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 Lesson
42 - I Was Minding My Own Business
In this lesson Anna sees a crime and tries to help find
the robbers. She hurts her arm. The news reporter wants
to know, "How did she hurt herself?" |
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Lesson Video
Watch the video and then do the activities on this page. |
Video Script
Guy: Hello. I'm Guy Newsman with News Channel XYZ. I’m here in Washington, D.C.
at the scene of a crime.
Guy: We are talking with this woman.
Guy: She saw the crime during her lunch break. It looks like she hurt herself
while she was trying to stop the crime.
Guy: Tell us your name.
Anna: Hi, Guy. I'm Anna.
Guy: Anna, what did you see and what happened to your arm?
Anna: Guy, I was minding my own business. See, I work over there.
Guy: Um-hum
Anna: I left work to get some lunch. Then suddenly, I heard a woman yelling. She
was yelling like this ... “Help! Help!”
Guy: Um-hum
Anna: Two robbers were grabbing her bag like this. She was hitting them with her
umbrella.
Guy: Is that when you hurt your arm?
Anna: No. At that time, I was not fighting the robbers.
Guy: Um-hum.
Anna: See. I was too far away and I didn't have my own umbrella.
Guy: So, what happened next?
Anna: They grabbed her bag and ran away! So, I grabbed her umbrella and ran
after the robbers.
Guy: Then that is the time that you hurt your arm?
Anna: No. I was yelling, “Stop, robbers! Stop!” She was yelling, “Hey, come back
with my umbrella!”
Guy: Were you afraid?
Anna: I had no time to be afraid, Guy. Well, I had time while I was resting on a
bench. I had a lot of time.
Guy: Then what happened?
Anna: The robbers got on a bus. So, I ran after the bus.
A VO: While I was running, I tripped and fell.
Guy: And that is the time that you hurt your arm?
Anna: No. While I was lying on the ground, someone stepped on my arm!
Guy: Ouch. That’s too bad.
Anna: Yeah. And they didn’t apologize. Well, then the robbers got themselves
kicked off the bus.
Guy: Why?
Anna: They didn’t pay. You've got to pay when you get on a bus. The police came
and took them away.
Guy: And that’s when you hurt your arm!
Anna: No.
Guy: Then, when did you hurt yourself?
Anna: Well, Guy, by this time, I was feeling very hungry. So, I went to my
office to get a snack.
C: Anna, I'm calling for help right now.
C: (on the phone) Hello? Yes, please come right away. My co-worker is stuck in a
vending machine.
Guy: You hurt your arm in a vending machine buying a bag of chips?
Anna: I was really hungry and the bag was stuck. I had to -
Guy: That’s all from News Channel XYZ. This is Guy Newsman saying goodbye.
Guy: Okay, we have to find ourselves another story, guys.
Anna: Until next time! Hi Mom! |
Listening
Now practice listening to only the audio portion of the conversation. |
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Speaking
In this video, learn how to say the new words. Then learn how to use reflexive
pronouns like herself, ourselves, and yourself. |
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Pronunciation
Use this video to understand how English speakers pronounce the words "did you"
quickly and learn to say them as /didjə/. |
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New Words |
- arm -
n. either one of the two long body parts that
join the top of your body at the shoulder and that end at the hand or wrist
- chips -
n. thin, hard, and usually salty pieces of food
- crime -
n. an illegal act for which someone can be
punished by the government
- fall (past tense: fell) -
v. to come or go down suddenly from a standing
position
- grab -
v. (past participle: grabbing) to quickly take
and hold (someone or something) with your hand or arms
- ground -
n. the soil that is on or under the surface of
the earth
- kick off -
phrasal verb. (past tense: kicked off) force
(someone) to leave
- lie -
v. (gerund: lying) to be in a flat position on
a surface
- minding my own business -
idiom. doing what you normally do and not
bothering anyone
- robber -
n. a criminal who steals money or property or a
thief who robs people
- snack -
n. a small amount of food eaten between meals
- step -
v. to put your foot down - usually + in or on
- stuck -
adj. difficult or impossible to move from a
position
- trip -
v. (past tense: tripped) to fall or nearly by
accidentally hitting your foot on something as you are walking or running
- umbrella -
n. a device that is used for protection from
the rain and sun
- vending machine -
n. a machine that you put money into in order
to buy food or drinks
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 Activity
In this lesson, Anna hurt herself in the vending
machine. Did you ever hurt yourself by accident? What
were you doing when you hurt yourself? Write about it in
the Facebook Comments section below. Then practice
writing and using the past continuous tense and
reflexive pronouns.
Click
lesson activity to get the printable PDF version. The
page opens to a new window. |
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Source:
Voice of America |
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Additional
Conversation Lessons |
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English conversation lessons. 30
lessons focusing mostly on communication and
grammar topics....these
lessons are for intermediate students. |
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This is a collection of 30 situational conversations
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This is a collection of 36 situational conversations
which focus on spoken American English in a relatively
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lessons are for intermediate students. |
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This is a collection of 30
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accompanied by language notes....these lessons are for
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Conversation Information |
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reading)
A video lesson to
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The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page. |
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(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
help with your understanding of American dialects. The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
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Improve Your Pronunciation by Training Your
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(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
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Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
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More Conversation Information |
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(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
help with your understanding of American
conversation. The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
audio program. |
Disagreements in Everyday Conversation - Part 2
(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
help with your understanding of American
conversation. The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
audio program. |
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(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
help with your understanding of American
conversation. The English is
spoken at 75% of normal speed.
Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
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(Beginner - Listening)
An audio lesson to
help with your understanding of American
conversation. The English is
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Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this
audio program. |
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Search Fun Easy English |
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