Language Practice

Upper-intermediate

Vocabulary    Intermediate 09 Music and emotions

Emotions and behaviour
I had to go to a school musical last year when I was visiting family, as my niece had a
minor part in it. And I really don’t like musicals. The songs were so dull and so repetitive
– they all sounded the same to me. I’d had enough by the time the interval arrived, so by
the end, I felt desperate to escape and I was totally fed up with it! But of course, I told
my niece it was wonderful!
dull (adjective) — not interesting or exciting
repetitive (adjective) — saying or doing the same thing many times, so that it becomes
boring
have had enough (collocation) — to want no more of something
feel desperate to escape (collocation) — needing or wanting very much to leave
fed up with (something) (collocation) — to be bored or unhappy, especially with a
situation that has continued for too long

For me, it was maths classes at school that completely bored me to death. I guess
my main problem was that I just couldn’t see the point of any of it, so I found it very
uninteresting compared to the other subjects. I found that I lost concentration pretty
easily and my mind often wandered. Or worse still, I’d completely zone out and forget
the teacher was there at all!
bored to death (idiom) — feeling extremely tired and impatient because you have lost
interest in somebody / something
uninteresting (adjective) — not attracting your attention or interest; not interesting
lose concentration (collocation) — to fail at keeping your attention on one thing, without
thinking of other things
mind wanders (collocation) — when you stop paying attention to something and think of
other things
zone out (phrasal verb) — to stop paying attention to your surroundings and not hear or
see what is happening for a short period, sometimes because of boredom

Well, just this morning, I had to go to a long meeting at work and I just couldn’t stop
yawning. And I wasn’t the only one who was bored! Josh from Sales couldn’t sit still,
and spent most of the time playing with his pen or looking out of the window. I think a
lot of my colleagues are bored with all the meetings we have to go to. They are a huge
waste of time in my opinion. I guess I’m just tired of being in a meeting for an hour or
more when only five minutes of it is relevant to my job!
yawn (verb) — to open your mouth wide and breathe in deeply through it, usually because
you are tired or bored
can’t sit still (collocation) — the inability to remain seated without making movements
because of nervousness or impatience
bored with (something) (phrasal verb) — feeling tired or impatient with something
because you have lost interest in it
tire of (something) (phrasal verb) — to become bored with something/somebody or
begin to enjoy it / them less