Do you know the verb “to ponder“? Read the conversation below. Can you guess the meaning?
Eve: Are you OK? You are very quiet today.
Tracey: I’m just pondering what the boss said to me yesterday.
Does it mean:
a) to think carefully about something
b) to be angry about something
c) to be upset about something
d) to write about something
The answer is below! ↓
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Answer: a) to think carefully about something
Do you know the English expression “to grab (someone’s) attention“? Read the conversation below. Can you guess the meaning?
Andrew: What do you think of my presentation?
Jeremy: I think it’s OK. I’m not sure about the opening though. It doesn’t grab people’s attention. Could you make it more interesting?
Does it mean:
a) grab someone physically
b) attend to someone
c) turn off (someone’s) attention
d) attract (someone’s) attention
The answer is below!
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Answer: d) attract (someone’s) attention
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Maggie and Dion got married a few months ago. They moved to a new town because Dion got a good job with a software company. Maggie and Dion live in a small apartment on the top floor of an apartment building.
Maggie hasn’t finished her degree yet. She is studying by distance learning. She doesn’t know anyone in the town. Dion is out at work every day, so Maggie often feels lonely.
One Friday morning, Dion is late for work. He eats some toast quickly and drinks half a cup of coffee. He kisses Maggie goodbye. He picks up his bag and hurries to the door. Then he stops.
“I forgot to tell you. I will be home at 6:30. Pam and Brian are coming with me. They are coming for dinner. Have a good day!”
Maggie runs to the open door. Dion is still talking as he runs down the stairs, but Maggie can’t hear what he is saying.
She closes the door and goes back inside.
A dinner party! This is exciting. Pam and Brian will be our first visitors. But I am a terrible cook! What can I make for dinner? I must think of a menu.
Dion is a very good cook. He makes the evening meal every night. Maggie usually buys something from the convenience store for her lunch, or makes herself a sandwich. But Dion will have no time tonight to cook for their visitors.
I will have to make something, thinks Maggie. I will text my mother and ask for advice.
She soon gets an answer from her mother. ‘Maggie! You can’t cook, so please make something simple. How about a roast chicken? You can cook some potatoes in the oven with the chicken and make a salad. Make an apple pie. Sorry I can’t help you any more. I am going to an all-day yoga retreat. Good luck.’
Maggie looks on the Internet. She finds many recipes for roasting a chicken. It doesn’t seem difficult. She reads how hot the oven must be and how long to cook the chicken. I can do this, she thinks. And maybe I can buy an apple pie from the bakery.
Maggie makes a list and goes to the supermarket. She makes a timetable, so she knows what time to start cooking the chicken.
She cleans the apartment. She prepares everything for the salad. She puts flowers from the supermarket in vases. She sets the table. I can use all the beautiful gifts we were as wedding presents. The table will look beautiful.
Maggie feels very pleased. The dinner party will be a great success. This is not so difficult.
It is late in the afternoon when Maggie reads her timetable. 4:30. Time to put the chicken in the oven. Then I will prepare the potatoes and put them in the oven with the chicken.
Maggie follows the recipe from the Internet carefully. She does everything the recipe says. She sets the temperature for the oven and puts the chicken in. She prepares the potatoes and puts them in the oven too.
Everything is done and Maggie can relax. I have an assignment due on Monday. I haven’t done any work all day. I must do some work now.
She sets the alarm on her phone for 6:00 pm and starts working.
When the alarm goes off, she goes to the kitchen. That’s strange, she thinks. I can’t smell anything. When Dion cooks chicken, there is always a delicious smell. It makes me feel hungry. Maybe I should check.
Maggie takes the chicken and potatoes out of the oven. The chicken is white and cold. The potatoes are raw. Oh, no! The oven is broken! I only have snacks, salad and apple pie!
Dion comes home. He is very cheerful. “We left work early. Pam and Brian are parking their cars. They’ll be here in a few minutes.”
He looks at Maggie. She has tears running down her face.
“Oh, Dion! The oven is broken. We have no food to give them!”
“You cooked dinner? But……”
He looks at the chicken and potatoes on the counter. He goes to the oven and opens the door. He puts his hand inside. The oven is cold. He looks at the oven controls.
He hugs Maggie. “Did you look at a recipe?”
“Yes. I wrote everything down. The time. The temperature, everything!”
Dion laughs. “Quickly. Put the chicken and potatoes in the refrigerator. We’ll eat them tomorrow. I told you this morning that we would buy pizzas on the way home. Brian is bringing them now.”
“Oh,” said Maggie. “I know you said something, but I didn’t hear.”
Brian and Pam are at the door. They have the pizzas. They have wine.
It is a great dinner party. Maggie’s salad is good. Everyone likes the apple pie.
When Pam and Brian leave, Maggie says to Dion. “We must call the repairman tomorrow. The oven is broken.”
Dion laughs and hugs Maggie. “Mmm. The oven is not broken. You set the temperature. You did everything right, but you didn’t turn the oven on!”
“Oh,” said Maggie. “The recipe didn’t say anything about turning the oven on!”
Do you know the adjective “idyllic“? Read the conversation below. Can you guess the meaning?
Lily: How was your camping trip?
Ben: Oh it was wonderful. The campsite was idyllic. The air was so fresh, and the scenery was beautiful.
Does it mean:
a) very pleasant
b) very urban
c) very dirty
d) very cheap
The answer is below!↓
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Answer: a) very pleasant
I fancy a cup of tea! Do you know what this means? Take a guess! Does it mean:
a) I don’t want a cup of tea
b) I drank a cup of tea
c) I want a cup of tea
d) I will drink a cup of tea
The answer is below!↓
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Answer: c) I want a cup of tea
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Matt and Paul are engineering students. They do not have a lot of money, but they need somewhere to live. They find an old house that is very cheap, but it has no furniture. They look in charity shops and secondhand shops for furniture. They buy beds, desk, a sofa, a table and chairs and other things but the house still looks very empty.
One day, Paul is riding home from university when he sees a chair outside a charity shop. It is a big, old armchair. He gets off his bike and goes to look at it. It looks very comfortable and it is free! He tells the man in the shop he wants the chair. The man says, “It’s strange. Many people have looked at that chair. They say they want to buy it.
They sit in it, and then they change their minds. They go away. It has been in this shop for a long time, so I thought I would put it outside and give it to anyone who will take it away.”
Paul calls Matt. Matt has an old van. He comes to the shop. They put the armchair in the van and take it back to the house.
The chair looks very good in their living room. Paul and Matt are very pleased but they don’t sit in it because they are busy. Their girlfriends are coming for a small party. After dinner, they sit in the living room. Matt’s girlfriend Cindy, sits in the new chair. After a while she moves to the sofa. “Don’t you like our new chair, Cindy?” asks Paul.
“No,” says Cindy. “It makes strange noises.”
Everyone laughs at Cindy.
A storm blows up and the weather is very bad so their girlfriends go home early. Just after they leave, there is a lot of thunder and lightning and the power goes off. Paul and Matt clean up the kitchen and go to the living room. It is very dark and quiet because they have no TV and no electric lights.
Paul sits in the new chair “Aah,” he says. “This is so comfortable! And it was free!”
Matt is sitting on the sofa. “What’s that?” he asks.
“What’s what?” asks Paul.
“That noise.”
“What noise?”
“Listen.”
There are strange sounds coming from the chair. There is a rattling noise, like something knocking. Paul stands up. The sound stops. He sits down hard and this time there is a different noise. It sounds like a child crying.
He jumps up, and the sound stops. “Someone, or something, doesn’t want you to sit in that chair!” laughs Matt.
Paul’s face is white. “Don’t joke. It’s not funny. There is something wrong with that chair!”
Paul and Matt go to bed. When they leave the living room, they shut the door very carefully.
The next morning the sun is shining. Matt is cheerful but Paul is worried. “I think we should take that chair back to the shop,” he says. “It is a very scary chair.”
“No!” laughs Matt. We were tired last night and it was dark, and cold. We imagined those noises. Let’s go and sit in it again.”
The living room is bright. The chair does not look scary, but Paul won’t sit in it. He stands by the door. “No way!” he says.
“OK. I will,” says Matt. He sits in the chair, and they both listen. They can hear the knocking sound. Then Matt stands up and pushes the seat of the chair, very hard. ‘Mama!’ the sound comes from inside the chair!
He pulls the cushion of the chair seat. “Come and look!” he says. “I have found the ghost!”
Paul comes and looks. The chair is old and the material over the springs has holes in it. Matt puts his hand through one of the holes and pulls out a money box! He shakes it. It makes a rattling noise. Then he puts his hand in again and pulls out a doll. He pushes the doll’s stomach. ‘Mama’.
Paul is happy. “Mystery solved. No ghosts. Just a small child’s hiding place for her toys.
“But I wonder what happened to her?”
“Don’t think about. We have a very good chair and it was free!” answers Matt.
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It’s already March. This year is going by very quickly. My trip home at Christmas seems like a long time ago now. I say the same thing every year. The beginning of the year is busy for me, so it tends to pass by very quickly.
Unfortunately, I was so busy this year, I didn’t have time to go plum blossom viewing. The plum blossom is my favourite kind of blossom. There are some nice viewing spots around the city where I live.
I hope I will have time to go cherry blossom viewing. Last year, I was in Tokyo while the cherry blossoms were blooming. I didn’t have chance to go cherry blossom viewing there, but I enjoyed seeing the trees along the streets.
Time passes so quickly, but it is important to do things to enjoy the passing of time. This year, I’m going to make time to go cherry blossom viewing, even if it is only an afternoon stroll around the park or the castle.
Do you know the adjective “nonchalant“? Read the conversation below. Can you guess the meaning?
Karen: How did Harry react when he found out he had failed the university entrance exam?
Gloria: He was nonchalant about it. He just said “never mind” and started playing a computer game.
Does it mean:
a) upset
b) angry
c) frustrated
d) cool and calm
The answer is below!↓
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Answer: d) cool and calm
Do you know the English adjective “mundane“? Read the conversation below. Can you guess the meaning?
Robert: What did you do today?
Gary: Just mundane things, like going to the bank and the post office.
Does it mean:
a) ordinary and not interesting
b) exciting
c) exhausting
d) unusual
The answer is below! ↓
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Answer: a) ordinary and not interesting
Do you know the English expression “to be on the same page“? Read the conversation below. Can you guess the meaning?
Alicia: Did you talk to your husband about moving to a bigger house?
Mel: Yes. We are on the same page about it. He has already started looking for a place.
Does it mean:
a) in opposition
b) reading the same book
c) looking at the same webpage
d) in agreement
The answer is below!↓
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Answer: d) in agreement
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