The New York Times: Arts
A Conversation With Andre Agassi
The tennis great talks candidly about his life on and off the court with Sam Tanenhaus.
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/11/20/books/1247465759724/a-conversation-with-andre-agassi.html

Vocabulary:
remarkable
sports
autobiography
dislike
exploitative
aspect
Nick Bollettieri
to be coming up
to be coming into
business
wheelbarrow
courts
finals
Alan King tournament
silver dollars
to get drunk with
visual
sparkling
from that day forward
there's no question about it
Eastern Europeans
the American dream
to push one's child
to send s.o. off
notorious
glorified
prison
toughness
harrowing
description
athlete
straight off
to raise oneself
Lord of the Flies
unsupervised
barracks
strict rules
to be punished for
regiment
fatigue
to take a back seat to s.t.
to end up
a rigged system


designed to
unsuccessful
scholars
to educate oneself formally
conflict
to exist
environment
to go off to
Bradenton Academy
to be entitled to
to compensate
remarkable
charter school
youth center
love-hate; hate-love
for the scale to be balanced
as far as...goes
to wake up in a life...
to find oneself in a place
lower-income neighborhoods
broken school system
horrifying thought
teammate
brilliant
co-writer
career
The Tender Bar: A Memoir
escape from
pressures
anticipation of
retirement
to phone s.o. up
to realize
though a Pulitzer's eyes
to set out on a journey together
to labor
Freud
psychology
routines
contradictions
message
to get to s.t.
Image

Listening comprehension questions:
1. a.
Who, briefly, is Andre Agassi, and why is he famous? b. Why is he being interviewed at this time by the New York Times?
2. What two major conflicting feelings did Agassi have about tennis, and why?
3. a. Skim the related article in the NYT to answer this question: How did Agassi "rebel"? b. What is a quick way to find the information asked for in this question without reading the whole article carefully?
4. When and why did Agassi finally start loving tennis?
5. a. What did Agassi describe as "a horrifying thought"? b. Why is it so horrifying?
6. a. What is the name of Agassi's co-author, and how did you find it? b. How did Agassi find his co-author, and what was the great value for Agassi in cooperating with him?
7. Describe what Agassi calls "the power of a story", i.e. what does it mean "to make sense of one's life", and why was it so important for Agassi?
8. a. What is Andre's father's ethnic background? (Check the NYT article.) b. All considered, do you think Andre's father was right to push Andre the way he did, for the reasons he did? Why or why not?
9. How much and what should parents do to help and guide their children careerwise, and what do you think you will do with your own children someday in this area?



Here is another interview with Andre Agassi, from Wisconsin Public Radio, with the theme of "Love/Hate" (optional):

http://www.ttbook.org/book/lovehate
And another on "Open" (optional):
http://www.ttbook.org/listen/5665

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