EPISODE 189
LEVEL B1/B2

READING COMPREHENSION

Numbers Behind St. Patrick’s Day
With an estimated 13 million pints of Guinness downed around the world every year (enough to fill two and a half Olympic-sized swimming pools), St. Patrick’s Day is a pretty big deal. Even though business booms on the Emerald Isle on March 17 every year, nowhere else is the green, a party and spending big bucks as adored as in the USA. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), total U.S. spending this year is expected to reach $5.3 billion, the highest level ever recorded in the survey’s 13-year history and a considerable increase on 2016’s $4.4 billion.

Approximately 139 million people (56.1% percent of Americans), are going to embrace their inner Irishness and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year. On average, each person is expected to spend $37.92, up from last year’s $35.37. A whopping 82.5% of people celebrating will wear green while 31.4% will make a special dinner and 15.2% plan to attend a private party. All that enthusiasm certainly brews up the perfect pot of gold for Guinness owners Diageo. Every March, they make approximately $28 million from sales of the black stuff in the U.S. alone. Take a look at the infographic below where you can see some of the key numbers behind America’s favourite imported holiday.
Some key numbers behind St. Patrick’s Day in the U.S.Adapted from www.forbes.com

 

 

Ex. 1 Find the words or expressions in the text which mean the following:

1) calculated more or less: __________
2) 0.568 litre: __________
3) Ireland: __________
4) as mentioned somewhere: __________
5) selling to individual customers: __________
6) asking many people for their opinion on a subject: __________
7) to accept sth enthusiastically: __________
8) very large: __________
9) a business name: ___________
10)all over the world: __________
11)if there are hopes that sth will happen: __________
12)more or less: _________

 

Ex. 2 Match the expressions from the two columns into logical collocations:

1. a pretty                                     big bucks
2. business                                  brews up
3. spending                                 holiday
4. a considerable                       spending
5. to wear                                    of gold
6. enthusiasm                            big deal
7. a pot                                         increase
8. an imported                           green
9. to attend                                 a party
10. planned                                 booms

 

Ex. 3 Provide English equivalents of these expressions:

1) całkowite wydatki
2) wewnętrzny
3) średnio
4) sprzedaż
5) czyjeś korzenie
6) census
7) impreza zamknięta
8) udokumentować coś
9) wzrost
10) infografika
11) uwielbiać coś
12) świętować coś

 

Grammar corner…

A good way to ensure efficient communication in, for instance, business e-mails is to avoid long phrases that Polish people are used to using and turn to verbs instead. For example, when writing in English, Poles often say: „to make/perform a payment”, while it’s a lot easier to just say: „pay”. And the thing about English is that nearly anything can be used as a verb. In the text you saw words like: to down sth (to drink quickly), to plan sth, business booms. All three of them are originally different parts of speech that are just used as verbs.

 

Ex. 4 Avoid long phrases by replacing them with verbs.

1. His friend posted bail for him, so he didn’t have to stay in jail. => His friend …
2. Would you like me to put the food in a box for you? => Would you like me …
3. We will calculate a charge and take it from your account. => We will …
4. Many people in the 80s used to put bleach on their hair. => Many people …
5. You’re not in the position to make demands about a raise. =>
6. You need to put a label on every file so that it’s easy to find. => You need …

 

GLOSSARY

estimated – szacowany
a pint  – duże piwo
the Emerald Isle  – Szmaragdowa Wyspa (Irlandia)
according to  – zgodnie z
retail  – sprzedaż detaliczna
a survey  – ankieta
to embrace sth  – przyjąć coś z entuzjazmem
whopping  – ogromny/imponujący
a brand  – marka
worldwide  – na świecie
to be expected to do sth –  coś jest spodziewane
approximately –  około
a pretty big deal –  poważna sprawa
business booms  – interes kwitnie
spending big bucks  – wydawanie sporych pieniędzy
a considerable increase  – znaczny wzrost
to wear green  – ubierać się na zielono
enthusiasm brews up  – entuzjazm wzrasta
a pot of gold  – kociołek złota
an imported holiday –  importowane święto
to attend a party –  iść na imprezę
planned spending  – planowane wydatki
total spending –  całkowite wydatki
inner  – wewnętrzny
on average –  średnio
sales  – sprzedaż
sb’s ancestral origins  – czyjeś korzenie
census  – spis ludności
a private party –  impreza zamknięta
to record sth  – udokumentować coś
increase  – wzrost
an infographic –  infografika
to adore sth  – uwielbiać coś
to celebrate sth  – świętować coś
bleach  – wybielacz
charge – opłata

download lesson (pdf)

>>Answers

 

 

ANSWER KEY:

Ex. 1
1) estimated
2) a pint
3) the Emerald Isle
4) according to
5) retail
6) a survey
7) to embrace sth
8) whopping
9) a brand
10)worldwide
11)to be expected to do sth
12)approximately

Ex. 2
1) a pretty big deal
2) business booms
3) spending big bucks
4) a considerable increase
5) to wear green
6) enthusiasm brews up
7) a pot of gold
8) an important holiday
9) to attend a party
10)planned spending

Ex. 3
1) total spending
2) inner
3) on average
4) sales
5) sb’s ancestral origins
6) census
7) a private party
8) to record sth
9) increase
10)an infographic
11)to adore sth
12) to celebrate sth

Ex. 4
1) His friend bailed him out, so he didn’t have stay in jail.
2) Would you like me to box the food for you?
3) We will charge your account.
4) Many people in the 80s used to bleach their hair.
5) You’re not in the position to demand a raise.
6) You need to label every file, so that it’s easy to find.

hide