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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Spotslight. I'm Marina Santi.

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<v Speaker 2>And I'm Colin Louva. Spotlight uses a special English method

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<v Speaker 2>of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no

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<v Speaker 2>matter where in the world they live.

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<v Speaker 3>I made big mistakes before, but never this big, and

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<v Speaker 3>I never regretted anything I did before.

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<v Speaker 1>Derek looked at the jail walls surrounding him. He put

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<v Speaker 1>his head in his hands. How did he get into

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<v Speaker 1>this predicament?

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<v Speaker 2>Have you ever been in a predicament, a bad situation?

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<v Speaker 2>Have you asked yourself? How did I get here? People

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<v Speaker 2>face difficult situations every day, and often they do not

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<v Speaker 2>know how it happened they are in a predicament. In

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<v Speaker 2>other Spotlight programs, we looked at Rick Warren's answers to

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<v Speaker 2>difficult questions in life. Rick is a famous Christian leader

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<v Speaker 2>and advisor. Today we look at some of his answers

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<v Speaker 2>to the question how did I get into this predicament?

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<v Speaker 2>Here is Derek's story.

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<v Speaker 1>Derek was only fourteen years old when he joined a gang,

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<v Speaker 1>a group of young people who perform crimes. They may

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<v Speaker 1>steal cars, sell drugs, and even hurts other people. Gang

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<v Speaker 1>members are often troubled young people. They may feel alone

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<v Speaker 1>in life. They want friends. Derek was one of these

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<v Speaker 1>young men. The gang members became his friends and he

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<v Speaker 1>felt important. He felt that he was a part of something. However,

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<v Speaker 1>when he was sixteen, his life changed completely.

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<v Speaker 2>Derek was at a New Year's Eve party. He was

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<v Speaker 2>there with his gang members, but an enemy gang was there.

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<v Speaker 2>Two One of the enemy gang members, Tim, insulted Derek.

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<v Speaker 2>Derek felt disrespected, and even worse, it was in front

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<v Speaker 2>of his friends. Derek could not accept such a public insult.

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<v Speaker 2>He remembers that time.

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<v Speaker 3>My friends looked at me. I pulled the gun from

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<v Speaker 3>under my clothes and Tim froze. He did not move.

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<v Speaker 3>I liked the feeling I had. It was a sense

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<v Speaker 3>of power. Tim begged and cried for me not to

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<v Speaker 3>shoot him, but I pulled the trigger of the gun.

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<v Speaker 3>He fell to the ground and my friends ran away.

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<v Speaker 3>Then I understood that they were not really my friends.

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<v Speaker 3>I stayed there alone. I waited for the police to arrive.

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<v Speaker 3>Then I admitted that I shot Tim. Thankfully, Tim lived.

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<v Speaker 3>The bullets missed his heart, so I was sent to

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<v Speaker 3>jail for twelve years.

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<v Speaker 1>That's nice changed Derek. He understood that the gang members

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<v Speaker 1>were not truly his friends. He was all alone. Derek

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<v Speaker 1>was in a bad situation. He was there partly because

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<v Speaker 1>of his behavior, and he was there partly because of

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<v Speaker 1>his friends. Rick Warren says that friends can be very important.

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<v Speaker 1>Everyone needs friends. They can add such joy to life.

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<v Speaker 1>They can also offer encouragement during hard times. True friends

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<v Speaker 1>are there in good times and in bad times. But

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<v Speaker 1>Derek did not find good friends. He found friends who

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<v Speaker 1>influenced him to do wrong things, and they did not

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<v Speaker 1>stay with him during his most frightening time. They were

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<v Speaker 1>not with Derek when the police arrested him. These friends

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<v Speaker 1>all ran away.

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<v Speaker 2>Rick Warren believes that many people are in bad situations

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<v Speaker 2>because of the friends they choose. Bad friends can get

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<v Speaker 2>people into predicaments.

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<v Speaker 4>He says, we are asking for trouble if we choose

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<v Speaker 4>the wrong friends. Wrong values, and wrong ways of thinking

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<v Speaker 4>will affect our lives.

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<v Speaker 1>Rick believes there are ways to know if a friendship

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<v Speaker 1>is good or bad. He says that bad friendships make

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<v Speaker 1>people feel bad. They often find themselves doing things they

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<v Speaker 1>do not want to do. They feel pressure from their

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<v Speaker 1>friends to do these things, and these friends may try

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<v Speaker 1>to control them through anger or fear.

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<v Speaker 4>Rick says the kind of friends you should have will

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<v Speaker 4>bring out the best in you. They will lift you up,

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<v Speaker 4>encourage you, and make you a better person.

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<v Speaker 2>Rick Warren says that another way that people get into

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<v Speaker 2>bad situations is by repeating their mistakes. Often, they do

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<v Speaker 2>not try to change when they make a mistake, They

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<v Speaker 2>continue doing the same things over and over. Derek was

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<v Speaker 2>in the gang for two years before he wanted to change.

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<v Speaker 2>He did not want to change until the terrible shooting.

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<v Speaker 2>That incident made him examine his life.

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<v Speaker 3>He said the hardest part about being in jail was

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<v Speaker 3>that no one cared. There was no one to tell

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<v Speaker 3>me that I needed to change. I had no family.

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<v Speaker 3>I sat in jail and kept thinking about my crime.

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<v Speaker 3>I deeply regretted it, so I asked God to forgive me.

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<v Speaker 3>I asked him to guide me down a different road.

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<v Speaker 3>Then I wrote Tim a letter to apologize, and now

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<v Speaker 3>we are friendly. We have both left the gangs. Also,

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<v Speaker 3>I started reading in jail and I finished my high

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<v Speaker 3>school degree. I made a change. Many people refuse to

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<v Speaker 3>admit they need to change.

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<v Speaker 1>Rick Warren agrees with Derek. He says that people need

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<v Speaker 1>to learn from the past.

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<v Speaker 4>We are asking for trouble if we refuse to learn

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<v Speaker 4>from our mistakes.

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<v Speaker 2>It is not easy to learn from mistakes. Many people

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<v Speaker 2>do war want to stop what they are doing, but

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<v Speaker 2>the problem is that they do not know how. They

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<v Speaker 2>may have a physical or emotional dependence on something. For example,

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<v Speaker 2>they may be drinking alcohol or taking illegal drugs, and

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<v Speaker 2>some people simply cannot stop. For them, it is necessary

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<v Speaker 2>to get support. They can get help at treatment centers

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<v Speaker 2>and from doctors.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people are afraid to ask for help. They feel

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<v Speaker 1>that they have failed so many times before. They may

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<v Speaker 1>think that it is too late for them. But Rick says,

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<v Speaker 1>it is never too late.

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<v Speaker 4>God can help us when we honestly look at the facts.

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<v Speaker 4>He has not given up on You give him the

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<v Speaker 4>pieces of your life.

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<v Speaker 2>There is a way out of even the most difficult predicament.

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<v Speaker 2>With hard work and with God's help, there is always hope.

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<v Speaker 2>From what mistakes, have you learned something that made you

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<v Speaker 2>change what you do? How important is it to have

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<v Speaker 2>good friends? Tell us what you think. You can leave

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<v Speaker 2>a comment of on our website. You can also find

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<v Speaker 2>us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Blue Sky, and x. You

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<v Speaker 2>can also get our programs delivered directly to your Android

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<v Speaker 2>or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.

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<v Speaker 1>The writer and the producer of this program are part

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<v Speaker 1>of the Spotlight team. The voices you heard were from

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<v Speaker 1>the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program

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<v Speaker 1>and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program

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<v Speaker 1>again and read it on the internet at www dot

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<v Speaker 1>Radio English dot net. This program is called The Predicament Question.

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<v Speaker 2>We hope you can can join us again for the

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<v Speaker 2>next Spotlight program. Goodbye, h