Episode 82

EPISODE 82
LEVEL A1.2/A2.1

 

READING COMPREHENSION 

 

DAILY ACTIONS 

I feel really depressed sometimes as time goes by so quickly and my days look almost exactly the same. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Yesterday, for example: my alarm clock went off (= started ringing) at 6 so this is the moment I woke up (= stopped sleeping). As usual I didn’t jump out of bed (= didn’t leave my bed very quickly), I stayed in bed for the next 15 minutes or so. Then I got up (= left my bed) and made my own breakfast (= prepared my breakfast). Then I had a quick wash (= I washed myself, but I didn’t have a shower) and got dressed (= put my clothes on). I didn’t make my bed (= didn’t cover my bed with a bedspread); I knew I would come back home late anyway. Then I went to work and after work I felt so tired I could only go to sleep. A fantastic day, wasn’t it?

 

More contexts for the new words: 

• I set the alarm clock every night before I go to bed.
  (= I program it to ring) 
• I like to have a lie-in on Saturday morning.
  (= I like to stay in bed longer than usual.) 

 

EXERCISE 1 

Match the expression halves.

1. I made my
2. I got
3. I had a quick
4. I made my own
5. I woke
6. My alarm clock
7. I jumped out

 

a) breakfast
b) dressed
c) bed
d) went off
e) wash
f) up
g) of bed

 

EXERCISE 2 

Add the missing vowels (A, E, I, O, U), then answer the questions.

1. What time do you usually …………………… WK up?
2. Do you …………………… MK your bed in the morning?
3. Do you usually make your own ……………………  BRKFST? What do you have?

 

 

ENGLISH IN USE  

 

The sentence for today is: As usual I didn’t jump out of bed

We are going to look at the structure „as usual.” This expression is similar in meaning to „like usually.” Look at some more sentences with it:

He was late as usual.
As usual, she started talking about herself.
He got up at 7 o’clock as usual.

 

 

IDIOM CLOSE-UP 

 

A/ Have you finished preparing your presentation for tomorrow?

B/ I haven’t even started. I guess I’ll have to BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL.

 

If you burn the midnight oil, you study or work all night, or very late into the night.

 

 

PHRASAL VERBS CLOSE-UP

 

1. When something BREAKS DOWN, it stops working.

I was late for work because my alarm clock had broken down.
The car broke down just outside Warsaw.

 

2. When you ROLL OVER, you change the position of your body when you are lying down.

When the alarm clock rang, I just rolled over and went back to sleep.
The dog rolled over and asked for a cookie.

 

EXERCISE 3 

Complete the mini-story, filling each gap with one word.

 

I had a project to finish at work, so I took it home and decided to burn the midnight ………………………. . I finished it at 4 am and wanted to sleep a bit, so I set the alarm clock for 6 am and went to bed. When I woke up, all panicked, it was 11 am – the alarm clock had apparently broken ……………………. and did not ring! Ah, well, since I would be fired anyway, I just rolled …………………… and went back to sleep.

 

 

NEWS

TRENDY ALARM CLOCKS

Did you know that fashion is everywhere, even in the world of alarm clocks? Is your alarm clock trendy? Here are some latest fads in the world of the machines which wake us up:

1. A projection alarm clock – it projects the time onto your walls or ceiling. No more panicked looking for the clock in the middle of the night!
2. A flying alarm clock – it has a propeller on top. When it goes off, the propeller starts, and you have to chase after the gadget. This will definitely wake you up!
3. A vibrator alarm clock – specially for girls – you can use it for your pleasure in the evening, and set it to go off in the morning to wake you up. Why buy two gadgets when you can do with one?

 

GLOSSARY 

– fads – short-lived fashions
– projects – sends an image
– propeller – something on top of a helicopter which makes it fly
– go off – start ringing
– chase – run

 

download lesson (pdf)