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Learn how to talk about your clothes and how you dress in English.

Dialogue/Story

I'm one of those people who don't have much of a fashion sense. I mean, I know that I shouldn't wear a pink shirt with green pants, but beyond that I'm pretty much a basket case when it comes to picking my wardrobe.

I have plenty of short-sleeve and long-sleeve dress shirts; some have a button-down collar and some have a shirt pocket in them. I also own some more casual shirts with a collar, and a ton of T-shirts with just about every logo you can think of. I have a couple of good pairs of black slacks for formal occasions, along with khakis and jeans for more informal events.

Naturally, I have one nice suit to wear to weddings, funerals, and job interviews, with a suit coat, tie, a belt with a nice-looking buckle, and pants. I also own a sports coat, but I don't use it much. Well, I better stop talking and start dressing. I'm late for work!

Topics

Famous Americans: Thomas Edison · Liberia and U.S. slavery · Questions and Answers

Key Terms

inventor
prodigious
practical
phonograph
patent
entrepreneur
telegraph
wizard
perspiration
to repatriate
to colonize
elite
symposium
workshop
seminar
to account for
to negotiate

Learn how to talk about heavy traffic and being stuck on the road in English.

Dialogue/Story

I was on my way to a restaurant to meet my date for dinner when I hit a traffic jam. I saw that the road was congested, but since I had to take the bridge to reach downtown, I had no choice but to stay on that road.

The traffic was bumper-to-bumper. One crazy driver even tried to drive on the shoulder to get around the backup. But as it turns out, there wasn't any way to bypass it because the backup wasn't due to an accident, a stalled car or some rubberneckers. It was because of road construction and only one lane was open.

After 25 minutes of stop-and-go traffic, I was at my wit's end. My date was sitting at the restaurant waiting for me and I didn't have her cell phone number. What's more, I was really hungry.

Finally, I got past the road construction and was on my way again. I drove a little recklessly, but I had to make up for lost time. I really liked this girl. The last thing I wanted was to make her think that I stood her up!

Learn how to talk about crime and the legal system in English. Jeff reads a newspaper story about a student arrested for burglary and assault.

Dialogue/Story

I was reading the newspaper this morning and saw a story about a university student arrested and charged with burglary and assault. Last Monday, this student hit a security guard over the head, broke into his professor's office and stole the professor's computer. He wasn't doing well in the class and thought that he could steal the exam.

When he was arraigned in court, the prosecutor said that the charges were very serious felonies, and not simple misdemeanors. He also said that because the student was a flight risk, the bail should be set at $2 million dollars. The judge agreed. If the student is found guilty of all the charges, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in jail.

When I read this story, I thought, wouldn't it have been easier for him to just study?

Topics

American Cities: New York City · Letters after people's names · Questions and Answers

Key Terms

borough
skyscraper
Broadway musical
pushy
frank
in your face
JFK
Esquire
Ph.D.
MD
RN
DDS
napkin
to work out