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  1. Read this conversation between Brian and Sarah. Put the verbs into the correct form.

SARAH: Brian! How nice to see you! What (1) --- (you/do) these days?

BRIAN: I (2) --- (train) to be a supermarket manager.

SARAH: Really? What's it like? (3) --- (you/enjoy) it?

BRIAN: It's all right. What about you?

SARAH: Well, actually I (4) --- (not/work) at the moment.

I (5) --- (try) to find a job but it's not easy.

But I'm very busy. I (6) --- (decorate) my flat.

BRIAN: (7) --- (you/do) it alone?

SARAH: No, some friends of mine (8) --- (help) me.

  1. Read the text about neighbours. Answer the questions.

  1. Do you know their neighbours’ name?

  2. Why Alberto’s life was going to get more difficult?

  3. Why did they try to ignore their neighbours?

  4. Who was Mimi?

  5. What can you say about your neighbours?

Love your neighbours? Sometimes it can be difficult!

Yоu can choose your friends but you can't choose your neighbours. The people who live upstairs, downstairs and next door can have a very big influence on our lives - and it isn't always positive! The typical problem that people have with their neighbours is that they make a lot of noise. In a European newspaper survey these were the top eight problems:

They argue loudly. Their babies cry. They have noisy parties. Their dogs bark. They watch TV late at night. They move furniture. They play a musical instrument. They argue with their partner. Alberto took one look at his new neighbours and knew that his life was going to get more difficult. He watched them arrive in their big, noisy car and watched them get out.

There they were, two of them, as big and as noisy as their car. 'Terrible!' he thought. 'How am I going to put up with them?' He went to tell Mimi. Mimi was the friend he lived with. 'Have you seen the new neighbours?' he asked her.

'No' she said. 'Who are they?' 'Two of them. The ones we don’t like. Big and noisy and stupid and smelly. 'Oh, no' said Mimi. 'How awful! I suppose we can just ignore them. 'I suppose you’re right' agreed Alberto. 'We’ll just have to ignore them.' For a few days Alberto and Mimi tried to ignore their new neighbours. When the neighbours went out for a walk, Alberto and Mimi didn’t say hello to them. When the neighbours were in their garden, Alberto and Mimi went inside. This was OK for a few days but things didn’t stay this way. One day Alberto woke up from his sleep to find one of the neighbours in his garden. 'Mimi!' he shouted. 'Have you seen this!? He’s in our garden!!!! Look!' 'How terrible' said Mimi. 'Let’s call our staff and make sure they get rid of him immediately!'

Miroslav Perovic, 38, teacher. I do know my neighbours, but we don't really get on. I have two young children, including a 10-month-old baby who can scream the house down. We get complaints from them about noise, but they are just as bad. They live above us and march all over the place and play loud music. I think that as neighbours we're fine, but the noise is something we can't help as the flats have hardly been soundproofed. We do talk about the problems, but it's not a nice thing to discuss.

Maria Lyons, 43, beauty therapist. I think I'm a good neighbour. We don't disturb anyone. If we're having a fire in the garden, we think about the best time to do it. I'm on call for an elderly neighbour in case she falls. When we had an extension built recently, we went out and spoke to everyone about it. Once, we allowed one of our hedges to grow too high and the neighbours complained, but we went out and hired some special equipment to cut it down the same day. Friends parking outside us probably annoys our neighbours, but that's because we all share a small lane. We all get by.

Stella Powell, 67, partner in a local garage and coach hire firm. I like to think that I'm a good neighbour. We try not to annoy people and if anybody wants us, we're here, we'll help. Some neighbours complained about the garage over the 30 years that we've been here, but they're not our immediate neighbours, who have never said anything. We try to be as quiet as we can; even if we're on a late hire, we don't rev the engines or anything when we come back.