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READING COMPREHENSION :
Date : 2000
Title : A Gun Culture / Arming America ; The origins of a national Gun Culture
§1
The names of the two children : Andrew Golden and Mitchell Johnson
The traditional figure associated with Christmas period: Santa Claus / Father Christmas
§2
The two murderers live in (town, state, country) : Jonesboro, Arkansas (USA)
The number of victims / casualties : 4 children / their teacher killed + 10 other people wounded /injured
Date of the tragedy (in full) : March 24, 1998 ( on the twenty-fourth of March )
§3
Date of the tragedy (in full) : On April 20, 1999 ( on the twentieth of April)
§4
§5
Where we realize that Americans are crazy about weapons : on TV and in movies.
Why it’s impossible to know the exact number of weapons in the USA : the US does not REGISTER guns
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
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 boy’s parents is. His questions show not only the writer’s 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. Christmas is a period of the year
associated with love and birth. By offering lethal/deadly weapons to their kid, the parents
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
plagues America. The word “depressingly” indicates that some people find these events
intolerable but that nothing has been done to prevent them 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 people’s 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 self-defense
is the only solution. Thirdly, video games are also responsible 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.