28 Discussing problems

A

B Describing problems

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 diff iculties 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 …

1 making us worry about what is going to happen 6 began to experience 2 (informal) spoiled something by doing it badly 7 found himself in a diff icult situation or 3 failed unpleasant place 4 have an unpleasant eff ect on another situation 8 dealing with a sad or diff icult situation 5 involved in an activity or situation which 9 full of something unpleasant or bad prevented him from moving

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 diffi cult situation that comes along. We have to fi nd ways of living with4 the bad situations that we inevitably face from time to time and fi nd ways of ironing out5 diffi culties. 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 smooth things over7. Explaining how we feel will sometimes be all that is needed to clear up8 a misunderstanding. If we have behaved badly, then we should apologise and fi nd a way to make up for9 our actions. The important thing is not to resort to10 behaviour that we know is wrong even if it seems to off er a temporary solution. Don’t just grasp at11 the fi rst chance of an easy way out – it may not be the right thing to do.

Annette Berg, Therapist and agony aunt

1 accept that something we do not want to happen will happen 2 do things to stop something unpleasant happening 3 stop being involved in a situation that is diff icult to deal with 4 accepting a diff icult situation and continuing with our life while it exists 5 doing something to resolve a problem 6 use something when other things have failed, or when there are no other choices 7 make a disagreement or problem seem less serious or easier to deal with, especially by talking to the people involved in it 8 give or find an explanation for, or deal with, a problem or disagreement 9 do something good so that the bad thing seems less important and does not cause a problem any more 10 do something that you do not really want to because you cannot find any other way of achieving something 11 quickly use or accept an opportunity to do or have something, especially because you are unhappy with the present situation

28.1

Complete these emails between Isabella and Nicole using phrasal verbs from the opposite page.

Reply Forward

Hi Nicole, Life’s never easy, is it? I’ve had a big misunderstanding with my colleague Blake and I want to (1) it up, but I’m not sure how. It’s been (2) over me for a week now, and I don’t want relations to (3) down between me and him as I have to meet with him once a week. He thinks I told people he took time off when he wasn’t really sick and as a result he (4) in trouble with the boss. All I had said was I was glad to hear it wasn’t anything serious. What should I do? Advice greatly appreciated! Isabella

28.2

Reply Forward

Dear Isabella,

Well, you’re right not to try to

(5) away from the situation. It’s bound to (6) over into your professional dealings with him. It sounds like you’ve got (7) up in some malicious office gossip. Invite him out to lunch, explain, and apologise for causing him any problems. That should (8) things over a bit. Tell him what a wonderful colleague he is. At moments like this you have to (9) to flattery! It’s usually the only way to (10) up for saying or doing something you wish you hadn’t. Most people can’t resist being flattered! Hope that helps. Love, Nicole

Rewrite the underlined parts of these sentences using a phrasal verb from the opposite page. Make any other necessary changes.

1 When the doctors examined the dead man, they found his body was full of disease. 2 I just quickly accepted the first opportunity to get out of my boring job and do something more exciting. I wasn’t prepared to just continue to accept it; I had to make a change. 3 I was forced to use my knowledge of map reading from my days as a scout to help us find a way out of the valley. 4 I’m sorry, I’ve done things the wrong way and caused a lot of problems for everyone. 5 A healthy diet and plenty of exercise is the best way to protect yourself from heart disease. 6 His life is difficult. His parents died last year when he was only 16. Now he just has to be brave and determined and try to carry on as best he can. 7 I’m afraid we just have to reluctantly accept the fact that we are going to have to sell the house. 8 She tried very hard to resolve the misunderstandings between the two groups.

Over to you

Look at the problem page of any English language magazine or newspaper and see how many phrasal verbs are used to talk about problems. Make a note of any you find, especially any not practised in this unit. There are also many problem pages in English on the Internet. Try doing a search for ‘problem page’.