A Christmas Carol

Intro

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

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• back in the day
• incarnation
• done with
• CG

• second chance
• change one's ways
• catchphrase
• adaptation

• off-putting
• timeless

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

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Based on the novel by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol is a story of second chances. Ebenezer Scrooge is a mean old man who doesn’t care at all about his fellow human beings, until three ghosts whose names sound a bit like verb tenses (the Ghost of Christmas Present, the Ghost of Christmas Past, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) visit him one Christmas Eve and convince him to change his ways.

Several different movie versions of this story have already been made. A Christmas Carol is so much a part of the culture that the main character’s name, “scrooge,” is now used as a noun, meaning a miserly, mean-spirited person. His catchphrase from the novel, “Bah humbug,” is sometimes used to express a negative attitude toward Christmas.

Now yet another adaptation of the old Dickens tale has been made, this one a 3D animated movie with Jim Carrey playing multiple roles. Find out if Mason and Ella will be getting into the holiday spirit with A Christmas Carol this year.

Dialog

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

Mason

Ella

Mason:  There are certain timeless classics that always come about every season, right?

Ella:  Yes.

Mason:  Like The Christmas Carol, that was originally a Dickens thing, wasn’t it?

Ella:  Yeah, from back in the day.

Mason:  And then it’s funny how it’s just kind of had so many different incarnations over the years. It’s one of those.

Ella:  I feel like that’s enough. We get the story. You know?

Mason:  Yeah, you’re done with it?

Ella:  I really like the Muppets version. I just don’t want to see anything else. I was satisfied with that. I mean, we get the story. It’s Scrooge, a mean person, he learns his lesson, the three ghosts, you know…

Mason:  I don’t know, I think my favorite is the Disney one with Mickey Mouse. Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

Ella:  I don’t remember that one.

Mason:  And then the wacky take with Bill Murray, Scrooged, which was that kind of late 80s I think interpretation. That one was great.

Ella:  What do you think about the CG new one coming out with Jim Carrey? I don’t know how I feel about that. I’m just…I’m done with CG.

Mason:  I’m not done with CG but…yeah, the technology is a little off-putting to me. I think it’s a cool idea to have basically one actor do all the different parts. There’s a neat thought there. But ultimately…

Ella:  So do you think you’ll be seeing it?

Mason:  Probably not.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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