motorcycle bikers rally
American Culture: Bikers
Vocabulary
| noise | literally | phenomenal |
| worth | record (3) | permanent |
| biker | enthusiast | ride/rode/ridden |
| expert | invade (2) | from all over |
| rally | annual | come/came/come |
| crowd | seasonal | that is (i.e.) |
| expect | compare | break/broke/broken |
| attend | variety | look around |
| tattoo | roar (2) | nothing short of |
| fun | lifestyle | celebration |
| renew | concern | bring/brought/brought |
| region | normal | public health |
| rate | infection | sweep/swept/swept (2) |
| rarely | skyrocket | vaccination |
| event | spread | think/thought/thought (2) |
| mayor | amount | come/came/come |
| hill | pump (2) | at this point |
| stay | variant | at this time |
| worry | point (3) | low/lower/lowest |
| harm | chance | personally |
| fear | concern | whatsoever |
| germ | virus (3) | breathe (2) |
| mask | stall (2) | discussion |
| flu | thing (2) | virtually (2) |
| sick | free (3) | get/got/got-gotten |
| choice | freedom | make/made/made (2) |
| afraid | right (5) | I don’t give a |
| bro | resident | experience |
| risk | kind of | vast majority |
| vast | outdoors |
Video: American Culture: Bikers
Transcript
Everything roars in Sturgis, a small town in the western part of South Dakota, that is making a lot of noise these day. Literally.
Sturgis is home to just about seven-thousand permanent residents. That is until motorcycle riders and enthusiast, for short, bikers, from all over the country invade this normally quiet town for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
Female Biker, One: “Sturgis? Who doesn’t like it?”
The crowd that comes here lives and breathes motorcycles. A record-breaking seven-hundred thousand (700,000) or more people are expected this year, because attendees say, nothing compares (to this).
Male Biker, Two: “Look around: beautiful motorcycles, interesting-looking people, interesting food. The variety around here is nothing short of phenomenal.”
Motorcycles. Tattoos. Food. And FUN.
A lifestyle celebration that also brings renewed concerns from public health experts.
The covid-19 Delta variant is sweeping the country. Infection rates are skyrocketing in many places, while vaccination rates are largely stalling.
Could this year’s event become a super-spreader event?
The mayor of Sturgis doesn’t think so.
Mark Carstensen, Mayor of Sturgis: “Well, since about May, the amount of visitors coming in Sturgis and the Black Hills has been a lot already. There’s people that have been here. A lot of people stayed.
There’s not much we can do at this point and time.”
The rally pumps about eight-hundred million dollars ($800,000,000) in the city and the region.
Local business owner Amy Groves isn’t worried at all that the Delta variant will harm her community or its visitors.
Amy Groves, Sturgis Business Owner: “We’re still living. We don’t have a fear. Yes, we have germ controls, but we don’t need to live in masks and be afraid.
And no: I personally don’t have any concerns. It’s a real thing, but so is the flu every year. There’s a lot of seasonal viruses.
We just do the best we can and keep living. But the people coming in, I very rarely see any discussion on it or concern.”
There is virtually ZERO concern whatsoever about getting sick or making others sick with covid. During the rally, Sturgis is a mask-free zone. And vaccinated or not, for people here, it’s all about their freedom, their choice and their right to take chances with the virus.
Male with Beard, Three: “I don’t want the camera on me, but I don’t give a f***.”
Journalist: “You don’t want the camera on you?”
Male with Beard, Four: “If you’re young, you have no problems, bro. If you’re young and in good health, why do you need a mask?”
Female Biker, Five: “Yeah, we’ve both had covid.”
Journalist: “And you didn’t want to get vaccinated after that?”
Male with Hat and Gray Beard: “No. No.”
Journalist: “It wasn’t that bad an experience?”
Male with Hat and Gray Beard: “No. There’s a bad experience, but not worth getting vaccinated over.”
Female Biker, Five: “Kind of like the flu.”
Male Biker, Six: “People here are probably, the vast majority are vaccinated. They’re outdoors, which is the lowest risk.
No one knows yet if Sturgis will become a super-spreader event. Mask, no-mask, vaccinated, or not, people here don’t seem to care much.
Welcome to Sturgis, the right, the roar, the rally.
Questions
World, Planet, Earth. Sturgis, South Dakota is a large city. True or false?
Continent. Are all the bikers locals? Do all the bikers come from the state of South Dakota?
Country. At the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, only motorcycles were featured. Is this right or wrong?
State, Province. For the participants and visitors, is the Motorcycle Rally fantastic, great, okay, or dull and boring?
County. Are the attendees, participants, visitors and locals worried about covid-19 and the delta variant?
Metropolitan Area. Do the residents of Sturgis resent and dislike all the bikers coming to their town? How do they feel about all these bikers?
City, Urban Area. Do the participants, attendees and visitors wear masks and practice social distancing?
Suburbs, Outskirts. The attendees compare covid to cancer and heart disease. Is this correct or incorrect?
North America. Is this your impression of the (true, real) United States and Americans? Is this your stereotypical image of the United State and Americans? Would you like to live or visit Sturgis, South Dakota?
District, Quarter. Do people ride motorcycles in your town, city, region or country? Are motorcycles popular?
City Center. Are there some people in your nation similar to bikers in the United States?
Village, Town. Are there rallies, festivals and celebrations in your town, city, region or country?
Country, Rural Area. What do people think of covid-19? Are the very worried and concerned, people don’t care, in the middle or it depends?
Farm, Ranch. What might happen in the future?
Wilderness, Nature, Environment. What should governments and people do?
