Naked and Afraid

Intro

One night, you have a nightmare. You dream that you must survive in the wild. You’re naked. You are not allowed to have clothes, food, water, or a map. Oh, and you must live with a naked stranger for these three weeks! You must find food and water together, and you must help each other to survive. Does this sound like a scary nightmare? Surprise! It’s not a dream. It’s actually a TV show called Naked and Afraid!

Reality TV is very popular now. It’s cheaper to make a reality TV show than a TV show with real actors. But if everyone is making reality TV, it’s hard to be different and get good ratings. That’s why Naked and Afraid is a show about being naked in the wilderness. It’s different than other reality TV shows. Some people even think it’s staged. Can two people really survive like this? Watch the show, and let us know what you think.

Marni and Andy are talking about Naked and Afraid. Listen to this English lesson to find out what they think about the show.

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Dialogue

Andy_H: One man. One woman. Twenty one days with no food, water, shelter, or clothes. 

Marni:  Oh! You’re talking about my personal nightmare. Naked and Afraid.

Andy_H:  Yes, I am! I mean, how amazing have we gotten nowadays to where reality television has to put two naked people in the wild just for…

Marni:  For ratings?

Andy_H:  For ratings!

Marni:  I find it fascinating. It seems terrifying to me because I absolutely hate being naked. Can you imagine being filmed in front of a stranger naked and trying to survive in the wilderness? It seems so dangerous to me. But you are allowed one survival tool. What would you choose as your survival tool?

Andy_H:  I was a Boy Scout. I feel like I could craft all kinds of tools to keep dangerous things away, so a Firestarter is definitely what I would choose.

Marni:  That’s what I’m thinking.

Andy_H:  I mean, if you’re going to be naked, might as well be warm.

Marni:  That’s what I’m thinking too. Then I wonder, is this just staged? 

Andy_H:  At some point in the filming, it’s going to be staged. I mean, it’s reality television, but let’s be real. They’re naked, and they’re afraid. What else could you hope for?

Marni:  I guess that’s true.

Andy_H:  Let’s go watch.

Marni:  Alright!

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Discussion

Marni does not want to be alone with a naked stranger in the wild. She does not want to survive in the wilderness for twenty-one days with no food, water, or shelter. Being on the TV show Naked and Afraid is Marni’s personal nightmare. She believes the show just wants to get good ratings, and it might even be staged.

Andy was a Boy Scout, so he’s not afraid of the wilderness. He could craft different tools to help him survive. If Andy went on this TV show, he would be allowed to bring one survival tool. He would bring a Firestarter, which Marni thinks is a good idea. It’s not important to Andy if the show is staged or not because he still wants to watch it no matter what.

Do you spend a lot of time in the wild? Could you survive there for three weeks?

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Grammar Point

Passive Voice  

Marni doesn’t want to be on the TV show Naked and Afraid. She asks Andy, “Can you imagine being filmed in front of a stranger naked and trying to survive in the wilderness?” Marni uses the passive voice.

Sometimes you say things like, “My bike was stolen,” or, “The boy was given a gift.” But who stole my bike? Who gave the boy a gift? You aren’t sure. That’s why you use the passive voice, which emphasizes the person or thing an action was done to, not the one who did the action.

Passive voice is normally formed with to be + a past participle, as in, “Chris was hired yesterday.” You can use the passive voice in any tense by changing the form of ‘to be.’ For instance, you can say, “My cookie was eaten” (past tense) or, “My cookie is being eaten” (present progressive tense).

In Marni’s sentence, we don’t know who is doing the filming. It’s not important. We don’t care what happens behind the camera but rather what happens in front of the camera. What’s important is that the action, filming, is being done to someone. “Can you imagine being filmed in front of a stranger naked and trying to survive in the wilderness?” In this sentence, the verb imagine is followed by be in the gerund, or - ing, form and then by the past participle, filmed.

When you want to include the one who performed the action in a passive voice sentence, you use the word ‘by’ after the verb. For instance, “Danny will be picked up by his mother today.”

Sometimes, the verb ‘to get’ is used instead of ‘to be,’ as in “My sister got sick last night.”

Which is correct, “The cat were chased by the dogs,” or, “The cats were chased by the dog”?

Vocab

nightmare n.

Definition

bad experience

Example

Going to the dentist was a nightmare. I was there for 3 hours!

survive v.

Definition

live; stay alive

Example

Most deer don’t survive the winter.

wild n.

Definition

nature; area with no people

Example

I don’t like the wild. I think it’s a dangerous place.

allowed adj.

Definition

permitted; able to have or do

Example

We aren’t allowed to bring backpacks into the movie theater.

stranger n.

Definition

unknown person; person with whom one does not have a relationship

Example

My mother told me not to take candy from a stranger.

ratings n.

Definition

measure of popularity or approval; polls

Example

The ratings for the TV show ER were very high last year. Millions of people watched every week.

wilderness n.

Definition

forest, outdoors

Example

We camped in the wilderness for two weeks last summer.

staged adj.

Definition

not real, fake

Example

Some people think the moon landing was staged.

Boy Scout n.

Definition

member of an outdoor adventure program for young men

Example

I was a Boy Scout. I still remember how to start a fire with no matches.

craft v.

Definition

make with one’s hands

Example

He can craft a canoe from a log.