

shadowchun

shadowchun

Taiwan

2012 is an awesome film. but i just cant believe what it says i meant the end of the world .

i think human history would still hv a long way to go .

06:12 AM Dec 19 2009 |

vivivi^^

vivivi^^

China

who knows?anything can happen…

03:10 AM Dec 19 2009 |

Alan73

Alan73

France

Hi,

We allready have had the end of the worl programmed by Nostradamus, now we have the end of the  world programmed fot the marketing of an american movie, more seriously the NASA says that we have on chance out of 60000 to receve an asteroid in 2036.

Anyway I will have a nice party in 2012! LOL

08:46 PM Dec 18 2009 |

Fallenblossoms

Saudi Arabia

as zoom in side" 

We have signs about the end of the world and some of them really happened And in the "holy Quran" it's been written about all the events that are going to happen like "Armageddon" but the names are different,and the date of the end of the world is unknown so who knows,all what we know as Muslims is "it's soon 

 so As Muslims or Christian or Jewish or buddies or what religion you believe in let's work hard To achieve our goals and make our dreams come true,,, 

  

05:45 PM Dec 18 2009 |

bjkali

bjkali

Turkey

this film seems to modern nuh's sheap

01:01 PM Dec 18 2009 |

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