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I'm
John
Doe. I'm a journalist with an important magazine. The other day I saw
a white-haired man sitting on the porch in front of his house. I could
see the wrinkles in his face and neck, and his wrinkled hands.
Articles on the secrets of living to an advanced age are always
popular with our readers, so I decided
to
pursue
this story and discover the secret of this man's long life. As I approached him,
I said... |
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JOHN: |
Sir, would it bother you if I talked with you for just a
moment? |
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MAN: |
Not at all,
On the
contrary, it would delight me. I get very bored sitting here, even for
a short time. Until a little while ago I lived a full and active life
without a moment's rest. |
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JOHN: |
Well, they say that a
lot of activity helps one to live a long time. |
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MAN: |
That's true, very
true. I still feel very well, although my step has slowed down a
little.
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The
conversation continued in that
vein
for a while. Although I try to be very considerate about obtaining
information from older people, it seemed to me that it would now be
all right to begin to ask some
discreet questions... |
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JOHN: |
Would it bother you if I smoked a cigarette? |
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MAN: |
Not at all. |
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JOHN: |
I'd offer you one,
but I suppose you probably don't smoke, or drink, or... |
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MAN: |
On the contrary! I've
always smoked
my head off.
And until a little while ago I went dancing every night. And
as for
alcoholic drinks... |
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JOHN: |
Do you mean to say
that you've done these things all your life? |
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MAN: |
Of course. Why does
that surprise you so much? |
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JOHN: |
I've always been told
that doing those things is bad for the health. |
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MAN: |
Ridiculous! |
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JOHN: |
I
suppose that you have another secret... a lot of fruit...
vegetables... a lot of exercise in the fresh air... |
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MAN: |
Don't be
silly! I
hate
exercise in the fresh air, and I don't like any kind of vegetables. |
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JOHN: |
This is
incredible! |
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MAN: |
What do you mean,
incredible? What are you talking about? |
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JOHN: |
It's just that I
can't understand how you've been able to live like that and to have
lasted
so long. Tell me,
how old are you? |
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MAN: |
Me? I'm
twenty-seven.
Why? |
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Source:
English Teaching Forum |
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white-haired man: a man having gray or
white hair (hombre canoso)
wrinkles: slight depressions on the skin (arrugas)
pursue:
follow up; try to find out more about (seguir con, continuar).
on the contrary: quite the opposite.
in that vein: in that way;
along those lines.
discreet: proper;
inoffensive; prudent.
smoked my head off:
smoked a great deal (fumé todo lo que quise).
as for = in relation to
(en
cuanto a) |
vegetables: Notice
that this word has only three syllables.
silly = stupid
(tonto, estúpido)
hate = detest, dislike (odiar, detestar)
incredible = unbelievable (increíble)
lasted = lived (durado, vivido)
so long = for such a long time
(tanto tiempo)
How old are you?:
Note the strong stress on are, indicating anticipation of an
answer different from what might normally be expected. (For the neutral
question How old are you? the major stress falls on
old.) |
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contents is for educational and informational use only. All lyrics
and recording excerpts remain the right of the original copyright holder, and no infringment is
here intended / Todo
el contenido es pura y exclusivamente para uso educativo e informativo. Todas las
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autorales, no existiendo aquí intención alguna de infringir la ley. |
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