Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.
Preparation
Transcript
Selina: Patrick? Is that you?
Patrick: Selina! Hello!
Selina: Well, well. Patrick Eastwood. How have you been?
Patrick: Good. Great, actually. How are you? I haven't seen you for ... how long?
Selina: It's been ages. At least fifteen years. Wow.
Patrick: Yeah. Wow.
Patrick and Selina: So, what are you doing here?
Selina: Sorry, you go first.
Patrick: OK. What are you doing here? I thought you'd moved to London.
Selina: I was in London for a couple of years. But it didn't work out.
Patrick: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Are you ... OK?
Selina: I'm fine! The dream job wasn't really a dream, you know? Um ... and London is great but it's so expensive. I mean, just the rent on a flat is ... uh … crazy expensive.
Patrick: I see.
Selina: So, I came back. I've been back now for almost five months. Living back home with Mum and Dad. Which is err ... interesting. Um ... but anyway, what about you?
Patrick: Me? Oh, nothing new. You know me – 'Patrick the predictable'. I never left here.
Selina: Oh. And is that ...?
Patrick: Oh, I'm very happy. I'm married now. We've just celebrated our tenth anniversary.
Selina: No way! You? Married? To …?
Patrick: I don't think you know her. Her name's Marigold. And we've got two kids. They're five and eight years old.
Selina: Married and with two kids? Wow!
Patrick: Don't look so surprised!
Selina: No, no … I'm just amazed how time flies! I'm happy for you. I really am.
Patrick: Thanks. You should really come round to the house one day.
Selina: That would be great. Let's swap numbers and ...
In the preparation part, The dream job wasn't really A DREAM, why is the answer ''perfect'', and not ''boring''?
Hello yasuragi,
The word 'really' here means 'in fact' or 'in reality' so it tells us that we are going to talk about a contrast: the job was supposed to be ideal but in reality it was not. As we have a negative verb (wasn't) we need a positive attribute. If the verb was positive then we could use a negative attribute:
In reality it wasn't perfect.
In reality it was boring.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Of course. I moved to new school last year and i missed my old friends back in my old school. We don't live near so we chat online. But as you know,we are all busy with our school works so it's rare to have a proper chinwag but i chat with them sometimes.
Yes, im in a touch with my friends at least once a week, because, for me, friend are key to my mental health. We dont live in the same city but we talk often.
Do you keep in touch with old friends?
Yes, I do. Usually, when a visit my parents in my hometown, it is likely that I meet some of my old friends and its always a real pleasure hear about their life.
Yes I do. I met an old frpend yesterday at University. We haven't seen for a while
I was happy for that
Do you keep in touch with old friends?
No, really. Adult life is so busy and a little complex sometimes. However, I have found many of them on social media. Now we are completely different people with divers interests.
But you know, you will always have good memories of good friends.
Yes, I am in touch with two of my old friends who live not far from me. We sometimes have dinner together at nice restaurants and we really enjoy spending time together. One of my friend is also a colleague and I see her every day. I could'nt live without them because they are very important to' me.
Yes, I keep in touch with my old neighbour, she is younger than me. She was born in italy but when she was five she moved to Romania. Yesterday I met her, after 3 years. I was amazed and it was great seeing how she grew up! I hope I will see her again.
I moved to another province three years ago. So, I don't see them much. I missed them but technology always helps! I talk to them by cell phone or we make video calls on WhatsApp. Honestly, it's not the same, but it's a way to keep in touch with them