Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
Vaccinations are a hot topic in the United States. While many Americans choose to get them for their children, a growing number have concerns about artificial immunizations. To attend a public school, however, a child has to see a doctor to get vaccinated. It’s not a surprise, then, that people have developed strong opinions on the subject.
Choosing to skip vaccinations doesn’t mean that there are parents who don’t want to eradicate terrible diseases. Many believe that children are at risk of developing autism, for example, if they choose to vaccinate them. Religious beliefs are another reason that parents would rather not do it. In the end, each family gets to decide what they want to do. There is no easy answer.
Find out what Marni and Lily think about the safety of vaccinations in this English lesson about worldwide health.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
Marni: I’ve been thinking a lot about my son. I just had to go to the doctor recently, and they wanted to do all of these immunizations. I’m just not really comfortable with them.
Lily: Really? Why?
Marni: I have a lot of concerns that they’re just not very safe. I think it could be putting him more at risk getting him immunized than I could be not doing it.
Lily: I don’t know about you, but I was immunized as a kid against measles and mumps and polio, and all of the other things, you know? As far as I know, I’ve never gotten measles, mumps or polio. It’s good to make sure that you’re protected against things.
Marni: I do think that it’s important to try to eradicate certain diseases, but I think there could be an argument made for over-immunizing people and doing too many immunizations at once.
Lily: You’ve also got to remember, too, that in an elementary school especially, kids are susceptible to all sorts of illnesses. Isn’t it kind of putting other people’s kids at risk if you don’t immunize your kid as well?
Marni: That’s a good point. There are a lot of fears out there about immunizations causing autism. I need to just do some more research.
Lily: Me, too.
Grammar Point
Go Super to learn "Present Perfect Tense" from this lesson
Quizzes
Lesson MP3
The iTEP® test
-
Sponsored by
Discussion
Marni and Lily are having a serious conversation about vaccinations. Marni doesn’t feel comfortable with getting them for her son because she’s not sure they’re safe. She’s worried that immunizations could put him at risk for diseases or maybe even autism. Marni doesn’t feel like she knows enough about vaccinations to make a decision, and that’s kind of scary to her.
Lily really wants to understand Marni’s point of view. She remembers getting vaccinations for measles, mumps and polio as a child, and she points out that she’s never gotten any of those diseases. She also says that if Marni doesn’t get vaccinations for her son, that puts his classmates at school at risk. Marni admits that Lily’s made a good point, but she still wants to study vaccinations more before she makes a decision.
Should kids have to get vaccinations, or should families be able to choose? How do people feel about it where you live?
Comments
Turkey |
Iraq |
Argentina |
Brazil |
South Africa |
South Africa |
Congo, Democratic Republic Of The |
Switzerland |
Iran, Islamic Republic Of |