Listening comprehension exercise:
Oprah: After the Show
Go to: http://www.oprah.com/tows/after/tows_after_all.jhtml
and choose from the menu:
Incredible Stories of Survival, Part Two
(You can use either RealPlayer or Windows Media Player to watch the video)

Vocabulary:
difficult experiences
to speak to s.o. in whispers
when you don't get the whisper
pebble
brick
brick wall
tornado
connected
energy
to realize
Tyler
pin
sweet boy
resilient
inspiration
to realize
to be buried
powerful
to remind you of
a small potato with an Afro
connection
courage
to respond to
to mirror itself
to go through s.t.
resilience
voyeur
"Oh my God" moment
storms
trials
test
to spend
jungle
life experience
seminar
to try get it in a whisper
fifth tornado
(note use of Black dialect)
physical
to control
to get
to be thick about something
I'm just meant to do s.t.
normal
to hold a world's record
to run a video
fire in Rhode Island
to manage to be
in a fetal position
to bring back memories
to shut it out
to watch
 Nickelodeon
to get s.o. through s.t.
to have one's priorities straight
the fact that
to survive
regardless of your beliefs
you're supposed to
almost drowned
to be hit by a car
to have a motorcycle accident
almost died in a fire
to pay attention to
to appreciate life more
amazing
to be thrown from
trailer
to be wedged
a Y of a tree
Christmas, Florida
Daytona Regency
to get moved out of
to hit
to make it out of
to speak to you
in a profound way

Questions:
1. This video was filmed after a whole show on the given topic, so we don't know exactly what was discussed; but what can you infer about the show's content based on this video and the title?
2. What does Oprah mean when she says, "God always speaks in a whisper first." What do you think Oprah means by "God"?
3. What metaphors does she use to describe further "reminders" to us from "God" when we don't pay attention to the "whisper"?
4. What does Oprah say is the better way to learn important life lessons?
5. What kinds of things does Oprah consider "important" in life?
6. What does Oprah believe is the positive thing about having something bad happen to you?
7. What does Oprah say about her being "discovered"?
8. What does it mean to be "a little thick" about something? What is a "Y of a tree"?
9. List the accidents that the second male speaker, Mike, describes having had.
10. When in the video does Oprah revert to Black English dialect pronunciation? (This dialect is now usually called AAVE: African American Vernacular English.)
11. Do you think the view that life events are meant to teach us important things is a reasonable one? Or is it a naïve and romantic one that refuses to recognize the hard fact that things happen to us purely by chance, without any identifiable or guiding 'purpose'? (Oprah would certainly agree with this quote from George Washington Carver, black scientist 1865-1943: "Nature is an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we only will tune in." - do you?)

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