Listening exercise
NPR: 'Green Book' Helped African-Americans Travel Safely

Talk of the Nation, September 15, 2010
Access audio report from this page:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129885990
The questions only cover the report until about the 8 minute point

Vocabulary:
in part
Jim Crow era
to be defined
African-Americans
towns and cities
to be welcome
on the road
who knew
restaurant
hotel
beauty shop
night club
to slam doors in people's faces
guide
to be published
motorist
to be updated
decades
printed
cover
civil rights leader
Julian Bond
memories
to hear from
to play a role
to join the conversation
web site
NAACP
Lincoln Theater
introduction
combination
pamphlet
to stop to eat
to thumb through a book
postal worker
contacts
postal worker's union
various spots
at its height
to cover
as well as
Barbados
to need s.t. badly
primarily
in the South
segregation
that's not the case


to reach everywhere
to require
to be practiced
updates
revisions
extensive contacts
to pick things up
negro = black = African-American
to run into (problems)
enjoyable
to be a master of
understatement
elegant
to walk down the street
Oh my goodness!
to play a part
to open
Langston Hughes
New York
Washington (D.C.)
to leave s.t. at home
to take s.o. [in as a guest]
to be subpoenaed
to walk down the street
Oh my goodness!
to play a part
to open
Langston Hughes
New York
Washington (D.C.)
to leave s.t. at home
to take s.o. [in as a guest]
to be subpoenaed
House [of Representatives] Un-American Activities Committee
blurb

to exist
Kansas City
on display
mimeographed copy
archives
to belong to
Buck O'Neil
I could imagine how...
jazz musicians
obviously
patrons
baseball players
black communities
in between
Muskogee, Oklahoma
negro leagues
scout
black college
athletes
to recruit
major leagues
barber shop
bar
roadside inn
to take for granted
to extend down to
gas station
advertisement
ads
obviously
commerce
direct marketing
customers
photo ads
occasionally
messages
politicians
communities
entrepreneurial
valuable resource
Jewish
printed
to tend not to
prevalent
to blend in
general population
to carry their religion on their face

Listening comprehension questions:
1. When was the "Jim Crow" era in the US and what was it like for African Americans during that period?
2. What minor mistake did the radio host, Neal Conan, make in introducing his guest?
3. Why was the Green Book necessary, and so useful, for black people in the US in the 1930s through the 1960s?
4. Where did the Green Book get its name?
5. In what parts of the US were black people discriminated against?
6. Where did Mr. Green get the information for updates for his book?
7. Who is Langston Hughes?
8. What state is Kansas City located in?
9. How did the Green book help — and also get some financial support from — black businesses?
10. What other ethnic group mentioned in this broadcast had sometimes been discriminated against by businesses and thus had a book similar to the Green Book?

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