#14:  The Vanishing of Sidney Hall (Trailer)

Instructions:  Listen to the youtube video below and fill in the missing words (or write your answers on a piece of paper). Beginners can use the list of missing words and phrases, but advanced students should try to fill in the blanks just by listening to the video (without looking at the list of missing words and phrases).  The answers are given at the end of the lesson.

Main Features:  This video has the following important features:

1) The initial "h" sound is often weak or silent, such as in the words "he" ("ee"), "him" ("im") and "has" ("as").  You will hear these words 4 times in this video. 
2) The word "to" can sound like "ta", "da" or "na".  You will hear these sounds 6 times in such phrases as "has to" ("has ta"), "be sure to" ("be sure da"), "going to" ("gonna") and "want to" ("wanna"). 
3) The word "of" often sounds like "uh" after a consonant (that is, the final "v" sound is silent).  You'll hear this in the phrases "one of the" ("one uh the") and "a sign of the times" ("a sign uh the times").
4) The combination of the word "is" plus "this" or "that" often sounds like "iz zis" or "iz zat".

Missing Words and Phrases (15):  About him {about im}; be sure to {be sure da}; can {ken}; for him for years {fer him fer years}; going to {gonna}; has {as}; has to {has ta}; he {ee} (2 times); is that {iz zat}; one of the {one uh the}; sign of the {sign uh the}; to {ta}; want to {wanna}; why do you {Why d'you}.



Tell me if this sounds familiar.  A man walks into a store.  He searches for a certain section of books.  He takes out a can of lighter fluid.  I know why he burned the books.
Why?
Because he wrote them.
Sidney Hall -- one of the best writers of our time.  I've been searching _________________.
I wonder if you'd know this man.
Sidney was one of our brightest students.  He was brilliant.
What if I wrote a novel?
What would it be about?



{0:37} Is your name Melody?  No, no, no, wait!  __________ keep running away from me?
Because it's fun.
You've been #1 on the best-seller list {1} for 8 months.
I'm seeing things... Things that aren't there.
I really _______ write something that's ________ shake people up {2}.
You should get on that {3}.  __________ take me with you.
You should write about me.  You know who my father is.
It doesn't mean I should write a book _________.
You'll be singing a different tune {4} tomorrow.
What happens tomorrow?
This book is a dangerous ___________ times.
How do you feel about the book burnings?
I apologize for nothing.



{1:21} I'm being followed and I don't know what _____ wants, but _____ knows everything about me.
No one _____ claimed to see or hear from Sidney Hall in over five years.  Now how _______ possible?
Everywhere I go, he's with me.
{You were} __________ last people _____ see him alive.  If that's not a beginning to a great book, I don't know what is.
The entire course of a person's life _____ change in a millisecond.
This ______ end.
Sidney, what's going on?
What is this?
{Unclear, maybe this:  "This is not what you think."}
Give me the information about Sidney Hall and you will never see me again.

Notes:

{1} The best-seller list = The New York Times best-seller list is a list of best-selling books in the USA.  It has been published since 1931.
{2} To shake people up = To cause people to wake up from their lethargy, apathy, or complacency.
{3} You should get on that =  You should start doing that.
{4} To sing a different tune = To change your ideas, thoughts, beliefs, etc.

Answers:

1) for him for years {fer him fer years}
2) Why do you {Why d'you}
3) want to {wanna}
4) going to {gonna}
5) Be sure to {be sure da}
6) about him {about im}
7) sign of the {sign uh the}
8) he {ee}
9) he {ee}
10) has {as}
11) is that {iz zat}
12) one of the {one uh the}
13) to {ta}
14) can {ken}
15) has to {has ta}