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‘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

§2

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 + 10 other people wounded /injured

Date of the tragedy (in full) : March 24, 1998 ( on the twenty-fourth of March )

§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 90’s: 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 it’s 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 b. comparisons c. questions d. the shooting e. unusual front covers


1.E 2.D 3.C 4. B 5. A
All the words linked to violence and arms – Look up their translation in a French dictionary
camouflage : camouflage the shootings: fusillades
a rifle : un fusil de chasse /fusil/carabine civil wars: guerres civiles
a pistol: un pistolet social chaos : désordre social/chaos social
deadly weapons: armes mortelles violent crimes : crimes violents
a shotgun: fusil de chasse murders : meurtres
they shot at: tirer sur the weapon: l’arme du crime
they fired twenty-two shots: tirer 22 coups de feu firearms: armes à feu
killing: => tuant a killing : assassinat / meurtre accidents and suicides: accidents et suicides
a killing simulator: un simulateur pour tuer
they wounded: ils ont blessé

Vocabulary from the text : Find equivalents in the text


(from line 1 to line 11)
it represented = it featured (from line 26 to line 43)
before page 1 = cover surprisingly = astoundingly
a young child = toddler stage, point = level
holding = clutching plunged in = in the midst of
a little = slightly killings = murders
described = chronicled it took place, it happened = it occurred
to sit for a photo = pose statistically = on average
lethal, causing death = deadly a favourite arm = weapon of choice
in town = urban
(from line 12 to line 17) to verify = check
to start = set off a shop to sell second-hand objects = pawnshop
they fired at = they shot at
they lined out = they filed out (from line 44 to the end)
shot = fired it regards = it views
protecting = shielding it gives = it provides
hurt, injured = wounded a video game to practice flying = a flight simulator
a majority = mostly accessible = available
teach, educate, show = train
(from line 18 to line 25) incisively, intelligently = astutely
incidents involving guns = shootings to demonstrate = to argue
concerning a lot of people = mass shooting to catalogue = to register
arrive at a stage when = reach a point where bought = purchased
GOING FURTHER. 

 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

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 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.

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