Tough Teacher

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A Tough Teacher’s Alter Ego
(CBS Evening News, 2014)
page 1/4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a56lfZQpwxI
We end this Valentine’s Day with a lesson in love. Some high school kids learned it from a teacher (who)
they thought knew nothing about it. Here’s Steve Hartman on the road.
At Saint Francis High School in La Canyada, California, there’s something to be said about math teacher,
Jim O’Connor ... the question is, what is that something?
- When you think of him, does the word “love” come to mind? .... obviously not!
- He’s very, ah …
For whatever reason!
None of these kids would tell me what they really think of him.
- Oh, what’s the word?
- Yet, none of the boys have come here and said, Oh, God, we have hated him, you know, at times.
Nobody said that; I wonder why.
- He’s gonna be seeing this, right?
- Oh, that’s why!
(The) truth is, Mr. O’Connor can be a bit of a drudge.
You don’t know what you’re doing!
But the seventy-year-old Vietnam vet says he is not here to entertain his students.
It drives me crazy when people say school should be fun! I mean it’s nice if it could be, but you can’t
make school fun.
And for years, the kids thought that’s all there was to him – until last November, when senior Pat
McGoldric learned (that) they didn’t know the half of him.
Pat was in charge of a student blood drive and had just come here to Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles for
a meeting. He says (that) it was weird. Whenever he told someone he went to Saint Francis High School,
they all said, “Oh, you must know Jim O’connor. Isn’t he wonderful! Wonderful?
What? like, and then it was disbelief, really. It’s almost, like, kind of finding this alter ego that he has.
Inside the Blood Donor Center Pat found a plaque listing all the top blood donors at the hospital,
including the record holder, Jim O’Connor. Then, he learned something even more unbelievable – that
whenever Mr. O’Connor isn’t torturing kids with calculus, he’s on a whole other tangent – cuddling sick
babies. --- Come on, you can talk to me! – Three days a week for the past twenty years Jim has
volunteered here, stepping in, when parents can’t, to hold, feed, and comfort their children. Nurse Erin
Schmitt says (that) he’s invaluable.
They tend to calm for him, they tend to relax with him, they fall asleep with him.
I just like them and relate to them somehow.
Jim’s never been married, he has no kids of his own, but he has fallen hard for these babies.
- I don’t wanna see them alone; you can’t do that!
- You’re not a tough guy at all!
- I know, but don’t tell my students!
page 2/4
Sometimes you think you know someone, but you don’t have the slightest (idea). Sometimes you think
(that) you’re learning calculus, but the real lesson is life.
I’ve always, like, respected him, uh, but now it’s even a different degree, really, it’s to the point where I
try to emulate him. He’s the epitome of a man of service.
Steve Hartmann, on the road in Los Angeles.
Vocabulary
01. a tough teacher
02. there’s something to be said
03. obviously not
04. for whatever reason
05. at times
06. he’s gonna be seeing this, right?
07. that’s why!
08. a bit of a drudge
09. Vietnam vet
10. to entertain his students
11. it drives me crazy
12. you can’t make school fun
13. the kids thought that’s all there was to him
14. they didn’t know half of him
15. a blood drive
16. it was weird
17. isn’t he wonderful?
18. what? like, it was disbelief, really.
19. alter ego
20. the top blood donors
21. the record holder
22. to cuddle sick babies
23. stepping in
24. he’s invaluable
25. I relate to them somehow
he has no kids of his own
27. he has fallen hard for these babies
28. I don’t wanna see them alone
29. You’re not a tough guy after all!
30. you don’t have the slightest (idea)
31. he is the epitome
26.
dur, sévère
il y a quelque chose à dire
visiblement non
peu importe la raison
parfois
= he is going to be seeing this, right?
c’est pour ça!
il fait un peu bête de somme
(= veteran) ancien combattant
divertir, amuser ses élèves
cela me rend fou / cela m’énerve
vous ne pouvez pas rendre l’école amusante
pensaient qu’il n’y avait que cela qui le
caractérisait
ils ne le connaissaient pas du tout
(littéralement; ils ne connaissaient pas la
moitié de lui)
une collecte de sang
c’était bizarre
n’est-il pas merveilleux?
Quoi ?c’était l’incrédulité / je n’y
croyais pas
une autre personnalité
les plus grands donneurs de sang / ceux
qui donnent le plus de sang
le détenteur du record (de don de sang)
serrer dans les bras, câliner
se porter volontaire, prendre la relève
il est inestimable, très précieux
j’ai un bon contact / je me sens lié à eux d’une
certaine manière
il n’a pas d’enfants, “of his own” = propres, à lui
il est vraiment tombé amoureux
(I don’t want to) je ne veux pas les voir seuls
Vous n’êtes pas un dur à cuire finalement !
on n’a pas la moindre idée
il est l’exemple même / la quintessence
page 3/4
A Tough Teacher’s Alter Ego
(CBS Evening News, 2014)
Exercise: fill in the blanks with the correct words
We end this Valentine’s Day with a lesson in love. Some high school kids learned it from a teacher (who)
they thought knew nothing about it. Here’s Steve Hartman on the road.
At Saint Francis High School in La Canyada, California, there’s something to be said about math teacher,
Jim O’Connor ... the question is, what is that something?
- When you think of him, does the word “love” come to mind? .... _O________________ not!
visiblement
- He’s very, ah …
For whatever reason!
None of these kids would tell me what they really think of him.
- Oh, what’s the word?
- Yet, none of the boys have come here and said, Oh, God, we have hated him, you know,
_a___t__________. Nobody said that; I wonder why.
parfois
- He’s gonna be seeing this, right?
- Oh, _t________w_________!
c’est pour ça
(The) truth is, Mr. O’Connor can be a bit of a _d_____________.
bête de somme
You don’t know what you’re doing!
The seventy-year-old Vietnam vet says he is not here to _e________________ his students.
divertir, amuser
_I____d________m_____c___________ when people say school should be fun! I mean it’s nice if it
cela me rend fou / cela m’énerve
could be, but you can’t _m_________school _f________.
rendre (l’école) amusante
And for years, the kids thought that’s all there was to him – until last November, when senior Pat
McGoldric learned (that) they didn’t know the half of him.
Pat was in charge of a student _b_________d___________ and had just come here to Children’s
collecte de sang
Hospital, Los Angeles for a meeting. He says (that) it was _w_________. Whenever he told someone he
bizarre
went to Saint Francis High School, they all said, “Oh, you must know Jim O’connor. Isn’t he wonderful!
Wonderful?
What? like, and then it was _d___________, really. It’s almost, like, kind of finding this alter ego he has.
l’incrédulité
page 4/4
Inside the Blood Donor Center Pat found a plaque listing all the _t______b________d_________ at the
les plus grands donneurs de sang
hospital, including the _r________b__________, Jim O’Connor. Then, he learned something even more
détenteur du record
unbelievable – that whenever Mr. O’Connor isn’t torturing kids with calculus, he’s on a whole other
tangent – _c_____________ sick babies. --- Come on, you can talk to me! – Three days a week for the
câliner
past twenty years Jim has volunteered here, _s___________i_______, when parents can’t, to hold, feed,
prenant la relève
and comfort their children. Nurse Erin Schmitt says (that) he’s _i___________________.
inestimable
They tend to calm for him, they tend to relax with him, they fall asleep with him.
I just like them and _r_________t_____ them somehow.
je me sens lié à
Jim’s never been married, he has no kids _o____h_____o______, but he has _f________h______f_____
à lui
est tombé amoureux de
these babies.
- I don’t wanna see them alone; you can’t do that!
- You’re not a _t__________g_______ at all!
un dur à cuire
- I know, but don’t tell my students!
Sometimes you think you know someone, but you don’t have the _s_______________ (idea). Sometimes
(la) moindre
you think (that) you’re learning calculus, but the real lesson is life.
I’ve always, like, respected him, uh, but now it’s even a different degree, really, it’s to the point where I
try to emulate him. He’s the _e_______________ of a man of service.
l’exemple même / la quintessence