Episode 209

EPISODE 209
LEVEL A1.2/A2.1

 

 

READING COMPREHENSION

 

 

AT THE LAKES        

 

‘So how long have you been here now?’

‘We’ve been here for almost a week.’

‘I see. And how did you find this place? Have you been here before?’

‘No, we haven’t. We went to a travel agent’s (=a kind of shop where you can buy tickets and holidays) and looked at some holiday brochures (=special small books with photos and information about holiday places). This place looked nice, you know, lakes and forests, so we booked (=reserved) it.’

‘And how do you like it?’

‘We’re having a really good time. On the very first day we rented a boat (=paid for using it) for the entire two weeks, so we can use it any time we want.’

‘So you’ve been fishing?’

‘A little bit, yeah. Not very successful, though… Yesterday we visited a friend of mine who lives not far away from here… he has a larger boat so we went sailing as well (=travelling on water when the boat is moved by the wind). I saw there was some group mushroom picking (=walking in the forest looking for mushrooms) organised today, but that’s not really our thing very much… Did you go?’

‘Yeah, in fact, it’s quite relaxing for me… And tonight, there’s going to be a bonfire (=a fire made outside for pleasure), you know, roasted sausages (=cooked over a fire), beer, some music…’

‘Oh, beer, we’ll come, then.’

 

More contexts for the new words:

• We’ve been fishing / sailing / swimming / cycling.
• We went fishing / sailing / swimming / cycling.

 

 

EXERCISE 1

Match the columns to make correct expressions.

 

1. mushroom           a. fishing
2. holiday                 b. a room in a hotel
3. roasted                c. a boat
4. travel                   d. picking
5. go                         e. brochure
6. rent                     f. sausages
7. book                    g. agent’s

 

EXERCISE 2

Complete the questions with the key words from the text. Then answer them.

 

1. Do you buy holidays at a travel …………….. or do you prefer to find and ……………….. the hotel yourself?
2. If you can go ……………….. in a boat or mushroom ………………………. in the forest, which activity do you choose and why?
3. Do you like having bonfires and roasting ………………………….. ? Why (not)?

 

ENGLISH IN USE 

 

Look at the various tenses used in the dialogue:

 

We’ve been here for almost a week.

How did you find this place?

How do you like it?

We’re having a really good time.

There’s going to be a bonfire.

We’ll come, then.

 

• We use the Present Simple tense to talk about habits, regular activities and states:

 

How do you like it?

We go fishing every day.

He often goes sailing.

He doesn’t like mushroom picking.

 

• We use the Present Continuous tense to talk about processes which continue for a period of time:

 

We’re having a really good time.

He’s roasting some sausages and drinking beer.

 

• We use the Past Simple tense to talk about finished actions at a specific time in the past.

 

How did you find this place?

We went to a travel agent’s and looked at some holiday brochures.

This place looked nice, so we booked it.

 

• We use the Present Perfect tense to talk about a time from the past until now. It can be a state which started in the past and continues or actions which happened in a period of time from past to present.

 

We’ve been here for almost a week.

Have you been here before?

She hasn’t visited this place before.

I have worked as a travel agent for three years.

 

• We use the ‘be going to’ structure to talk about plans and intentions.

 

There’s going to be a bonfire.

We are going to go fishing tomorrow.

I am not going to come here again.

 

• We use the Future Simple tense when we make quick decisions about the future.

 

We’ll come, then.

I’ll meet you at 4 pm.

I won’t be here.

 

 

IDIOM CLOSE-UP

 

 

A/ Amanda, I need some money again. Come on, borrow me another $100.

B/ Oh, I’ve really had enough of you, Bill! GO JUMP IN A LAKE!

 

The phrase ‘go jump in a/the lake’ is a way of telling someone to go away and stop annoying you. Be careful, this phrase is impolite!

 

 

 

PHRASAL VERBS CLOSE-UP

 

1. If you SETS OFF, they start the journey.

 

What time exactly are we setting off tomorrow morning?

Wait a few minutes, I’m not ready to set off yet.

 

2. If you GET BACK from somewhere, you return from a place.

 

You’re going on 16^th Aug, and when are you getting back?

I just got back from work, can you wait a second?

 

 

EXERCISE 3

Complete the dialogues with person’s B replies. Use the prompts in brackets and the idiom/phrasal verbs you have learned.

 

A: So, when are you going?

B: (Saturday morning) ……………………………………………………………

A: And when are you returning?

B: (Friday next week) ……………………………………………………………..

A: I see. So…. can I go with you?

B: (no!) ………………………………………………………………………………….

 

 

NEWS

 

A NEW SPECIES? A MISTAKE OF EVOLUTION?

 

The body of a strange creature has been pulled from northern Ontario lake. It is about a foot long and looks a little bit like an otter. It is hairy, but has a bald face and paws and also has a rat’s tail. According to one website, the creature was found by a dog, which brought it to its owner while they were taking a walk by the lake. Photos of the Ontario lake creature have been posted online, appeared in prime-time TV news and hit the headlines in newspapers from China to the U.K. No one has yet answered the question of the creature’s real origin.

 

 

GLOSSARY

– a species (plural: species) – a set of animals or plants in which the members have similar characteristics to each other

– a creature – any large or small living thing; an animal; often used to talk about a life form that is unusual or imaginary

– bald – with no hair

– prime-time – the time when the largest number of people are watching

– to hit the headlines – to appear in the news suddenly or receive a lot of attention in news reports

 

 

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