1 HOUR OF English Reading Understanding Practice

29,696 views ・ 2023-07-28

JForrest English


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:00
Welcome to this one hour English lesson.
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Today you're going to learn English with the news.
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We're going to read two different news articles together so you can learn a lot of advanced
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vocabulary, complex grammar and correct pronunciation.
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Let's get started.
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First, I'll read the headline.
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A 12 year old girl from Ottawa is making history as Canada's youngest ever university graduate.
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This is an inspiring story about this young lady.
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Now Ottawa is Canada's capital city, Ottawa and she is the youngest ever university graduate.
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Notice here how they added ever here ever is simply used to emphasize because you could
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get rid of it and say she's making history as Canada's youngest university graduate.
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When you add ever, it really just emphasizes it.
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Youngest ever, university graduate.
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Another example, She was the first woman ever to win a prize again without ever.
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The sentence still makes sense.
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She was the first woman to win a prize, the first woman ever to win a prize.
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So you can add that to emphasize and notice here a 12 year old, 12 year old.
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You may notice that there is no S on year because this is functioning as an adjective
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and adjectives don't have a singular or plural form.
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And that's why if you're stating her age, you need to add the S You would say she is
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12 years old.
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So you absolutely need to add that S on years when you're stating someone's age.
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But here is being used as an adjective to describe what type of girl she is.
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A girl from Ottawa, A 12 year old girl.
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It gives more information to our noun.
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Let's continue.
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And this is the adorable genius 12 year old girl Atheo Grace Patricia Dennis.
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That's her name.
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Atheo Grace Patricia Dennis is not your typical 12 year old again.
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This is an adjective.
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So there is no S She's not your typical 12 year old.
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She's a child prodigy who's about to become the youngest Canadian to ever graduate from
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university.
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Again, you could say to graduate from university, but here ever to emphasize, ever graduate
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from university with a bachelor's degree in Biomedical Science.
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So this is her degree.
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Biomedical Science.
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And notice you have a degree in something Degree in Biomedical Science.
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If you're listing the subject, you might say I have a Bachelor of Arts.
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This is the title of it Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science.
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But they're being more specific.
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They're listing the field here.
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Biomedical Science.
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She doesn't have a Bachelor of Biomedical Science.
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She has a Bachelor of Science.
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But then biomedical science is her field.
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So you can use in when you state more information.
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This is the category science.
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But then this is the specific field within science.
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So in Biomedical science, let's continue.
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She started the program when she was 9 here.
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This is not an adjective.
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She was 9.
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But if you were to write this, you can say she was nine years old because there are two
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correct ways in English to say age.
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You can simply say she was 9.
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This is correct.
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She was nine years old.
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This is correct.
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How about this?
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She was nine years.
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Is this an option?
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What do you think?
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This is not correct.
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So I'm going to put a :( This is not correct because you can't end on years.
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You have to add old if you want to use years.
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Or you can drop both and just end on the number.
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So she was nine years with an S, she was 9 and those are your only two options.
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This is not an option, so I'll put an X beside it as well, so you know this is not an option.
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She started the program when she was nine or nine years old, at a time when most of
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her peers were playing games at recess.
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Let's look at peers.
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This is a noun right now.
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You can see it is in plural form, Peers.
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Her peers are people who are her same age, people who are in the same school as her for
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a typical 9 year old.
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So her peers are not university students because that is not typical, the group of people a
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nine year old would typically interact with.
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So your peers are a group of people who you would typically interact with, either in a
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social context, a family context, or a business context as well.
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You can have one peer and it can be singular, or you can have peers with an *** which represents
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a group.
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As an example, a parent might say are you inviting your peers to your party?
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Maybe it's your birthday party and then a typical 9 year old.
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Her peers would be the other students in her class, or maybe her friends from her dance
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club or from her her soccer club, a group that she belongs to.
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So you can say peers.
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You could also say classmates to your party because in this case a nine year old's classmates
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are her peers.
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It's the group of people she would normally interact with and recess.
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Recess is a break you get in between classes and generally during recess.
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You go outside and your physical.
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You play, you run around and you play.
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It is a kids favorite part of the day is recess.
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So you might have your classes in the morning.
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You have math, science, geography, and then you get a 15 minute recess or a break and
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then you get to go outside and play.
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So for kids in school, they call it recess.
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For adults in the workplace, we generally call it a break, a break.
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We don't use the term recess.
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So this is a break for kids.
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A break for kids in school during the school day, A break for kids in school during the
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school day.
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Favorite part of the day?
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Recess.
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Let's continue.
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Being a preteen in an intensive university program has come with a unique set of challenges.
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OKA Preteen.
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Do you know who they're describing?
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A preteen?
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Well, they're describing her because she graduated or is going to graduate at 12 years old, a
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teenager, teen.
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Teen is when you become 1313.
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OK, so 13 to 19.
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You're a teenager, teenager because your age ends in teen 13/14/19.
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So preteen is right before you become a teenager.
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So when you're 12, you're a preteen.
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You're almost a teenager.
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So most likely it would be 11 to 12 years old.
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Eleven to 12, you're a preteen.
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And then once you hit 13, you're not a preteen, you're a teenager, a teenager.
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So being a preteen, and then in an intensive university program, has come with a unique
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set of challenges.
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Patricia Dennis has dealt with preconceived notions, Preconceived.
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Preconceived means that it was conceived formed too early, too early because there wasn't
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enough thought or knowledge to form your opinion or your idea.
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So the notion here a preconceived notion.
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In this case, this is an expression.
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A preconceived notion and notion represents an idea or an opinion, an idea or opinion
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that was formed too early.
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So you didn't take enough time, you didn't have enough knowledge, you didn't do enough
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research to form that opinion.
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So notion represents idea or opinion.
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So this young lady, this 12 year old, this preteen in university is dealing with a lot
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of people who have preconceived notions.
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So you can imagine if you were 2022 and you were walking down the hallway and you saw
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a 12 year old in a university.
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Most likely you instantly have an opinion about that because you didn't take enough
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time to think about it or really consider it.
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So that might be your preconceived notion and expectations from others about how she
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is going to look, talk and act based on her age.
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Now, this is something that non-native speakers have to deal with a lot, other people having
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preconceived notions about their skills or abilities simply because they might have an
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accent or they might make a grammar mistake, right?
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Let's continue my advice.
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This is coming from Patricia Dennis, the young lady.
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My advice for people who are also young, gifted, smart, talented.
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Don't let other people's expectations bring you down.
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When something brings you down, it's bringing down your emotions.
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So it's taking you from positive emotions to more negative emotions.
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And in this case, the something is other people's expectations.
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So Patricia Dennis is excited to be in school.
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She's happy, so she has positive emotion, but then she has to deal with these expectations
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and preconceived notions from her peers who really aren't her peers because they're 22
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and she's 12, right?
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But they are her peers because they're in the same class, but it's a different situation
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and that is bringing her down.
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So taking her from excited and happy to not as happy.
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So this happens a lot.
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When something brings you down, you might say don't let that grammar mistake bring you
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down.
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So you might be really enthusiastic about studying English, feeling really good about
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your English level, and then you make a grammar mistake and your enthusiasm or your positive
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feelings go down.
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Or you're trying to have a conversation with someone and you're really excited and they
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say, I'm sorry, I can't understand you, and that comment brings you down.
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Or you're watching a movie and you were feeling really happy.
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But then the movie was sad and the movie brought you down.
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So took your emotions from positive to negative.
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That's when something brings you down.
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Let me write that.
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So something brings you down, something brings you down.
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The something takes you from positive to negative.
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And I'll put emotion because this really is about how you feel your emotions.
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All right, let's continue on.
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The highlight of her university career so far was completing a 40 page thesis.
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So here we have again 40 page.
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But this is functioning as an adjective.
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So we don't have an S What if you took this information and you wrote it in a way that
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40 page was not an adjective and it in fact had an S?
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How would you change those?
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Hmm.
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So I might say she completed.
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That's our verb here.
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She completed a thesis that was 40 pages, 40 pages.
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Or simply you could say her thesis was 40 pages.
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Her thesis was 40 pages long, just like you would say my book that you're reading.
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My book is 200 pages long.
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My book is 200 pages long.
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So in this case, this is not an adjective, it's a noun.
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So you add the S, the highlight.
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This is the most memorable, the most important part, the highlight of something.
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So here's a fun for an expression you can complete.
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The highlight of my last vacation was and then you can share the highlight.
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But notice here what do you have was and then.
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This is a verb in ING.
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So you might say was seeing, was meeting, was climbing, maybe you climbed a mountain,
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was eating, was what was taking.
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So notice our verb in ING.
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So this is a fun expression.
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Finish that in the comments below and I can't wait to hear what your highlight was of your
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last vacation.
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And if you haven't been on a vacation in a long time, you can change this to weekend.
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The highlight of my weekend was, so feel free to change that if vacation is not relevant
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to you.
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So highlight most important or most memorable part, I'll write that for you.
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Most important.
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Memorable.
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Important.
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Memorable.
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And remember the structure, the highlight of, and then whatever It is my last vacation.
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Let's continue The highlight of her university career so far was completing a 40 page thesis
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on the relationship between handedness and functional activity in the cerebellum.
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The cerebellum is a part of your brain.
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I'll be honest, I don't know where the cerebellum is.
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It's somewhere.
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If you know where it is, you can share that in the comments.
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Or if you know what the cerebellum does, I'm not exactly sure because I am not a bioscientist
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like this, 12 year old is.
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But that's what she wrote her thesis on.
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Very advanced topic, isn't it?
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The paper concluded that connectivity between the brain and hand is significantly different
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for people who are righthanded versus those who are lefthanded.
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That's very interesting because I am lefthanded.
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You may not have known that about me, but I am lefthanded.
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What about you?
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Are you righthanded or lefthanded?
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Most likely you're righthanded.
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Most people are.
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But where are my fellow lefties out there?
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Share in the comments and notice I am righthanded.
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I am lefthanded.
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I am righthanded.
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So that's what you can say.
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I am righthanded.
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I am lefthanded.
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You can also say I'm a lefty.
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This is the casual way of saying lefthanded.
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I'm a lefty.
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It's a very casual way of saying it's not slang.
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It's just casual.
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I'm a lefty.
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Or I guess you can say I'm a righty.
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I've never said that because I'm not a righty.
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I'm a lefty.
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I'm a righty.
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I'm a lefty.
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What about you?
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Are you a righty or a lefty?
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You can put that in the comments.
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All right, righthanded and left-handed.
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When she's not researching or writing about the brain, Patricia Dennis is a very good
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violinist, her mom said.
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Wow, she's also a violinist.
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That's impressive.
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She also loves playing with her cats and binge watching TV shows.
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Binge binge binge watching, Binge watching.
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When you binge watch, it means you watch many, many, many episodes at one time.
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So you don't just watch one episode.
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You watch 10 episodes or five episodes.
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You binge watch.
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You watch many watch many.
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So do you ever binge watch my lessons instead of just watching one lesson and then you go
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do something else?
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Or do you sit here and watch again and another lesson and a different lesson and another
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lesson?
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Do you binge watch the lessons?
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That would be a compliment.
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If you do so, let me know.
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And she's interested in continuing her research on functional activity in the cerebellum somewhere
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in the brain.
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And notice here to be.
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Interested in this is such a common expression in English, but I still see so many mistakes
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with this from my advanced students.
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They either forget the fact that there is the verb to be with this expression, or they
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put interesting instead of interested, or they forget the preposition in, and if you
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have a verb that follows it, the verb needs to be an ING.
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So let's take a moment to practice this, because it's such a common expression in English to
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be interested in.
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And then you can have a noun or a gerund you might say.
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What's something that you're interested in.
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Share that in the comments.
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I'm interested in finding out where this cerebellum is.
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I'm interested in learning more about the cerebellum.
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I'm going to say that in learning more about the cerebellum to be, this is my verb to be
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interested always with Ed.
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This does not change in and then because I have a verb.
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It's ING now.
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Maybe this was two years ago.
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02 years ago I was interested in learning more about the cerebellum because your verb
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to be is now in the past, but notice nothing else changes.
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So to take some time, share something that you're interested in in the comments below
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because I see so many mistakes with this very common expression, let's continue.
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I'll probably pick it back up when I have my own lab and I can get people to also do
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it with me because I'll be in charge, she said.
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Now when you have quotations, you know it is a person talking and they're reporting
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that person's speech.
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So these are the words of our 12 year old college graduate.
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I'll probably probably means 80% sure, definitely is more 100%.
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I'll absolutely 100% but probably is 80%, maybe is 50%.
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So this is about 80 percent, 80% certain.
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I'll probably pick it back up.
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When you pick it back up, it means you continue, you continue doing something you previously
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did.
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Now, we generally use this for activities, sports, hobbies, and in this case, a research
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interest.
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Because she's talking about her research, I'll pick it back up, which implies she's
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not doing the research right now, but she's going to start doing it again.
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So when you continue doing something you previously did, so you do something, there's a break,
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you don't do it, and then you do it again, that's pick it back up, Okay.
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So let's say, let me write this first.
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Start doing something again that you previously did.
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So let's say you played guitar or soccer, whatever you'd like when you were 16.
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OK, 16 maybe to 18 years old and then 18 to 22, no activities.
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You were focused on your school and you didn't do any activities other than your school.
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But then 22, you graduate, so 23.
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Now you can say I think I'll pick guitar back up again or I think I'll pick soccer back
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up again, back up again.
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So you're just going to continue doing it.
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I'll probably pick it back up when I have my own lab.
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So what about you?
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Is there an activity you did?
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It could be a sports, it could be a hobby, maybe learning a language other than English
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as well.
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And then you did it for a while, you stopped and now is there anything that you're considering
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picking back up, starting to do again?
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Share that in the comments as well.
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I'll probably pick it back up when I have my own lab and I can get people to also do
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it with me because I'll be in charge, she said.
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12 years old and already wanting to be the boss.
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I like that I'll be in charge.
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To be in charge means that you're in control, you're responsible.
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So you could say I'm in charge of this project.
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So you're in control.
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It's your responsibility.
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And sometimes you might call a store because you had a bad experience, a bad customer experience.
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And you say, I want to talk to someone who's in charge, who's in charge here, You want
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to talk to the manager, the person responsible.
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So you might say that who's in charge of this store or this project And then someone might
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say I'm in charge, how can I help you Sir?
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And hopefully there won't be too much of an issue and that's the end of our article.
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Very inspiring to hear about a 12 year old university graduate.
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So now what I'll do is I will go to the top and I'll read the article from start to finish
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and this time you can focus on my pronunciation.
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A 12 year old girl from Ottawa is making history as Canada's youngest ever university graduate.
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Athea Grace Patricia Dennis is not your typical 12 year old.
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She's a child prodigy who's about to become the youngest Canadian to ever graduate from
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university.
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With a bachelor's degree in Biomedical Science.
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She started the program when she was 9, at a time when most of her peers were playing
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games at recess.
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Being a preteen in an intensive university program has come with a unique set of challenges.
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Patricia Dennis has dealt with preconceived notions and expectations from others about
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how she is going to look, talk and act based on her age.
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My advice for people who are also young, gifted, smart, talented, don't let other people's
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expectations bring you down, she said.
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The highlight of her university career so far was completing a 40 page thesis on the
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relationship between handedness and functional activity in the cerebellum.
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The paper concluded that connectivity between the brain and hand is significantly different
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for people who are righthanded versus those who are lefthanded.
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When she's not researching or writing about the brain, Patricia Dennis is a very good
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violinist, her mom said.
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She also loves playing with her cats and binge watching TV shows with her family, and she's
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interested in continuing her research on functional activity in the cerebellum.
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I'll probably pick it back up when I have my own lab and I can get people to also do
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28:29
it with me because I'll be in charge, she said.
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Amazing job with that article.
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Now we're going to move on to the next article.
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Feel free to take a pause, get a cup of tea if you like and let's continue on 1st.
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I'll read the headline.
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Ben Robert Smith.
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How decorated soldiers defamation case has rocked Australia.
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So this man is Ben.
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Robert Smith.
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Notice this.
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His name ends in an S Roberts, but the second part of his last name starts in an S So in
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this case you only pronounce 1 S Robert Smith, Robert Smith.
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If it were just Roberts, you would pronounce the S or just Smith, of course S but together.
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29:21
Robert Smith.
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29:23
Ben Robert Smith.
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This man is Ben Robert Smith.
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Notice these medals on his suit jacket.
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This is what it means by decorated soldier.
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If you say that a soldier is decorated, it means that they have been awarded medals for
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29:44
various reasons.
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So that's what decorated means.
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It's really used in a military context.
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29:53
Now, what is a defamation case?
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We're talking about a legal case.
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Defamation is the action of damaging someone's reputation, and that's done by either writing
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or saying bad things about that person.
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30:11
But the important thing is that those things are not true.
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So apparently the media said bad things about Ben Robert Smith and they ruined his reputation.
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30:26
So he's suing them.
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So someone said bad things about Ben Robert Smith that damaged his reputation, but those
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things are not true, so he is suing them.
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I'm suing you for defamation.
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30:41
So if you said Jennifer is the worst teacher in the entire world and that ruined my reputation,
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30:50
I could sue you for defamation.
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30:52
So don't say that.
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30:54
Hopefully you don't think that.
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30:57
Now how this defamation case has rocked Australia.
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31:03
What does it mean to rock Australia?
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31:07
When something rocks someone or a group such as the population of Australia, it means it
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31:16
shocks them.
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31:17
So this defamation case has shocked Australia.
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31:23
Let's continue on and find out why this case has rocked Australia for months on end.
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31:29
Australia's most decorated living soldier.
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So remember I said decorated represents these medals.
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31:38
So he has the most medals of any living soldier.
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31:43
So he sat stoically in a Sydney courtroom.
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31:48
Let's stop here because there are a few things I want to review.
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31:51
Let's take a look at this for months on end, four months.
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31:55
Now we could just say four months and it would be completely correct.
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31:59
When you add on end, it simply stresses the continuation.
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32:05
So to emphasize or to stress continuation, emphasize continuation.
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32:12
So let's say I've been having issues with my computer.
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32:15
I could say my computer has been freezing for months on end.
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32:22
When I add on end, it just lets you know it didn't just happen once or twice.
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32:27
It's been happening continuously.
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2730
32:30
So you can add that for months, for days, for weeks, for hours, whatever time reference
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32:41
you would like.
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32:42
And notice because we have 4:00 and then our time reference.
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32:46
This is a keyword for the present perfect or the present perfect continuous for months
423
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32:52
on end.
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32:53
Australia's most decorated living soldier sat stoically.
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32:59
This is a great adverb and it means without showing your feelings, especially when something
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33:07
bad happens to you.
427
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2721
33:10
So let's say that someone delivers some terrible news to me and as they delivered the news,
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33:18
I just OK, thank you for sharing.
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5361
33:23
I understand that would be a stoic reaction.
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33:27
I reacted stoically.
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33:29
But if I went, no.
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33:32
Why?
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33:33
Why, why why?
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1220
33:34
And I reacted very emotionally.
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33:36
That's the opposite of stoically.
436
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3719
33:40
So he sat stoically in a Sydney courtroom as dozens of witnesses accused him of war
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8511
33:48
crimes, bullying peers and assaulting his mistress.
438
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5859
33:54
OK, so different people.
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33:58
Dozens of.
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1000
33:59
So of course, one dozen is 12/12.
441
2039080
4300
34:03
I hope you know that one dozen equals 12.
442
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34:10
It's a very common measurement because things like eggs come in a dozen, a dozen eggs, 12
443
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34:17
eggs, a dozen buns, 12 buns.
444
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4119
34:21
So it's a common quantity, a dozen.
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3550
34:25
So this is dozens of so it would be 24 or 36.
446
2065419
8391
34:33
Just more than 12.
447
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34:36
So a lot of people, a lot of people accused him, this decorated soldier, of these terrible
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9130
34:45
things, war crimes, bullying peers and assaulting his mistress.
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34:49
But Ben, Robert Smith was not the one on trial, so he was not officially accused of these
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34:59
crimes.
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1000
35:00
Because remember, in the headline he This man was actually suing someone else for defamation.
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35:11
But instead, now people are accusing him of all of these crimes.
453
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35:17
And that probably explains why this case has rocked Australia.
454
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35:25
Now you can download the lesson PDF that summarizes all the notes from this lesson.
455
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5181
35:30
Just look in the description below or in the comments section for the link to download
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4310
35:34
it.
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1320
35:36
Let's continue.
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1000
35:37
The 44 year old had brought the case, so notice the past perfect.
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35:44
He had brought the case before he was accused of war crimes.
460
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35:51
So remember the past perfect is used for a past action before another past action, past
461
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7859
35:59
action before another past action.
462
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36:04
So I'll write out that full sentence he had.
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6150
36:10
He had brought the case.
464
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36:12
When you bring a case to the criminal justice system, it just means you start or initiate
465
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7550
36:20
a legal process.
466
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36:22
He had brought the case, the defamation case, before he was accused of war crimes.
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9990
36:32
So remember we have the past perfect, past perfect, and then this is the older action
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7470
36:39
and then we have the past simple for the newer action.
469
2199579
4521
36:44
But they are both past actions.
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36:46
The 44 year old had brought the case, suing 3 Australian newspapers over a series of articles
471
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36:55
in 2018 which he says defamed him.
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36:59
So this is the verb form.
473
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37:01
Remember before we had defamation, which is a noun.
474
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3939
37:05
But here to defame someone, that's the verb form.
475
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37:12
So the verb form is to defame someone to defame.
476
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37:18
So the media defamed him.
477
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3211
37:21
You defamed me when you said I was the world's worst teacher.
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4700
37:26
So I'm suing you.
479
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1700
37:27
Don't worry, I won't do that, he argues.
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4280
37:32
They ruined his life by painting him as a callous man.
481
2252010
6880
37:38
So you can paint someone as something.
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5050
37:43
And that's just another way of saying to describe someone as she described me as the world's
483
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37:51
best teacher.
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37:52
Oh, I thank you so much.
485
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2571
37:55
She painted me as the world's best teacher.
486
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4490
37:59
So when you paint someone, as, you don't just say Jennifer's the world's best teacher, you
487
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6131
38:05
usually give examples.
488
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2838
38:08
You tell a story.
489
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2541
38:11
Just like when you paint a picture, you don't just put one BLOB, You put a lot of detail
490
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6959
38:18
on that picture.
491
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1381
38:19
So you provide details, informations, examples, a story to describe someone.
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7470
38:26
So the media painted him as a callous man.
493
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4270
38:31
What is this adjective callous?
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38:34
He's very callous.
495
2314940
2330
38:37
When someone is callous, it means they are unkind, cruel, and they don't have any sympathy
496
2317270
6559
38:43
or feelings for others.
497
2323829
1631
38:45
So it's a negative adjective.
498
2325460
2880
38:48
So let's say I shared some very bad news with you.
499
2328340
3220
38:51
I told you that a family member died and you said, let's get some pizza, I might say.
500
2331560
8370
38:59
Well, that was very callous.
501
2339930
2090
39:02
That was very unkind.
502
2342020
1900
39:03
You didn't even offer any sympathy to this.
503
2343920
3199
39:07
You just wanted pizza.
504
2347119
2571
39:09
So that was very callous.
505
2349690
2270
39:11
He's so callous.
506
2351960
2909
39:14
So the media painted him as a callous man who had broken the moral and legal rules of
507
2354869
7901
39:22
war.
508
2362770
1400
39:24
Notice our past Perfect again, a past action before another past action.
509
2364170
8649
39:32
So maybe this is the older past action.
510
2372819
3641
39:36
So the newer past action could have been.
511
2376460
3200
39:39
He had broken the legal rules of war before he met Queen Elizabeth, because up here they
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10430
39:50
have him with Queen Elizabeth.
513
2390090
2600
39:52
So this is a past action.
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1480
39:54
It's already in the past, but we're talking about a past action before this, this past
515
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6990
40:01
action.
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40:02
So he had.
517
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1000
40:03
I'll write that again for you so you can practice.
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3320
40:07
He had broken the moral rules of war before he met Queen Elizabeth.
519
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10390
40:17
So remember this is the older action and this is the newer action, but they are both past.
520
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7900
40:25
Actions.
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1810
40:27
Disgracing his country in the process.
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40:30
Let's take a look at disgrace.
523
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40:33
This is a verb, and this is when you make people stop respecting you or your family
524
2433290
9940
40:43
team, your company, by doing something very bad or wrong.
525
2443230
8450
40:51
So remember, before this case he was a beloved decorated soldier in Australia.
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41:00
But then it came to light that he had done all these terrible things, so now he has embarrassed
527
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41:08
his country.
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1000
41:09
He's disgraced his country, disgracing his country in the process.
529
2469839
6171
41:16
Before we move on, I just want to see if you're enjoying this lesson and if you enjoy learning
530
2476010
4890
41:20
advanced vocabulary and grammar in this very natural way.
531
2480900
4120
41:25
If you do, then I want to tell you about the Finally Fluent Academy.
532
2485020
3960
41:28
This is my premium training program where we study native English speakers in the real
533
2488980
5910
41:34
world, TV, movies, YouTube and the news so you can improve your listening skills.
534
2494890
5530
41:40
Add advanced vocabulary, advanced grammar, correct pronunciation to your speech to help
535
2500420
5380
41:45
you become fluent in only 90 days and you'll have me as your personal coach so you can
536
2505800
5309
41:51
look in the description below for information on how to join.
537
2511109
4321
41:55
Now let's continue.
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41:58
But the media outlets say they reported the truth and have set out to prove it.
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Let's take a look at this.
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To set out to do something, in this case to prove it.
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What's the int?
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Remember that It is that this decorated soldier did commit all these things that they said.
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42:24
So there is no defamation because it's true.
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42:28
That's what they want to set out to prove.
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42:32
And this simply means that they're going to start trying to do that specific thing.
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42:38
So in this case, they're going to start trying to prove that he committed those crimes.
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42:44
So you might say I've set out, I've set out to improve my English speaking skills.
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42:56
Does this describe you?
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42:58
Are you going to start trying to improve your English speaking skills?
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43:02
If this describes you, put it in the comments.
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43:04
I've set out to improve my English speaking skills and notice to set out.
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43:10
This is in the present perfect.
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43:13
Let's continue on.
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43:14
It is the first time in history any court has been tasked with assessing allegations
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43:22
of war crimes by Australian forces.
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43:27
An allegation is a claim that someone has done something wrong without evidence, OK,
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43:38
without evidence.
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43:39
So at this point is just a claim.
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43:41
A claim that someone has done something wrong.
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Like the war hero, the soldier who committed war crimes, but at this point is just an allegation
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43:56
without without evidence or proof.
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So the media wants to explain that there is evidence, there is proof.
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44:08
So it's not in fact an allegation, it's the truth.
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44:12
So again, it's not defamation.
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44:15
And notice this sentence structure.
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To be tasked with something and then not something is either a noun or a verb in ING.
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44:26
So let me give you an example.
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44:29
I've been tasked with helping my students improve their speaking skills.
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So of course a task is something that you need to do, but if I've been tasked with it,
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44:47
it sounds like someone else is giving me the task.
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3560
44:51
So maybe it's just my students who constantly say Jennifer, can you help me improve my speaking
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6590
44:57
spill skills so I can say I've been tasked with and then notice the verb with ING let's
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45:06
continue lasting 110 days and costing up to an estimated 25 million Australian dollars.
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9940
45:16
Now in this context, the A Strat stands for Australian simply because this article is
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45:22
for a worldwide audience and when you see the dollar sign you assume it's American dollars,
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7149
45:29
so they put the aid to represent Australian dollars.
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3331
45:33
Of course, if this is a newspaper in Australia, they wouldn't put that because for them that
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45:40
is the currency.
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45:42
This is just for an international audience, so we understand its Australian dollars.
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45:46
The trial has heard extraordinary and at times bizarre evidence about every facet of Mr.
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8009
45:54
Robert Smith's life.
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2531
45:57
Bizarre is an adjective that means very strange and unusual.
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46:02
So at times strange and unusual evidence.
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4000
46:06
Now I'm curious, what is this bizarre evidence?
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5949
46:12
You could use this because it's an adjective.
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2411
46:15
You could say her behavior was very bizarre.
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6099
46:21
It was very strange and unusual.
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3781
46:24
Bizarre.
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1000
46:25
Her behavior was very bizarre.
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2785890
2560
46:28
Or the movie was very bizarre.
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2690
46:31
You could use that as well.
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2459
46:33
The movie was very bizarre.
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2501
46:36
It was strange.
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1249
46:37
It was unusual.
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1480
46:38
It was bizarre.
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2540
46:41
Every facet of facet is a way to say every part of every element of every piece of.
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11701
46:53
I'll write that out for you.
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1270
46:54
So every part, element, aspect, piece, these are all synonyms that you can use.
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10269
47:04
Piece of.
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1781
47:06
So of course he has different parts of his life.
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3510
47:09
He has his his family life, his friends, his hobbies, his sports, his work, his community.
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2829900
8900
47:18
Those are the facets of his life, the aspects, the pieces of his life.
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7539
47:26
So this evidence is about every facet of so not just his work or his family, also how
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8191
47:34
he acts in the community or the hobbies he enjoys every facet of his life.
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8030
47:42
It sparked a media frenzy.
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2540
47:45
So this verb to spark it simply means that it created.
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5460
47:50
The media frenzy was created because of this trial, so it created.
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8519
47:59
So the frenzy wouldn't have existed without this.
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4311
48:03
It created created.
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2709
48:06
Now what is frenzy?
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4010
48:10
Frenzy simply means uncontrolled or really excited.
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2890109
5101
48:15
Uncontrolled, excited.
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2895210
3190
48:18
So if you say there was a media frenzy when Brad Pitt arrived, so Brad Pitt arrived, and
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6540
48:24
there are tons and tons of different people taking pictures, asking questions.
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6860
48:31
Nobody is controlled.
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2030
48:33
Nobody is respecting Brad Pitt's personal space.
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3210
48:37
Oh, Brad Pitt, Brad Pitt.
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1880
48:38
They're putting a microphone, a camera in his face, and everyone is very excited.
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4640
48:43
That would be a frenzy, captured national attention and has made Mr.
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6560
48:50
Robert Smith the public face of accusations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan after
621
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8719
48:58
sifting through.
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2041
49:00
When you sift through something, it means you go through something or review something
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7750
49:08
in a lot of detail.
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2800
49:11
So if I have all these different pages in a notebook and I read each and every page
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6270
49:17
very, very carefully, I sifted through the notebook.
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6720
49:24
So let me write that for you.
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2340
49:26
So to review information very carefully, to review information carefully.
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7510
49:34
And you're doing that so you can determine what's useful or what's not useful.
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6349
49:40
After sifting through volumes of evidence this week, a judge is due to hand down a decision.
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7700
49:48
When you hand down a decision is simply means that you make your decision public.
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5760
49:54
But it's used with authorities because the judge, Once the judge decides that is a legally
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8240
50:02
binding decision.
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1451
50:03
Yes, he can appeal the decision, but until he appeals the decision, that decision is
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7079
50:10
legally binding.
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2950
50:13
So if your boss hands down a decision because your boss has authority to make decisions,
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7851
50:21
if you don't like the decision, unfortunately there probably isn't a lot you can do.
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6060
50:27
So we use hand down a decision when it's someone in a position of authority who makes a decision.
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3027710
8619
50:36
So when the judge is due to hand down a decision, so I'll just write that note for you to make
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8611
50:44
a decision.
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1030
50:45
So the judge is due to make a decision, and I'll just know, only used when the decision
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7629
50:53
is made by someone with authority.
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5391
50:58
So when that person shares the decision, that decision is final.
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6000
51:04
But remember, every decision can be appealed or there are official processes that you can
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6589
51:11
follow.
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1000
51:12
If you don't agree with a decision, even if it is made by someone with authority, even
646
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6351
51:18
if that decision is handed down, the judge is due to hand down a decision in the historic
647
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8230
51:27
case.
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51:28
So soon we will find out.
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2790
51:30
This week we will find out what that decision is.
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51:34
Now that's the end of the story.
651
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3159
51:37
So what I'll do now is I'll go to the top and I'll read the article from start to finish.
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4010
51:41
And this time you can focus on my pronunciation.
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51:44
Ben.
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1090
51:45
Robert Smith How decorated soldiers defamation case has rocked Australia For months on end
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9160
51:54
Australia's most decorated living soldiers sat stoically in a Sydney courtroom as dozens
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6780
52:01
of witnesses accused him of war crimes, bullying peers and assaulting his mistress.
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7389
52:09
But Ben Robert Smith was not the one on trial.
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4260
52:13
The 44 year old had brought the case, suing 3 Australian newspapers over a series of articles
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7541
52:20
in 2018 which he says defamed him.
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4110
52:25
He argues they ruined his life by painting him as a callous man who had broken the moral
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6859
52:31
and legal rules of war, disgracing his country in the process.
662
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5631
52:37
But the media outlets say they reported the truth and have set out to prove it.
663
3157490
5930
52:43
It is the first time in history any court has been tasked with assessing allegations
664
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5730
52:49
of war crimes by Australian forces.
665
3169150
3969
52:53
Lasting 110 days and costing up to an estimated 25 million Australian dollars, the trial has
666
3173119
8521
53:01
heard extraordinary and at times bizarre evidence about every facet of Mr.
667
3181640
6250
53:07
Robert Smith's life.
668
3187890
2150
53:10
It sparked a media frenzy, captured national attention and has made Mr.
669
3190040
5579
53:15
Robert Smith the public face of accusations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan.
670
3195619
6721
53:22
After sifting through volumes of evidence this week, a judge is due to hand down a decision
671
3202340
6400
53:28
in the historic case.
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3208740
1940
53:30
Amazing job with this lesson if you're up for it, I have another lesson right here that
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7340
53:38
I know you're going to love.
674
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2039
53:40
And make sure you get your free speaking guide where I share 6 tips on how to speak English
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4581
53:44
fluently and confidently.
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2010
53:46
You can get it from my website right here.
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2640
53:49
And when you're ready, get started with your next lesson.
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2979
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

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