Modul 6: Oral Exams B2/C1: Part 2 Set 2. Topics 9-14

Describe a journey that didn’t go as planned. You should say:

where you were going;
how you were travelling;
who you were with;
what went wrong;
and explain what you would do differently.

01
I’ve gone to an event called Bike Maine several times. Bike Maine is an event in which people pay a bunch of money to a company who runs a bike tour, and the people bike from town to town around Maine. And the company sets up tents and carries their baggage from place to place, and gives them meals as they go. I volunteered at this event on the tent and porter crew.

event¹: a planned public or social occasion | Stella and her friends from work are running in a special fundraiser event to help those that are in need in their local area.

bunch²: a large amount of something; a large number of things or people | Michael has a bunch of things to do today, so he has put reminders of them even in his car.

a bunch of money: a lot of money | Yesterday Maggie made a bunch of money through an important business deal with a large corporation, so she can surely afford her dream vacation this year.

bike tour³: travelling via roads to or around a destination | These men often go bike touring not only to become better cyclists but also to become fitter.

tent⁴: a shelter made of a large sheet of canvas, nylon, etc. that is supported by poles and ropes fixed to the ground, and is used especially for camping | These people have set up their tent and are now gathered around the fire.

baggage⁵: bags, cases, etc. that contain somebody’s clothes and things when they are travelling | The baggage handler is transporting the baggage to the Swedish airline company’s aeroplane.

volunteer⁶: to offer to do something without being forced to do it or without getting paid for it | These people are all volunteering at this charity shop; they are packing food that they will give out to those who need it.

porter⁷: a person whose job is carrying people’s bags and other loads, especially at a train station, an airport or in a hotel | Frank works as a hotel porter at a five-star hotel in the USA.

crew⁸: a group of people with special skills working together | The film crew are shooting part of an episode of a sitcom on a beach today. 

02
Now, our job was exactly what it sounded like. Our job was to set up all of the tents and to take them down, and after we had set them up, we would move the people’s baggage into them. The first time I volunteered at the event, it was being held way up north on the border with Canada. In addition, it was being held in mid-fall. Now, fall gets cold enough in some places down where I was, but this was up north on the border – it was actually on the Saint John River on the border between Maine and Canada -and it was getting pretty cold.

set up⁹: to prepare something for use, especially by putting the different parts of it together | Steve is setting up his new drumset for the first time; he is excited because it is nearly finished, and he is very eager to play.

way up: a long distance up | The supermarket is way up this road; just follow it for about 10 km.

border¹⁰: the line that divides two countries or areas; the land near this line | This border crossing is on the border between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.

in addition: used when you want to mention another person or thing after something else | In addition, there is one more statistic that we should look at to understand this modern phenomenon.

mid-fall¹¹: in the middle of the season of the year between summer and winter, when leaves change colour and the weather becomes colder; the middle of autumn | It is mid-fall, and Terence and Velma are taking a walk in the forest.

pretty: fairly; very | The English Literature exam was pretty hard this year but I guess I did alright.

03
Now, I’d missed the first time I had a chance to go to this event. So I wasn’t about to miss the 2nd time. The 2nd time I got on to it, but unfortunately, the very day I was set to go, I began getting sick. Now, every time I’ve been to Bike Maine, everyone has gotten sick, but that time it was my fault. The next time it wasn’t my fault, but that time it was.

miss: to fail to be or go somewhere | Hayley never missed a single movie of her favourite franchise, Star Wars. She went to the cinema and watched each of them on the very day they were released.

about to¹²: to be going to do something very soon | This train is about to leave, so Suzy needs to get on it quickly if she wants to arrive at work on time.

the very day: on that particular day (= not another day) | The very day I thought about actually going out to the shop to buy a new pack of batteries for my TV remote, I found some in a drawer, so I saved a trip to the supermarket (= I didn’t have to go).

sick¹³: physically or mentally ill; not well or healthy | Frank is feeling sick today, but he is hoping that he will be well before the end of the week.

fault¹⁴: the responsibility for something wrong that has happened or been done | Karen accidentally dropped her teacup on her way to the kettle, but people say it wasn’t her fault because Steve scared her.

04
Now, if I got to do this a 3rd time, I would definitely do one thing differently. I would bring a lot less stuff. Both times I carried everything I could possibly need on the trip and then proceeded to not need any of it.

proceed: to do something next, after having done something else first; go on | On the day of her presentation, Jen wrote down all the key points on a piece of paper in advance and then proceeded to speak about each one of them in great detail.

05
If I did it again, I would bring only clothes and plenty of clothes for both warm and cold as both are possible; and since raining happens quite a lot, it’s always good to have spare dry clothing that you can switch into, but other than that I would not bring much at all. It’s hard enough trying to lug everyone else’s belongings around without having to lug your own with you.

spare: kept in case you need to replace the one you usually use; extra | Ken always keeps a spare key to his car nearby so that if he loses one key, he can still use his car with the other one.

switch¹⁵: to change or make something change from one thing to another | Steve received his first phone, the one on the far left, when he turned 17 years old. Over the years, he frequently switched to better ones but also kept the previous ones. Now, he has a collection of old phones.

but other than that: but except that | For Maggie, train seats are sometimes not very comfortable, but other than that, she finds it useful to travel with trains.

(not) at all: in any way; to any degree; absolutely not | Jess went to the party but, unfortunately, she did not enjoy herself there at all.

lug¹⁶: to carry or drag (= pull) something heavy with a lot of effort | Sarah had to lug her heavy suitcase up the stairs because there was no ramp to pull it up on.

belongings¹⁷: the things that you own which can be moved, for example, not land or buildings; possessions | Eve is looking for some of her belongings (her phone and wallet) in her bag, but they seem to be missing; she may have forgotten to pack them, or they are lost.

06
On the first day, we had to set up the tents for everyone. My crew, which was myself and one other guy, were in a race with our friends, and we won. My team set up the most tents out of everyone, and discounting our rival team, we set up more tents than everyone else in the entire crew. Now normally, after the first day, they split us into 2 groups. One of us goes ahead and puts up the tents, the other stays behind and takes down the tents and moves the baggage into the tents put up by the first team, but that first day we were all doing it, and my team was the fastest.

race¹⁸: a competition between people, animals, vehicles, etc. to see which one is the faster or fastest | Harry appears to be winning the horse race as he has a lead of more than a horse length.

discount: to think or say that something is not important or not true; dismiss | The corrupt police officers discounted the overwhelming evidence proving the innocence of Frank.

entire: including everything, everyone or every part; whole| Lea spent the entire day watching TV shows on her computer.

split¹⁹: to divide, or to make something divide, into two or more parts | The axe split the wood into two parts.

go ahead: to start to do something | To help her busy wife, Dan often goes ahead and cooks vegetables to give to their children.

stay behind: to not leave a place when other people leave | Lucy and her family often stay behind in the cinema after a movie to watch the after-credits scenes and listen to the after-credits song.

07
Now you got cold. In fact, you got so cold at night, and we were sleeping in just very thin tents that the condensation would form (on the outside) on the inside of the tents, and it would freeze, and if there was any water on you at all, it would freeze. You would wake up covered in ice and have to knock the ice off yourself. That is how cold it was there. It hadn’t snowed yet, though, and it was warmer in the day. So it was already, by itself, a fairly difficult event, and we were going to be moving from town to town all around the Caribou-Presque Isle area, around the Saint John River, which is the border with Canada.

thin²⁰: having a smaller distance between opposite sides or surfaces than other similar objects or than normal; not thick | Maxine is cutting this onion into very thin pieces.

condensation²¹: drops of water that form on a cold surface when warm water vapour becomes cool | The window has frosted due to the extreme temperature outside, causing condensation to form on the glass.

freeze²²: to become hard, and often turn to ice, as a result of extreme cold; to make something do this | The lake froze last night.

covered: having a layer or amount of something on it | Fred’s fingers were covered in ketchup. (= There was ketchup on his fingers.)

knock (something) off²³: to hit or brush something away from something/someone | Sam and his son are knocking snow off the car.

08
Now I mentioned that I was sick. I was only just starting to get sick as I went into it, but in these conditions, “a little sick” turns into “very sick” very quickly. And in fact, it had not taken more than a couple of days before all of us, almost every single member of our crew was sick, and given the conditions being sick was both hard to cure and quite dangerous. I was never one to let getting sick stop me from doing anything, though, and so I continued on just as strongly as before, although by now, my throat was very … speaking was hard. Eventually, I don’t remember how she heard, but my mother got word that I was sick and decided that she would drive several hours up north to get to me. I think she was thinking she would bring me back.

mention: to write or speak about something/somebody, especially without giving much information | Earlier this week, the teacher mentioned several times that there might be a short multiple-choice exam about the topic soon. Still, the students have forgotten all about it.

condition: the circumstances or situation in which people live, work or do things | The living conditions in the poor village were dire (= very bad).

couple: a small number of people or things | Steven reads a couple of pages from his favourite book every night before he goes to sleep.

given the conditions: based on what’s happening or how things are | Given the conditions on Earth, falling from a high enough point is probably deadly.

cure²⁴: to make a person or an animal healthy again after an illness | In some cases, pills do not cure the illness itself but may help a patient deal with it.

throat²⁵: a passage in the neck through which food and air pass on their way into the body; the front part of the neck | Jack’s throat is in pain because he’s caught a cold.

eventually: at the end of a period of time or a series of events | Francine will eventually sell her shoes online to make some extra money.

get word: to receive or be given a message or communication (from someone or something) | The prime minister of the UK got word about a person who is very good at impersonating (pretending to be) him to entertain people.

09
The leader of our crew was a former artillery officer who was very skilled at managing groups of people. She determined that we were all going to get well, and she was going to make that (be) the case no matter what. Now, fortunately, one of the nights, the place where we were staying happened to have an aircraft hangar that was empty enough for us to use. As such, it was a building with a roof, it had a solid floor, and it kept heat. That was great.

leader²⁶: a person in control of a group, country, or situation | This person appears to be the leader of the Netherlands.

former: that used to have a particular position or status in the past; previous | Mike Tyson is a former professional boxer.

artillery²⁷: large, heavy guns which are often moved on wheels | This is an artillery piece put on display (= that people can see) in Florida.

manage: to control or be in charge of a business, a team, an organisation, land, etc. | It takes a lot of money to successfully manage a world-class football club, like Arsenal or Manchester United.

determined: wanting to do something very much and not giving up, even if it’s hard or others say to do so | Stella is determined to succeed in her new career; she wants to be a professional photographer.

happen: to take place, especially without being planned | Minor car accidents like parking lot accidents happen all the time. These cause cosmetic damage like scratches or dents.

hangar²⁸: a large building in which aircraft are kept | This aerospace hangar is so huge that it could store more than one aeroplane.

10
Now we were no longer sleeping in leaky, frozen tents, but we had a proper building to sleep in. We even had showers. They had a shower truck. A truck with showers in it so you could take showers. And our leader decided she was going to make us well no matter what. She bought large amounts of medicine, and she made us all take the medicine. Most of us were sick. There may have been a few who weren’t entirely sick yet and a few who were getting better, but by golly, she made us well. If, by morning, a single one of us were still sick, I would have been very surprised. She gave us every medicine, every vitamin known to man and made us all get very good sleep, and that was that. Most of us got better, including myself.

leaky²⁹: having holes that allow liquid or gas to escape | Maxine has a leaky roof, so she is calling a plumber to fix it as soon as possible.

shower³⁰: to wash using a shower | Stan is taking a shower so that he can go to work feeling clean and good about himself.

truck³¹ (BrE: lorry): a large vehicle for carrying heavy loads by road | This white truck is en route (= on its way) to France, delivering sofas to a business.

medicine³²: a substance that you take in order to cure an illness, especially a liquid that you drink or swallow | Kate is pouring some liquid cough medicine into a spoon so she can give it to her ill daughter.

by golly: used to show surprise | After I nearly accidentally broke the plates in Sarah’s house, I thought she would never talk to me again, but by golly, she did talk to me this morning!

a single one of us: any one of us | Not a single one of us woke up in time to catch the early bus to school.

that is that: used to say that there is nothing more you can do or say about a particular matter | I really like strawberries and that is that.

including myself: me too | Every passenger on the bus, including myself, looked concerned when the bus driver picked up his ringing phone while driving.

11
So the next day, we were moving on, and I was in high spirits, and our next spot was down by the Saint John River. The Saint John River, as I mentioned, is the border between Maine and Canada. It was a warm sunny day, which was nice for how the weather normally was at that time of year, and we set up our tents, and we would be staying at that location for 2 days. This gave us time to settle in.

in high spirits³³: extremely happy and enjoying the situation | Dan was in high spirits his team won the Rugby World Cup.

spot³⁴: a particular area or place | Lily found a quiet spot in the park where she can read her favourite novel in peace.

settle in³⁵: to start to feel comfortable in a new home, job, etc. | It has only been one week since Michael started, but he is already settling into his new school.

12
Now, something interesting happened. Because we were all on the St. John River, despite the temperature of the weather at that time of year, we all determined we were going to go swimming in the Saint John River. Because we’ve got a river, it’s a warm day, why should we not go all bathe in the river. So, we all bathed in the river.

on: at or near a place | There was a little village on the coast of North England.

despite: used to show that something happened or is true although it might have been stopped it by something else | Mary was very good at poker, despite the fact that she hated card games in general. (= She hated card games, but even so, she was very good at poker.)

bathe: to go swimming in the sea, a river, etc. for pleasure | When the class finally saw the ocean, they all wanted to bathe in the water to relax after their long journey.

13
Now don’t think most of us had brought any sort of swimming clothes. I think we all bought towels of some sort because a towel is a good thing to have in this sort of situation. A number of things happened there; for example, one of my friends blew his nose on poison ivy, which was very interesting, and we all got a good laugh out of that except for him. But we all went down into the Saint John River, and we bathed.

of some sort: (also: a/some sort of …) used for describing something in a not very exact way | “What was that noise?” “It was an insect of some sort.”

sort of: a group or type of people or things that are similar in a particular way; kind of | What sort of person is Linda?” “She is the sort of person to share her last piece of apple pie if someone else is there with her.”

blow your nose³⁶: to force air from your lungs and through your nose to clear it | Larry needs to blow his nose quite often these days, due to his allergy.

poison ivy³⁷: ​a North American climbing plant that causes painful spots on the skin when you touch it | In some places in North America, there are warning signs put up to help tourists and hikers avoid poison ivy.

14
Unfortunately, when I came back out, I could not, in fact, find my trousers. I do not know what happened to my trousers, but they were gone. I don’t know why I didn’t have a second pair of trousers, but maybe they were wet or maybe it was that I only had one pair of trousers, and they didn’t go missing, but they were wet, but regardless, I ended up without a pair of trousers. I had a pair of shorts, but it was rather cold, so instead, I had a tartan; my towel was in a tartan pattern.

gone: if something is gone, there is none of it left | Frank checked his wallet, and most of his money was gone; he had become so focused on the items he was buying that he stopped counting the money he was spending.

regardless: paying no attention, even if the situation is bad or there are difficulties | It started to rain heavily, but the marathon runners continued the race regardless. 

tartan³⁸: cloth, especially made of wool, that has a tartan pattern | Maggie often has her favourite tartan scarf on during cold days in autumn.

tartan pattern³⁹: a pattern (= design) of squares and lines of different colours and widths that cross each other at an angle of 90° | The tartan pattern is prominent in the outfit of this Scottish sword dancer; both his kilt (= tartan skirt) and socks have this same pattern.

15
So, I wrapped it around my waist and tied it on with a belt and wore it like it was a kilt. And it worked! People thought I was wearing a kilt, which was very interesting. Incidentally, I found someone else’s trousers, and they fit me perfectly, so I took them. I didn’t find out until very, very recently they were my friend’s trousers. He had left the day before.

wrap⁴⁰: to put something around something/somebody | Stella has a clean white towel wrapped around her head while she is drying her head after a long bath. 

tie: to attach, hold or fasten two or more things together using string, rope, etc. | Larry had his hands tied behind his back because he was dangerous.

belt⁴¹: a long narrow piece of leather, cloth, etc. that you wear around the middle part of your body | Leather belts, such as this one, are often worn by people as part of their work uniform.

kilt⁴²: a skirt made of tartan cloth that reaches to the knees | Kilts are sometimes worn as casual clothing by some men, such as this Scottish bagpiper, because they enjoy both wearing it and sharing their heritage (i.e. their traditions/culture).

incidentally: ​in a way that was not planned but that is connected with something else | Last night, as Jack went out to his car to check the lighting, he incidentally discovered that a thief had been trying to break into it.

belong⁴³ (to): to be owned by somebody/something | Both the Teddy bear and the book belong to Harold; he received both of them as birthday presents from his parents last month.

fit⁴⁴: to be the right shape and size for somebody/something | This last piece should fit exactly into the jigsaw puzzle.

until very, very recently: up to a very short time ago | I had never won at Monopoly against my siblings (= brothers/sisters) until very, very recently; I had always lost in that game until yesterday afternoon.

16
There’s a sad story about why he left, but I’m not going to go into that, and he forgot his trousers, and I have them to this day, and in fact, I am currently wearing them. These are the trousers that I found that day.

go into something: to discuss, examine, describe, or explain something in a detailed or careful way | The first part of the movie goes into the hero’s life story before he enters the forest where the adventure begins.

to this day: even now, when a lot of time has passed | To this day, I do not understand how Janet managed to climb that mountain alone.

currently: at the present time | Currently, it is not raining outside; in fact, it has just stopped raining as I got home from work soaking wet, but I won’t go into that.

17
I didn’t find them yet, though, and as I mentioned, my mother was coming. So, it’s around lunchtime. We’re all going in to get food, and I am currently wearing a towel wrapped around my waist like a kilt. I have shorts on underneath, but yeah, and then my mother arrives. So, she was anxious to see whether I was well, and I was indeed well, and she was surprised to see me attired so.

mention: to write or speak about something/somebody, especially without giving much information | Francesca has mentioned that she will go to her friend’s on Saturday, but she did not say the specific time, so her mum was surprised when her daughter tried to leave at 11pm.

waist⁴⁵: the area around the middle of the body between the ribs and the hips, often narrower than the areas above and below | The groom has put his arms around the bride’s waist.

underneath⁴⁶: under or below something else, especially when it is hidden or covered by the thing on top | Steve is wearing a yellow jumper underneath his grey coat he believes these colours complement each other well (= go well with each other).

anxious⁴⁷: feeling worried or nervous | Maddy is anxious about the future because one of her friends is seriously ill.

indeed: used to say that something is really/absolutely true or right.  | “Did you say that Jerry had already finished his homework assignment for chemistry?” “Indeed, I did.” 

attired⁴⁸: dressed in a particular way | Frank was fashionably attired in a tuxedo for the wedding which he is about to attend.

But it all ended up well. She didn’t take me back, although she had rented a hotel room a little bit outside of town. So I got to spend the night in a nice warm bed with blankets in a hotel room, and that was the best thing ever in my mind. I was very happy about that.

end up well: to achieve some good situation after other activities | When we saw that Billy is going up to the stage to play the clarinet, we were worried, but all ended up well as he played a great solo that the audience greatly enjoyed.

in my mind: used to show you are giving your opinion about something | In my mind, Billy’s musical performance wasn’t the best one of the night; Fred played much better.

18
Some interesting things happened, like the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night, and we had to call the owner of the hotel who lived down the road to come and deal with it. All of the fire alarms went off. But there was no fire, and there was no way to turn them off. But apart from that, I got a good night’s sleep. It’s better than I’d gotten the whole week, and I went back out and continued on Bike Maine.

go off: if a warning device goes off, it starts to ring loudly or make a loud noise | My alarm clock went off at 7.30 in the morning.

deal with⁴⁹: to take appropriate action in a particular situation; handle | Hank is able to deal with most customers as he has been working at this call centre for years and is now very good at his job.

apart from that: except for something| I have my wallet, but apart from that, my pockets are empty.