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.
The bruised face, swollen lip, cuts, fractures and tears. What makes a woman stay with an abusive man?
Recently, former Baywatch star David Hasselhoff was charged with domestic abuse. His ex-wife claims that Hasselhoff slapped her around during their sixteen year marriage.
Listen to Taylor and Dave talk about abusive relationships.
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.
Dave: I just read that, in the U.S., every nine seconds a woman is battered.
Taylor: That’s kind of frightening.
Dave: David Hasselhoff was just charged by his ex-wife with spousal abuse. They’ve been married for sixteen years and she’s saying now that he got really violent sometimes.
Taylor: Yeah, David Hasselhoff has been in the public eye for a long time as a singer, as an actor, and for this to happen to him is some serious stuff. Unfortunately, it probably won’t affect his career in anyway.
Dave: Well, and, you know, if they’ve been married for sixteen years, you wonder what compels a woman to stay in an abusive relationship for that long?
Taylor: I can’t even imagine. But, you know, look at James Brown. Do you know anyone who has anything bad to say about him except for his many battered ex-wives? I don’t mean to belittle battered women, but it’s a shame that in this culture it’s something that happens a lot and most people are just going to look the other way.
Dave: And that is unfortunate. I guess the most famous case was O.J. Simpson. He was charged with beating and murdering his ex-wife, right?
Taylor: Yeah.
Dave: There’s a web site that keeps a list of celebrities and sports stars who abuse their spouses or girlfriends. It’s surprising, some of the names on there: Charlie Sheen, Christian Slater, and, of course, Mike Tyson. And, you know, this doesn’t only go on with celebrities.
Taylor: Oh no. But, with celebrities, we’d like to think that they know better. But, really, they’re just human like the rest of us.
Dave: Which doesn’t excuse it.
Taylor: Certainly not.
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Discussion
Along with David Hasselhoff, a bunch of celebrities have been charged with domestic abuse, including Christian Slater, Mike Tyson, Charlie Sheen and, most famously, O.J. Simpson, who in 1994 was charged with beating and murdering his ex-wife.
A woman is battered every nine seconds in the U.S., and nearly 50% of all women murdered in the U.S. are killed by their spouses or loved ones.
For more information, see the following sites:
The Riley Center – Statistics
National Domestic Violence Hotline
Celebrity Abusers
Comments
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