A Gun Culture

READING COMPREHENSION : Type of document: an extract/excerpt from an essay / an article / a book Author: Michael Bellesites Date : 2000 Title : A Gun Culture / Arming America ; The origins of a national Gun Culture

Pick out the following information (indicate line numbers) Two American news magazines : TIME and NEWSWEEK The two covers represent a young boy with a gun 1 The names of the two children : Andrew Golden and Mitchell Johnson The traditional figure associated with Christmas period: Santa Claus / Father Christmas

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The two murderers live in (town, state, country) : Jonesboro, Arkansas (USA) Their age at the time of the tragedy: 11 and 13 The number of victims / casualties : 4 children / their teacher killed 3 Another school concerned by a bloodbath : Columbine High School Town, state : Littleton (Colorado) Date of the tragedy (in full) : On April 20, 1999 ( on the twentieth of April) 4 The annual total of violent crimes in the 90s: 2 million The annual total of murders : 24000 The murderers favourite weapon (= arm) : a gun (firearm) What schools use now to fight the problem: metal detectors 5 Where we realize that Americans are crazy about weapons : on TV and in movies. Where Americans can practice shooting : video games The name of a researcher on violence: Dave Grossman Why its impossible to know the exact number of weapons in the USA : the US does not REGISTER guns Use your notes above to help you answer the questions. RECAP : What happened on March 24, 1998 ? Is this sort of event exceptional in the US? On March 24, 1998 two heavily armed children, (called )Andrew Golden and Mitchell Johnson, respectively aged 11 and 13 shot 4 children and their teacher dead and injured 10 other people when they opened fire at their school in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Unfortunately this sort of event is quite common / familiar in the USA and what occurred in Jonesboro reminds us of other mass shootings of children by children such as the Columbine bloodbath on April 20, 1999 or more recently the Newtown tragedy. The same accidents and violent crimes involving young children and teenagers keep repeating! Here are 5 headings corresponding to the 5 paragraphs: put them back in the order of the text a. causes 1.E b. comparisons 2.D 3.C c. questions 4. B 5. A d. the shooting e. unusual front covers + 10 other people wounded /injured Date of the tragedy (in full) : March 24, 1998 ( on the twenty-fourth of March )

All the words linked to violence and arms Look up their translation in a French dictionary a gun : revolver / pistolet killing: => tuant a killing : assassinat / meurtre camouflage : camouflage a rifle : un fusil de chasse /fusil/carabine they wounded: ils ont bless a pistol: un pistolet the shootings: fusillades deadly weapons: armes mortelles civil wars: guerres civiles a shotgun: fusil de chasse social chaos : dsordre social/chaos social they shot at: tirer sur violent crimes : crimes violents they fired twenty-two shots: tirer 22 coups de feu murders : meurtres

the weapon: larme du crime firearms: armes feu Vocabulary from the text : (from line 1 to line 11) it represented = it featured before page 1 = cover a young child = toddler holding = clutching a little = slightly described = chronicled to sit for a photo = pose lethal, causing death = deadly (from line 12 to line 17) to start = set off they fired at = they shot at they lined out = they filed out shot = fired protecting = shielding hurt, injured = wounded a majority = mostly (from line 18 to line 25) incidents involving guns = shootings concerning a lot of people = mass shooting arrive at a stage when = reach a point where GOING FURTHER.

accidents and suicides: accidents et suicides a killing simulator: un simulateur pour tuer Find equivalents in the text (from line 26 to line 43) surprisingly = astoundingly stage, point = level plunged in = in the midst of killings = murders it took place, it happened = it occurred statistically = on average a favourite arm = weapon of choice in town = urban to verify = check a shop to sell second-hand objects = pawnshop (from line 44 to the end) it regards = it views it gives = it provides a video game to practice flying = a flight simulator accessible = available teach, educate, show = train incisively, intelligently = astutely to demonstrate = to argue to catalogue = to register bought = purchased

What does the writer mean when he writes : . A shotgun for Christmas ? For Christmas ! l.24) By using, first a question mark ( ?) , then an exclamation mark (!) , the writer wants to show the reader how shocking / stupefying / outrageous/ revolting /scandalous / sickening the attitude of the boys parents is. His questions show not only the writers anger and indignation but also his desire to understand, analyse and find answer to the problem. He is actually telling us that he holds the parents responsible for the slaughter. In his opinion, there is no doubt about who is guilty. This tragedy does not indicate a lack of parenting, but irresponsible parenting. Christmas is a period of the year associated with love and birth. By offering lethal/deadly weapons to their kid, the parents turned Christmas into a period of hate and death! Explain the sentence: The questions asked repeatedly after the Jonesboro tragedy () seem depressingly familiar . (l.18) The use of the words repeatedly, similar mass shooting and familiar clearly points out that this sort of tragedy has already happened, quite a few times elsewhere. It means that it is a common incident and a widespread phenomenon , a scourge that plagues America. The word depressingly indicates that some people find these events intolerable but that nothing has been done to prevent from happening.

Which countries have the same level of violence as the US ? The author says that the USA has an astoundingly high level of personal violence, the highest in industrial nations. He adds that to find comparable levels of interpersonal violence, One must examine nations in the midst of civil wars and social chaos (l. 28). What he means is that such a level of violence is to be found in countries which are more or less lawless or in a state of civil war. According to the writer, what are the causes of the high murder rate in the US ? While examining the causes of the high murder rate in the US , he first points out the fact that gun violence has become part and parcel of peoples daily lives. It is thought to be normal to have a loaded gun at home. Secondly, the media play a key role because they focus the light on sensational events and brainwash viewers into thinking that for this level of violence. Players are trained to shoot without thinking and thus become potential killers. Lastly (last but not least) , the government is also held responsible because there is no control of the arms that are purchased. The writer clearly advocates stricter gun control and believes that guns should be registered. self-defense is the only solution. Thirdly, video games are also responsible