summary and response

“First they’ll come for the burkas” 1
 2


Editorial, Los Angeles Times 3
 July 24, 2011 4



5
 Before reading the passage, please do the following: 6


• Go to the file called “pre-reading activity “ and anwer the questions. For 7
 this activity, there is no right or wrong answer. The activity is designed to 8
 get you to think about the topic, and to use information you may already 9
 have to help you understand the reading. 10


• When you have completed the “pre-reading” activity, you may return to 11
 this document to read the grammar note and the vocabulary explanations 12
 before you read the passage. 13


14
 Please read the grammar note and the vocabulary or expressions information 15
 carefully before reading the passage. 16



17
 Grammar Note: In this article, you will find the author presents information that he considers constant or ongoing. Therefore, he most often uses two verb tenses which provide this information in two ways:

1. Simple Present tense FORM: uses the base form of a verb, for example: tell, walk, build One exception within this tense is the third-person singular form (he, she, it, or a singular subject, such as. cat, house, tree), which requires –s at the end. So in this way, tell becomes he tells; walk becomes she walks; and build becomes the contractor builds. The most common reasons for using simple present tense are:

 Some action happens all the time (habitually) (People work every day.)  A statement of fact (The sun rises in the east.)  A command (Go away!)

2. Present Progressive tense FORM: Uses the verb to be in its present form (am, is, are) with the main verb +ing (I am telling ; he is walking; they are building) The most common reasons for using present progressive tense are:

 Some activity that is happening right now (You are reading this.)  Some activity that is happening over the current general time period (He

is traveling through Asia this summer.) 
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Some expressions you may not immediately recognize Expression or Vocabulary item Meaning Starlets: attractive, young female movie actresses Dress code: standards for clothing Slippery slope: to begin something that may have negative

outcomes Ogled and objectified: to stare at as a sexual object Curling payos, yamulkes, prayer shawls:

hair style, hat and stole worn by Orthodox Jews

fashion statement: to have clothing be noticed ____________________________________
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20
 READING: 21
 Read the following article, thinking about the previous ideas, that is, what you 22
 already know about this topic, how the language is used to discuss actions that 23
 are happening constantly or over this period, and which expressions may be 24
 confusing for you: 25


26
 “First they’ll come for the burkas” 27


28
 Editorial, Los Angeles Times 29


July 24, 2011 30
 31


Every summer when the temperature goes up, people start stripping down. At the 32
 risk of sounding like a prude, I find it unseemly. Toddlers look cute in just a pair 33
 of shorts. Middle- aged men do not. Most women don’t look good in shorts, 34
 period. 35
 36
 Yes, there are starlets strutting down Sunset Boulevard beautiful in little short-37
 shorts, but they’re the exception. I don’t see them at my local grocery store 38
 leaning over the frozen food case. What I see reaching for the ice cream is just 39
 way too much. I’m not talking about age. I’m not talking about weight. I’m just 40
 asking for modesty. I don’t want to be confronted with body parts best seen only 41
 by your doctor. 42
 43
 But America is a free country, and imposing any kind of dress code starts us 44
 down a very slippery slope. 45
 46
 I was hiking in Griffith Park with a friend and she told me how happy she was 47
 about the law in France prohibiting Islamic full-face veils in public. I was appalled. 48
 It’s freedom of religion, I said, and freedom of speech. It’s oppression of women, 49
 she replied. How do you know? I asked. 50
 51
 At that moment, two young women jogged past us in tiny, stretchy shorts and 52
 bikini tops. Nothing was left to the imagination. They were fit and attractive, but I 53
 found myself thinking I’d almost rather my teenage daughter wore a burka. One 54


outfit is as extreme as the other. Both get second and third looks. Each conveys 55
 an image of the woman wearing it, a supposition that may or may not be true. 56
 As for oppression, what sort of response will the girls in bikinis get, especially 57
 from men? To be ogled and objectified doesn’t do much for women’s equality. 58
 You could argue, as my friend did, neither does a religion that requires women to 59
 be completely covered. But in a democratic society, America or France, people 60
 should be free to wear whatever they want. 61
 62
 Driving in the Fairfax district, I love to watch Orthodox Jewish families walking to 63
 temple. The men in their long coats and big hats, the women in tailored suits and 64
 wigs, and especially the little boys with curling payos and yarmulkes and the 65
 tassels of their prayer shawls flapping. 66
 67
 There is a Buddhist temple in my neighborhood, and the monks wear wonderful 68
 orange robes and shave their heads, men and women alike. 69
 70
 I lived in Utah for seven years, and Mormon “garments,” worn under clothing, 71
 cover more skin than what most people wear in my Trader Joe’s. I would find 72
 their nylon jumpsuits oppressive, but it’s none of my business. 73
 74
 If we outlaw burkas, then we should ban all manner of religious dress, including 75
 nuns’ habits and priests’ collars. And if we’re suppressing that personal 76
 expression, where will it end? 77
 78
 A 20-year-old college football player got on a plane in San Francisco reportedly 79
 wearing his pants so low his whole butt – in tight black briefs, according to one 80
 account – showed. I don’t know how he walked to his seat, but it was a fashion 81
 statement: He must have thought he looked cool. A flight attendant took 82
 exception and asked him to pull up his pants. What happened next is in some 83
 dispute, but eventually he was arrested. He missed his flight, but he wasn’t 84
 charged. 85
 86
 Just days earlier, same airline, an older man, white-haired, got on a flight wearing 87
 blue women’s underwear, a matching spaghetti-strap, midriff-baring top, a 88
 cropped see-through sweater and black thigh highs and high heels. Airline 89
 personnel didn’t say a word. 90
 91
 Now, it was the white-haired man’s right to look ridiculous (up to a point, which 92
 no one has said he crossed), but the same right was not extended to the football 93
 player. Was it because the football player was black? Was it because he was 94
 young? Was it because he looked “gangsta”? The flight attendant made a 95
 judgment based at least in part on a pair of sagging sweatpants. Isn’t that 96
 repression? 97
 98
 When does one person’s “expression” become more important than another’s? 99
 An 11-year-old was sent home from school for wearing a T-shirt that read 100


“Obama a Terrorist’s Best Friend.” If another kid wore a shirt reading “Obama the 101
 Best President Ever,” some might disagree, but who would prevent him from 102
 sharing his opinion? 103
 104
 At the mall some years ago I passed a young woman wearing a T-shirt bearing a 105
 vulgar message about President Bush almost impossible to explain to your 9-106
 year-old. But I absolutely defend her right to wear it. 107
 I think France is wrong. President Nicolas Sarkozy said, “The full veil is contrary 108
 to the dignity of women,” but laws about what we can and cannot wear degrade 109
 everyone’s dignity. 110
 111
 Yes, I wish my across-the-street neighbor would put on a shirt when he stands in 112
 his driveway to smoke a cigarette. His sweaty chest hair over man-boobs is a 113
 sight I could live without. But then I remind myself: Summer won’t last forever. 114



115
 End of reading 116


117


Now that you have read the passage, go to the file (in Blackboard) entitled 118
 “Comprehension Check Activity” and answer the questions. You may refer back 119
 to the article to answer the questions. The questions have points to allow you to 120
 see how well you have understood the reading.
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