🇺🇸 Reading Practice (Improve Your FLUENCY in English)

Welcome back to JForrest English.

I'm Jennifer.

And today we're going to read a news article together.

A very hot topic in the news right now so you can improve your reading skills, expand

your vocabulary, and learn advanced grammar concepts.

Let's get started.

Let me read the headline trump classified documents.

Trial date set for August 14th.

First, let's talk about classified.

Classified is an adjective.

It describes the documents.

And in this case, by saying classified, they mean documents that are officially secret.

Officially secret.

You can imagine that certain government documents are not available for you and I, the public,

to see.

They're classified.

They're officially secret.

So a government official might say, sorry, I can't provide that information to you.

It's classified.

So you often see the adjective form as to be plus adjective to be classified.

Sorry, that information is classified.

Trump classified documents trial date set for.

This is a very useful phrasal verb when you are determining a date or time.

The date is set for August 14th.

This means the official scheduled time that everyone agrees to is August 14th.

Very commonly used.

In work context and social context as well, someone might ask, have you set a date for

the conference yet?

Now here, have you set a date for the conference yet?

If everyone you're talking to knows you're talking about the conference and you don't

need to mention it, you can say have you set a date?

Yet, have you set a date yet?

And then you only need to include four if you're referencing the specific event.

Or in this case, notice how the event comes first.

Trial date.

That's the event, the trial, so you might say.

The conference was set for and then you can have a specific time or date.

It might be set for Tuesday, set for July 13th, set for 3:00 o'clock PM.

So you can also use 4 + a specific date or time.

I created a free lesson PDF that summarizes everything that we're reviewing together,

so you can look in the description for the link to download the free lesson PDF.

Let's continue.

A Florida federal judge on Tuesday scheduled the criminal trial of former President Donald

Trump for his alleged illegal retention of classified government documents to begin.

August 14th, so here notice they changed the set for to scheduled for August 14th.

It's the exact same thing.

Now let's take a look at retention.

To understand why Donald Trump is facing these allegations, you need to know retention.

Retention of means that you kept it, you kept.

This information you retained the information, so this comes from the verb to retain, retain.

This may be a verb that you're familiar with because when you learn new vocabulary, you

learn it today, but a lot of students have the problem of not retaining the knowledge.

So they don't keep the knowledge.

They they lose it.

They forget the knowledge.

So you need to learn all of these expressions and then you need to retain the expressions.

So the verb retain is not necessarily a negative thing.

But in this case, Donald Trump retained classified documents.

He kept them when he apparently shouldn't have.

That is the issue at hand.

Now let's take a look at this, His alleged, notice, this pronunciation.

We have a G, so we just want a very soft D sound alleged, alleged, alleged, alleged illegal

retention by using the adjective alleged.

They're letting you know that right now this is not a fact.

So it is not a fact that Donald Trump retained a legal classified documents because they

use this adjective alleged.

So you could say he's an alleged thief.

A thief is someone who steals, steals money, cars, whatever.

He's an alleged thief.

Some people think he's a thief, but it hasn't been officially proven or decided.

Let's continue.

But experts do not expect the trial to begin nearly so early.

Remember that date that the trial is set for is August 14th.

Given the time needed to resolve complicated legal issues, let's stop here.

In this case, given is a replacement for because because of the time needed.

Given the time needed.

So you could say because of because of for example.

We're not going on vacation given the weather, given the weather, because of the weather.

This is the reason why the action is happening.

So in this case, the action is they don't think the trial will begin on August 14th,

which is early.

Because of the time needed to resolve complicated legal issues before a jury could hear testimony

and be presented with evidence, this is a legal term, testimony, and it simply means

spoken or written statements presented as the truth.

And that you present to a judge or jury or some official.

Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was indicted earlier

this month.

Let's take a look at this verb.

Indicted.

This is also a legal term, and this is when you are officially accused of a crime.

Officially accused of a crime.

But remember, you're just being accused at this point.

You are innocent still until the trial takes place and until you are proven guilty.

So you are accused of a crime, but at this point you are not a criminal because the trial

has not taken place.

Important point to keep in mind.

So that is the verb to indict.

Listen to my pronunciation, It's quite different from the spelling, isn't it?

In Dite, Dite, Dite.

In Dite I'll write the phonetic pronunciation as I hear it in Dite.

Indict, Indict.

But in the past, simple, It's indicted, Indicted, indicted, indicted.

Indicted.

So Donald Trump was indicted.

That's the passive form.

Donald Trump was indicted by the courts, By the courts.

So Trump was indicted by the courts.

How would you turn this into an active sentence?

The courts indicted Trump.

Donald Trump.

So active, passive.

So Trump was indicted earlier this month on more than three dozen, three dozen criminal

charges.

How many is 3 dozen?

Do you know?

Well, one dozen is 12.

So 12.

2436 that would be three dozen 36 but remember they said more than so we know he is facing

more than 36 criminal charges.

A charge is basically a statement that says you are accused of doing this, but remember.

He's just accused of it.

Doesn't mean that he did it.

Okay innocent until proven guilty.

Three dozen criminal charges related to his keeping hundreds of classified records.

Remember I said that retain means keep.

So you could put right here related to his retaining hundreds of classified records.

Classified.

We know our records, which is another word for documents that are officially secret.

After he left the White House in January 2021, the 77 year old has pleaded not guilty in

the case.

77 year old.

This is an adjective to describe Trump.

It's his age.

News articles like to include the age of people, so you could say Trump is 77 years old.

What do you know that's different between the sentence that I just wrote?

Trump is 77 years old and the 77 year old.

What do you notice?

Do you notice that here we have a plural on years because there's more than one in this

case?

We don't have a plural because it's being used as an adjective and adjectives do not

take singular or plural forms.

That's why although there's more than one year, there is no S on year.

But if you say his name this way to be X years, if it's more than one, then you need the plural.

Trump is 77 years old.

The 77 year old has pleaded not guilty.

So when you plead in a legal context, you officially state, you officially state I'm

not guilty.

Officially state.

Now remember that language, vocabulary, expressions.

Are used in different ways depending on context.

So in this specific context, a legal context pleaded means that he officially stated he

officially stated.

In another case, you could say my kids pleaded to go to the beach and then that case it would

be please, please please, my kids pleaded to go to the beach.

They're just asking please, please please take us to the beach.

So you understand how it's being used based on the context.

I know that in this case it means officially state because the context is a legal article.

So always think about the context to understand the meaning of a word.

And remember that vocabulary is context specific.

So he pleaded not guilty.

If you enjoy learning English with the news, then I know you'll love being a member in

the finely fluent Academy.

This is my premium training program where we study native English speakers on TV, movies,

YouTube and the news so you can improve your listening skills of fast English and add advanced

vocabulary and grammar to your speech.

And you'll have me as your personal coach, so you can look in the description For more

information on how to become a member.

Let's continue on.

The case against Trump is occurring in the federal Southern District of Florida, which

is known for its socalled rocket docket.

Don't worry, I also have no idea what a rocket docket is.

But thankfully the article explains so.

An article will explain terminology that isn't familiar to the average person.

So for a lawyer in the Southern District of Florida, most likely a rocket docket doesn't

need explanation.

But for the average person reading the article, not a student learning English as a second

language, but me, a native speaker.

They explain terms that aren't familiar to the general public.

So let's find out together what a rocket docket is.

It's a reference to judges scheduling and pushing for trials to start quickly compared

with other federal jurisdictions.

Okay.

So the importance of this is, is that Trump's case is taking place in Florida, in a state

that's known for wanting its cases to happen quickly, happen quickly.

That's the rocket docket.

In complex cases, however, it's common for both prosecutors and defense lawyers to agree

to ask a judge to delay a trial, to give them time to prepare their cases and to sort out

disputes over what evidence can be presented to jurors.

So this paragraph is added to say that although Florida is known to have this rocket docket

where they have cases very quickly, Trump's case is different because it's a complex case.

So it is common to have more time, which is why most likely.

Many people don't think it will actually begin on August 14th, which is the date that it's

set for.

All right, a prosecutor is the lawyer who initiated the the the case, the allegations.

So the prosecutor is the one who said Donald Trump did something wrong.

The defense is the lawyer representing Donald Trump.

So the defense is there to defend Donald Trump, to say no, Donald Trump did nothing wrong.

So the prosecutors are there to say Donald Trump did something wrong.

Here's our evidence, and the defense is there to say he did nothing wrong.

Here's our evidence.

Now to delay is when you have it later than the scheduled date.

So remember that scheduled date was August 14th so if they delay it, it will be August

15th or any time after you might say.

We had to delay our vacation given the weather.

Remember we talked about given.

This is the reason why because of the weather, we had to delay our vacation vacation.

So if your vacation was originally set for August, August 15th.

A delay might be August 30th, September 1st or anytime after August 15th, and to sort

out disputes.

When you sort something out, it means you resolve.

It is another way of saying to resolve to resolve to resolve disputes over what evidence

can be presented to jurors.

A juror is a person on a jury.

A person on a jury is known as a juror.

This might be a difficult pronunciation because of that double R juror juror.

So we just have juror and then ur sound attached to it Juror juror.

So there are actually 2 syllables juror jury is.

Easier I think.

Jury also two sounds, but the second sound is E jury juror.

Practice that if you'd like jury.

So a juror is someone on a jury.

Have you ever been a juror?

I have not been a juror.

That would be a very interesting experience though.

Do you agree?

If you would like to be a juror, put it in the comments, because I think it would be

very interesting to be a juror.

Imagine being a juror on this case.

That would be a story to tell friends for years to come.

Tim Parlatore, a former lawyer for Trump in the case, former means previous, so he's no

longer.

A lawyer for Trump.

It doesn't mean he's no longer a lawyer.

He could still be a lawyer, but he's no longer a lawyer for Trump.

Maybe he's a lawyer for someone else.

Now.

Now.

So former means previous.

Not currently.

Previous, not currently.

My former employer was terrible, which means my previous employer, not my current employer.

So Tim Parlatore, a former lawyer for Trump in the case, told Axios last week, I wouldn't

foresee this thing getting tried within a year.

You try a case, which simply means to to start the actual case.

So day one of.

The case would be when you try the case.

So that's just another way in a legal context, only a legal context of saying to start the

case, this thing is the case, the case.

So that's why I'm saying to start the case, because this thing represents the case.

And foresee is when you see something in advance.

So I could say I foresee this summer being extremely hot, which means I'm making a prediction

for the future.

I foresee this trial being very interesting.

What about you?

Is that something that you foresee you?

Make a prediction based on the information you know.

Now, your prediction could be wrong.

The trial could be boring, but this is you're making a prediction, so you're making a prediction.

Let me write that for you, making a prediction based on what you know.

Now, so if you foresee this trial being very interesting, put that in the comments or whatever

you like.

I foresee this trial what starting on time?

Being delayed, lasting for months.

Put your prediction in the comments.

I think that would be interesting.

And I hope you noticed that if there's a verb, I used the gerund form, the ING form.

In an interview Monday with Fox News, Trump excused his failure to give back government

records.

So here excuse.

This comes from the noun excuse and is when you provide the reason why.

So he excused his failure.

He's saying that I'm providing the reason why I didn't return, so the reason why so

to provide the reason why.

By the reason why his failure to give back government records.

Remember they were classified records, officially secret, that were sought for months by officials.

Sought is the past of the verb to seek.

And I'm sure you know, seek is when you look for something.

So the officials were looking for, they were seeking the records that were sought for months

by officials.

So this is in the passive, the records that were sought by officials, the officials sought

the records for months.

Saying he had to go through boxes containing those documents to remove personal belongings.

So we had the boxes, but he had personal belongings, so we had to remove, take out those personal

belongings from those boxes.

Before I send boxes over, I have to take all of my things out.

So that's the phrasal verb I just used to take out.

So you have.

One thing, a box, a purse, a closet, a cupboard, a desk.

And you take something out, which means to remove.

So take my things out.

So that means to remove, to remove my things, to remove my things.

These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things.

Let's take a look here, interspersed with.

So to be interspersed with.

This is when you have one thing, In this case it's the boxes, and it suggests the boxes

are in many different locations.

But then you have something else, and in this case the something else is all sorts of things,

which means many different things.

If you say all sorts of, that means many.

Different things.

So you have many different things in different locations as well.

So let me give you another example.

Let's say you have a garden, and in this garden you have flowers, and the flowers are in many

different locations, but the flowers are interspersed with bushes.

So you have bushes.

So it suggests that in this one location you have many different flowers and many different

bushes, and they're in the same space.

So you have a flower, a Bush flower, a Bush flower, Bush.

So it's not like the flowers are here and the bushes are here, so they're not separated,

they're mixed in together.

So that would be a good way of thinking about it.

So when something is interspersed with something.

Else, Trump said in that interview.

I was very busy, as you've sort of seen, he said.

So sort of this means as you've kind of sort of it's a modifier to say a small amount.

So you might say I'm sort of tired.

I'm kind of tired.

And in spoken English, you would pronounce these as sorta.

I'm sorta tired, so this means a little tired, not extremely tired, a little tired.

And then this, in spoken English would be kind of I'm kind of tired, I'm sorta tired.

And that's the meaning of that.

It's it's a modifier.

And that is the end of our article.

So now you'll be prepared to follow this case and maybe you'll be a juror on this case.

So now what I'll do is I'll read the article from start to finish and you can follow along

with my pronunciation.

So I'll do that now Trump classified documents.

Trial date set for August 14th.

A Florida federal judge on Tuesday scheduled the criminal trial of former President Donald

Trump for his alleged illegal retention of classified government documents to begin August

14th.

But experts do not expect the trial to begin nearly so early, given the time needed to

resolve complicated legal issues before a jury could hear testimony and be presented

with evidence.

Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was indicted earlier

this month on more than three dozen criminal charges related to his keeping hundreds of

classified records after he left the White House in January 2021.

The 77 year old has pleaded not guilty in the case the case against Trump is occurring.

In the federal Southern District of Florida, which is known for its socalled rocket docket,

a reference to judges scheduling and pushing for trials to start quickly compared with

other federal jurisdictions.

In complex cases, however, it is common for both prosecutors and defense lawyers to agree

to ask a judge to delay a trial to give them time to prepare their cases.

And to sort out disputes over what evidence can be presented to jurors, Tim Parlatore,

a former lawyer for Trump in the case, told Axios last week.

I wouldn't foresee this thing getting tried within a year.

In an interview Monday with Fox News, Trump excused his failure to give back government

records that were sought for months by officials.

Saying he had to go through boxes containing those documents to remove personal belongings.

Before I send boxes over, I have to take all of my things out.

These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things, Trump said in that interview.

I was very busy, as you've sort of seen, he said.

So did you enjoy this lesson?

If you did put yes, yes, yes in the comments.

And I'm also excited to learn if anyone has been on a jury if you've been a juror.

What a weird word in English Juror.

Have you been a juror?

I'm excited to find out.

I don't think I've ever met a juror before, so you could be my first.

And before you go, make sure you get this free speaking guide where I share 6 tips on

how to speak English.

And confidently, you can download it from my website right here.

And why don't you get started with your next lesson right now?