‘A Gun Culture’
READING COMPREHENSION :
Type of document: Author: Date : Title :
an extract/excerpt from an essay / an article / a book
Michael Bellesites
2000
A Gun Culture Culture / Arming America America ; The origins origins of a national national Gun Culture Culture
ick out the follo!ing information information "in#icate line numbers$
Two American news magazines : The two covers represent
T%M&
and
'&()(&&*
a young boy !ith a gun
+,
The names of the two children : An#re! Gol#en Gol#en and The traditional figure associated with Christmas period:
Mitchell -ohnson
)anta Claus / .ather Christmas
+2
The two murderers live in (town, state, country) : Their age at the time of the tragedy:
,,
The number of victims casualties :
chil#ren chil#ren / their teacher kille#
Date of the tragedy (in full) :
and
-onesboro Arkansas ")A$
,1
!
,0 other people !oun#e# /in3ure#
March 2 ,445 " on the t!enty6fourth t!enty6fourth of March March $
+1
Another school school concerned concerned by a bloodbath bloodbath : Town, state :
Columbine 7igh )chool
8ittleton "Colora#o$
Date of the tragedy (in full) :
9n April 20 ,444 ,444 " on the t!entieth t!entieth of April$
+
The annual total of violent crimes in the "#$s:
2 million
The annual total of murders :
2000
The murderers$ favourite weapon (% arm) :
a gun "firearm$
&hat schools use now to fight the problem:
metal #etectors
+:
&here we realize that Americans are crazy about weapons : on &here Americans can practice shooting : The name of a researcher on violence:
T and
in
mo
=a
&hy it$s impossible to now the eact number of weapons in the *+A : *se your notes above to help you answer the uestions'
the ) #oes not >&G%)T&> guns
>&CA ? What happened on March 24, 1998 ? Is this sort of event exceptional in the US? 9n March 2 ,445
two heavily armed children, children, (called )Andrew )Andrew -olden -olden and .itchell .itchell /ohnson, respectively aged 00 and 01
shot 2 children and their their teacher dead dead and in3ured 0# other other people when they opened fire fire at their school in /onesboro, /onesboro, Aransas' *nfortunately *nfortunately this sort of event is uite uite common familiar in the the *+A and and what occurred occurred in /onesboro /onesboro reminds reminds us of other mass shootings of children by children such as the Columbine bloodbath
on April 20 ,444
or more recently the
4ewtown tragedy' The same accidents and violent crimes involving young children and teenagers eep repeating5 7ere are : hea#ings correspon#ing to the : paragraphs? put them back in the or#er of the text
a' causes
b' comparisons ,@&
2@= 1 @C @C
c' uestions @ B
d' the shooting e' unusual front covers
:@ A
All the !or#s linke# linke# to
.rench #ictionary #ictionary
camouflage : a rifle : a pistol:
the shootings:
camouflage
un fusil #e chasse /fusil/carabi /fusil/carabine ne
a shotgun:
illing: %7
murders :
tuant
a illing :
tirer 22 coups #e feu
assassinat / meurtre
crimes
meurtres
the weapon:
tirer sur
they fired twenty6two shots:
#sor#re social/chaos social
violent crimes :
armes mortelles
fusil #e chasse
they shot at:
guerres ci
social chaos :
un pistolet
deadly weapons:
civil wars:
fusilla#es
larme #u crime
firearms: armes D feu accidents and suicides: a illing simulator:
they wounded: ils ont bless oca ocabu bula lary ry from from the the tex textt ?
.in# .in# eEui eEui
acci#ents et suici#es
un simulateur pour tuer
"from line , to line ,,$
it represented %
it feature#
"from line 2 to line 1$
before page 0 %
co
surprisingly %
astoun#ingly
a young child %
to##ler
stage, point %
le
holding % a little %
plunged in %
clutching
illings %
slightly
described %
statistically %
pose
lethal, causing death %
mur#ers
it too place, it happened %
chronicle#
to sit for a photo %
in the mi#st of
#ea#ly
on a
a favourite arm % in town %
it occurre#
!eapon of choice
urban
"from line ,2 to line ,F$
to verify %
to start %
a shop to sell second6hand ob3ects %
set off
they fired at %
they file# out
it gives %
shiel#ing
hurt, in3ured % a ma3ority %
"from line to the en#$
it regards %
fire#
protecting %
pa!nshop
they shot at
they lined out % shot %
check
it
it pro
a video game to practice flying %
!oun#e#
accessible %
mostly
a
teach, educate, show % train incisively, intelligently %
"from line ,5 to line 2:$
incidents involving guns %
shootings
concerning a lot of people % arrive at a stage when %
mass shooting
reach a point !here
to demonstrate % to catalogue % bought %
astutely
to argue
to register
purchase#
a flight simulator
G9%'G .>T7&>@ (hat #oes the !riter mean !hen he !rites ? …. A shotgun for Christmas ? For Christmas ! ‘ l.24)
By using, first a question mark ( ?) , then an exclamation mark (!) , the writer wants to show the reader how shocking / stupefying / outrageous/ revolting /scandalous / sickening the attitude of the oys parents is" #is questions show not only the writers anger and indignation ut also his desire to understand, analyse and find answer to the prolem" #e is actually telling us that he holds the parents responsile for the slaughter" $n his opinion, there is no dout aout who is guilty" %hristmas is a period of the year associated with love and irth" By offering lethal/deadly weapons to their kid, the parents turned %hristmas into a period of hate and death! 8plain
the sentence:
The questions asked repeatedl after the ones"oro traged #…) seem dep ressingl familiar . #l.$%)
&he use of the words 'repeatedly 'repeatedly , , 'similar 'similar mass shooting and 'familiar 'familiar clearly points out that this sort of tragedy has already happened, quite a few times elsewhere" $t means that it is a common incident and a widespread phenomenon , a scourge that plagues merica" &he word 'depressingly( indicates that some people find these events intolerale ut that nothing has een done to prevent them from happening"
&hich
countries have the same level of violence as the *+ 9
&he author says that the *+ has an
astoundingly high level of personal violence, the highest in industrial nations" #e adds that to 'find comparale levels of interpersonal violence, ne must examine nations in the midst of civil wars and social chaos (l" -.)" hat he means is that such a level of violence is to e found in countries which are more or less lawless or in a state of civil war"
According
to the writer, what are the causes of the high murder rate in the *+ 9
hile examining the causes of the high murder rate in the *+ , he first points out the fact that gun violence has ecome part and parcel of peoples daily lives" $t is thought to e normal to have a loaded gun at home" +econdly, the media play a key role ecause they focus the light on sensational events and rainwash viewers into thinking that self0defense is the only solution" &hirdly, video games are also responsile for this level of violence"
1layers are trained to shoot without thinking and thus ecome potential killers" 2astly (last ut not least) , the government is also held responsile ecause there is no control of the arms that are purchased" &he writer clearly advocates stricter gun control and elieves that guns should e registered"
