A Grand Irish Day

By Moira Ashley (The Daily Telegraph, 23.09.2011) Read the text carefully, paying attention to the underlined words. Can you figure out their meaning just by looking at their context? Have a look at the explanations below. Look at each words pronunciation and meaning (and the example in a sentence). Try to make a sentence with each new word. Why not, write a short composition using these words (you can re-tell the story or invent a new story).

The woman squinting through the narrow crack of Broom Cottage b & b's front door does not immediately strike us as the embodiment of Irish hospitality. Those thin, pursed lips have surely never been within kissing range of the Blarney Stone. "Yes," she grudgingly concedes, "there is a vacancy," but she looks dismayed when, horizontal needles of rain stinging our legs, we ask to come in and see the room.

Leading us upstairs, her angular shoulder blades as sharp as her welcome, she tells us: "We don't do evening meals, mind." Then she adds enigmatically: "You'll be next to the hot press". This, it transpires, is merely an airing cupboard and not the fevered group of journalists of my imagination. Amid the usual chintz, a red and black tin stands conspicuously on the dressing table. "Missionary box. You'll be wanting to donate your spare change." Spoken in tones that brook no argument. A laminated notice tells us that breakfast is served between 7.30 and 9am, but this is insufficiently precise for our host. "What time is it you'll be coming down?" Our suggestion of 8.15 is met with much hand wringing and the anguished admission that room four also want to eat at that time, so could we therefore arrive between 8.18 and 8.20. "And the kitchen'll need to know tonight how you want your eggs." "Eggs Benedict?" I suggest. "Eugene. Boiled, poached, fried or scrambled." My husband timidly inquires about a place to eat this evening. Miss Congeniality perks up briefly. "Did you pass a yellow pub just before the bridge? Hanging baskets? Thatched roof? They do great home-cooked food." We nod eagerly, before she delivers the killer blow: "But they're closed Mondays, so you'll have to go into town and take pot luck." The view from our bedroom window next morning is an impressionist painter's dream: blur of grey rocks and iridescent flash of distant stream on a canvas of rainwashed green. Having synchronized our watches, we arrive to the breakfast room, only to be greeted by a different female: sparkling eyed, broad of hip and smile. "Welcome, welcome! Come away in. It's grand to see you. Did you sleep all right? Sorry you got left with Dolores from across the way last night. Suffers terrible with her nerves, though her soda bread is to die for. But I was at a hen party yesterday, you see. Tea or coffee? No rush, no rush. I'm Orla and that there's Eugene." The latter waves a spatula and grins amiably from the kitchen, from which delicious smells waft. "Now, make yourselves comfortable. The full Irish, is it? Would you just look at that sky! I always say if there's enough blue to make a cloak for Our Lady it's going to be grand day." We smile in agreement. The day is indeed turning out grand. Vocabulary:
Squint = v. To look with the eyes partly closed, as in bright sunlight. a. To look or glance sideways. b. To look askance, as in disapproval. B & B = bed-and-breakfast A private residence, several rooms of which are set aside for overnight guests whose paid accommodations include breakfast.

The Blarney Stone (Irish: Cloch na Blarnan) is a block of bluestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Blarney, about 8 kilometres (5 mi) from Cork, Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of the gab (great eloquence or skill at flattery). The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446. The castle is a popular tourist site in Ireland, attracting visitors from all over the world to kiss the stone and tour the castle and its gardens (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blarney_Stone).

Person kissing the Blarney Stone + View of the Blarney Stone from the ground Grudge = n. pica, ranchiuna; v. a da ceva cu parere de rau, regret n. a persistent feeling of resentment, esp one due to some cause, such as an insult or injury It isnt in her nature to hold grudges. v. To be reluctant to give or admit: even grudged the tuition money. To concede [consid] = v. a admite To acknowledge, often reluctantly, as being true, just, or proper; admit (See Synonyms at acknowledge). To make a concession: yield: The losing candidate conceded at midnight after the polls had closed. Dismay = n. groaza, ingrijorare, v. a ingrozi, a nelinisti n. consternation or agitation: I realized with dismay that he had disappeared. v. to fill with apprehension or alarm: She seemed dismayed at my bad news. Airing cupboard = n. a warm cupboard where you put newly washed clothes until they are completely dry closet, cupboard - a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space

Chintz [chintz] = n. creton (pinza) a printed and glazed cotton fabric, usually of bright colors. Spare change = bani, maruntis Anguished = a. indurerat, chinuit; feeling or expressing anguish

Eggs Benedict its a dish (fel de mincare): Eggs Benedict is an American breakfast dish that consists of two halves of an English muffin, topped with ham or bacon, poached eggs, and Hollandaise sauce

To perk up (phrasal verb) = v. a se inviora; To regain or cause to regain one's good spirits or liveliness Pot luck = whatever food happens to be available for a meal, especially when offered to a guest: Having arrived unannounced for supper, we had to take potluck. Blur = v. a (se) estompa, a devein neclar: The image was blurred. 1. To make indistinct and hazy in outline or appearance; obscure. 2. To smear or stain; smudge. Canvas = n. pinza (de cort, de corabie + de pictat) 1. A heavy, coarse, closely woven fabric of cotton, hemp, or flax, used for tents and sails. 2. A piece of such fabric on which a painting, especially an oil painting, is executed. sparkling eyed, broad of hip cu ochi scinteietori si solduri mari To grin = v. a zimbi cu gura pina la urechi + a stringe din dinti si a rabda; To smile broadly, often baring the teeth, as in amusement, glee, embarrassment, or other strong emotion. I grinned my approval. To waft = v. a se ridica, a pluti (despre o mireasma) To cause to go gently and smoothly through the air or over water. It was a heat that wafted from streets, rolled between buildings and settled over sidewalks. Cloak = n. mantie A loose outer garment, such as a cape. The full Irish (breakfast) - Irish bacon, Irish sausages, baked beans, black pudding, grilled tomato, sauteed potatoes, Irish soda bread, mushrooms etc.

Grammar: Look at the verbs in the above text; the narrator uses Present Tense Simple to express actions which happen in the present. Now try to fill in the spaces with the correct form of the verb in simple present tense (do not forget to put an s for the 3 rd person (look looks; say says; play plays; fly flies; cry cries, watch watches):

Hi. My name (be) _______ Albert. My friends (call) _______ me Al. You can call me Al if you (like) _______. I (want) to tell you about a problem I (have) _______. It (be, not) _______ _______ a big problem, but it is not a small problem, either. I (guess) _______ it's somewhere between big and small. I (have) _______ a best friend. His name (be) _______ Joe, but everybody (call) _______ him Joey. Joey and I have been friends for a long time. That's the problem. Joey (like) _______ to smoke. He (say) _______ he (do, not) _______ _______, but I (know) _______ he (do) _______. He (try) ______to hide it from me, but I (see) ______ him do it sometimes. When I see him do it, he just (laugh) _______ and (walk) _______ away. Now, Joey (smoke) _______ every day. When he (come) _______ over to my house, he (always, bring) _______ _______ his cigarettes with him. He (keep) _______ them in his pocket. He (think) _______ they are cool. He (not, think) _______ _______ _______ it's a bad idea to smoke. He (say) _______, "(not, worry) _______ _______ _______ , Al. I'm okay." He (tell) _______ me that I (not, understand) _______ _______ _______, but I (think) _______ I (do) _______. I (feel) _______ like it's his right to smoke. He can do what he (want) _______ to do, right? But I can (not, help) _______ _____ worrying. He's my best friend. Answer Key: 1) is 2) call 3) like 4) have 5) is not 6) guess 7) have 8) is 9) calls 10) likes 11) says 12) does not 13) know 14) does 15) tries 16) see 17) laughs 18) walks 19) smokes 2) comes 21) always brings 22) keeps 23) thinks 24) does not think 25) says 26) Do not worry 27) tells 28) do not understand, 29) think 30) do 31) feel 32) wants 33) not help