Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Danny Glover is a famous actor. He is 79 years old.
He said in an interview that he has an illness called Alzheimer's disease.
He found out about the illness a few years ago. His speech and movements have become slower.
Danny Glover still goes to events and spends time with his community. He wants to help people understand the illness better.
- actor
- a person who performs in movies or plays
- interview
- a conversation where someone answers questions, often for TV or news
- illness
- a sickness or disease
- diagnosed
- identified as having a certain illness by a doctor
- speech
- the way a person talks
- movement
- the act of moving the body
- community
- a group of people who live in the same area or share something in common
- understand
- to know the meaning or truth about something
Level 2 — Elementary
Actor Danny Glover, 79, has revealed in a television interview that he has been living with Alzheimer's disease, a condition that affects memory and thinking.
Glover said he was diagnosed a few years ago, around the time he received a humanitarian award before the Oscars in January 2022.
Since his diagnosis, his speech and movements have slowed, but he continues to stay active, attending events and spending time with his community in San Francisco.
Glover and his family decided to speak publicly about the diagnosis because they want to help reduce the stigma, or shame, that many people feel about Alzheimer's disease.
- reveal
- to make something known that was previously secret
- condition
- a health problem or state of the body
- memory
- the ability to remember information or past experiences
- humanitarian award
- a prize given to someone for helping other people
- active
- involved in doing things regularly
- stigma
- a feeling of shame or disapproval connected to something, often unfairly
- publicly
- in a way that is open and known to everyone
- reduce
- to make something smaller or less
Level 3 — Intermediate
Veteran actor Danny Glover, 79, disclosed in a television interview that he has been living with Alzheimer's disease, a progressive neurodegenerative condition, for several years.
Glover explained that he was diagnosed just before receiving the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Governors Awards in January 2022, a prestigious honor recognizing his decades of charitable work.
Since his diagnosis, Glover has noticed that his speech, movements, and memory have slowed, though he insists he remains engaged, continuing to attend public events and stay connected to his native San Francisco community.
By speaking openly about his condition, Glover and his family hope to challenge the stigma that often surrounds Alzheimer's, encouraging more open conversations about a disease that affects millions of families.
- disclose
- to make private or previously unknown information known
- neurodegenerative
- relating to a disease that causes nerve cells in the brain to progressively break down
- prestigious
- widely respected and admired
- honor
- an award or recognition given for achievement or service
- engaged
- actively involved or interested in something
- native
- relating to the place where a person was born or grew up
- challenge
- to question or oppose something, such as an unfair belief
- affect
- to have an influence or effect on something
Level 4 — Advanced
Veteran actor Danny Glover, 79, disclosed in a televised interview that he has been living with Alzheimer's disease, a progressive neurodegenerative condition, for several years, a revelation his family says was carefully considered rather than impulsive.
Glover recounted that his diagnosis arrived just before he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Governors Awards in January 2022, an honor recognizing decades of activism and charitable work that now sits in poignant juxtaposition with his subsequent health journey.
While acknowledging that his speech, gait, and memory have gradually slowed in the years since, Glover maintains an active public presence, continuing to attend community events in his native San Francisco and to engage, by his own account, as fully as circumstances allow.
In electing to discuss his condition candidly, Glover and his family situate themselves within a broader effort to dismantle the stigma that frequently isolates Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers, arguing that visibility from a public figure can normalize conversations that many families otherwise avoid.
- impulsive
- done suddenly without careful thought
- recount
- to narrate or tell the details of an event
- poignant
- evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret
- juxtaposition
- the placement of two contrasting things close together for effect
- gait
- a person's manner of walking
- candidly
- in an open and honest manner
- dismantle
- to take apart or break down, often used figuratively for ideas or systems
- normalize
- to make something seem ordinary or generally accepted
