{"id":3966,"date":"2016-08-26T21:19:21","date_gmt":"2016-08-27T03:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/?p=3966"},"modified":"2023-09-06T20:42:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T02:42:53","slug":"a-bad-night-for-ryan-lochte-in-rio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/a-bad-night-for-ryan-lochte-in-rio\/","title":{"rendered":"ryan lochte’s terrible night in rio at the 2016 olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

ryan lochte<\/strong> is one of the most decorated olympians ever.\u00a0 but his presence\u00a0at the rio olympics will be forever connected to the\u00a0altercation he and three teammates had at a gas station.<\/p>\n

\"lochte<\/h6>\n
ryan lochte pointing at what made him famous<\/em><\/h6>\n

lochte’s original explanation of the incident didn’t mention a gas station. supposedly\u00a0he and his friends\u00a0were\u00a0robbed at gunpoint. rio’s police chief denied this account, but his version of events\u00a0also raised<\/a> doubts, specifically that the swimmers vandalized\u00a0the gas station restroom. \u00a0gradually over the past two weeks the media has attempted to construct a clearer picture of what happened.<\/p>\n

fun esl practice\u00a0\":)\"\u00a0richyrocks english on youtube<\/a><\/h4>\n

this headline from an article<\/a> by steve tobak<\/strong> at\u00a0foxbusiness.com <\/strong>asks<\/p>\n

What Did Ryan Lochte Really Do?<\/h1>\n

tobak describes himself as a<\/p>\n

former<\/em> high-tech executive who made a living travelling to foreign countries and negotiating high-stakes<\/a><\/em> deals with big corporations<\/h4>\n

former<\/strong><\/em> means that’s what he used to do<\/a><\/em>. high-stakes<\/strong><\/em> means important<\/em> or worth a lot of money<\/em>.\u00a0he offers this detail about himself as evidence that he knows what it’s like to do something stupid in a foreign country and have to deal with the language barrier.<\/p>\n

\"lochte<\/h6>\n
lochte on a surveillance video from the gas station where all the trouble started<\/em><\/h6>\n

summarizing the information now available about what lochte and his friends did, tobak said<\/p>\n

it now appears that nobody actually<\/em> entered the gas station restroom, let alone<\/em> broke down<\/em> the door and vandalized a mirror and a soap dispenser, as the rio police chief claimed<\/em> at a news conference. and it seems the four swimmers were shaken down<\/em> by police with guns moonlighting<\/em> as security guards.<\/h4>\n

actually<\/strong><\/em><\/a> means in fact<\/em>, it has no connection to time. it is NOT the same as actualmente<\/em> in spanish. let alone<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0means much less. lochte was accused of breaking down the door of the restroom at the gas station, but he and his friends didn’t even use the restroom. \u00a0so he definitely didn’t break down the door. \u00a0break down<\/strong><\/em> means open or remove the door by force<\/em>. claim<\/em><\/strong><\/a> means say but without verfication<\/em>. \u00a0shake down<\/strong><\/em> means extort<\/em>. moonlight<\/strong><\/em> refers to working a second job.<\/p>\n

\"breaking<\/h6>\n
apparently noboby actually<\/span> tried to break down<\/span> the restroom door at the gas station in rio.<\/em><\/h6>\n

again, based on\u00a0his own personal experience, tobak defends lochte<\/p>\n

granted<\/em>, you might not call that being robbed at gunpoint, as lochte originally claimed<\/em>, but then, i bet<\/em> you\u2019ve never had a gun pointed at you or been threatened<\/em> by police in a foreign country, as i have. let me tell you, it feels just like that. it\u2019s pretty<\/em> scary stuff.<\/h4>\n

by using granted<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, tobak concedes<\/em> that lochte overstated\u00a0what happened when he first told the story. \u00a0i bet<\/strong><\/em> indicates a high probability. \u00a0threaten<\/strong><\/em><\/a> means the police were trying to intimidate<\/em> the swimmers. \u00a0pretty<\/em><\/strong><\/a> can mean different levels of intensity depending on context and tone. \u00a0in this example, pretty<\/span> scary<\/em> is\u00a0scarier than average.<\/p>\n

\"michael<\/h6>\n
ryan lochte (right) poses with michael phelps at the athens olympics in 2004.<\/em><\/h6>\n

tobak minimizes lochte’s embellishment<\/strong><\/em> (exaggeration) of what happened, even reducing it to an afterthought<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

almost forgot: he also exaggerated the story. but then, who hasn\u2019t in this sordid<\/em> mess?<\/h4>\n

sordid<\/strong><\/em> means ugly, dirty<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"wwrld\"
lochte’s 2013 reality show<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

and tobak used 3rd conditional<\/strong> to suggest an easier solution to the problem was available<\/p>\n

had lochte kept <\/em>his mouth shut, nobody would have known<\/em> what happened.<\/h4>\n

but the fact is, lochte\u00a0didn’t<\/span> keep his mouth shut. he threw the city of rio under the bus\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(blamed them), probably in a drunk moment of anger and payback, and the negative publicity the city received leading up to<\/a> the olympics made his story seem credible for an hour or two.<\/p>\n

\"lochte's<\/h6>\n
lochte biting the gold medal he won in rio (jason getz-usa today sports)<\/em><\/h6>\n

steve tobak’s article gives the impression that the bad guys in this whole mess were the rio police. but ryan showed remorse when he came clean<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(told the truth) about still being pretty<\/em> fucked up<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(intoxicated) when he first told the story to the media.<\/p>\n

\"lochte<\/h6>\n
an apologetic ryan lochte talks with matt lauer. (today.com)<\/em><\/h6>\n

ryan apologized\u00a0in an interview with nbc’s matt lauer<\/strong>. tobak believes lochte’s apology.<\/p>\n

i\u2019ve heard some commentators call the interview where lochte talked openly about what really happened an insincere non-apology<\/a>. they must have been watching<\/em> a different video than the one I saw.<\/h4>\n

must<\/em><\/strong> in the past here (also a past modal) is sarcastic. \u00a0he knows everyone saw the same video. they just disagree on its sincerity.<\/p>\n

\nhttp:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/lochte-interview-with-matt-lauer.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

in this clip from the apology, matt lauer recognizes the negativity that that rio dealt with<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(faced) going into the games and how it was magnified by ryan, a high-profile u.s. athlete saying he was held up<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(robbed) at gunpoint. ryan apologizes for tarnishing<\/strong><\/em> (diminishing the value of) the great olympics that they put on\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(hosted).<\/p>\n

\"tarnished<\/h6>\n
tarnish<\/span> is used to describe metal that isn’t shiny anymore.<\/em><\/h6>\n

what are your feelings about this story? should ryan lochte be punished? do u believe his apology?\u00a0share your perspective under leave a reply<\/strong><\/p>\n