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Service Animals
Service Animals

Learn English meaning of ‘service animals’

Date: Sep 15 2017

Themes: Health, Pets, Pop Culture

Grammar: Passive Voice

Intro

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Service animals help many people every day. These gentle animals can help a person who has a disability. Or they can give other services to people, such as emotional support. The classic image of a service animal is the seeing eye dog. These dogs are trained to help people who cannot see. They can help them to cross a busy intersection and walk wherever they need to go.

However, in recent years, many doctors began recommending emotional support animals. These animals help people who have emotional difficulty. Recently, many people on the internet were talking about an emotional support duck. This duck was able to fly on an airplane with its owner. Some people thought this was great, but others thought that a duck should not be allowed on a plane.

Jordin doesn’t understand why an emotional support duck might be important. Listen to today’s English lesson to hear her ask Romeo about this.

Dialog

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

Jordin

Jordin

Romeo

Romeo

Jordin:  I heard, the other day, that there’s such a thing as an emotional support duck.

Romeo:  Emotional support duck?

Jordin:  Yes! Like, a duck that someone carries around as a service animal and gives them emotional support.

Romeo:  Carries around, like, on a leash?

Jordin:  I don’t know. Maybe… that would be weird…. Or maybe, just in their purse, like those tiny dogs.

Romeo:  Like a seeing eye dog?

Jordin:  Yeah, but it doesn’t seem like it’s the same thing as a seeing eye dog. It’s a duck! What services is that actually doing for that person?

Romeo:  Well, I guess, if you needed to cross a busy intersection

Jordin:  What is the duck going to do? Quack?

Romeo:  Quack it’s way across the street, yeah. It’s not like a hearing dog, but I guess, if you have a disability, and… I mean, for emotional support, why not have a duck, right?

Jordin:  Yeah, but… So, now, this duck that’s just to, like, help keep somebody happy sometimes is now being allowed to go into hotels and stuff, where other normal animals that help keep other people happy aren’t allowed to go. You know? Because it’s a service animal.

Romeo:  You feel really emotional about this. I think that you should write a letter to the president.

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Jordin tells Romeo that she heard about an emotional support duck. And she doesn’t know how to feel about this. At first, Romeo is confused. He doesn’t know if he heard her correctly. He asks if the duck walks around on a leash or if it is similar to a seeing eye dog. Jordin doesn’t know. She also doesn’t know what services a duck can give.

Romeo jokes that the duck could help someone cross the street by quacking. Then, he thinks about it a little bit more. He says that, if a person has a disability and a duck can help, why not have an emotional support duck? Jordin still thinks it’s strange that this duck can go places where other animals aren’t allowed. So, Romeo suggests that she write a letter about it.

How do animals help you? Do you think a duck can give emotional support?

 

Comments

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Zahra12

Zahra12

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

No. Im not interested in animals. I like them. But not love hehehe

06:04 PM Sep 16 2017 |

1 person likes this

Satishdb

Satishdb

India

Yes I think those who are lonely and don’t enjoy others company, introvert kind of people may enjoy the animals.

05:53 AM Sep 16 2017 |

1 person likes this

hermitlady

China

  I haven’t got help from animals. But in my childhood, I knew some animals could help people to do something.  I remembered  that there were a yellow moo-cow who could help my parents to furrow and pull a cart . there were no any all kinds of machinery at that time. the dog could help us to look after home when it saw strangers it could bark and then we knew someone came.


But now all that have disappeared.



No. I can’t imagine how the duck can give emotional support to people. 

02:50 AM Sep 15 2017 |

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