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.
If you’ve gone to the movies, you’ve probably eaten, smelled, or at least stepped on it. It can be made into a sweetener, used as a biofuel, and ground into meal for cooking. It’s fed to farm animals and eaten by humans the world over. What is it, you ask? Corn, of course!
What’s so great about corn? Also known as maize, corn is eaten as a starch and as a vegetable. It can be made into drinks and soup. It’s been used for art and to decorate homes. It’s probably the most versatile, indispensable grain around.
Find out what Greta and Lily think about corn and how it’s prepared in their homes in this lesson about a tried and true food.
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.
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Greta: So, Lily, yesterday was Memorial Day here in the States, and I went to the first grill-out of the season.
Lily: Oh, great!
Greta: And we had grilled corn-on-the-cob. Have you ever had that where it’s cooked on the grill?
Lily: See, my mom always boils it. She never grills it. But I don’t really like corn.
Greta: How can you not like corn? It’s so versatile! You can roast it, you can grill it, you can boil it, you can cream it…
Lily: Yeah, but it’s also kind of bland. Unless it has a lot of seasoning on it, I don’t really like it. You know?
Greta: I guess I can see where you’re coming from. Although I think that corn-on-the-cob with butter and salt and pepper is one of nature’s most perfect foods. It’s absolutely ideal for your summertime picnic.
Lily: You know what I do like is popcorn. Popcorn is really good. And you can do a lot of fun stuff with it like cover it in chocolate!
Greta: That’s true! Popcorn is delicious.
Grammar Point
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Discussion
Greta’s excited because she attended her first BBQ of the season and ate corn-on-the-cob. She believes that corn-on-the-cob is the best way to eat corn, especially when it’s grilled. In fact, Greta thinks that corn-on-the-cob might be one of “nature’s most perfect foods.”
Lily, on the other hand, isn’t excited about corn in general. Growing up, her mom always boiled it and she thinks it’s pretty plain. Lily prefers popcorn, particularly when it’s covered in chocolate.
Whether you prefer cooked or popped corn, you can’t argue with the fact that it’s a widely used, popular grain. With all of its uses, it’s hard to imagine how we could get by without corn in our lives.
What’s your favorite way to prepare corn? Can you think of another grain that’s used in so many ways? Is it possible that we need corn too much?
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