Spotlight - 13.2019

54

Fotos: shironosov; iStockc.om

Spotlight 13/2019 EVERYDAY ENGLISH

EVERYDAY ENGLISH

Early retirement

DAGMAR TAYLOR presents four dialogues about

retiring. Read them carefully and look at our tips to

brush up on your everyday English.

MEDIUM AUDIO PLUS

1. Time for golf
   It’s Friday morning. Keith has met his friend Dougie for a round of golf.


2. A happier man
   Keith is talking to Dougie about his decision to take early retirement.

Dougie: So, how’s life treating

you, Keith? Have you been

rushed off your feet since

you retired?

Keith: (laughs) Kind of. I really don’t

know how I ever had time to

work.

Dougie: What’s the best thing about

being retired then?

Keith: I can honestly say — without

hesitation — that it’s not hav-

ing to go to work ever again.

Dougie: (laughs) Was it really that bad?

Keith: Eh, yes! As you know, I was a

software tester, but because

of all the offshoring,

I wasn’t doing any testing.

I was just sorting things out

when they went wrong. And

that was all the time! It was

so frustrating.

Dougie: Sounds like you made the

right decision.

Keith: Without a doubt!

Dougie: So, how did you manage to

get early retirement? You’re

only 50.

Keith: Ah, I might look 50, but

you’ll be surprised to hear

that I’m actually 56. (laughs)

It was like this: when UK

legislation changed to allow

employees over 55 to decide

what they wanted to do with

their pensions, I realized

that I could free up funds

and invest them.

Dougie: Clever!

Keith: And also, we’ve paid off

the mortgage and my wife

works full-time. It’s been

much less stressful at home

since I retired. I’m a much

happier man.

Dougie: How long did you work for

the company?

Keith: I started when I was 18. I

was with them for just shy

of 38 years.

Dougie: Good on you!

Tips

⋅ How’s life treating you? is said as an

informal greeting.

⋅ If you are extremely busy, you can

say that you are rushed off your feet

(ifml.).

⋅ Offshoring is the practice of basing

a business or part of a business in a

different country, usually because

this involves paying less tax or other

costs.

⋅ When you have to deal with a

problem, and do so in a successful

way, you sort it out.

⋅ Without a doubt is used to

emphasize one’s opinion.

Tips

⋅ Legislation is a law, or a set of laws,

passed by a parliament.

⋅ A pension is an amount of money

paid regularly by a government or a

company to somebody who is too old

to work.

⋅ When you free up something, you

make something available to be used.

⋅ Yo u c a n u s e (just) shy of^ (ifml.) with

numbers or quantities to mean

“slightly less than”.

⋅ Good on you!^ (UK) is used to show

approval of someone’s success or

good luck.

approval [E(pru:v&l]

, Zustimmung

fund [fVnd]

, Kapital, Geldmittel

mortgage [(mO:gIdZ]

, Hypothek, Grundschuld