Time Reading Let your eye run over the following lists over the next day or so, to remind you ofa range of time expressions. Life was hard in prehistoric times in olden times back in the fifth Century in the dim and distant past before the Industrial Revolution at the turn of the century in those days a few generations ago between the wars in the late forties when I was little in the early sixties from 1960 to 1965 when I was in my teens between 1965 and 1970 in the mid-eighties this time last year until this year. Life has been hard for as long as anyone can remember ever since the war ended over the past twenty years from the late sixties until now for the past few years during the last couple of months lately. Life is hard at this point in history. Life is going to continue to be hard from now on . for the next few months during the next few years over the next decade until the present situation changes for the foreseeable future for the time being.But things are bound to improve in the coming years Ton as time goes on sooner or later in years to come within the next twenty years in the 1990s. And life will be much better one day this time next year when we're old and grey in another twenty years’ time decades from now by the time our children grow up by the end of this century when we're all dead and gone in the far-distant future sometime in the twenty-fifth century light years from now. Reading Now follow the adventures of a very busy lady. Albert proposed to me Bernard asked me Colin did David did his best Edwin, too Freddy tried I think George did Iseem to remember Harry did Tan did it with roses Jock did it with chocolates Kevin did it by letter Larry sent a telegram Martin mentioned something about it Nevil thought we ‘might make a go of it” Oliver thought ‘we'd make a good couple’ Peter did it on his knees Robert referred to the possibility Sam has asked me ‘Thomas left a note on my desk Ulysses came out with it Valentine shouted through the window William brought the subject up on the phone And Zac popped the question Tm thinking it all over Thaven’t got an answer . Zac obviously wants an answer He's standing in front of me Treally can’t give anyone an answer I know Zac’s going to ask me again And William's going to shout down the phone I think I might give Valentine a shout Til have to face Ulysses I'm afraid Thomas will be back for a decision ages and ages ago. along, long time ago. once, many years ago. a few years back. not so long ago. in the spring of’82. the year before last. at the end of January. a short time ago. a month or so ago. one day quite recently alittle while ago. the other day. about a fortnight ago. the Friday before last (or was it the previous Friday). one afternoon last week. earlier today. within the last few hours. an hour or s0 ago. a couple of minutes ago. just now. just a moment ago. ‘8 split-second ago. now. at the moment. here and now. at this very moment. this minute. any moment now. at any moment. in a second or two. in a couple of minutes. in an hour's time.Sam will want an answer I might phone Robert Ireally must contact Peter Tye promised to give Oliver an answer TiLeave a message on Nevil’s answer-phone To Larry I'll send a telegram Til get in touch with Martin, Til have to reply to Kevin's letter Pilinform Jack And Il let Ian know Yd better check whether Harry really did George will have to be told Freddy said he'd want an answer Til get round to telling Edwin David can be told Til probably drop Colin a line Eventually Il have to say no to Bertie, And Albert? I might say yes to Albert, Brain teaser within the next few hours. (or was it the following Friday?) (or was it the Friday after that?) the week after next. a fortnight tomorrow. but not in the immediate future. some day soon. before too long. one of these days. in the not too distant future. next autumn. but Heaven knows when. the Christmas after next. in a year or two. but not for ages yet. if Lever see him again. Here’s a little problem for you to solve. The answer is at the end of the book. I always set my alarm-clock ten minutes fast — so that I have more time than I think in the mornings. I keep my grandfather clock in the lounge, set at the correct time — to the second. Iset my non-digital watch fifteen minutes slow — so that I'm pleasantly surprised when it’s time to finish work. My alarm-clock gains fifteen minutes every twenty-four hours. ‘The grandfather clock keeps perfect time. My watch loses fifteen minutes ever I set all three timepieces at midni At what time of day or night do all Reading ry day. tt, by the BBC radio news, and wind them up. show the same time? Finally, have a look at this traditional rhyme and the text on the time of day and the time of year. Thirty days has September, April, June and November. All the rest have thirty-one, Excepting February alone Which has twenty-eight days clear ‘And twenty-nine in each leap year. The Ideal Day? It would depend, of course, on the season. Endless days in late summer, in scorching July and baking August, cannot be compared with those short days in mid-winter, in frosty January and foggy December, in those weeks leading up to Christmas. Though the temperature in autumn, say early October when the days are closing in, may be similar to that in the middle of March and the rest of spring, their character is completely different. Now if you asked about May, well, ... T would get up well before dawn. Daybreak, just before and after sunrise, is a much-neglected part of the day. By First light, I would went to be on the terrace taking my first sip of coffee and second bite of toast. Everything is so peaceful in theearly morning, long before the horrors of the rush-hour. Newspapers at breakfast-time, then I would go inside and play the piano for an hour or'so. At about nine I would take to my study and continue with the next chapter of my memoirs, taking a mid-morning break for ‘elevenses’. At half-past eleven sharp, I would stroll down to the village pub for my first drink of the day and then follow that, at about midday, with cocktails at a club in the company of friends. That would bring me up to lunchtime. After a modest luncheon and during the hottest part of the day, I would take a wall: in the forest, then possibly go for a drive. By mid-afternoon I would nu doubt be feeling rather tired, so around teatime I would go back to bed for a couple of hours. I would come down again in time to watch The News at a quarter to six, then in the early evening — with some time on my hands unti] sundown — I might play records and read, At dusk, to catch the colours of the twilight hours, I would go outside and paint. At nightfall, I would go inside to eat. (If I had some spare time beforehand, I would have a swim in my indoor heated swimming pool.) After dinner, towards ten o'clock, I would go out to meet friends at a discotheque then, at closing time — or before, around midnight anyway — join a party going down to the beach. After a(nother) swim and a few glasses of wine, I would be driven home to bed in the early hours. How about you? What would your day be like? Practice W 2 What — in full — is your answer to the question above: what would your ideal day be like? How have your attitudes to the following changed over the past ten years? a work b relationships © family d happiness e the future £ growing old Choose five major inventions or events of the twentieth century. How has life been different since they were invented? Write or act out three conversations with a friend in which you are telling him or her about three of the situations below: 1 how an acquaintance of yours became more and more dependent on drugs. 2 how a relationship of yours grew and grew and then went sour. 8 how a car of yours went from being your pride and joy to a heap of useless metal. 4 how your children went from being babies to secondary school pupils. 5 how you went from beginner level to advanced in English. 6 your ambition to reach the top in the company you've just started working for. Write a passage from your political speech, in which you describe the state of the nation eight years ago, the events of the past eight years, the situation now and prospects for the future.