9A Life changes
Lead-in
Ex.1 Discuss the following questions.
Imagine that your life so far divides up into a number of ‘stages’ or ‘periods’. How many are there? What name would you give to each stage?
What are the times when people’s lives change in important ways?
What do you think is the biggest change in a human’s life: Your first girl/boyfriend? Losing your job? Getting married? Getting divorced? Having a baby? Retiring? Something else?
If you could change one of the following which would it be: Where you were born; When you were born; Where you went to school; The subjects you studied at school?
Reading
Ex.2 a) Read a poem from The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. What is it about?
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone.
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
b) Read the article below about a woman who has moved from the city to the country. Answer these questions.
What was Zoe doing before she moved?
Why did she move?
Is she happy with her decision? Why or why not?
Redundancy was the best thing that ever happened to me
L
ike
many of her colleagues, Zoe Chambers lived for her work. She was a
successful PR consultant
and life was going well – she had a great job, a beautiful flat on
London's fashionable King's Road (1)
________. Then, the unthinkable happened.
One evening in June last year, she received a text message telling
her she was out of work. Suddenly, as she put it, life was 'hell'.
'The first two weeks were the most difficult to live through,' she
said. 'After everything I'd done for the company, they fired
me by text! I was so angry (2) ________. I hated everything about the
city and my life.'
Then, Zoe received an invitation from an old schoolfriend, Kathy, to come and stay. Kathy and her husband, Huw, had just bought a farm in north-west Wales. Zoe jumped at the chance to spend a weekend away from London, and now, ten months later, she is still on the farm.
'The moment I arrived at Kathy’s farm, I loved it (3) ________,' said Zoe. 'Everything about my past life suddenly seemed superficial. When I asked Kathy if I could work for her, she refused to take me seriously at first. She told me how much farm hands get paid (4) ________.'
Zoe has been working on the farm since October of last year (5) ________. 'It's a hard life, physically very tiring,' she says. 'In London I was stressed and often mentally exhausted. But this is a good, healthy tiredness. Here, all I need to put me in a good mood is a hot bath (6) ______. '
After almost six months on the farm, Zoe says she has never felt bored. Every day brings a new experience. Kathy has been teaching her how to ride a horse (7) ________. Since Christmas, she has been helping with the lambing - watching a lamb being born is incredible, she says, 'It's one of the most moving experiences I've ever had. Moving out of town brought radical changes into my life, but I could never go back to city life now. Redundancy is the best thing that has ever happened to me!'
c) Read the article again and put the phrases a-g in the gaps 1-7.
and I just didn't feel like looking for another job
and a busy social life of expensive restaurants and late-night clubs
and she blushed with embarrassment
and I knew I wanted to stay
and one of Kathy's wonderful dinners
and says she has no regrets
and she has learnt to drive a tractor
d) Work in pairs. Discuss these questions.
Zoe says that she has no regrets. Do you think that she will have any regrets later? What might be the consequences of such radical changes in her life?
Are you happy with your lifestyle? Why or why not?
Would you like to make a radical change to your lifestyle? What kind of change?
Active vocabulary
1) consequence (n) – последствие, результат (чего-л.)
grave/ serious consequences –серьёзные последствия
unforeseen consequences – непредвиденные обстоятельства
to take/ accept the consequences of – отвечать, нести ответственность за последствия
consequently (adv) – следовательно, поэтому, в результате, вследствие
2) consult (v) – советоваться, консультироваться (с кем-л.; о чём-л.); справляться (о чём-л.)
to consult sb about sth – обратиться за советом к кому-л. по поводу чего-л.
consultant (n) – консультант, советник
business consultant – консультант по вопросам бизнеса
legal consultant – юридический консультант
medical consultant – врач-консультант
political consultant – советник по политическим вопросам
consultation (n) – консультация (врача или др. специалиста)
3) eager (adj) – страстно желающий, жаждущий
to be eager for sth
to be eager to do sth
eagerly (adv) – горячо, пылко, страстно
4) expect (v) – ждать, ожидать; надеяться, предполагать
expectation (n) – ожидание (процесс); предположение, надежда, предвкушение
to meet expectation – отвечать ожиданиям
to exceed expectation – превосходить ожидания
beyond expectation – сверх ожидания
great expectations – большие надежды
expected (adj) – ожидаемый, вероятный
expected costs – ожидаемые затраты
expected price – ожидаемая цена
unexpectedly (adv) - неожиданно
5) fire (v) – увольнять
fired (adj) – уволенный с работы; снятый с должности
to be fired for sth
6) move (v) – трогать, волновать; вызывать (какие-л. чувства, эмоции)
to be moved by sth
moving (adj) – волнующий, трогательный
moving spectacle – волнующее зрелище
8) radical (adj) – коренной, радикальный
radical change – радикальное изменение
radical views – радикальные убеждения
9) redundancy (n) – сокращение штатов
redundancy pay – выходное пособие по сокращению штатов
redundant (adj) – уволенный по сокращению штатов
to make sb redundant
to be made redundant
redundant workers – уволенные рабочие
Phrasal verbs
live for sth – жить для чего-л., ради чего-л.
live off sth/ sb – жить за счет кого-л./ чего-л.
live on sth – жить на какие-л. средства; питаться чем-л.
live out (of a suitcase) – жить по-походному, жить на чемоданах
live through sth – пережить что-л.
live up to sth – оправдывать (надежды)