LANGUAGE
PRACTICE
MỤC LỤC
LANGUAGE PRACTICE 1
MỤC LỤC 2
UNIT ONE 6
WINSTON CHURCHILL’S PREP SCHOOL 6
THE IDEA OF SUMMERHILL 8
SUPPLEMENTARY READING 9
SCHOOLS 9
POST-SCHOOL EDUCATION 13
UNIT 2 20
IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH 20
MUSCLE BINDS 20
SUPPLEMENTARY READING 24
HEALTH AND ILLNESS 24
UNIT 3 27
LANGUAGE, GENDER AND SOCIAL LIFE 27
THE MORALS OF GOSSIP 27
DON’T TALK, LISTEN! 30
SUPPLEMENTARY READING 38
GENDER AND LANGUAGE 38
UNIT 4 51
SOCIETY 51
THE UPPER CLASS 51
JOBS AND EMPLOYMENT POLICIES 53
SOCIAL SECURITY 55
UNIT 5 61
LAW 61
LAW AND ORDER 61
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT 64

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SUPPLEMENTARY READING 67
CIVIL LAW AND PROCEDURE 67
CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS 69
CODE OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE 72
UNIT 6 96
ECONOMY 96
TAXATION AND TAX SYSTEMS 96
TAX EVASION. BRIBERY. CORRUPTION 98
UNIT 7 106
POLITICS 106
THE GOVERNMENT 106
THE PARLIAMENT 108
TABLE OF CONTENTS 118
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LANGUAGE PRACTICE
TEXTBOOK
FOR FIRST YEAR STUDENTS
4
5
UNIT ONE
WINSTON CHURCHILL’S PREP SCHOOL
The school my parents have selected for my education was one of the most fashionable
and expensive in the country. It modeled itself upon Eton and aimed at being preparatory for
that Public School above all others. It was supposed to be the very last thing in schools. Only
ten boys in a class; electric light (then a wonder); a swimming pond; spacious football and
cricket grounds; two or three school treats, or “expeditions” as they were called, every term;
the masters all M.A.’s in gowns and mortarboards; a chapel of its own; no hampers allowed;
everything provided by the authorities. It was a dark November afternoon when we arrived at
this establishment. We had tea with the Headmaster, with whom my mother conversed in the

most easy manner. I was preoccupied with the fear of spilling my cup and so making “a bad
start”. I was also miserable at the idea of being left alone among all these strangers in this
great, fierce, formidable place. After all I was only seven, and I had been so happy in my
nursery with all my toys. I had such wonderful toys: a real steam engine, a magic lantern,
and a collection of soldiers already nearly a thousand strong. Now it was to be all lessons.
Seven or eight hours of lessons every day except half-holidays, and football or cricket in
addition.
When the last sound of my mother’s departing wheels had died away, the Headmaster
invited me to hand over any money I had in my possession. I produced my three half-crowns,
which were duly entered in a book, and I was told that from time to time there would be a
“shop” at the school with all sorts of things which one would like to have, and that I could
choose what I liked up to the limit of the seven and sixpence. Then we quitted the
Headmaster’s parlour and the comfortable private side of the house, and entered the more
bleak apartments reserved for the instruction and accommodation of the pupils. I was taken
into a Form Room and told to sit at a desk.
All the other boys were out of doors, and I was alone with the Form Master. He
produced a thin greeny-brown covered book filled with words in different types of print.
‘You have never done any Latin before, have you?’ he said.
‘No, sir.’
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‘This is a Latin grammar.’ He opened it at a well-thumbed page. ‘You must learn this,’
he said, pointing to a number of words in a frame of lines. ‘I will come back in half an hour
and see what you know.’
Behold me then on a gloomy evening, with an aching heart, seated in front of the First
Declension.
Mensa a table
Mensa O table
Mensam a table
Mensae of a table
Mensae to or for a table

Mensa by, with or from a table
What on earth did it mean? Where was the sense in it? It seemed absolute rigmarole to
me. However, there was one thing I could always do: I could learn by heart. And I thereupon
proceeded, as far as my private sorrows would allow, to memorize the task which had been
set me.
In due course the Master returned.
‘Have you learnt it?’ he asked.
‘I think I can say it, sir,’ I replied; and I gabbled it off.
He seemed so satisfied with this that I was emboldened to ask a question.
‘What does it mean, sir?’
‘It means what it says. Mensa, a table. Mensa is a noun of the First Declension. There
are five declensions. You have learnt the singular of the First Declension.’
‘But,’ I repeated, ‘what does it mean?’
‘Mensa means a table,’ he answered.
‘Then why does mensa also mean O table,’ I enquired, ‘and what does O table mean?’
‘Mensa, O table, is the vocative case,’ he replied.
‘But why O table?’ I persisted in genuine curiosity.
‘O table – you would use that in addressing a table, in invoking a table.’ And then
seeing he was not carrying me with him, ‘You would use it in speaking to a table.’
‘But I never do,’ I blurted out in honest amazement.
‘If you are impertinent, you will be punished, and punished, let me tell you, very
severely,’ was his conclusive rejoinder.
Such was my first introduction to the classics from which, I have been told, many of
our cleverest men have derived so much solace and profit.
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THE IDEA OF SUMMERHILL
This is a story of a modern school – Summerhill. Summerhill began as an
experimental school. It is no longer such; it is now a demonstration school, for it
demonstrates that freedom works.
When my first wife and I began the school, we had one main idea: to make

the school fit the child – instead of making the child fit the school.
Obviously, a school that makes active children sit at desks studying mostly
useless subjects is a bad school. It is a good school only for those who believe in
such a school, for those uncreative citizens who want docile, uncreative children
who will fit into a civilization whose standard of success is money.
I had taught in ordinary schools for many years. I knew the other way
well. I knew it was all wrong. It was wrong because it was based on an adult
conception of what a child should be and of how a child should learn.
Well, we set out to make a school in which we should allow children
freedom to be themselves. In order to do this, we had to renounce all discipline,
all direction, all suggestion, all moral training, all religious instruction. We have
been called brave, but it did not require courage. All it required was what we had
– a complete belief in the child as a good, not an evil, being.
My view is that a child is innately wise and realistic. If left to himself
without adult suggestion of any kind, he will develop as far as he is capable of
developing. Logically, Summerhill is a place in which people who have the innate
ability and wish to be scholars will be scholars; while those who are only fit to
sweep the streets will sweep the streets. But we have not produced a street cleaner
so far. Nor do I write this snobbishly, for I would rather see a school produce a
happy street cleaner than a neurotic scholar.
What is Summerhill like? …
… Well, for one thing, lessons are optional. Children can go to them or
stay away from them – for years if they want too. There is a timetable – but only
for the teachers.
The children have classes usually according to their age, but sometimes
according to their interests. We have no new methods of teaching, because we do
not consider that teaching in itself matters very much. Whether a school has or has
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not a special method for teaching long division is fo no importance except to those
who want to learn it. And the child who wants to learn long division will learn it

no matter how it is taught.
Summerhill is possibly that happiest school in the world. We have no
truants and seldom a case of homesickness. We rarely have fights – quarrels, of
course, but seldom have I seen a stand-up fight like the ones we used to have as
boys. I seldom hear a child cry, because children when free have much less hate to
express than children who are downtrodden. Hate breeds hate, and love breeds
love. Love means approving of children, and that is essential in any school. You
can’t be on the side of children if you punish them and storm at them. Summerhill
is a school in which the child knows that he is approved of.
The function of the child is to live his own life – not the life that his
anxious parents think he should live, nor a life according to the purpose of the
educator who thinks he knows what is best. All this interference and guidance on
the part of adults only produces a generation of robots.
In Summerhill, everyone has equal rights. No one is allowed to walk on
my great piano, and I am not allowed to borrow a boy’s cycle without his
permission. At a General School Meeting, the vote of a child of six counts for as
much as my vote does.
But, says the knowing one, in practice of course the voices of the
grownups count. Doesn’t the child of six wait to see how you vote before he raises
his hand? I wish he sometimes would, for too many of my proposals are beaten.
Free children are not easily influenced; the absence of fear accounts for this
phenomenon. Indeed, the absence of fear is the finest thing that can happen to a
child.
SUPPLEMENTARY READING
SCHOOLS
Schools in Britain are of two types: state (or maintained) schools, which
charge no fees, and independent (or private) schools, which are fee-paying. There
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are far more state schools than independent schools, but some independent
schools, especially the older public schools, have retained considerable academic

and social prestige.
The school year usually runs from early September to mid-July and is
divided into three terms of about 12 weeks each.
State schools, which are funded by the government by the local education
authority (LEA), are primary, for children aged 5 to 11, and secondary, for pupils
aged 11 to 16 or 18, although in some areas there are first schools for children of 5
to 9, middle schools for ages 9 to 13, and secondary or upper schools. All children
must receive a full-time education from the age of 5 until the age of 16. Below
primary schools are nursery schools, for children under 5. Schools in the state
system can be county schools, owned as well as funded by the LEA, or voluntary
schools, founded by a voluntary body such as the Church of England or the
Roman Catholic Church.
In secondary education most schools (over eight out of ten) are
comprehensive schools, offering a general education to all children. There are also
a small number of secondary modern schools, offering a more practical education,
grammar schools, providing a more academic education, and technical schools,
offering a combination of academic and practical teaching. Children who go to a
secondary modern, grammar or technical school do so as a result of an
examination called the 11-plus or after some other selection procedure. There are
also special schools for children with a physical or mental disability.
In the independent sector, the main division is into preparatory schools, for
pupils aged 7 to 13, and public schools, for pupils aged 13 to 18. (The name
“public school” is historic, and refers to the fact that such schools were originally
opened to “the public”, taking pupils from any area, not just locally.) Almost all
independent schools are boarding schools, and unlike state schools are usually for
one sex only. About half the public schools, especially the oldest and best-known
ones, such as Eton, Harrow and Winchester, are for boys only. However, many
boys’ public schools take girls in the senior classes, and some are now fully co-
educational.
The fees in independent schools are usually several thousand pounds per

year. It is possible for a child to win an “assisted place” so that parents who
cannot afford the fees receive financial help from the government.
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State schools mostly have larger classes than independent schools, but all
schools share the same school-leaving examinations. The main exam is the
General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), normally taken at the age of
16, in which pupils sit papers in different subjects (usually five or more) and are
awarded a grade in each subject on a seven-point scale, A to G. A further
examination, normally taken two years after GCSE, is the A level (“A” meaning
“Advanced”). This is usually done in two or three subjects only. There are also S
and A/S-levels. S-level (“S” for “Special” or “Scholarship”) provides additional,
harder papers for A-level students. A/S level (“Advanced Supplementary”) is an
alternative to A level, with subjects studied on a broader, less specialized basis.
GCSE and A level exams are marked by one of the regional examining
boards. A level boards are mostly organized by a particular university, such as the
Cambridge University Local Examinations Syndicate or the University of Oxford
Delegacy of Local Examinations. Schools are free to choose a board in area.
Subjects taught in state schools are determined by the National
Curriculum. The Curriculum prescribes a course of central (“core”) subjects,
namely English, mathematics and science, and includes seven basic
(“foundation”) subjects, which are history, geography, technology, music, art,
physical education and (in secondary schools) a modern foreign language. There
are attainment targets for what children should be capable of doing and knowing
at the ages of 7, 11, 14 and 16. The National Curriculum was introduced by the
Education Reform Act of 1988, and this same Act enabled secondary schools to
opt out of the control of the LEA and to manage their own budget under a new
“local management of schools” (LMS) scheme.
All state schools are required to include religious education in their
syllabus, and they must also hold a daily act of worship. Parents have the right,
however, to withdraw their children from the latter. In practice most independent

schools also include religious education in their timetable, and many public
schools begin the day with a short religious service in the school chapel.
Preparatory schools (colloquially, “prep schools”) are so named because
they prepare pupils for entrance to public school. The examination which admits
them is the Common Entrance (so called because it is shared in common by most
public schools). It is taken at the age of 13 by boys but usually younger by girls.
The exam itself is set by the Common Entrance Examination Board but is marked
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by the public school, in which case they usually sit that school’s own special
exam as well.
Classes in a school are often designated as “year” (especially in state
schools) or “form” (more in independent schools). The fifth form is the one at
which GCSE is taken, while the sixth form is normally the one preparing for A
level, and so the senior class. (It is often divided into “lower sixth” and “upper
sixth” for the two years.)
Public schools are sometimes accused of being snobbish and “elitist”.
They are normally very well equipped, classes are smaller, teachers’ salaries are
higher, and many have a sustained record of academic excellence. Unlike state
schools, they often attach considerable importance to prowess at sport as well as
class work.
In the USA, there are state schools, known as “public schools”, which are
free, and private schools, which charge fees. Most children (at least eight out of
ten) attend public schools. The majority of private schools are sponsored by a
religious organization such as a church, and are often known as “parochial
schools”. One type of private school is the “preparatory school” or “prep school”,
so called as it prepares for university entrance. (“Preppy” is a colloquial term for
the fashionable style of dress of students at these schools.)
The school year runs from early-September to mid-June, with continuous
weekly attendance of five hours a day, five days a week, apart from seasonal
holidays. The main types of schools are elementary school, for children aged 6-12

or 6-14 and high school for students aged 14 or 15 to 18. There are also junior
high schools for 12-15-year olds. There is no fixed school-leaving age, but all
states require a child to attend school between prescribed ages, typically from 6 to
16. Classes are organized in “grades”, with grades 1 to 6 for elementary school
pupils, 7 to 9 for junior high school students, and 10 to 12 for senior high school
students. Pre-school education for children under 6 is in kindergarten classes
(often designated as grade K) or nursery schools.
There is no national curriculum, but basic subjects in elementary schools
are “language arts” (reading, grammar, composition and literature), “penmanship”
(writing), science, social studies (incorporating history and geography), music, art,
and physical education, while in high school they are English, science and
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mathematics, social studies and physical education. Religious instruction is part of
the curriculum in private schools, but is not given in public schools.
There are no national examinations. As pupils progress upwards from
grade to grade, they are assessed on the basis of performance in tests throughout
the year, participation in class discussions, and completion of written and oral
assignments. Some schools give their own end-of-year examinations, while a few
states, such as New York, give state examinations, which are set by the State
Department of Education.
The criterion for a particular student’s high school graduation (leaving
school with a diploma to show satisfactory completion of all courses) in the
number of “units” he has amassed. A high school unit equals about 120 hours
(three hours a week) of classes in one subject. The average state requirement is
17.5 units, but students planning to go on to college (university) might take over
20 units.
The normal pattern in high school is for a student to amass the required
number of units in basic subjects called “requirements”, then move on for the last
two years to specialist subjects, called “electives”, which vary from school to
school. A typical choice of electives might be European history for the first year

and world politics for the second.
Students are given “report cards” at least twice a year indicating the grades
they have been given in each subject. High schools keep a “transcript” or
summary of the courses taken and grades obtained, and then submit this to the
college to which the student has applied for admission.
POST-SCHOOL EDUCATION
In Britain, there are a number of ways to continue one’s education after
leaving secondary school at 16 or 18. Most post-school education is provided at
universities, polytechnics, colleges of further or higher education, adult education
centres, or various specialized colleges.
Degree-level courses are offered by universities, polytechnics and other
institutions of higher education, with about half the total number of students at
this level in universities.
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Entrance to such courses normally depends on satisfactory GCSE and A
level results, and acceptance, usually after an interview, by the university or
college concerned. Students do not normally apply to the university they wish to
apply, but apply through the Universities’ Central Council on Admissions
(UCCA). Oxford and Cambridge Universities take part in UCCA but also have a
system of entrance examinations and interviews by individual colleges.
All students on a university “first degree” course are automatically eligible
for a grant, awarded by a student’s local education authority (LEA). The amount
of the grant depends on the level of income of the student’s family. Because
entrance to higher education is selective, the majority of students successfully
complete their course, which usually lasts three years. Most first degrees are for
Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BSc). A “higher degree” is a
postgraduate degree taken after a first degree, for example Master of Arts (MA) or
Master of Science (MSc). Students may then proceed to research degrees such as
Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil or, at some
universities, PhD). For historical reasons, Oxford and Cambridge Universities

award MA degrees to all first-degree graduates without requiring them to take a
further examination.
There are just under 50 universities in Britain, of which one, Buckingham,
is private, and one, the Open University (OU), is open to students of any age
including those without formal qualifications. (The OU is not a resident
university, but provides tuition by radio and television, in classes at local centres
and at summer schools.) It has almost 100,000 students studying on first-degree
and postgraduate courses, as well as on shorter courses. Most of them are
employed people who study in their leisure time.
There are about 120 polytechnics and other institutions of higher education
funded by central government through the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding
Council. (Universities are also funded by central government through the
Universities Funding Council.) Polytechnics and colleges offer not only first or
higher degrees, but also other qualifications, such as a Diploma in Higher
Education (DipHE), Higher National Diploma (HND) or Higher National
Certificate (HNC). Polytechnics offer a wide range of subjects and many have
close links with industry and commerce in their local area. In recent years, many
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specialist colleges (teacher training colleges, and colleges of art, architecture,
music, etc.) have been incorporated into polytechnics.
Teachers in Britain either do a first degree and then a one-year course
leading to a Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE), or do a four-year
course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Education (BEd) at a polytechnic or
similar college.
Colleges of further education (CFEs), which are funded, like schools, by
local authorities, offer academic and vocational courses for students from the age
of 16. It is possible to study for GCSEs and A levels at a CFE. In the private
sector, there are many secretarial colleges offering business courses and language
schools, which specialize in teaching English as a foreign language.
Adult education centres offer a wide range of part-time courses, both

academic and practical, including subjects like computer studies, foreign
languages, cookery and sports skills. They may be funded by local education
authorities or by voluntary bodies. Universities also offer part-time courses in
their “extra-mural” or “continuing education” departments.
In the USA, most post-school education takes place in colleges and
universities. Colleges offer a four-year course to students aged between 18 and 22
and award bachelor’s degrees in arts and sciences. The first two years (for
“freshmen” and “sophomores” respectively) cover a broad range of subjects.
Students specialize in a major subject area in their third (“junior”) and fourth
(“senior”) years.
Colleges may be independent and privately controlled, or may operate as
the undergraduate division of a university. There are also junior colleges, or
“community colleges” as they are increasingly called, offering two-year courses at
the end of which they award “associate in arts” degrees as their highest
qualification.
Students do not gain a degree through a “finals” examination, as they do in
British Universities, but through the number of “credits” or hours of study they
accumulate. Their work is regularly assessed, with all the credits and grades
systematically recorded. At the end of the course, a student’s overall record is
examined to see if he or she deserves to be awarded a degree. Credits for work
done like this can sometimes be transferred between universities, so that a student
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may gain credits in one university, move to a second, and receive a degree from a
third.
American universities are of two kinds, state and private, most being
private. Harvard was the first of these to be founded, in 1636, and was originally a
college for the education of Puritan ministers. It is now one of the most
prestigious in the country. The first state university was that of North Carolina,
founded in 1795. Vassar, one of the leading women’s colleges, was founded in
1861. Most private universities founded in the 19

th
century were founded by gifts
from rich men. They include the well-known Johns Hopkins, Stanford and
Chicago Universities.
Once they have completed high school, students can apply to any college
or university they wish. Acceptance depends on high school grades, on the
students’ performances in a Standard Aptitude Test (SAT), which tests
mathematical, verbal and analytical skills, and on the number of places available.
All universities, even state ones, are fee-paying. The fees may be paid by a
student’s parents, but most students have to support themselves by “working their
way to college”, that is, by taking part-time jobs and working all through the long
summer vacation. The average annual cost of tuition, fees, and college room and
board at a private university is about $11,000, although some of the more
prestigious universities, such as Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, charge almost twice
this. At a state university it is around $4,500 for state residents, and over $7,000
for non-state residents. At a two-year college, tuition and fees are about $4,700.
For much of the present century, the state universities were regarded as
inferior to private ones. They have now improved their standards, however, and
increased in academic status. Each US state now has one or more state
universities. The State University of New York is essentially a “multiversity”,
with over 20 individual colleges and about 150,000 students. California State
University is similarly diverse, and although it has fewer colleges, it has at least
200,000 students. (Oxford and Cambridge, in Britain, have only about 13,000
students each.)
In the USA, as in Britain, some universities are regarded as socially and
academically superior to others. Although most colleges are now coeducational,
colleges that were once exclusively for male students are known as the “Ivy
League”, while those that were at one time solely for female students are called
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the “Heavenly Seven”. Ivy League colleges (so called because they belong to a

sports league of this name) are Harvard, Yale, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Columbia,
Brown, Dartmouth and Cornell. Heavenly Seven colleges (named for their
number, and sometimes known as the “Seven Sisters”) are Barnard (part of
Columbia University), Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Radcliffe (part of Harvard),
Smith, Vassar and Wellesley.
American universities differ from British in their “fraternities” and
“sororities”. These are basically social clubs for men and women students
respectively. The name of each is made up of three Greek letters, for example
“Sigma Beta Chi”, and the letters are worn on small badges called “pins”. If a boy
gives his “fraternity pin” to a girl this is regarded as step on the way to an
engagement or a proposal of marriage.
Both fraternities and sororities run private halls of residence known as
“fraternity houses” or “sorority houses”, and these are used for entertaining. Both
fraternities and sororities exist independently of the university, and are usually
organized on a national basis.
Reading comprehension
1. What is the child’s attitude in Winston Churchill’s Prep School? What
is the teacher’s method? What is the teacher’s attitude towards the school?
2. What attitude and philosophy does Summerhill propose?
3. Compare Winston Churchill’s school with Summerhill.
4. Make a comparison between the Romanian educational system and the
Anglo-Saxon one.
Vocabulary practice
I. Choose the most suitable word underlined.
1. As there is little hope of being rescued, I have
abandoned/decided/resigned myself to the worst.
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2. Tom didn’t believe us, and it took a long time to
convince/establish/persuade him.
3. I define/regard/suppose this project as the most important in my career.

4. In my point of view/viewpoint/view, this plan will not work.
5. Are you aware/conscious/knowledgeable that $10000 has gone missing?
6. I haven’t really the faintest sense/notion/opinion of what you are talking
about.
7. Mr Smith has appointed his best friend as the new director! It’s a clear
case of favouritism/prejudice/subjectivity.
8. Your new boyfriend recollects/remembers/reminds me of a cousin of
mine.
9. Sue just can’t stop thinking about football! She is
biased/concerned/obsessed with her local team!
10. I just can’t understand the attitude/manners/mentality of people who
are cruel to animals.
II. Complete each sentence with one of the words given. Do not use a
word more than once.
conceited envious naughty unscrupulous
conscientious lenient rash
considerate loyal sentimental
1. John’s children used to be well-behaved but now they are quite ……….
2. When my brother managed to buy a sports car, I was really ……….
3. Steve thinks too much of himself. He’s very ……… in fact.
4. Helen now realises that suddenly giving up her job was rather ……….
5. My new assistant couldn’t care less about his work. I need someone
who is much more ……….
6. Thank you for all your help. You have been very ……….
7. Mary talks about the past all the time, as if everything in her life was
better then. She does tend to be rather ……….
8. I suppose I should punish you, but instead I’m going to be ……….
9. Janet doesn’t care about right and wrong when she wants to make a sale.
She is totally ……….
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10. Thank you all for standing by the company during this difficult time.
You have all been very ……….
III. Replace the words underlined with one of the words or phrases given.
Do not use a word or phrase more than once.
cherished loathed regretted stressed
deplored mourned reproached
dreaded offended resented
1. Peter was very sorry about leaving his old job.
2. The Prime Minister strongly disapproved of the behaviour of the
demonstrators.
3. Lily felt bitter about the fact that everyone had been promoted except
her.
4. David felt extremely worried about visiting the dentist.
5. Sally held very dear the memory of her childhood in the country.
6. Neil grieved for the death of his mother and father for many weeks.
7. I am sorry if I hurt the feelings of your sister.
8. Brenda really felt a strong dislike for her new boss.
9. Our teacher laid emphasis on the importance of regular study.
10. Jim strongly criticised me for not doing my fair share of the work.
19
UNIT 2
IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH
MUSCLE BINDS
‘Where’s the virtue in sport, fitness and the body beautiful?’ asks Dina La
Vardera. ‘It’s high time you hung up your trainers and exercised your mind, not
your body.’
Think about the things in life that give you most pleasure. Watching
television, perhaps, while sipping chilled lager? How about eating lasagne verde
by candlelight in a favourite Italian restaurant? What do they all have in common?
They all involve nothing more strenuous than sitting or lying down.

Why, then, this present mania for doing things that necessitate remaining
vertical or running around? I hate exercise and all forms of sport and I abhor the
smugness and self-righteousness of those who think developing rippling muscles
and flat stomachs superior to the cultivation of personality, manners, good taste in
art, music, literature and food. I hate the multi-million propaganda that
accompanies the body beautiful, with its lure of glamour and eternal youth.
I was brought up to believe that physical exercise was bad for one, and
experience seems to support my parents’ philosophy that pain, suffering and ill-
health result from anything more strenuous than walking to the pillar box on the
corner or digging the allotment. This has been reinforced over the years by reports
of footballers with torn ligaments, athletes crippled by arthritis, or joggers
dropping dead with heart attacks.
Most people’s early experiences of exercise – after crawling into furniture
– come from school, and I suppose their future attitude to it is shaped then. The
present decline in PE in schools only shows up the failings of a system that
flourishes on the brutality of competition, the fallacies of team spirit and character
building, and the general humiliation of young and sensitive beings.
Don’t let all the youngsters – and let’s face it most of the oldsters, dressed
up in their snazzy sports suits – fool you with their high-tech trainers and pump
attachments to inflate their insoles and their egos. Apart from the odd football
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fanatic, muscle-man pumping iron and aerobic freak, wouldn’t they rather be
eating a hamburger with their mates in town?
We are all followers of fashion in some way, and exercising is a fashion,
an ephemeral fad. It saves a lot of trouble if early on in life you put your cards on
the table and announce to the world that exercise and sport are a bore, a real drag
and you have better things to do. It certainly save you from requests to join in
marathons for charity and fun games with colleagues.
But people who take exercise don’t see it like that. They are full of their
own importance and rightness. It’s all so serous, like religion. And you are one of

the pagans. It’s difficult talking to sporty people: they get a far-off look in their
eyes and their feet keep moving on the spot.
Exercising makes people think that they can live forever. It puts off the
moment of realisation that we are mortal. If you don’t stay still long enough you
don’t have to think about such things. Coming to terms with oneself, finding out
who one is and where one is going, come from within, not from running round a
park with 2,000 other people.
Exercise is repetitive and unending: once you stop, your shape is gone and
the pulse slows down again. It is isolationist. All you get is an obsession with your
body. And it’s expensive: in terms of time, effort and material things like club
fees, equipment and special outfits.
But take heart, for the best club to join is free, has no age limit, requires no
previous experience or special outfits. It’s right their in your front room.
Welcome, Couch Potatoes, to your rightful place beside the fire.
Reading comprehension
A. Read this advice:
‘It’s high time you hung up your trainers and exercised your mind and not
your body.’
Explain what this advice means. Who might it be given to? Is it sensible
advice?
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B. Decide whether the statements below are true or false, according to
what you have read in the above text.
1. The things that give us the most pleasure in life involve us
in very little physical activity.
2. The writer is a great believer in regular physical exercise.
3. Physical exercise is apparently a very dangerous thing to
indulge in.
4. Competitive sports and a team spirit build up one’s
character.

5. Wearing sports clothes is no indication of a truly ‘sporty’
character.
6. By declaring yourself anti-sports you are spared
participation in undesirable sporting activities.
7. Sports enthusiasts are sympathetic towards those who do
not share their interests.
8. Exercise gives one a false sense of security.
9. Once you start exercising you have to continue with it.
10. The true path to contentment lies in becoming a couch
potato.
C. The passage above is written in a very chatty, informal style. Which of
the following devices does the writer use to create this informality?
rhetorical questions abbreviations imperatives repetition slang
direct address
Vocabulary practice
I. In the article we have the expression come to terms with. Look at
the following diagram of this and other uses of the verb come and
choose one in its correct form to complete the sentences below.
come
in for something out with something
(be exposed to something unpleasant) (say something surprising)
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down (heavily) on somebody up with something
(criticize or punish) (produce an idea)
down with something to the point
(catch an illness) (reach a conclusion)
to terms with something round
(accept a situation as it is) (regain consciousness)
1. His wife died last year and he still cannot …………… her death.
2. The new law …………… those driving with no proper tax and

insurance.
3. My little girl …………… some strange expressions. Goodness knows
where she hears them.
4. Although he’s an entertaining speaker, it takes him ages to ……………
5. After deliberating for several hours we finally …………… a possible
solution to the problem.
6. Soon after their arrival at the holiday resort they all …………… flu.
7. When he …………… after the operation, he had absolutely no idea
where he was.
8. I’m afraid we have …………… a lot of criticism over our discussion to
close the hospital.
II. There are many colourful idioms like couch potato in English. Can
you match the explanations a – h to the idiomatic expressions 1 –
8? They are all connected with different kinds of people.
1. a new broom
2. a wet blanket
3. a stuffed shirt
4. a couch potato
5. an armchair critic
6. a fair weather friend
7. a nosy parker
8. a rolling stone
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a. someone who expresses opinions about things he/she
knows very little about
b. someone who has no fixed roots
c. a pompous, self-opinionated person
d. a gossip who wants to know everything that happens
to other people
e. someone who stands by you only when things are

going well
f. someone who likes to sit in comfort and do nothing
g. a new person in charge who makes changes
h. someone who does not want to join in and spoils the
fun for everybody else
In pairs, choose one of the expressions above. Write a short dialogue or a
context using the expression you have chosen, illustrating what the idiom means in
a humorous way.
SUPPLEMENTARY READING
HEALTH AND ILLNESS
1. Study the ‘case history’ below.
‘You’re in perfect health … as fit as a fiddle … there’s nothing wrong with you.’
‘I feel a bit off-colour … rather under the weather … I do feel funny … I really
don’t feel well … I think I’m sickening for something … I feel feverish … like death
warmed up.’
‘He’s been taken ill … he’s in a coma … fighting for his life … still critically ill
… in a very critical condition … no change … still seriously ill … still hasn’t regained
consciousness … is responding to treatment … off the danger list … showing signs of
coming round … making progress … his condition is satisfactory … he’s out of the
coma … he’s as well as can be expected … comfortable … no change … he’s turned the
corner … he’s on the mend.’
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‘We all wish you a speedy recovery … get well soon … we’re glad you’re over it.’
‘The worst is over … he’s almost completely recovered … he’s practically
cured … he’s convalescing … coming along nicely … he’ll be on his feet again soon …
he’ll be out and about again in a few days.’
‘He’s had a relapse … he’s no better … he’s getting worse … his condition is
deteriorating … he’s getting weaker … he’s slipping away … fading fast … his life is
hanging by a thread … it’s just a matter of time … he could go at any second!’
‘He’s made a miraculous recovery … he’s as good as new … as right as rain …

he’ll live till he’s a hundred.’
2. After all that, do you feel well enough to read on? Note the ways that illnesses
can be spoken of and reported in the text below.
Examination fever
For most of the year, most of us had been allergic to work; apparently there had
been a history of such allergies in the school.
Throughout the spring there had been quite a few cases of ‘Exams are stupid’,
which proved highly contagious among friends.
Then late in May, one or two of us suffered a mild attack of ‘Gosh, is it really next
month?’ and we seemed to give that to the others rather rapidly. You could tell how it was
spreading from improved attendance at lessons.
An even more serious outbreak was that of the very infectious ‘I don’t know a
thing’ two weeks before. At about the same time everyone seemed to catch ‘You’re no
good!’ from the teachers. Then there was a bout of ‘I don’t really care’ followed by a few
chronic cases of ‘My parents will kill me’. This again proved very catching; half the class
was down with it in the week leading up to the exam itself, and it had reached epidemic
proportions by the Friday before.
By this time, those who had been suffering from ‘It’ll be easy for me’ had made a
total recovery.
That Friday there was a ‘What if I’m suffering from amnesia?’ scare, and this had
developed by Monday into a touch of ‘I can’t even remember my own name’.
There were also, of course, the normal isolated cases of ‘My pen doesn’t work’ and
several pupils had a sudden fit of ‘Where’s the toilet?’
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