BBC Learning English. Stephen Keeler Column: 21 May Fingers crossed

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1 BBC Learning English Column: 21 May 2007 Fingers crossed I ve tried. Believe me, I really have tried. I started a couple of days ago and wrote more than two pages. But it wasn t good, and that s an understatement. So I deleted the lot and started again. Yesterday I even got up especially early, to write when it is still quiet in the house and there s no traffic outside. Once again, I managed a couple of pages. This time it was worse. Thank goodness for the delete key. Today it is raining. It s cold and grey and no one is going anywhere. So I thought I d try once more. The truth is, however, I can t put it off any longer: I simply have to admit to you that I cannot make Lucy s A -levels sound interesting. I even tried interviewing her: DAD: Lucy, what s the worst thing about A -levels? LUCY: Not knowing whether you re going to pass or fail. Promising. Next question. DAD: What s the best thing about A -levels? LUCY: Dad, there is no best thing about A -levels. Not so promising. So now I have to agree with Lu that it isn t easy to make examinations sound interesting. None of this helps you, though, does it? My solution (because several of you have written asking about Lucy s exams and university application) is to add an information box at the end of this column, and to promise to keep you informed about how things are going, every couple of weeks. Right now, there s a big sign on Lucy s bedroom door. It says: Warning! You are now entering A -level hell! I think that tells you all you need to know for the moment. Poor Lucy! She doesn t seem to have had her nose out of a book for most of the last month. Never mind, it ll all be over soon. Her first exam is on 24th May and her last will be on 21st June. Then everything can go back to normal at least until she gets her results on 19 th August. And that s a long time to keep your fingers crossed. Page 1 of 7

2 Lucy studying hard, as usual Don t feel too sorry for her. She s going to Spain for a week with seventeen, yes seventeen, of her school friends, after their exams (should I apologise to Spain in advance?), and yesterday I finally bought our tickets for our summer in New York (I m still in shock from the price I had to pay!). Lucy will fly out with me and stay for a couple of weeks until she s spent all my money. Then she ll fly back home to wreck the house and neglect the garden, leaving me penniless in Manhattan (sounds like the title of a bad novel, Penniless in Manhattan) for another three weeks. And, talking of daughters spending all their father s money, here s a depressing little tale. My girlfriend if you can call a 48 year-old woman a girlfriend bought a new car yesterday. (Perhaps I shouldn t have mentioned her age. Please don t tell her I told you!) When she got home the first thing she did was telephone her parents. Her mum s reaction was, How much does she want this time? and her dad s reaction was to start writing a cheque. Does this mean that I ll never be free from having to spend all my money on Lucy even when she s 48? Please, if there is someone reading this column who has grown-up children who no longer need their parents money, write to me to reassure me it is possible! Lucy and I have still got lots of tickets for more summer concerts here in London, and we even have a pair of tickets for the Wimbledon tennis championships next month. In Britain, we manage to forget international tennis even exists for fifty weeks of the year and then every June we go crazy expecting and demanding anyone who is British and can hold a tennis racquet the right way to win Wimbledon. Only one thing would make my summer complete, and that s a pair of tickets for the FA Cup Final (our domestic football championship) at the new Wembley Stadium. My beloved Arsenal aren t playing, but it would be great to see a match even if it has to be one in which Chelsea are playing at this fantastic new stadium. There s something very exciting about having a pile of tickets on your desk (although, of course, you don t get real tickets for plane journeys now, just so-called e-tickets). Jill Huang, from Beijing, obviously understands this. I loved her cheeky little note suggesting I send her a concert ticket as a gift for my comments and loyalty. Too bad you re so far away, Jill. I had a spare ticket for a concert just last week. Page 2 of 7

3 And what is it about tickets that s so exciting? I suppose it s the promise of something new, something unpredictable, a complete change from our daily routines, a treat. I can still remember the excitement of getting my tickets for the train journey home from Xi an, in China, where I d been working for over a year, back in We travelled on the Chinese Trans-Siberian Express, through Mongolia and across what was then the Soviet Union. The tickets were pink and flimsy and looked just like a supermarket receipt. But they took us almost half-way round the world in style and comfort and with a few adventures on the way. So what, if you could choose a pair of tickets for anything at all, would make your year complete? A holiday here in sunny London (the rain has stopped, by the way and it s suddenly warm and fragrant)? Tickets for the Olympic Games in China, next year? How about a journey into space or a world cruise? What do you think about our spending the summer in New York? A travel writer friend of mine wrote to me recently and ended her letter with Enjoy New York in mid-summer (I wouldn t!). Where would you choose? Fantasise a little and post your comments to share with all our readers. I just love reading what you have written. Like Farida (Pakistan) I go to this website every morning to read your comments so keep them coming. I admire your courage in writing in English for the whole world to read. Don t worry Claudio (Chile), your writing is fine: the important thing, here, is to communicate and share your ideas. And it is beginning to feel a bit like a family: Marula, in Scotland, remembered that I cry when Arsenal lose (can I confess now, Marula, that that was a small exaggeration?); Kriszta, from Hungary, sent greetings to Lucy (very kind, thank you); Marianna, from Slovakia, who I now know is quite an accomplished artist, is a loyal and generous reader who shared some very personal feelings last time. But it s also great when new people post comments, too. Our little band of friends is growing all the time. I m afraid I ve just heard Lucy s bedroom door open, upstairs. That means it s time for a break. Any second now she ll appear, like a zombie, in my little study (where I m writing this), looking pale and exhausted and, let s be honest, a little bit bored. Time for me to perform my parental duties a cup of tea, a chocolate biscuit and a pep talk. I ll save the gin and tonic for when she s gone back to her books. Cheers! Page 3 of 7

4 Some useful words and expressions understatement a statement which does not fully express the degree to which something is true If you understate something, sometime for effect, you suggest that it is less important or significant than it really is. the lot everything put it off postpone or delay it If you put something off you decide to do it later. to admit confess If you admit something embarrassing, bad or unpleasant, you say or agree that it is true. Promising Likely to be very good or successful Never mind It doesn t matter; don t worry keep your fingers crossed This is a colloquial expression which is used when you want to wish someone good luck. For example, if your friend is going to take his driving test you can say, I ll keep my fingers crossed or I ll keep my fingers crossed for you, and that is another way of saying good luck. Here, because I want Lucy to pass all her exams, I can say, I m keeping my fingers crossed for her or I ll keep my fingers crossed for her until 19 th August. feel sorry for feel sympathy for in shock in a state of shock; stunned; unpleasantly surprised penniless without any money domestic concerning matters within a country; home (i.e. not international) Here it means the national football championship of England. so-called You use so-called in front of a word or term to show that it is usually referred to in a special way, for example, The earth is experiencing so-called global warming. cheeky (affectionate) Cheeky usually means rude or disrespectful but it can be used in an affectionate way (as I am using it here) to mean socially daring or adventurous in a friendly way. spare extra; not needed; unwanted unpredictable impossible to know how it will develop or end a treat something special to enjoy Page 4 of 7

5 flimsy thin; not very strong or durable; easily damaged by the way incidentally fragrant pleasantly perfumed cruise holiday spent on a large, usually luxurious, ship premiere first performance (of, for example, a movie or a piece of music) Fantasise Imagine; use your imagination creatively accomplished If you are accomplished at [note the preposition] something you are very good at it (for example, an accomplished writer, an accomplished singer, etc). Any second now Soon; in just a moment zombie Zombie literally means a dead person who has been brought back to life by supernatural magic. If you describe someone as looking like a zombie it means that s/he seems completely unaware of things around her/him, and seems to act without thinking about what s/he is doing. It is generally used to suggest that someone is completely exhausted as a result of some kind of extreme effort or experience. pep talk An informal expression which means a motivating talk or speech intended to encourage someone (or a group) to make more effort. A -levels and university application So what does A -level mean, how important are these exams and (don t even think about it) what happens if Lucy fails? A -levels (the A stands for advanced ) are the final examinations in our school system. In Scotland there is a different system, but in England and Wales students who leave school at 18+ have usually studied three or four A -level subjects, together with something called General Studies, for the preceding two years. Lucy has studied History, English Literature and History of Art during this two-year period. General Studies is designed to offer a broader education to A -level students and includes work on citizenship, politics, maths and science. A -levels are qualifying examinations for university. Students here apply for a place to study at a university and the universities either reject them or make them an offer. Lucy was rejected by Cambridge (the mad fools, don t they realise how brilliant she is?!) but received an offer from the ancient (1411) Scottish university of St Andrews (look at a map of Britain and you will find St Andrews to the north-east of Edinburgh, across the Firth of Page 5 of 7

6 Forth). An offer is when the university tells you they will give you a place there so long as you achieve certain results, or grades, in your A -levels. St Andrews will accept Lucy so long as she gets two As and a B (for example, an A in History of Art, an A in History and a B in English Literature). There are five pass grades, from A to E. You can see, I think, that Lu has a tough target to reach. If all goes well, she will study for a degree in History of Art, with subsidiary studies in Russian and Philosophy. She plans to continue studying French, too. If all does not go well actually I prefer not to think about that right now. Some useful words and expressions stands for represents; is short for (i.e. A is an abbreviation for advanced ) subjects fields of knowledge, such as geography, history, mathematics, chemistry, etc apply for a place write formally asking to be allowed to become a student make an offer accept (them) Firth of Forth the River Forth ( Firth is not a synonym for river, but it is used about certain rivers with very wide estuaries, in Scotland.) an A in History of Art the top grade possible in the History of Art examination pass the opposite of fail (You should only use the word pass about an examination when you have received a [pass] result. You can use two verbs for the activity of participating in an exam or test take or sit. EXAMPLES: When are you going to take your driving test? I have to sit an entrance exam before I can apply for a university place. If all goes well If everything is successful subsidiary minor; opposite of major More phrasal verbs with put In the first paragraph I used the expression put it off, meaning postpone or delay. There are many phrasal verbs which use put. Read the sentences below and select the correct definition for the phrasal verb in each sentence. Use a dictionary to make sure you understand the definitions, first. Then check your answers in a dictionary, or a dictionary of phrasal verbs, before you read the answers below: [1] The professor s theories were extremely complex but he put them across to his students in a way which made them easy to understand. Page 6 of 7

7 [2] When I was a student I always tried to put a little money by every month so that I would be able to buy a small car when I left university. [3]Why can t you put your toys away when you ve finished playing with them? [4] Our dog was so ill we had no choice but to have him put down. [5] Now that I ve got a power drill I m going to put up some bookshelves in the living-room. [6] I find it very difficult to put up with his rudeness. [7] We bought this new bed at half-price and now we can t put it together. [8] Since I injured my leg, and have not been able to go jogging every day, I have put on quite a lot of weight. [9] I ll pour us a couple of drinks if you put on some music. [10] Is it going to be a formal party? What should I put on? (a) Legally killed (b) Keep or save (c) Play (a record, cassette or CD, for example) (d) Assemble (e) Succeeded in explaining (f) Wear (g) Tolerate (h) Return to the correct place (i) Construct, build or erect (j) Become heavier ANSWERS: 1e, 2b, 3h, 4a, 5i, 6g, 7d, 8j, 9c, 10f Page 7 of 7