Pass the Torch

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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• relay
• leg
• pass the torch

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Just after the rings, comes the torch as the most widely recognized symbol of the Olympic Games. For each Olympics, the flame is ignited in Greece a few months before the opening ceremonies. Then, an international relay carries it to the host city.

When a leg of the relay ends, the torchbearer holds his or her torch up to the next person’s torch to light it. Then that person carries it to the next person and so on. The Olympic Flame never stops burning until the games are over!

But you don’t need a fire to pass the torch. The president of an organization passes the torch on to the next president. A beauty queen passes the torch to the next winner of the pageant. If you pass the torch, it means you transfer something important or meaningful to someone else.

This year, the torch relay to bring the flame where it is burning in Vancouver, Canada, is the longest in history. Get ready to meet one of the people who helped bring it there.

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Dialog

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

Jason

Torchbearer_Jen

Jason:  Welcome to English, baby! I’m Jason, here in Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, and we’re standing across the water from the Olympic Torch. As you can see, the flame is burning brightly. That flame traveled thousands of miles to be here and it touched hundreds of peoples’ hands. In English, we have an expression, “pass the torch.” To pass the torch means to carry on a tradition. Someday you’ll leave your job and you’ll pass the torch to someone else who will take it over. And so, for that flame to reach this point in Vancouver, it had to be passed. Let’s see if we can find one of the torchbearers, who passed the flame along the way. Alright. We’re here with a torchbearer. What’s your name?

Torchbearer_Jen:  Jen.

Jason:  Jen, so where did you carry the torch today?

Torchbearer_Jen:  I carried it yesterday, actually, across the Burrard Street Bridge and I passed the flame to my colleague, Brian.

Jason:  And so, how did it feel to carry the Olympic torch?

Torchbearer_Jen:  It felt amazing. I cannot describe it. The feeling is still going through me. It was just…It was incredible.

Jason:  So can you just tell us about the Olympic Flame and what does it represent to you?

Torchbearer_Jen:  It’s gone around the world. It represents, you know, unity and spirit and I just think, like, it’s amazing that the whole world is coming together for this.

Jason:  Is there a time you’ve ever passed the torch in your life?

Torchbearer_Jen:  Yeah. I guess my previous job, when I left that position, I sort of passed it on to someone else. But it still stays within me. I think that’s part of the key of passing it, right, is you remember it and it lives with you.

Jason:  Thanks so much, Jen. If you can hold it with one hand, can I get you to give me a high-five and say, “English baby!”? English, baby!

 

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