Intro
We all have moments of emotional craziness. Sometimes we feel so upset that we want to scream. Some of us are able to control ourselves. Some of us are not. Elton John admits that he is very emotional and has a hard time controlling himself. Alicia Silverstone has thrown her share of tempermental fits. Mike Tyson can’t control his rage.
Do you think celebrities have more emotional fits than the rest of us?
Listen to John and Dave talk about it.
Dialogue
Dave: Did you hear about Russell Crowe throwing hes cell phone at some, some journalist a couple weeks ago?
John：Yeah, I did. What caused that?
Dave: Yeah, I’m not sure. I don’t know. Who knows with Russell Crowe? He’s such a spoiled brat.
John: Yeah, he’s always doing stuff like that, right?
Dave: Yeah, just having temper tantrums in public. When the movie Gladiator came out a few years ago. Chris Rock was poking fun at him. They’d cut to a shot of him in the audience and you could see him just getting really frustrated.
John: Yeah, it’s kind of like Mike Tyson in a way, where he gets a little frustrated and takes it out with some violence or something..
Dave: Yeah.
John: Didn’t he take a baseball bat to someone’s windshield?
Dave: Yeah, a couple years ago some guy rear-ended him in traffic. And he got out of his car, took a baseball bat from the trunk and started pounding the guy’s windshield.
John: Yeah, I wonder what cause that. It’s just Being used to getting everything that you want.
Dave: Yeah, Being a celebrity, you’re a real ego maniac.
John: And you’re catered to all the time.
Dave: Always, always.
Discussion
Russell Crowe is famous for his bad attitude. He has yelled at and threatened reporters, gotten himself into fights and even hit a hotel employee with a telephone, He admits that he has a hard time controlling his anger.
But the king of public temper tantrums has to be tennis great John Mc ENROE. He has yelled at referees, thrown his tennis racket, stomped around the tennis court and even hit a tennis ball at a lineswoman.(Russell Crowe threw the phone at a hotel employee, not at a journalist, as Dave says in the conversation.)
Vocab
Frustrated
Definition
Adj. Unhappy, stressed or slightly angry
Examples
I’m really frustrated with my math class. I study all the time, but I don’t do well on the tests.
Rear-ended
Definition
v. crash into the back of someone’s car
Examples
Some guy rear-ended me last week. It really hurt my neck. And my car is being fixed right now.
Ego maniac
Definition
n. thinking that you are the most important person; thinking that you are number one or more special than others
Examples
Do you think most celebrities are ego maniacs?
Catered to
Definition
Adj. Served; taken care of
Ever since he won the lottery, people have catered to him, hoping that he’ll share the wealth.
Tempermental
Definition
Adj. Bad attitude; feeling angry or upset
Examples
He’s really tempermental right now. Leave him alone for a while so he can calm down.
Journalist
Definition
n. person who writes about news, usually for a newspaper, magazine or website
Examples
My brother is a journalist. He works for the New York Times
Spoiled brat
Definition
n. a person with a bad attitude, who wants everything done for him; a person who gets everything he/she wants
Examples
My brother is a spoiled brat. He never cleans and expects me to do his laundry.
Temper tantrum
Definition
n. a fit of bad temper; childish, angry behavior, such as stomping your feet, screaming and hitting things
Examples
I saw this little boy have a temper tantrum at the mall today.
Poking fun
Definition
v. teasing or making fun of
Examples
Stop poking fun at him. He’s going to cry.
