Advanced everyday english: Advanced vocabulary, phrasal verbs, idioms and expressions - Collins Steven 2011
Listen to the CD track 6
Chapter Five in Use
News report from Kosovo
REPORTER: I’m standing at the border of Serbia and Kosovo, where there has been an upsurge in violence over the last few days. In the aftermath of the Serbian invasion, the Kosovan Albanians have had to survive in makeshift huts. Some of the elder members of the community have been huddled around campfires. It is a pathetic sight
The resistance from the Kosovan soldiers is dwindling and the ones that remain feel jaded. Off the record, NATO commanders have given a pledge that, if called upon, they will make preemptive strikes on Serbian forces, so that they are unable to carry out new, frenzied attacks. The UN are also building up forces along the border to help feed the homeless, but both sides are making a mockery of the aid program.
The public back home should be under no illusions: neither side is going to back down without a fight, and it’s going to be ordinary citizens who are left to wallow in perpetual misery.
Conversation between two mothers
HELEN: You know, bringing up two boisterous kids is doing my head in.
ALISON: I know what you mean. N\y sister, who I must admit is quite adept at coping with her three children, has decided to have a fourth.
HELEN: She must be off her head!
ALISON: Yes, especially as her eldest boy has turned out to be a yob.
HELEN: Well, I suppose some people get a buzz out of living a hectic, stressful life.
ALISON: Her husband does a little bit to help her in the house, but it’s down to her to get the kids dressed and off to school.
HELEN: Well, at least she gets some help. I have to grovel just to get my husband to clear the table.
ALISON: I’m sure if there was a competition for mother of the year, my sister would be shortlisted.
HELEN: Good for her... I’d come last!