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Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses

Date: Dec 15 2008

Themes: Alternative, Music

Grammar: Past Progressive Tense

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Fans of the rock band Guns N’Roses finally have a reason to celebrate. After 17 long years in the studio, the band just put out the much-anticipated, much-hyped Chinese Democracy. But not everyone thinks the new GNR album was worth the wait. Reviews have been mixed, and the band has received some criticism for allowing the album to be delayed for such a long time. Plus, the members of the band changed several times while the album was in process.

Some say that front-man Axl Rose is too much of a perfectionist. If he didn’t obsess so much over every little detail, maybe he would make more music and his fans would be happier. On the other hand, perfectionism often leads to…perfection. Listen to what Jason and Devan think.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

Log in to Listen

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

Jason

Jason

Devan

Devan

Jason:  I got my free Dr. Pepper last week.

Devan:  Because Chinese Democracy came out finally?

Jason:  I cannot believe how long it took for that to come out.

Devan:  They were working on it for almost 17 years.

Jason:  What were they doing all that time, you know? It’s just an album.

Devan:  Well, you know, you would think that he was perfecting it, to try to make it the best that it could possibly be, and that’s why it took so long…But, the reviews are in and they say it’s just OK.

Jason:  Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. It’s not great. It’s not awful. It has awful moments. It has maybe a great moment or two.

Devan:  After all that hype, all the anticipation, you know…

Jason:  Yeah.

Devan:  But you did get your free Dr. Pepper?

Jason:  I did, but, um…I don’t know. Axl Rose was kind of a spoil-sport about the whole thing. You know, Dr. Pepper thought it would be fun to do this promotion. A joke about how long it took to come out. And then I guess not everyone got their free Dr. Pepper who tried to, and so GNR was threatening to sue Dr. Pepper or something like that.

Devan:  He probably just wants to sue Dr. Pepper because he’s not gonna make as much money on the album as he was hoping to, so he’s gotta make his money somewhere.

Jason:  He’s gotta take it out on somebody.

 

Grammar Point

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Dr. Pepper, a soft drink company, promised to give everyone in America a free can of soda if Guns N’ Roses released Chinese Democracy before the end of 2008. The album finally came out in November, and Jason was one of the many Americans who got a free Dr. Pepper.

Jason and Devan can’t believe it took GNR 17 years to release their new album. They both think that it doesn’t quite live up to the hype. It has some good songs, but it also has some bad songs. Axl Rose may be a perfectionist, but Chinese Democracy isn’t a perfect album.

Do you think Chinese Democracy was worth the wait? Are you a perfectionist like Axl Rose? Is it good to be a perfectionist?

 

Comments

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kpl

kpl

Taiwan

17 years = =, it's drawn out

05:56 AM May 29 2010 |

 jayar

jayar

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Hi

 iam back

 

01:15 PM Sep 20 2009 |

 jayar

jayar

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Hi

 iam back

 

01:15 PM Sep 20 2009 |

睬沣色

睬沣色

China

HiCool

09:15 AM Sep 20 2009 |

king5869

China

where are you from?

 

01:05 PM Sep 19 2009 |

king5869

China

where are you from?

 

01:05 PM Sep 19 2009 |

king5869

China

where are you from?

 

01:05 PM Sep 19 2009 |

king5869

China

hi,my dear firend ,l frome china.l think we can become firend ,what do you think it?firend.

01:04 PM Sep 19 2009 |

marilyn.0912@kimo.com

Philippines

hello

02:58 PM Sep 17 2009 |

hakiii

hakiii

Germany

hello

10:14 PM Sep 16 2009 |

向倩

China

I like English,I am Janet

12:44 AM Sep 14 2009 |

mmparsy

mmparsy

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

so funny

02:43 PM Sep 09 2009 |

rigthink

rigthink

Peru

.! quite nice…

04:28 AM Sep 09 2009 |

burned_out

burned_out

Germany

it's been a great band…

but nowadays, without slash and duff, it's not the same anymore!

12:15 AM Sep 09 2009 |

islaaam

Egypt

hiiiiiiiiii

 

09:31 PM Sep 08 2009 |

melody811118

Taiwan

i love "sweet child o' mine" :)

 

03:14 PM Sep 05 2009 |

magwla

Yemen

kk

 

08:03 AM Jul 19 2009 |

mmparsy

mmparsy

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i do not know!!!1

06:37 PM Jul 10 2009 |

tonio09

tonio09

India

luv them!

06:20 PM Jul 10 2009 |

gözdefatih

Turkey

helloooooooooooooooo

 

08:43 AM Jul 08 2009 |

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