Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. collapse
    • ex. An old man collapsed on the street, but people quickly helped him.
  2. put down
    • ex. I had to put down my cat because it was really sick.
  3. under scrutiny
    • ex. The company lied about its profits, so now it’s under scrutiny.
  4. blame
    • ex. The team blamed Matt for their loss because he didn’t try very hard during the game.
  5. a performance-enhancing drug
    • ex. Jim has huge muscles, so some people think that he takes performance-enhancing drugs.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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A three-year-old male horse died at the Santa Anita Park racetrack in California. The horse named Emtech collapsed during a race and had to be put down. The reason for the horse’s death was not known right away.

Emtech was not the first horse to be put down at the Santa Anita Park racetrack. Between December 2018 and June 2019, a total of 30 horses died there. The owners of the racetrack made changes to improve conditions for the horses, but just a few months later, Emtech died during a race and another horse died during training.

Both the racetrack and the sport of horse racing in general are now under scrutiny. According to one report, an average of 10 horses died every week at American racetracks in 2018. Many people blame performance-enhancing drugs for the high number of deaths. Some states are now creating tougher penalties for owners whose horses fail drug tests. However, some critics are calling for the end of horse racing as a sport.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Animals in Sports

  • After 32 horse deaths, do you think that the Santa Anita racetrack should be closed down? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Should trainers/owners be punished if their animals are often in bad condition? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Should animals be used in sports (ex. horse racing, bullfighting)? Why or why not? Discuss.

Performance-Enhancing Drugs

  • Should trainers/owners be allowed to give their animals performance-enhancing drugs? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Should human athletes be allowed to take performance-enhancing drugs? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Do you think the usage of performance-enhancing drugs will increase in the future? Why or why not? Discuss.