Describing important moments

Readi ng descriptions of im portant moments

Writi ng common mista kes; descriptions of events Review work collocations; phrasal verbs for travel

The day that changed my life

Five years ago I was working in an

connected wi t h...

a) his/her career?

Al 1 Wl:EK. we 'vc been collecti n g

your stories on important moments.

\Ve 'vc had stories from all over the world - some romantic, some funny, some sad. •lllere a rc a few of t he best.

Ten yea rs ago, I was in my final year at university. During the holidays I decided to visit my grandparents, who

l ive in Boston, USA. bl (was wai ti n g i n t he q ueue at Heat h row check-i n when a woma n approached me. She worked for the airl i ne and she told me t hat they had overbooked the flight. She ofTcred me a flight anywhere in Eu rope if Iagreed to ta ke a later flight to Roston. My grandparents wouldn"t worry and I wasn't i n a hurry so I agreed.

W hen I got home from my gra ndparents. Istarted t hink ing about my free flight. Paris, perhaps? A weekend in Venice or Barcelona?

A few night s later. I got a phone

call from an old friend Owen. \Ve 'd

office. •lM y life was a ll a bou t

dealing wit h com pla ints, meet ing deadl i nes and wri t i ng reports. I wa sn 't completely bored but it didn't excite me. One lunchtime Iwent out to buy a sandwich. It was sunny and I wasn't busy at work so I decided to eat it in the park. I could sec a group of people filming a TV program me nearby. They seemed to be argui ng about somet hi ng a nd everybody looked very stressed.

Suddenly I realised 0cveryonc was looking at me. And then two of them starting walking over towards me! They explained t hat they were making a short film and one of their actors hadn't turned up. He only had one l ine in t he story, they said. Would I mi nd saying the line?

I could tell they were desperate and although I'd never done any acting in my life, for some reason Iagreed.

An hour later we had finished. 11t

had been an a mazing ex perience.

b) a rcla1 ionsh ip?....

Read the descriptions again. Arc t hese sentences t rue (T), false (f) or t he text doesn't say (DS)?

1 [£] Mia was offered a

free nigh t becau se the Oigh t 10 Boston wa s cancelled.

2 DOwen and Mia went

ou1 a t u niversi ty.

3 DOwen wasn't

Port uguese.

4 DM ia was s1ill st ud yi ng at u niversity when she

first went 10 Port ugal.

s DSteven ha ted his old j oh.

6 0Ste\"en had always

want ed 10 be an actor.

7 DHe got some moner for

his fi r

1 job as

k nown each ot her at university but he

was a year older than me. When he'd left university. we'd lost touch. A nyway, he was teaching in Lisbon, Portugal. We chatted for a long time, so Idecided to go and sec him.

Ile had only been in Lisbon for a year but his Port uguese seemed really good. I was impressed. <lA nd Idon't k now if it was his la nguage skills, t he su nshine or Lisbon itself. But on that short visit I fell i n love wit h Owen. Three yea rs ago we got ma rried. A nd in November, we're goin g t o have a ba by. dl J f I ha d n't agreed to ta ke a later flight, I m ight never have met Owen aai n!

Mia, Maida Vale, London

The people were very grateful and paid

me for my time. Ilowcver, as I was leaving. the director of the film came over and gave me his card. He thought 1'd been brilliant and was naturally talented as an actor. I laughed but promised to call him some time.

Well, I did call him. And I went for an audition for another short film with the director. And I got the job. Two years later Ileft my office job and I'm now worki ng almost full-time as an actor. h> I low t he work and I'm goi ng back to college next year to sh1dy d rama. My l ife is now completely di ffcrcnt. And all because of l unch in the park!

Steven, St. John x H ood. London

a n act or.

8 DIle!cft work bccausl' he had too m uch

act i ng work.

Choose the reasons which probabl y hel ped Mia or

St even to make t he decision that cha nged t hei r li fe. Write

.M (lia), S (Steven) or B

(bot h) next to each reason.

a) fa m ily.M....

b) t he wea t her..........

c) t i me.............

d) somet hi ng free

e) boredom

a) Students often make mistakes in

language areas 1-8 wh en th ey w rit e. Look at phrases a)-h) i n bold in the article.

J\fat ch a)-h) t o 1-8.

same sound bu t cl ifferen t spelli ng (here/

hea1; t hey' re/there, you're/you r, etc.)... _;,.J.....

2 Presen t Sim ple/Presen t Con t i n uous wi t h state ve rbs (lihe, hate, etc.):...............

3 Past Simple/Past Con in uous in sente nces

wi t h when/while:

4 evc1)1011e + t hin.I person:....

s rellexive pronou ns:...............

6 com monly confu sed nouns or verbs,

(experie11ce/experi111e11t, argue/discuss, mahd do, etc.):

7 verbs + preposi tions (deal wil li, ete.): ···········-··

8 condit iona l sentences:

a) I'm teacl1i ng myself to pla y the piano.

not I'm lei1chi11g m e le plfl)' I li c 11im10.

b} DIheard you 're gelling married soon.

not I hcanl ye11r get ling lllfHTied seen.

c) D If I'd been on time, we would n't have been

late.

not lf I we11ltl 11'1!uwe hce11 ltue,...

d} D Can yo u deal wit h a cust omer complaint?

not Ctm yeu defll ef €1 custemer complaint?

e) D I was waili ng for a bus when I met h er.

not l wfli t ed fer €1 h11s when I met lier.

f) D Eve1yo11e want s to meet yo u.

not Evf'J)'f!IH' wwH 10 meet)'f! ll.

g) D My brot her a11d I vc1y oft en wgue.

not A1y lmll her t1111l l w1;i· <efte11 lisrnss.

h) D 1 love my joh.

llOt

Read t hese descri pt ion s of important mom ent s. Find four more mi stakes in each one and correct them.

myself

I lrn t r writ i ng about ttte but I wa nted to say

somet hing on t h is topic. The day t h at cha nged my life is not con n ect ed wi t h l uck or serend i pi ty. It's

sim ply the day my daughter was born. Everyone say t ha t babie s cha nge your life. A nd t here right! Idon't get as m uch sleep as I 11 ed to. And I don't go out as much. Bu t every day I'm t hi 11kin g how lucky I am to be a father. And Ican 't believe that Ididn 't do t his deci sion yea rs ago.

Pete Ke1111y, West llampstead, London

My moment is rather silly really. But it's important to me. About five years ago Iwoke up one morning and decided I couldn't go to work that day. I phoned my boss and told her I wasn't well. Then, I lay in bed, thinking in my life. "You need a cup of tea." Itold myself. But while Imade it, Iknocked over the milk. If there is one thing I can't stand, it's tea without milk. So I walked, in a miserable mood, to the corner shop to buy some. Back at home, I noticed a competition on lhe outside of the milk carton. I can't even remember what I had to do now. Anyway, Ientered the competition and... Iwon!

Two weeks' holiday for myself and a f riend in the Caribbean. Not much I know, but at the time I really needed that holiday. And if I wouldn't have had ii, I wouldn't have made several important decisions that changed my life.

Kate Barker, Kilburn, London

a) Think about an important momen t in your life so far. M ake not es in t he t ahlc.

What happened?

What were you doi ng at the ti me? How did it change you r life?

b) Write a description about your important moment.

• Gse your notes i n 6a).

• Remember tha t you can i nvent some or all of you r description.

• Read a nd check for t he com mon mistakes i n 4.

• Write you r descri ption agai n if you need to.

• G ive your descriptio n to your teacher next class.

Tick t h e things you can do in English in t he Read ing and Writin g Progress Portfolio, p88.

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