Ready for C1 p 26. The Benefits and Drawbacks of Changing Clocks. Speaking. Sample Answer

What are the benefits and drawbacks of changing clocks in the spring and autumn?

Sample Answer:

Anna: So, we need to discuss the highlights and challenges of adjusting (1)___________ in the spring and autumn. What are your (2)______________ on this?

Tom: Well, one clear benefit is that when we put the clocks (3)______________ in spring, we get longer evenings, (4)__________ is perfect for (5)_______________ activities. Don’t you agree?

Anna: Absolutely. I love the extra daylight too—it feels like you have more time in the day. However, (6)____________ an hour of sleep when the clocks (7)____________ forward is tough. My alarm clock goes (8)____________ an hour earlier, and I feel like I’m racing (9)___________ the clock to get ready.

Tom: Same here. That adjustment is hard at first. Yet in autumn, when we put the clocks (10)_____________, we get that extra hour of sleep, which feels amazing.

Anna: Definitely! Besides, I like how everything feels slower in autumn. When the evenings get (11)___________, it’s nice to hear the tick-tock of a (12)______________ in a quiet room. It makes me (13)____________ cosy.

Tom: Certainly, but don’t you think (14)____________ days in autumn can be a drawback too? Some people find it depressing when the clocks go (15)_____________ and it gets dark earlier.

Anna: That’s true. I suppose it depends on how you look at it. On the practical side, the original idea of changing (16)____________—saving energy (17)_________ using more daylight—made a lot of (18)_____________ when people worked around the (19)______________ or relied on natural light.

Tom: But is it still reasonable now? We have electric lights and flexible working hours. Some people say the disturbance to sleep patterns and routines (20)_____________ any benefits.

Anna: I can understand that. Plus, when the clock says it’s time to change, it affects everyone, (21)____________ they like it or not. That can be frustrating for people who already have a tight schedule.

Tom: Exactly, but I think some people still enjoy the tradition. There’s something comforting about hearing a grandfather (22)_______________ chime softly or strike the hour after the (23)____________ change. It feels like a connection to the passage of (24)__________ and the changing seasons.

Anna: I hadn’t thought of it like that, but you’re right. Changing the clocks (25)___________ make us pause and reflect. So, to sum up, the advantages are longer evenings in spring and the (26)___________ to rest more in autumn, while the disadvantages are the disruption (27)______________ sleep and routines, especially in spring.

Tom: My thoughts (28)______________. It’s a (29)_____________ bag, isn’t it? (30)____________ we’re setting clocks (31)_____________ or setting clocks (32)______________, there are (33)_____________ and roundabouts. I guess it just depends on (34)___________ you handle the change.

KEY

1. clocks

2. thoughts

3. forward

4. which

5. outdoor

6. losing

7. go

8. off

9. against

against the clock: as fast as possible. If you do something against the clock, you do it as fast as possible and try to finish it before a certain time.

E.g.

against the ~

to work against the clock (= to work fast in order to finish before a particular time)

I was racing against the clock, but I finished the test just before the bell.

10. back

11. darker

12. clock

13. feel

14. shorter

15. back

16. clocks

17. by

18. sense

19. clock

around/round the clock: ​all day and all night without stopping.

E.g.

Staff have been working around the clock to resolve the problems.

20. outweighs

21. whether

22. clock

23. clocks

24. time

the passage of time: the passing of time 

E.g.

With the passage of time, things began to look more hopeful.

25. does

26. chance

27. to

28. exactly

29. mixed

30.  Whether

31. ahead

32. back

33. swings

34. how

Ready for C1 p 22. The Secret Life of the National Grid- 2. Switching On. Listening

 

Link:

https://youtu.be/ABOyEFDYY7U?si=Leli5N_812NhDqCg&t=559

'9''20

 

Fill in the gaps with a word or phrase:

Not only did the promotion of appliances help balance (1)_____________, but they also had much wider social consequences.

In the 1930s, between 20 and 30 % of women’s (2)__________________ was in domestic service. However, by the (3)___________ ‘50s, that had virtually disappeared. While all households (4)_______________ domestic equipment so middle class households were losing their servants. As a consequence, middle class women ended up doing a lot more domestic work than they (5)__________________. For example there were stairs (6) _________, a hall (7)_______________ clothes to wash, and all that without a  (8)_______________.

Using a (9)_________________ became more strenuous than never (10)_______________. Nevertheless, for working class women it  beat (11)_____________________ hands down.

People were helped to avoid (12)______________ in the home and to (13)_____________ a career.

By the 1960s the society was much more (14)_____________. That is to say, working class women and middle class women were doing pretty much the same amount of (15)_____________________.

And by the 1990s, thanks to technological improvements in domestic equipment, the time spent on (16)____________________ by women of all classes had halved.

Bob didn't learn to use the washing machine or to (17)_________________.

Even though things have improved, women still bear the lion's share of the housework. There seem to be universal norms that prohibit (18)_________________.

Although some men were (19)_____________ domestic appliances, they found the (20)_______________ enormously appealing.

The fact that there was an increase in home ownership coupled with a (21)_________________ tradesmen kick-started a DIY epidemic.

When an electric wire was damaged by a power drill on Christmas Eve it caused (22)________________.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KEY

1. the load

The Grid: a system of electric wires or pipes carrying gas, for sending power over a large area:

the national grid (= the electricity supply in a country)

2. employment

 

 

3. mid to late

 

4. were acquiring

 

 

5. had done previously

 

6. to sweep

 

 

7. to polish

 

8. daily

 Daily: (also daily help) (old-fashioned, BrE) a person employed to come to sb’s house each day to clean it and do other jobs

 

9. Hoover,

10. lifting a finger

11. a dustpan and brush

Beat beat, beaten: defeat

Dustpan: a small flat container with a handle into which dust is brushed from the floor.

Win (sth) hands down(informal): to win sth very easily.

 12. drudgery

Drudgery: hard boring work (Sp. trabajo pesado)

 

13.   pursue

Pursue: try to achieve sth

14. egalitarian

15.  core domestic work

 Core: most important; main or essential

16. household chores

 17. iron (either)

 

 

18. male laundry

 

19. wary of

 Wary: /ˈweəri/ cautious. Careful when dealing with sb/sth because you think that there may be a danger or problem. (Sp. cauteloso)

 

20. electric/power drill

Appeal: a quality that makes sb/sth attractive or interesting (Sp. atractivo, encanto)

 

21. scarcity of /ˈskeəsəti/

 

Scarcity: if there is a scarcity of sth, there is not enough of it and it is difficult to obtain it. Shortage (Sp. escasez)

Tradesman: shopkeeper (Sp. comerciante). A skilled person (Sp. artesano).

Kick-start: to do sth to help a process or project start more quickly. E.g. The government’s attempt to kick-start the economy has failed (Activar)

About: (place)  is anyone about?  Sp. ¿hay alguien?

is Mr Brown about?  Sp. ¿está por aquí el Sr. Brown?

22. mayhem

 Mayhem: confusion and fear (Sp. caos)

Transcript:

Fill in the gaps with a word or phrase:

The Grid’s promotion of appliances helped balance ____the load________ but they also had much wider social consequences


In the 1930s, you _might have had______ something between 20 and 30 % of women’s employment actually in domestic service essentially,

and by the __mid to late_________ ‘50s, that had virtually disappeared,

so what actually happened over this period was that at the same time as all households ___were acquiring____________ domestic equipment so middle class households were losing their servants

Middle class women ended up doing a lot more domestic work than they __had done previously___

“Have any idea the work there is to do in this house? Stairs to sweep,

hall __to polish_____________


clothes to wash, and not even a __daily_____________”


Pushing the __hoover_______________ was harder than never _lifting a finger_________


but for working class women it beat __a dustpan and brush______ hands down.

“I was very keen to help other people to lead a different type of life, not so involved in ___Drudgery_______ in the home but rather giving them more freedom to choose whether they wanted to have leisure activities

or whether they wanted to go out and ___pursue a career____ and they could do if they actually cut some of the jobs that they’d had to do in the past”.

“By the 1960s it was a much much more egalitarian society. Working class women and middle class women were doing pretty much the same amount of __core domestic work_______, that’s cooking and cleaning and laundry”

And by the 1990s, improvements in domestic equipment had helped halve the time spent on ___household chores____ by women of all classes.

“The washing machine too is a great saving and I wouldn’t be without it now. Bob’s never learnt to switch on and he’s never learnt to _iron either__”

“Gender equality happens much slower than class equality. The difference between men’s and women’s unpaid work has probably halved over the last 40 years and we’re probably 40 years off -you know, two generations- of full equality still. There seem to be universal norms that prohibit __male laundry_____”.

But if some men were ___wary of__ domestic appliances then there was one electrical gadget that did hold an irresistible appeal.

“I even had an ___electric drill_______ thanks to my wife’s insistence on home improvements”.

Rising home ownership and a __scarcity of______ tradesmen kick-started a DIY epidemic. Do It Yourself magazine, “For the practical man about the house” was born in 1957 and the premier work tool was the electric drill.

“On one occasion I actually did use a power drill and go straight through an electric wire which _caused mayhem_____ because it happened on Christmas Eve and led to a whole series of domestic problems which we hadn’t anticipated”.

Empower p 12. Changes. Speaking

1. What words have left a lasting impression on you?
2. In what areas have you noticed a barely perceptible decline? 
3. What is having a hugely significant impact on our society? 
4. What kind of things go entirely unnoticed by the media? 
5. Have you noticed any steady shifts in public opinion towards any current issues?  
6. What has seen a rapid rise in your country? 
7. Can you think of any traditional methods that are giving way to more modern ones?
8. What kind of things have gone out of fashion and which ones have caught on in recent times?
9. What are the benefits and drawbacks of spellcheckers and predictive text? 
10. What new fad has taken hold quickly?
Add two more to ask a partner:
11. __________
12. __________

slowdown 

1. ​a reduction in speed or activity. Sp. ralentización.
   • a slowdown in economic growth

 

downturn (in something) a fall in the amount of business that is done; a time when the economy becomes weaker. Sp. recesión

• the recent economic downturns
• a downturn in sales/trade/business

   

give way to

to be replaced by something else. Sp. dejar paso.

E.g. Stone has given way to glass and concrete. My anger gave way to depression.

take (a) hold

 to start to have a definite effect. Sp. hacerse notar, apoderarse. E.g.  The fever was beginning to take hold