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Darkest before the Dawn
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Darkest before the Dawn English, baby! Video Lesson
黎明前是最黑暗的时刻

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Date: Feb 19 2013

Themes: Soap Opera

Grammar: Imperative Form

Intro

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

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Have you ever stayed up all night? Sometimes, it feels as if the night is going to go on forever. It’s so dark out that it’s hard to imagine that the sun will ever come out again. Just when you think that it is so dark that it could never get any darker, you see the first streaks of sunlight on the horizon. The sky gets lighter and lighter, and then suddenly, it’s dawn.

Life kind of works this way, too. Let’s say everything is going badly in your life: you’ve lost your job, your spouse has left you, and you got in a bike wreck. You can’t believe that things are ever going to get better. And just when you think that, they start to get better. The sunrise comes. It’s always darkest before the dawn.

It’s the middle of the night at the office, and everything is chaotic. Do things have to get worse before they get better? Find out how dark things get in this English lesson.

你曾整晚熬夜吗?有时,感觉夜晚似乎永远在继续。夜晚是那么黑暗,很难想象太阳究竟会不会再次升起。只有当你认为夜晚不能变得更黑暗时,你才会看到地平线上的第一缕阳光。天空变得越来越黑,然后突然间黎明来临了。

生活中也是这种情况。假设你的生活中的一切开始糟:你失业了,你的配偶离你而去,就连自行车也坏了。你根本不相信事情会有所改善。只有当你那样想时,事情才会开始出现转机。黎明来临了。黎明前始终是最黑暗的时刻。

午夜的办公室里,一切都是凌乱的。一切在变得美好前必须先变得更糟吗?在本节英语课中,看看黑暗的事物是如何变化的。

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Dialog

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

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

Marni

Marni

Jeff

Jeff

Mason

Mason

Amanda

Amanda

Greta

Greta

Marni:  Jeff! Focus up. Come on.

Jeff:  Hang on a second, Marni.

Marni:  What? Oh my god.

Jeff:  So first of all, we have phone service again. Secondly, I just talked to a buddy of mine in California. And there’s a video of Greta Vanderlake and I that’s gone viral. It’s huge.

Mason:  No. Way. Dude! I recorded you guys earlier.

Jeff:  You recorded that? The stuff about me being a dad?

Marni:  You are not the dad!

Mason:  But no, I totally did do that. And I uploaded it before the service went out. That’s great that it’s got so many views.

Amanda:  Guys. Traffic to the site is up twofold.

Mason:  Yeah, I put a link at the end of the video.

Amanda:  You’re a genius! You fixed everything, Mason.

Greta:  Guys, you know how they say it’s darkest before the dawn? Well, the sun is coming out. Looks like the flood is receding.

Mason:  Are you mad about the video?

Jeff:  Yeah!

Mason:  No, Greta. Are you mad?

Greta:  No. You know what? I think it’s time I that I let the public see the real me. I’m going to start by using AmericanDreamD8.com to find my first real date. It’ll be a publicity stunt and a big step for me.

Amanda:  Wow. You guys. It really is darkest before the dawn. I mean, a few minutes ago, I was broke, this company was in trouble, and now, everything is better. It’s all fixed. And you know what? You can have that dream wedding that you’ve always wanted.

Mason:  Yes! Everything is awesome. Wait. Marni is still in labor.

Marni:  You know, I don’t think I am. The doctor warned me this would happen. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a contraction. I feel better. But I think I should go to the hospital. Can somebody find my phone? I should call John, and tell him to meet me there. And tell him I think I picked a name for her.

Amanda:  Wait, you did?

Marni:  I think we’ll call her Dawn.

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Marni is still in labor and wants Jeff’s help, but Jeff is looking at something on his phone. It turns out that Mason recorded Jeff’s earlier conversation with Greta, and now the video is all over the Internet. Mason put a link to the site at the end of the video, and there’s been a huge increase in traffic to the site.

Amanda is very happy about this. The increased traffic means that the site will make more money, that she will no longer be broke, and that she and Mason can have a huge wedding.

Even Greta isn’t mad about the video. She thinks it might be an opportunity for her to let her viewers know the truth about her. She’ll use the site to find her very first date.

And things are even turning out well for Marni. She’s not in labor. But she does want to go to the hospital. Best of all, the crazy events of the night have given her a perfect name for her new daughter.

Can you remember a time when things got worse before they got better? Do you agree that it is always darkest before the dawn?

 

Comments

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elisa9926

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i am looking forward to achieving my goal.


06:07 PM Mar 16 2013 |

elisa9926

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

no need to remmber sth.i am experiencing the worst day i v ever had. i aways try hard but nothing coms true. im very confused.whats wrong with me?!.belive or not i have to take a trick every day،however  i never give up my effort.beacause i belive trying in every solution may bring  a sulution.

06:05 PM Mar 16 2013 |

AnnaV88

AnnaV88

Russian Federation

“Circumstances can’t move me, I’m pressing on


I’m living for a brighter day, it’s darkest before dawn” 


(Jake Hamilton)


Think, these optimistic words can fix the mood, if it’s broken ))

06:46 AM Feb 22 2013 |

vicmay_lo-flo@live.com.mx

Mexico

Yess I think that sometimes things can be bad,


but you can do things to change and improve.

01:36 AM Feb 20 2013 |

1 person likes this

kareem_10

kareem_10

Egypt

You might think that it’s a little weird..but I think that hard times are so important in our life..really!!!..they’re what makes us thankful for every good thing we have..if you’re an optimistic person..you’ll see a push forward in every distress you face..and as they say “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”..!!!

06:29 PM Feb 19 2013 |

Ngubo Sixtus

South Africa

this subject remind me when i was looking for a job, i lost hope but things at last  favour me, i got a job ,since then i feel happy.

06:19 PM Feb 19 2013 |

Ya Nina

Kazakhstan

I’m not sure that things always got worse before they got better. All of us know a lot of examples when a situation became worse and worse while it ended the logical dramatically final.


On the other side I’m sure that we have to believe in the better tomorrow, trust our fate and pray. I’m sure that the good people meet in their life the good honest people more often than vice versa. I’m sure that the good people with unblotted thoughts were met in their life with pleasant and wise events which can teach us to live wisely and well-spent. 


In that case these people can rely on dawn after darkness. The most things are that if we genuinely believe that everything will be fine so be it.  

05:59 PM Feb 19 2013 |

1 person likes this

MESS

MESS

Turkey

Darkest before the dawn…


But prior to darkness, mosly likely the sun shined and brightened many lives and many spirits or maybe it was a cloudy day and your day was just so-so, neither very good nor very bad, something in between. And then as it always happens, darkness descends again. So do the spirits but it is just like the wink of the eye, happens so quickly that you do not realize how darkness ascends so quickly. It comes quickly and it goes quickly. And then sun rises again, and shines with its enchanting beauty, touching many souls and filling many hearts with hope.


In more elaborate words, things go very well at first. Life seems like a bed of roses and you feel happy or over the moon but quite unexpectedly some unexpected things crop up and absorb your energy, strength and everything. You feel consumed just like you cannot make it another day and feeling desperate and frustrated, you come to believe the next day will be the same and happiness will never visit you again but later, something magical happens and things get back on track again, new beginnings, new opportunities, and new adventures… There you are : Brightest before the sunrise  :) 


No matter what, one thing should always be kept in one corner of the mind :


“After each sorrow follows a rush of elation.” 


That’s just a literary outlook on this lesson. :)))

05:58 PM Feb 19 2013 |

ale_serrat

ale_serrat

Brazil

Bad times are for everybody and when they come we have to face it and keep in mind that it will pass and the dawn is coming to make it all cristal clear. We just have to be strong and face the problems.

05:22 PM Feb 19 2013 |

1 person likes this

ola33

ola33

Japan

Walaakd, the dawn will come tomorrow, at 4 a.m.;) But the thing is how to master shining in the dark! ;) Maybe to eat lots of fish? Mercury effect. (kidding)

04:31 PM Feb 19 2013 |

Al-issawi

Al-issawi

Iraq

You will never find someone without any hardship in his/her life and whatever trouble you have, make sure that there is someone elsewhere who has trouble even worse than yours. But however there is a solution to any problem that exists in this universe. Faith, patience, and determination are important elements to overcome any hardship. It is like a universal law that hardship should be followed by ease time

03:56 PM Feb 19 2013 |

 julito

julito

Argentina

walaakd  ... amen

03:44 PM Feb 19 2013 |

1 person likes this

Moriza

Moriza

Ukraine

When I have a bad time and things  get worse,I try to realize that there are lots of people whose lives are or were hundred times harder.For ex. I  think that if humans could overlive  wars, then I,ll cope with my dark days too. Afterwards comes easiness.

03:25 PM Feb 19 2013 |

Fiary

Fiary

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

“NO PAIN ,NO GAIN .” This is a proverb and a proof for this expression as well . So trying and striving in life  is always hard and some times it becomes like a dark night because we try our best but it seems that we can not catch what we want . But we all know that there is nothing impossible for human ,we just need to be optimistic and hopeful . For sure it is always darkest before dawn . Even we have this verse in Quran which says :


” ان مع العسر یسری. فان مع العسر یسری ”. 

12:34 PM Feb 19 2013 |

ola33

ola33

Japan

Why nothing lasts forever? How about love, joy, patience, peace, goodness, kindness, faithfullness, gentleness. Eternal things, aren’t they?

12:16 PM Feb 19 2013 |

Tracy_green

China

So it is going to tell us never losing faith in ourselves. Just keep doing our best for the small or big aims.


 


Things are getting better with our efforts and resolutions.

11:52 AM Feb 19 2013 |

1 person likes this

 julito

julito

Argentina

The truth is that  nothing lasts for ever.As everybody else, I have seen darkest and sunshine days as well. As a shadow , one follows another  ,knowing this, we must not lose  courage  while going through  darkest days.  

11:48 AM Feb 19 2013 |

Englishty

Englishty

Egypt

I think this is right, when everything gets so worse i know it’s gonna get better after a while cause nothing lasts forever neither good nor bad things but we have to do the best we can to fix things not to wait the problems to go away by itself.

10:25 AM Feb 19 2013 |

Talia Do

Talia Do

Viet Nam

The most recent thing when things got worse before they got better that I know is an incident happened to my sister. 
My husband’s younger sister is now living with my husband and me. Last month when my husband and I went overseas, our sister got the task of keeping goal. Howerver things got worse when one day, she came out to hang the wet clothes, a strong wind slammed the door, leaving her outside with nothing but a pile of wet clothes. 
At first, she chose a nice dress among the clothes and put on outside her home clothes and went down stairs to look for a neighbour who she met several times. But the neighbour was not there at the time so she warndering around the neighbourhood to find someone to ask for help.
Then she saw a girl at her age, she tried to borrow some dollars to make a phone call or and to buy a bus ticket to get to her friends’ place. But the girl show her suspicion and did not lend her any money. This made my sister very upset because her pride was hurt. 
She tried to calm down and made herself relaxed by stopping ask for help and walked to the nearest shopping mall for entertainment. She looked for some books in the libraby. And then the tried some make up in a cosmetic store. The spirit was up a little bit but the wet dress and the cold from the ariconditioners made her hungry and so cold that the decided to walked out.


At last she decided to walk to our friends’ home which was two kilometer far from our house. At that time she thought things could not worse because she was so hungry, thirsty and exhausted that she doubted she could get to the place.


Poor my girl. At last the dawn came out when she followed the bus direction and got to my friends’ home before it got dark.


And luckily that the incident happened on the last day of our trip so as soon as I received the news from her that night, I tried my best to get back home at the soonest on the following morning. 


After the incident, we had prepared some solutions to prevent the same things that may happen in the future. 


To me, ‘it is always darkest before the dawn’ refers to human feeling. Imagine that you were in a condition where you had no more hope, things could not be worse. This feeling sometimes are too serious to be seen and we must feel it deeply enough to understand it.


This quotation might refers to a healing process, that every good things that is going to happen always has a bitter taste right before you taste it. 

08:04 AM Feb 19 2013 |

pirate006

pirate006

Turkey

nowadays i im in the darkest waiting for dawn, surely it it will come because after every hardship certainly there is ease:) 

07:59 AM Feb 19 2013 |

1 person likes this

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