Spotlight - 01.2020

54 Spotlight 1/2020 EVERYDAY ENGLISH

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EVERYDAY ENGLISH

Planning to move

DAGMAR TAYLOR presents four dialogues about

planning to move house. Read them carefully and look

at our tips to brush up on your everyday English.

MEDIUM AUDIO PLUS

1. So much to do
   Helen and her family are moving to a different city. She is talking to her
   friend Claire about it.


2. Lots of lists
   Helen is talking to Claire about moving to Oxford soon.

Claire: I can’t believe it’s only a

month until you move! I’m

going to miss you so much.

I really, really don’t want you

to go.

Helen: Oh, don’t make me cry. We’ll

still see each other. Oxford’s

not that far away. I haven’t

had time to think about how

much I’ll miss my friends,

which is probably for the best.

I imagine it’ll hit me when I’ve

unpacked all the boxes and

suddenly have time on my

hands.

Claire: How are you getting on with

packing? Do you need any

help?

Helen: I haven’t started yet (giggles

nervously). I really don’t know

how anyone can help me. The

first thing I have to do is get

rid of all the stuff we don’t

need any more.

Claire: You must have heaps to

organize. I wouldn’t know

where to start.

Helen: I just keep making lists. Once

I’ve ticked off the things on

one list, I think of plenty of

things to add to the next list.

Claire: What’s on today’s list?

Helen: It’s the holidays next week, so

I’m off to Oxford with the kids

to organize things. I have a list

of things I have to do there

and a list of things I have to

finish here before I go.

Claire: How are the kids feeling about

the move and starting at a new

school?

Helen: They’re really positive. I think

they’re looking forward to

the adventure, but at the same

time, they’re feeling a bit sad

about leaving their friends.

Tips

⋅ If something^ is for the best, even

though it may seem strange or

unpleasant at the moment, it will

improve a situation in the future.

⋅ When something has a bad effect on

you, you can say that it has hit you.

⋅ If you have time on your hands

(ifml.), you have nothing to do or are

not busy.

⋅ You can say How are you getting on

with...? to ask somebody about the

progress they are making on a task.

⋅ When you throw something away or

give it to someone because you don’t

want it any more, you get rid of it.

Tips

⋅ Heaps (ifml.) is a synonym for

“loads”. Both words mean “a lot” of

something.

⋅ I wouldn’t know... is used to say that

you have no experience of something.

⋅ When you tick something off (UK),

you put a mark ( ) beside a name or

an item on a list to show that it has

been dealt with.

⋅ A more informal way of saying you

are going somewhere is to say that

you are off to somewhere.

⋅ If you are looking forward to (doing)^

something, you feel happy and

excited about something that is going

to happen.

giggle [(gIg&l]

, kichern

item [(aItEm]

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