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.
You’re standing in the open door of an airplane. The wind is blowing hard and your legs are shaking. The ground looks so far away. Everything is tiny… houses, cars, lakes and rivers. You know it will all be over in minutes, but it seems like so many things could go wrong. Do you jump?
People sometimes feel that unless they want to die with regrets, they need to take risks and try activities that seem dangerous. For example, they might jump from an airplane, swim with sharks, or climb a tall mountain. But you don’t have to leave your comfort zone to be happy with your life. What’s important to one person is not necessarily important to another!
Do Lily and Marni plan to go skydiving? Find out in this English lesson about an extreme sport.
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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Lily: I’m so excited this weekend. Guess what I’m doing.
Marni: I have no idea.
Lily: I’m going skydiving!
Marni: What??
Lily: Yeah, I’m so excited! It’s going to be so awesome.
Marni: Oh my god. Are you just an adrenaline junkie, or what?
Lily: I think it’s time to live a little. I’ve been wanting to skydive since I was really young. I’m at a time in my life where I need to take risks, and go for the thrill, and get outside my comfort zone. You know, that kind of thing.
Marni: I’m all for taking risks, but that just seems very dangerous to me. I mean, you could break your neck!
Lily: I prefer to concentrate on the thrill more than the “falling to my death” part.
Marni: OK, well that’s probably wise. But really? Skydiving? It just seems so dangerous.
Lily: But what’s more dangerous? Possible, actual danger, or the regrets you will face later having not done it?
Marni: I don’t think I will ever regret not jumping out of an airplane. I have things that I want to do in life, but skydiving is just not one of them. But I wish you the best of luck, and I’ll be so curious to hear about it.
Lily: I’ll send you a text on the way down.
Grammar Point
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Discussion
Marni can’t believe it, but it’s true: Lily is going skydiving. She says that she’s wanted to go since she was young, and that she thinks it’s important to live a little. Lily doesn’t want to reach the end of her life with any regrets, so she’s going for it.
Marni has absolutely no interest in going skydiving. It’s just too dangerous. She knows that a person could get really hurt by jumping from an airplane, so it’s not an activity on her “life list.” It’s hard to know if Marni is more nervous for Lily or excited for her.
Have you ever gone skydiving? Do you want to try it? Why or why not?
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