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

Set 8 - I confide in to my friends a lot

Dave: I go out and see friends on a regular basis. What we talk about isn’t deep and meaningful; it’s usually about current affairs. If there is something serious, close or emotional, my older friends are those whom I unload everything on to.

Anne: Well; if something major happened, I’d turn to my parents at first though I confide in to my friends a lot. We get-together twice a week in a cafe just for kicks. We relax and giggle and I always end up saying more than I intended to. On the whole we manage to have a good laugh about things.

Dave: Ok, a person who I confide in a lot is my neighbor, funnily enough. I don’t like to unburden my worries on my family, so our neighbor who is a retired level-headed teacher and can serve as is a neutral ground if you like.

Anne: Impressive! Speaking of teachers, there was that eccentric teacher at high school who used to bombard us with her life stories every lesson. She was literally making a laughingstock of herself in the entire school.

Vocabulary;

current affairs: events of political or social interest and importance happening in the world at the present time.

unload on(to): to tell someone about your problems, affairs and worries.

confide in: to share one's secrets with someone, usually a trusted person.

for kicks: only for the sake of fun, excitement, or distraction.

giggle: to laugh repeatedly in a quiet but uncontrolled way, often at something silly.

funnily enough: although something is surprising, it is true or really happened.

unburden: to free yourself of something that is worrying you, by talking about it to someone.

level-headed: (adjective) calm and sensible.

neutral ground: a location or setting to which neither side (e.g., in an argument, competition)

eccentric: (adjective) unconventional and slightly strange.

bombard with: to subject one to something repeatedly.

make a laughingstock of: to subject someone or something to a mockery or ridicule; to make fun of someone or something.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases or words;

1. These two programs are both news and .......... affairs, but they cater for very different audiences.

2. Don't .......... your brother with suggestions—his paper is due tomorrow, so he needs to commit to a topic and just write about it!

3. He is an .......... character who likes wearing a beret and dark glasses.

4. I find couple's therapy to be helpful because it gives each partner a chance to air their frustrations on .......... ground.

5. He’s too lonely so that he'll .......... himself to anyone who'll listen.

6. He was said to be level-.......... and unlikely to be affected by a few fancy words.

7. Funnily .......... I can remember what I had for lunch last Monday, but not what I had for breakfast today.

8. The president's decision to appoint TV personalities as her advisors has made a .......... of our country in front of the entire world.

9. I couldn't help .......... at the sight of Mum and Dad standing there, dripping wet.

10. Living in such a small, rural town, there wasn't much to do for .......... other than drive around in our car all night.

11. This issue is just so embarrassing that I can't possibly .......... in anyone about it.

12. I had simply asked him how things had been, when suddenly he .......... on me about all the problems he's been dealing with at work.

1. current 2. bombard 3. eccentric 4. neutral 5. unburden 6. headed 7. enough 8. laughingstock 9. giggling 10. kicks 11. confide 12. unloaded