Listening

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Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. name (someone/something) after (someone/something)
    • ex. Mandy decided to name her new cat after a cartoon character.
  2. go above and beyond
    • ex. Pam goes above and beyond by baking cookies for her neighbors on their birthdays.
  3. owe
    • ex. I owe my brother $20 for the movie tickets he bought for us.
  4. eligible
    • ex. My grandparents are eligible for a senior citizen discount.
  5. convincing
    • ex. The salesman was very convincing, so I bought the product he was selling.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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An elementary school in Blue Springs, Kansas City named an award after Daken Kramer. He’s a fifth-grade student who helped pay the meal debts of students in his school. The Daken Kramer Legacy Award will be given every year to students who go above and beyond like Daken. He was worried about students who owed money for meals at his school, so he decided to help.

In the U.S., only eight states give free school meals to all students. Meanwhile, nearly 30% of students in the Blue Springs School District are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Despite this, some students don’t have enough money to pay for their meals. So, Daken posted a Facebook video asking friends, family, strangers, and businesses to help pay the money owed by students.

He was very convincing that he gathered $7,370 (about ¥855,000). He paid the whole school meal debt of $3,500 (about ¥406,000) and even gave money to help a high school too. Many people praised Daken for helping his fellow students. Vanessa Kramer, Daken’s mom, only hopes that her son’s act of kindness will inspire others to help too.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Daken Kramer

  • Daken Kramer is a fifth-grade student who helped pay the meal debts of students in his school. What do you think of his act of kindness? Discuss.
  • The Daken Kramer Legacy Award will be given to honor students who go above and beyond just like Daken. What actions do you consider as going above and beyond (ex. helping a lot of people, donating a lot of money)? Discuss.
  • Imagine that you are going to name an award after someone (ex. Akatsuka Award for new manga artists, Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts). What would the award be? Discuss.

School Meals

  • Nearly 30% of students in Blue Springs are eligible for free or reduced-priced meals. In your opinion, should school meals be free for all students instead? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • In your opinion, how important is it for students to eat healthily? Discuss.
  • In the U.S., only eight states give free meals to all students. In others, only a few students are eligible for free meals. What is the situation in your country? Discuss.