Advanced English Conversations - Robert Allans, Ahmet Mustafaoglu, Metin Emir 2019

Set (16) - This is a hard pill to swallow

Dialogue

Jessie: I've been meaning to paint the shed all summer, but I keep letting it ride.

Rebecca: Why is the delay? Unless you take action soon, it’s going to run down and collapse in a few days.

Jessie: I’m just in no mood to lift a finger. I just feel lonely and this is a hard pill to swallow.

Rebecca: Oh, poor Jessie. Your recent break-up must have ruined you.

Jessie: On top of that I’m getting more and more absent-minded.

Yesterday I had a near miss. I was almost hit by a truck.

Rebecca: That’s awful.

Vocabulary

Let it ride: take no immediate action over something.

Take action: do something to achieve an aim or deal with a problem.

Run down: gradually deteriorate (or cause to deteriorate) in quality.

In no mood to do something: not feeling like doing or experiencing something.

Lift a finger: make the slightest effort to do something.

A hard pill to swallow: something that is difficult to accept.

Break-up: the end of a relationship.

On top of that: In addition to; besides.

Absent-minded: (adj) distracted; forgetful or inattentive

A near miss: a narrowly avoided collision or other accident.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate expressions;

let it ride

take action

run down

in no mood to do something

lift a finger

a hard pill to swallow

break-up

on top of that

absent-minded

a near miss

a. That my own son could have done something so horrible is ..........

b. Without much care, the property had been allowed to ..........

c. She turned to drugs after the .......... of her marriage.

d. He drove like a maniac. We had one .......... after another.

e. Don’t bother with it now .......... for a day or two

f. .......... keep it down; boys! Mother is .......... put up with our arguing.

g. She is a very.......... child who forgets things and loses things.

h. Jane told Bill he was dull .........., she said he was unfriendly.

i. If there is a breach of regulations, You’re supposed to .......... right away.

j. She does all the work in the house. Nobody else ......................................