V. MISCELLANEOUSI. Put one suitable word in each space. (p.
68)
Last summer my husband and I had two Italian students to stay at our house in London. It was akind of exchange, with our two children off to Rome this summer, giving me, incidentally, aninterlude of peace in (1) which to write this newspaper column, among other things. But back tothe two Italians, two charming girls (2) whose English was a revelation to everyone in our family. Iam not going to say that it was perfect or anything (3) like that, simply that (4) they used expressions that have either long ago died out in theseislands, (5) or are greeted when used with blank incomprehension. (6) For example, when a day ortwo after their arrival Lucia made some coffee and handed it to my neighbor (who had come roundto see (7) why her husband kept popping over to brush up his Italian), she unmistakably said ‘Here youare’. The shock was (8) so great that we both nearly fell off our chairs. (9) For the benefit of foreignreaders, or for anyone who has just returned from a monastery or a few years on Mars, I shouldexplain that this now quaint English expression has long (10) since been replaced by thetransatlantic ‘There you go’, an utterance which threw me into considerable confusion (11) when first used by hairdressers, waitresses and barmen. The two girls also surprised us byasking intelligible questions (12) instead of making vague statements which were supposed to betaken as questions. And they had retained that ancient habit of addressing strangers by (13) theirsurnames, preceded by a Mr or Mrs, as in ‘Good morning, Mrs Scott’, rather than greeting me at thedoor on arrival with a ‘Hello, Gloria, and have a nice day’. All in (14) all they were a delight,although I am sorry to report that by the time they left, they had absorbed (15) what passes as theEnglish language hereabouts, and had plunged downhill towards unintelligibility. Oh well, thereyou go, I suppose.
Ask hundreds of people what they will be doing on a certain day in August next year, or the year after and there will be only one reply. Provided of course that the people you ask/are asking belong to the Elvis Presley fan Club. Although the King of Rock and Roll died nearly two decades ago, his fans have met every year since then outside his home in Memphis, Tennessee, to show respect for the singer they love so much. Fans like Jean Thomas, from South London. Jean has visited Gracelands, the house where Elvis suffered his fatal heart attack, twice in the past five years.
« The first time I borrowed the money from my Mum, as I wasn’t working then. But two years ago I got married and since then I have been working in my husband Chris’s garage. Chris and I went together last year, and we are thinking of spending two or three months in the USA next year. I have always wanted to visit some of the places where Elvis performed. Like Las Vegas for example. » , and we are thinking of spending two or three months in the USA next year. Jean says that Elvis has been her obsession ever since she was ten years old, and she owns every single one of his records, good and bad.
Exercice 4
Choose the most suitable word or phrase. Do not copy the text
1) The meeting didn’t ….. until late
2) In the end it all …… a question of trust. 3) The hotel didn’t ……. My expectations. 4) At first, Tim insisted right, but then began to ….. 5) It’s no good pretending, you’ve got to ….. reality. 6) What were you two ……. Just now in the garden ? 7) You should always have an alternative plan to ….. 8) When they ……. I had to report to the nearest baracks. 9) The school examination for eleven year olds was ….. some years ago. 10) When I look over the business i got more than I …….
Answers
1- Break up 2- Comes down to 3- Come up to 4- Back down 5- Face up to 6- Coming up with 7- Fall back on 8- Call me up 9- Done away with 10- Bargain for
