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Pirates

Learn about Verbs with 'ing'

Date: May 25 2012

Themes: News

Grammar: Verbs with "-ing"

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Intro

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used to be all about eye patches, rum, and buried treasure. But modern-day pirates are a lot scarier. They attack shipping boats and sometimes even boats carrying tourists. They demand money in exchange for releasing the ship, its cargo, its crew and its passengers. Often, their hostages end up getting hurt or traumatized. As Jeff and Jason agree, it would be a lot better if pirates would just stick to sword fighting.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jeff

Jason

Jeff: You know what I’ve been seeing in the news for the last couple of years that caught me by surprise, Jason, is stories about pirates.

Jason: I know. I was really disappointed to learn that they don’t wear eye patches, and they don’t say, “Yarrggghh.”

Jeff: They don’t?

Jason: No. They’re Somalians on big boats with machine guns. It’s very different now.

Jeff: That’s still kinda cool in maybe a different way.

Jason: I guess it’s kind of cool in a music video kind of way. But it’s just scarier. It doesn’t seem like they’re interested in sword fighting anyone. They’re just interested in kidnapping people from the beach and then ransoming them.

Jeff: They’re obviously desperate for something. Why are they resorting to those measures, do you think?

Jason: Well, I guess their countries aren’t doing very well, so they just become rogues and take to the seas and steal. Sign of the times in a way, I guess.

Jeff: But also similar to the pirates we think of.

Jason: Yeah? Why did they become pirates? I thought they just liked the outfits.

Jeff: Yeah, and rum. They wanted lots of rum.

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Discussion

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Jeff and Jason have both heard a lot on the news lately about pirates in Somalia. These pirates board shipping boats and hold the boats, cargo and crew for ransom. They’re very different from the pirates in books and movies like Peter Pan and Pirates of the Caribbean. Jason and Jeff say that those pirates were more interested in sword fighting and rum than in taking hostages.

Jeff says that the pirates in Somalia must be desperate, or they wouldn’t do such extreme things. Jason thinks that they probably became pirates because there weren’t many other opportunities for them. Maybe they believed the only way they could get rich was to steal. In a way, that’s the same as the pirates in stories, who were always searching for treasure.

Do you like stories about pirates? Are you surprised that there are pirates in real life?

Comments

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The Last Joke

Yemen

Joy :

Believe it or Not :

I fear nobody but honestly people in Somalia are soooo friendly !

I have sooo many friends from somalia here in Yemen !

We must not judge people by what we see on TV !!

PEACE FOR SOMALIA !!!!!

Joy900

Japan

Baset : sorry , I have one more Q !

Do you think people in Somalia are pirates ???

The Last Joke

Yemen

Joy :

when i was soo young !

always i wanted to explore the world but found it difficult

i read this one : TreasurTreasure Island

i found myself living the life of a pirate aboard their ship !!

Joy900

Japan

Baset : soooo great ! Do you like stories about pirates ?

The Last Joke

Yemen

Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea , it can include acts committed on land , in the air… Piracy is the name of a specific crime under interational law !!!

When talking about a pirates,

1- you must keep in mind their life style. A pirate led a rough life out on the high seas. Their teeth were not pearl-white, in fact, the teeth that they still had were probably a nasty yellowish color, and I’m sure a few were black. They didn’t have the chance to brush their teeth like we do today. Due to a shortage of fruits while aboard, , which caused rotten teeth and gums, not to mention the loss of teeth.

2-Pirates were known for stealing and plundering, so the clothes that they wore didn’t always fit. Their clothes became torn due to the rough work that had to be done on a ship. They couldn’t always bathe, their hygiene habits were quite different from ours. When they would dock, and decided to steal from others, they would take household goods, like soap, to keep then going while onboard. Amongst other items stolen were anchors and rope to keep their vessels sea-worthy

pirate’s place in these days:

worldwide losses of many billion per year in

1- the waters between the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, off the Somali coast,

2- and also in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore .