Listen to News ~ dateline: 18 October 2011
Bystanders Pass By Toddler After Hit And Run
Pre-Listening Vocabulary
- bystander: a person who is at the scene of an incident but does not participate
- hit-and-run: an accident in which the person who caused it flees the scene
- surveillance video: video footage caught by security cameras
- wandered away: left a location without a plan
- toddler: a young child between 1-2 years of age
- cling: to hold tightly
Bystanders Pass By Toddler after Hit and Run
Comprehension Questions
- Why are people in China outraged by the footage?
- How did the child end up in the road?
- Who finally helped the child get out of harm’s way?
Discussion Question: What do you think you would do in a situation like this? Why do you think so many people (at least 17) passed by without helping?
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Bystanders Pass By Toddler after Hit and Run
People in China are outraged after a video of a hit-and-run was released to the media. The footage shows a two-year-old girl being hit by two vehicles last Friday evening. The first vehicle stopped briefly, but fled the scene. The surveillance video also shows several people walking or cycling by, but doing nothing to help the toddler. The child had wandered away from her family near a hardware market. After several minutes, a garbage collector pulled the child to safety and called out for help. The child’s mother arrived on the scene and rushed the toddler to the hospital. Doctors said the child was in critical condition, but clinging to life.
- People in China are outraged because the video shows several bystanders doing nothing to help the child.
- The child wandered away from her family and ended up in the road.
- A trash collector finally helped the child get out of harm’s way.
Written by Tara Benwell for EnglishClub.com
Tara Benwell is a Canadian freelance writer and editor who specializes in materials and articles for the ELT industry.
