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

Set 75 - in the grip of the fear of the unknown

Amanda: I’m worrying about this heat wave and whether it will make my daughter’s birthday party a miserable failure. I’m completely powerless.

Claudia: What’s wrong with you, Amanda? You keep borrowing trouble! You can’t really worry about things that are way in the future.

As they say “Don’t cross that bridge until you get to it.”

Amanda: I admit that I’m a worrier but I’m picking up your brain about back-up plans. It is wise to check your fire extinguishers before the fire occurs. Isn’t it? I just like to keep things in perspective.

Claudia: But being obsessed with planning for every single matter in the future will weigh you down. We do so much to try and protect ourselves and our kids but at the end of the day we miss our joy in the present by dwelling on possibilities.

Amanda: Good point. Apparently I’m living in the grip of the fear of the unknown. I might have to learn to take things as they come.

Vocabulary;

powerless: (adjective) having no power : unable to do something or to stop something.

borrow trouble: to worry needlessly; to make trouble for oneself.

Don’t cross that bridge until you get to it: Do not needlessly worry yourself over concerns, problems, or difficulties that lie in the future.

pick up one’s brain: to ask someone's advice about a subject the person knows a lot about.

back-up plan: a plan in case something bad happens; an alternative plan.

keep things in perspective: to look at the whole "picture", seeing things in their proper relation/proportion to everything else.

weigh down: to give great worry or difficulty to; burden

at the end of the day: when everything is taken into consideration.

dwell on: to think or speak about something for a long time.

in the grip of: dominated or affected by something undesirable or adverse.

take things as they come: to accept and deal with events as they occur, without planning for them.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases or words;

1. Don't borrow .......... by worrying about our medical bill, the insurance company will pay that for us.

2. To have peace of mind, just take each day as it .......... and do what you feel is right.

3. You may be working for yourself but at the end of the .......... you still have to pay tax on what you earn.

4. When the Exposition closed Chicago was already in the .......... of a serious economic downturn.

5. They try not to worry excessively about the uncertainties in the future or to .......... on the traumatic events of the past.

6. Bill is worn out after work every evening. The responsibilities of the new job seem to have .......... him down.

7. As demands crowd in on you it becomes increasingly difficult to keep things in ..........

8. He was used as a .......... plan when the remaining members of the gang failed to accomplish their mission.

9. Parents typically use threats and spankings when they feel .......... and angry.

10. I'm not sure why you're so concerned about how to write a thesis for your degree—it's over a year away, so don't cross that .......... until you come to it!

11. Can I pick your .......... about how you got rid of those weeds?

1. trouble 2. comes 3. day 4. grip 5. dwell 6. weighed 7. perspective 8. backup 9. powerless 10. bridge 11. brain