Episode 90

EPISODE 90
LEVEL A1.2/A2.1

 

READING COMPREHENSION 

BEING BORED

’Let’s do something interesting this afternoon.’
’We could go visit Tom…’
’Oh, no, he’s such a bore (= a person who is boring)! He talks about himself all the time and he never says anything interesting! He’s boring (= not interesting)!’
’Ok, we can go to the cinema. There is a new Spielberg film on…’
’Spielberg again? No, his last film was really dull (= boring). I was bored to death in the cinema (= an idiom meaning to be very bored).’
’Ok… we can go to the city centre…’
’City centre? That’s completely uninteresting (= not interesting)! We have seen everything there, there’s nothing to do there, I’m bored out of my mind (= an idiom meaning to be very bored) every time we go there!’
’You know… maybe you are just uninterested (= not interested) in going out today…’
’What?’
’Or maybe… Am I boring you…? (= do you think that I am a bore?)’
’Oh, stop it! Come on, you don’t have any more ideas?’

 

More contexts for the new words: 

• I was bored out of my mind when we went there. 
• I was scared out of my mind when I saw the film for the first time. 
• I was worried out of my mind when she was 3 hours late. 

 

EXERCISE 1 

Choose the best option to complete each sentence.

 

1. I hate Sarah – she is such a boring/ bored/ bore.
2. Am I bored/ boredom/ boring you?
3. I was bored to end/ death/ die at the lecture.
4. She was bored out of her mind/ brain/ memory.
5. This magazine is completely disinteresting/ uninteresting/ noninteresting.
6. Some people think that Shakespeare’s plays are rather dell/ dull/ doll.

 

EXERCISE 2 

Put the phrases into the correct order, and then answer the questions.

1. time you / were bored / the last / When was / out of your mind?
2. you have seen? / the last / What was / dull film
3. of your friends / Which one / is a real bore? / or colleagues

 

 

ENGLISH IN USE  

 

Generally, you make adjectives ending in ’-ed’ or ’-ing’ from verbs: 

• excite (verb) – exciting – excited 
• tire (verb) – tiring – tired 
• disappoint (verb) – disappointing – disappointed 
• depress (verb) – despressing – depressed 

 

Sometimes the noun and the verb are the same: 

• bore (noun and verb) – boring – bored 
• surprise (noun and verb) – surprising – surprised 
• relax (noun and verb) – relaxing – relaxed 

 

Some adjectives are also made from nouns: 

• interest (noun) – interesting – interested

 

 

IDIOM CLOSE-UP 

 

A/ Are you enjoying your German course?

B/ Are you kidding? I’m DYING OF BOREDOM!

 

If you’re dying of boredom, you are feeling very bored. This is similar to the idiom from today’s lesson – to be bored to death. You can also be dying of hunger, thirst, etc.

 

 

PHRASAL VERBS CLOSE-UP

 

1. If you LIVEN UP, you become more energetic or cheerful. You can also LIVEN UP a place, event or person.

We need to liven up this party. Everyone looks bored.
You need to liven up a little. You’re so sad it is making everybody feel unhappy.

 

2. If you have been acting unreasonably because you are upset, you need to PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER and behave reasonably.

Pull yourself together and stop feeling bored.
I need some time on my own to pull myself together.

 

EXERCISE 3 

Match the sentence halves.

1. Just stop crying a. doing this exercise! 😉
2. We need some music b. to liven things up.
3. I’m dying of boredom c. and pull yourself together.

 

 

NEWS

 

BOREDOM TREATMENT

Are you attending a boring lecture, or taking part in a mind-numbing conference? Here are the top five ways to liven things up a bit.

5. Just twiddle your thumbs.

This will increase your body coordination, and will improve the cooperation of your brain hemispheres.

4. Revise.

Mentally rehearse the list of things to do after you finish your current task. This will help you organize your day.

3. Rock on your chair.

Although this might seem to be an annoying habit, it can actually improve your balance and help you burn a few extra calories.

2. Find a date.

Look around the room – is there anyone you would like to meet after the boring event? Think how you’re going to invite them out!

1. Sleep.

As long as you don’t snore, you can pretend to be reading something, and in fact take a little nap. A bit of relaxation guaranteed!

 

GLOSSARY 

– mind-numbing – extremely boring
– twiddle – move around each other
– hemispheres – halves
– rehearse – repeat
– snore – sleep in a noisy way
– nap – short sleep

 

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