Advanced English Conversations (2) - Robert Allans, Matt Edie, A. Mustafaoglu 2020

Set 43 - our life dramatically took a turn for the worse

Nancy: So; you had been married for five years and then you split up. What went wrong?

Jennifer: Everything. After a year of our marriage we had a baby, but David’s business went downhill and we had to sell the car to pay off mortgage. And our life dramatically took a turn for the worse.

Nancy: And you had to bear the burden of getting a job to make a living.

Jennifer: I did, but it didn’t end there. After a while he started to take it out on me for no reason and wouldn’t get off my back.

Nancy; That’s pathetic! People will simply fall out of love when things go wrong.

Jennifer: The last straw in our relationship was when he physically abused me. I walked out after that and the rest as they say is history. I just don’t want to look back anymore.

Nancy; Never mind; get everything off your chest and remember that time heals all wounds. You’ll get past it one way or another.

Vocabulary;

split up: to separate from someone; to break up a marriage or love affair.

go downhill: to decline and grow worse and worse.

take a turn for the worse: to worsen, often quickly or suddenly.

bear the burden: to endure something distressing, painful, stressful.

take it out on: to vent one's frustration or anger on a person or object.

get off one’s back: to stop nagging or annoying one about something.

fall out of love: to stop being in love with someone.

the last straw: the final difficulty in a series; the last little burden or problem that causes everything to collapse.

the rest is history: everyone knows how the rest of the story goes.

get something off one’s chest: to talk about a problem that has been worrying you for a long time, and you feel better because of this.

time heals all wounds: emotional pain lessens over time.

get past: to be able to overcome or overlook something that has happened.

one way or another: somehow; by some means; no matter what.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases or words;

1. I'm sorry, but I'll never be able to get .......... the fact that Robert cheated on you.

2. Up to 147,000 children aged under 16 were in families where their parents .......... up, a quarter of them were aged under five.

3. Unless I get everything .......... my chest, I might explode. You’re treating me like a kid before your friends. Enough is enough.

4. He wasn't sure how to go about building a wall, but he was sure he would manage in one .......... or the other.

5. I'm sure you will reconcile with Kathleen eventually. After all, time .......... all wounds.

6. After he left hospital, he was persuaded to start his own fashion house. The .......... is history.

7. But she stressed that the last .......... was the President's decision to cancel the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front.

8. Nothing dramatic led to the end of our relationship—we just .......... out of love with each other.

9. He kept on at me to such an extent that occasionally I wished he would get .......... my back.

10. Dan has been frustrated by the lack of progress, and unfortunately he's been .......... it out on his coworkers.

11. What is there to celebrate when the poor and the common man will have to .......... the burden of paying off these loans?

12. My job was going quite well; then last week things took a .......... for the worse.

13. We were amazed at the speed with which the weather was going ..........

1. past 2. split 3. off 4. way 5. heals 6. rest 7. straw 8. fell 9. off 10. taking 11. bear 12. turn 13. downhill