28 A
Discussing problems Describing problems
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B
Rosie
How’s life with you, Kate? Is everything going OK?
Kate
Not really. They’re threatening to make some redundancies at work, so that’s hanging over1 me. All because senior management botched up2 and lost the company millions of pounds last year! My daughter’s relationship with her boyfriend of five years has broken down3 because pressures they were both having at work began to spill over4into their private lives and they just couldn’t cope. Then my son, the journalist, was in Phrasalia and got caught up in5 the revolution there – he ran into6 difficulties when he was trying to leave and we don’t know when he’ll get home. He even landed in7 prison for a few days.
Rosie
Oh dear! And how are you bearing up8?
Kate
Oh, it’s hard, but I’m OK. But how about you, what’s going on in your life?
Rosie
It’s quite stressful, too, as we’ve just learned Leo’s sister is riddled with9 cancer …
making us worry about what is going to happen (informal) spoiled something by doing it badly failed have an unpleasant effect on another situation involved in an activity or situation which prevented him from moving
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began to experience found himself in a difficult situation or unpleasant place dealing with a sad or difficult situation full of something unpleasant or bad
Dealing with problems We must all resign ourselves to1 the fact that we will encounter problems throughout our lives. We cannot safeguard against2 all unpleasant events. Nor can we walk away3 from every difficult situation that comes along. We have to find ways of living with4 the bad situations that we inevitably face from time to time and find ways of ironing out5 difficulties. We should not be too proud to fall back on6 our parents for advice – we may be surprised at how helpful they can be. If the problem is a disagreement, then we may be able to Annette Berg, smooth things over7. Explaining how we feel will sometimes be all Therapist and that is needed to clear up8 a misunderstanding. If we have behaved agony aunt badly, then we should apologise and find a way to make up for9 our 10 actions. The important thing is not to resort to behaviour that we know is wrong even if it seems to offer a temporary solution. Don’t just grasp at11 the first chance of an easy way out – it may not be the right thing to do. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
60
accept that something we do not want to happen will happen do things to stop something unpleasant happening stop being involved in a situation that is difficult to deal with accepting a difficult situation and continuing with our life while it exists doing something to resolve a problem use something when other things have failed, or when there are no other choices make a disagreement or problem seem less serious or easier to deal with, especially by talking to the people involved in it
English Phrasal Verbs in Use Advanced
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10
11
give or find an explanation for, or deal with, a problem or disagreement do something good so that the bad thing seems less important and does not cause a problem any more do something that you do not really want to because you cannot find any other way of achieving something quickly use or accept an opportunity to do or have something, especially because you are unhappy with the present situation
