the lady writes: big news
DIFFICULTY: OOOH, THAT’S GONNA HURT
intro … This set of fill-outs is based on excerpts from letters written by Bethanie (aka the Lady) to her Czech friend Jana in the mid to late 1990s. Some of them (the early ones) were sent from Toronto, but most seem to have been written in Cambridge after Bethanie’s family moved back to England.
Interesting things were happening back then. A young politician by the name of Tony Blair became the British Prime Minister. In fact, all of Great Britain was undergoing some major changes, which you’ll read more about in Bethanie’s letters. In world news, SARS threatened to kill us all. Largely unnoticed here, Indians were raising some hell in Canada, though not nearly as much as the IRA was on its way out.
batch … dá
excerpt … výpisek, vý?atek, vybraný krátký úsek z delšího textu
SARS … akutní zán?t dýchacího ústrojí
raise hell … vyvád?t, spustit povyk
IRA … Irská republikánská armáda, ohavná teroristická organizace
reminisce … vzpomínat (na staré ?asy)
be on the lookout for st … vyhlížet, hledat
provide … poskytnout
off-and-on … ob?asný (chvíli je, chvíli není)
On a personal note, plenty of plans were made. Most never materialized but that’s always the trouble with plans. There’s some reminiscing about Bethanie’s stay in Czechia as well as her trip to Spain forty years ago. Bethanie’s family (her husband Paul, constantly on the lookout for a well-paid job, and son Patrick, constantly on the lookout for a way to avoid work) provides an endless source of news, as does Jana’s. So do her off-and-on office jobs. There’s an old friend, Veronica, who gets a mention. And of course, the weather remains one of the favorite topics.
NOTE … Bethanie’s family has spent a few weeks in Europe. On their return to Canada, they are appalled by how dull the country is compared to the places they have been visiting.
big news
Anyway, to get to the Big News. After our stay in Europe, Canada really _____ look even more culturally bankrupt and boring than _____. It has no spirit, no passion, no identity. We received the news that _____ the year 2000, there will be 7 million people in Toronto (90% of whom will be non-European) with less than complete enthusiasm. We felt it would be nice to be back with one’s own people while we are still young _____ to move.
culturally bankrupt… kulturn? zbída?ené
drop to pieces… rozsypat se
We are also very excited by the idea of the United Europe (perhaps _____ more than about England, though we are very moved thinking about the English countryside, the sea, architecture, English church music, and the English people _____ kind and friendly, like the Czechs) - as they _____ to be.
What finally decided us - we have been talking about it for years - was that Paul’s business plans _____ to pieces (Long Story, another time) and I too have been _____ for a real Job ever since I got back and have not even received a _____ reply (sorry, yes there was one and I go for interview on Wednesday).
enjoy