On Screen p 83. Key Word Transformations

 Do Ex 10

man something to work at a place or be in charge of a place or a machine. Ep. encargarse de, hacer funcionar.

E.g.

Soldiers manned barricades around the city.     

The telephones are manned 24 hours a day by volunteers.

the gun is manned by four soldiers Sp. cuatro soldados manejan el cañón
the telephone is manned all day Sp. el teléfono está atendido todo el día

My friends and I manned the booth at the fair.   Sp.   Mis amigos y yo nos encargamos de la caseta en la feria 


fete /feɪt/ (also fête) (also fair) an outdoor entertainment at which people can play games to win prizes, buy food and drink, etc., usually arranged to make money for a special purpose.

E.g.      

the school/village/church fete

On Screen p 82. Impersonal passive

 

Impersonal passive

A) Noun + verb in passive form + infinitive/ perfect infinitive

With these verbs: agree, assume, believe, claim, consider, estimate, expect, feel, find, guarantee, know, mean, presume, regard, report, say, suppose, think, understand.

E.g.  

Tourism is expected to become a major part of the country’s economy. 

Tourism was expected to have become a major part of the country's economy

B) It + verb in passive form + that clause

With these verbs: accept, agree, argue, assume, believe, calculate, claim, consider, estimate, expect, feel, know, presume, report, say, suggest, suppose, think, understand.

E.g. It is thought that the new railway will provide employment opportunities for local people.

On Screen p 81. Coincidence? Extra Cloze

1. Predict the story. The words below are part of the story

father        warehouse          haunted by the incident     

two years        son           turned sour                   quit

trespassing               killed                  got off scot-free

break-in                   E.R.                         touch and go         

shot                pulled the trigger             police officer


haunt somebody if something unpleasant haunts you, it keeps coming to your mind so that you cannot forget it. E.g. The memory of that day still haunts me. For years she was haunted by guilt.

go/ turn sour: 
to stop being pleasant or working properly. E.g. Their relationship soon went sour.

get off (with something) | get somebody off (with something): to receive no or almost no punishment; to help somebody do this. E.g. He was lucky to get off with a small fine. A good lawyer might be able to get you off.

scot-free: without receiving the punishment you deserve. E.g. They got off scot-free because of lack of evidence. The perpetrators walked away scot-free

E.R.: emergency room. (British English A&E: accident and emergency) the part of a hospital where people who need urgent treatment are taken.



2. I'm going to show you a snapshot of the policeman, Patrick Carlucci. 

What moment of the story does the picture depict?
What is he doing?
What is he carrying?
Where is he?
What is he about to do?






flashlight (also torch) a small electric lamp that uses batteries and that you can hold in your hand. E.g. He shone a flashlight in the thief’s face.


3. Fill in the gaps with one word:

Coincidence?

Back in 1959, on a snowy December night, I found myself in New York and deciding that a hot drink wouldn’t go 1_______, I went into a bar on 6th Avenue and asked for a hot toddy.

When he served the whiskey, the barman  said “ That’s an Irish Drink, so I guess you’re from Ireland?”

I agreed I was.

He said “My name’s Patrick Carlucci, father was Italian and my mother was Irish,  Came from a place called Limerick”.

“That’s a coincidence”, I said.  “I’m from Limerick myself”.

He looked at me for a moment and then said, “You believe in coincidence, do you?”

“Well, they do happen, don’t they?”,  I replied.

He said nothing to that, just polished a couple of 2___________.

And then after a bit he said, “I used to be a policeman, one of New York’s finest.  And five years ago I was out in the patrol car  one night when a call came from our dispatcher telling us to investigate a break-in at a small warehouse near Pier 15”.

“There’s another coincidence”, I interjected.  “My ship is 3___________ at Pier 15”

He ignored the interruption.  

“When we got to the warehouse we saw the door was busted open, so my partner decided to go up the alley at the side to investigate the side entrance and I went for the front door.  It was dark inside and I couldn’t hear anything, so I pulled out my gun and stepped in.”

“Bad move!  There’s a flash of light from inside and a bullet hits me in the ribs and I go down, out cold.  When I come 4____________, I’m on a trolley and these medical guys are wheeling me into the E.R. at Mercy Hospital .  I’ve been shot,  and it proves touch and 5__________ whether I live.  A week later when I’m cleared for visitors my partner comes and tells me I’d killed the guy who shot me.  Reflex action, I guess, made me pull the 6________ on my gun as I was falling.”

“My wife, Carla, wanted me to 7_______ the Force, said she didn’t want to be getting another phone call, only this time saying I was dead.  But I couldn’t do that.  I felt I couldn’t be seen to be running away  even though I sweated 8______ every time I had to go inside a building.  I guess it was what they used to call Shell-Shock. The Docs have got a new name for it now – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  I never asked for the name of the guy I shot and even though he had tried to kill me, his death kind of weighed on my conscience.”

“Well, with one thing and another I wasn’t the easiest guy to live with and Carla and me started to drift 9______ and I couldn’t seem any more to deal with my two kids in the easy way I used to.  I was drinking too much and as touchy as hell.”

“Then comes Christmas Eve and I’m out alone in the Patrol car because a lot of the guys at the   83 precinct are down 10______ the Flu, including my regular partner, Fat Ollie.  I’m pulling the 8 to 6 shift and trying to find a toy store that’s open so I can buy Christmas gifts for my two kids.”

“I’ve  just found one that’s open when I hear the dispatcher coming over the car radio,  so I grab the first two ready-wrapped gift boxes on the counter throw the money to the sales clerk and hightail 11_________ back to the car.  I check-in with the dispatcher, and  what do you 12________, I’m to investigate a break-in at the selfsame warehouse where I got shot two years before.”

“Coincidence, eh?. “

“It would appear so,”  I say.

“”I’m in two 13__________”, the barman continued, “about whether to figure a way out of catching the call, but then I think ‘Hey, maybe lightning won't 14__________ twice in the same place.  So I drive round.”

“When I get there, I see the door is open like before, but this time I’m not rushing in.  I take the time to look it over.  I see there are just two sets of 15___________ in the snow.  One leading in and another leading out.  The ones leading out are deeper, like the guy who made them is carrying something.  So I tell the dispatcher what I’m doing, park the car and follow them.”

“They lead me to an old brownstone and when I get there I hear the voices of a woman and a kid shouting at each other on the first floor.   I ring the bell and a woman answers and looks like she’s gonna faint when she sees the blue uniform.  She lets me in and I find a boy of about 14 and a girl looks to be about three years old.  I say, “Lady, I've got reason to believe your boy here has done a break-in and I point to a bag in the corner from which a number of items are falling out on the floor.”

“I say I’m gonna have to cuff him and take him to the precinct and because he’s a minor, you’ll have to come too. You’ll have to get someone to take care of the little girl?  Maybe your husband?

“She gives me a funny look and says “My husband?  He got shot by a cop two years ago whilst robbing a storehouse down the street”.

“I tell ya, I nearly passed out.  I didn’t need any more detail to know which cop shot him.  It was me.   I look around the apartment and it’s clear these people know from (know about) hunger.  There’s a battered old table and a couple of chairs which have seen 16__________ days and that’s it.”

Something comes 17________ me, I don’t know what, and like I’m dreaming I say – Lady I’m gonna cut your kid a 18_________.  I’ll take the goods back to the store and say the perp (perpetrator) dropped ‘em and  I couldn’t catch up 19_______  him.  But I tell ya, if he doesn’t keep his nose 20________ in the future I’ll have him in Juvie Hall in the 21_______ of an eye”

“The woman goes white and she looks like she’s trying to say twenty things at the one time, so I pick up the bag and I leave.”

“So”, the barman says, “how about that for coincidence?

I mutter something into my drink and he goes up the bar to serve another customer.  Then he comes back.

He says, “you haven’t heard it all.  You remember  those gifts I grabbed when the dispatcher called?  Yeah, well when I got ‘em home they only turned out to be EXACTLY what my kids had been dreamin’ about gettin’ for Christmas.  They were so full of joy that even my wife Carla thawed 22_______ a bit and we had the best Christmas day together for years..”

“Well, anyway, I got to thinking maybe Carla was right, so I quit the Force and bought this bar and I ain't 23_______ it one bit.”

“So, what’ya think?  All coincidence, yeah?

Before I could think of an answer he went on.

“Me, I don’t think so.  I did something good for that kid and his mother and it was Christmas and me, I think if you do someone good at Christmas you get something good back in return.Though maybe not the way you expect ”.

“Wadda ya think?”

 What could I say?  Someone called from the other end of the bar and he made to move away. 

I swallowed the last of my drink and made to leave and as I left, I called out to him the only thing I felt I could say,

“Merry Christmas”.
-James Wallace-









KEY

1. amiss

not come/go amiss

(British English) to be useful or pleasant in a particular situation. E.g. A little luck wouldn't go amiss right now!





toddy: a drink made with strong alcohol, sugar, hot water and sometimes spices.





2. glasses

polish: make something smooth and shiny by rubbing it





dispatcher: a person whose job is to send emergency vehicles to where they are needed. E.g. an Emergency Medical Dispatcher





3. docked



bust
1. bust something to break something. E.g. I bust my camera. The lights are busted. Come out, or I'll bust the door down!
2. bust somebody/something (for something) (of the police) to suddenly enter a place and search it or arrest somebody. E.g. He's been busted for drugs. He was busted for drunk driving. The cops busted the place frequently.





4. to/ round/ around

come around/round/ to: to become conscious again. E.g. Your mother hasn't yet come round from the anaesthetic.


 


 


 


5. go


touch and go: used to say that the result of a situation is uncertain and that there is a possibility that something bad or unpleasant will happen. E.g. She's fine now, but it was touch-and-go for a while (= there was a possibility that she might die). It was touch-and-go whether they'd allow him into the country or not.


 


 


6. trigger


 


 


7. quit


 


 


8. blood


 


 


9. apart


drift apart: to become less friendly or close to somebody. E.g. As children we were very close, but as we grew up we just drifted apart.


touchy (about something) (of a person) easily upset or offended.  

irascible: /ɪˈræsəbl/ becoming angry very easily. Irritable. E.g. to be tired and irascible/ irritable 


precinct: /ˈpriːsɪŋkt/ a part of a city that has its own police station; the police station in this area. E.g. Detective Hennessy of the 44th precinct. The murder occurred just a block from the precinct.

 


10. with


be/go down with something to have or catch an illness


 


 


11. it


hightail it (informal, especially North American English) to leave somewhere very quickly. E.g. They ran out of the gates and hightailed it up the road.


 


 


12. know


What do you know: used to express surprise


selfsame: exactly the same. E.g.‘he was standing in the selfsame spot you're filling now


 


13. minds


 


 


14. strike


 


 


15. footprints


brownstone: a house built of, or with a front made of, a type of reddish-brown stone, which is also called brownstone. E.g. New York brownstones


battered: old, used a lot, and not in very good condition. E.g. a battered old car.


16. better


have seen/known better days (humorous) to be in poor condition. E.g. Our car has seen better days!


 


 


17. over


come over: suddenly feel sth


 


 


18. break


cut so a break: give so a break   

perpetrator: (also perp) a person who commits a crime or does something that is wrong or evil. E.g. the perpetrators of the crime. We will do everything in our power to bring the perpetrators to justice.


 


19. with


catch up (with sb) to reach somebody who is ahead by going faster. E.g. Go on ahead. I'll catch up with you. I'll catch you up.


 


 


20. clean


keep your nose clean (informal) to avoid doing anything wrong or illegal. E.g. Since leaving prison, he's managed to keep his nose clean.


 


 


21. blink


in the blink of an eye very quickly; in a short time


 


mutter: to speak or say something in a quiet voice that is difficult to hear, especially because you are annoyed about something. E.g. ‘How dare she,’ he muttered under his breath.

murmur: to say something in a soft quiet voice that is difficult to hear or understand. E.g. She murmured her agreement. He murmured something in his sleep. She was murmuring in his ear. 

 

 


22 out


thaw out became more friendly


 


 


23 regretted


 


make to do something: If you make to do something, you are just going to do it when something interrupts you. E.g.I made to leave but she called me back                                                                                                                               






Coincidence?

Back in 1959, on a snowy December night, I found myself in New York and deciding that a hot drink wouldn’t go amiss, I went into a bar on 6th Avenue and asked for a hot toddy.

When he served the whiskey, the barman  said “ That’s an Irish Drink, so I guess you’re from Ireland?”

I agreed I was.

He said “My name’s Patrick Carlucci, father was Italian and my mother was Irish,  Came from a place called Limerick”.

“That’s a coincidence”, I said.  “I’m from Limerick myself”.

He looked at me for a moment and then said, “You believe in coincidence, do you?”

“Well, they do happen, don’t they?”,  I replied.

He said nothing to that, just polished a couple of glasses.

And then after a bit he said, “I used to be a policeman, one of New York’s finest.  And five years ago I was out in the patrol car  one night when a call came from our dispatcher telling us to investigate a break-in at a small warehouse near Pier 15”.

“There’s another coincidence”, I interjected.  “My ship is docked at Pier 15”

He ignored the interruption.  

“When we got to the warehouse we saw the door was busted open, so my partner decided to go up the alley at the side to investigate the side entrance and I went for the front door.  It was dark inside and I couldn’t hear anything, so I pulled out my gun and stepped in.”

“Bad move!  There’s a flash of light from inside and a bullet hits me in the ribs and I go down, out cold (unconscious).  When I come to, I’m on a trolley and these medical guys are wheeling me into the E.R. at Mercy Hospital .  I’ve been shot,  and it proves touch and go whether I live.  A week later when I’m cleared for visitors my partner comes and tells me I’d killed the guy who shot me.  Reflex action, I guess, made me pull the trigger on my gun as I was falling.”

“My wife, Carla, wanted me to quit the Force, said she didn’t want to be getting another phone call, only this time saying I was dead.  But I couldn’t do that.  I felt I couldn’t be seen to be running away  even though I sweated blood every time I had to go inside a building.  I guess it was what they used to call Shell-Shock. The Docs have got a new name for it now – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  I never asked for the name of the guy I shot and even though he had tried to kill me, his death kind of weighed on my conscience.

“Well, with one thing and another I wasn’t the easiest guy to live with and Carla and me started to drift apart and I couldn’t seem any more to deal with my two kids in the easy way I used to.  I was drinking too much and as touchy as hell.”

“Then comes Christmas Eve and I’m out alone in the Patrol car because a lot of the guys at the   83 precinct are down with the Flu, including my regular partner, Fat Ollie.  I’m pulling the 8 to 6 shift and trying to find a toy store that’s open so I can buy Christmas gifts for my two kids.”

“I’ve  just found one that’s open when I hear the dispatcher coming over the car radio,  so I grab the first two ready-wrapped gift boxes on the counter throw the money to the sales clerk and hightail it back to the car.  I check-in with the dispatcher, and  what do you know (used to express surprise), I’m to investigate a break-in at the selfsame warehouse where I got shot two years before.”

“Coincidence, eh?. “

“It would appear so,”  I say.

“”I’m in two minds”, the barman continued, “about whether to figure a way out of catching the call, but then I think ‘Hey, maybe lightning won't strike twice in the same place.  So I drive round.”

“When I get there, I see the door is open like before, but this time I’m not rushing in.  I take the time to look it over.  I see there are just two sets of footprints in the snow.  One leading in and another leading out.  The ones leading out are deeper, like the guy who made them is carrying something.  So I tell the dispatcher what I’m doing, park the car and follow the footprints.”

“They lead me to an old brownstone and when I get there I hear the voices of a woman and a kid shouting at each other on the first floor.   I ring the bell and a woman answers and looks like she’s gonna faint when she sees the blue uniform.  She lets me in and I find a boy of about 14 and a girl looks to be about three years old.  I say, “Lady, I've got reason to believe your boy here has done a break-in and I point to a bag in the corner from which a number of items are falling out on the floor.”

“I say I’m gonna have to cuff him and take him to the precinct and because he’s a minor, you’ll have to come too. You’ll have to get someone to take care of the little girl?  Maybe your husband?

“She gives me a funny look and says “My husband?  He got shot by a cop two years ago whilst robbing a storehouse down the street”.

“I tell ya, I nearly passed out.  I didn’t need any more detail to know which cop shot him.  It was me.   I look around the apartment and it’s clear these people know from (know about) hunger.  There’s a battered old table and a couple of chairs which have seen better days and that’s it.”

Something comes over me (I suddenly feel something), I don’t know what, and like I’m dreaming I say – Lady I’m gonna cut your kid a break.  I’ll take the goods back to the store and say the perp (perpetrator) dropped ‘em and  I couldn’t catch up with  him.  But I tell ya, if he doesn’t keep his nose clean in the future I’ll have him in Juvie Hall quicker than the blink of an eye”

“The woman goes white and she looks like she’s trying to say twenty things at the one time, so I pick up the bag and I leave.”

“So”, the barman says, “how about that for coincidence?

I mutter something into my drink and he goes up the bar to serve another customer.  Then he comes back.



He says, “you haven’t heard it all.  You remember  those gifts I grabbed when the dispatcher called?  Yeah, well when I got ‘em home they only turned out to be EXACTLY what my kids had been dreamin’ about gettin’ for Christmas.  They were so full of joy that even my wife Carla thawed out (became more friendly) a bit and we had the best Christmas day together for years..”

“Well, anyway, I got to thinking maybe Carla was right, so I quit the Force and bought this bar and I ain't regretted it one bit.”

“So, what’ya think?  All coincidence, yeah?

Before I could think of an answer he went on.

“Me, I don’t think so.  I did something good for that kid and his mother and it was Christmas and me, I think if you do someone good at Christmas you get something good back in return.

Though maybe not the way you expect ?”.

“Wadda ya think?”

 What could I say?  Someone called from the other end of the bar and he made to move away. 

I swallowed the last of my drink and made to leave and as I left, I called out to him the only thing I felt I could say,

“Merry Christmas”.
-James Wallace-