Climbing Fuji
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Steven
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Todd
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Todd: OK, Steven, what do you want to talk about?
Steven: Hiking!
Todd: Hiking! Are you a big mountain man?
Steven: Yeah, yeah, I really love getting out into the mountains.
Todd: What mountains have you climbed?
Steven: Well, recently, I climbed Mt. Fuji.
Todd: Wow, how long did it take you to get to the top?
Steven: Well, I actually climbed Mt. Fuji on four different occasions.
Todd: Wow, really!
Steven: Yeah, so it was different times each trek.
Todd: OK, did you go in summer or in spring?
Steven: No, actually, the first time I went in, to climb Fuji was in the winter.
Todd: Wow, man that must have been cold.
Steven: Yeah, well, it wasn't too bad. We had warm clothes and, you know, we were constantly walking, so our body temperature was quite high.
Todd: Didn't you slip on the ice? Wasn't the ice really slippery?
Steven: Well, we had crampons and ice axes with us.
Todd: Really, I'm sorry, you had "crampons"?
Steven: Yeah, they're like spikes that go on your feet, yeah, basically ice shoes, yeah, so you can actually walk on the ice with these shoes without slipping, no problem.
Todd: Really! What was it like on the top?
Steven: Well, on that particular occasion we didn't get to the top because it was too late in the day. We would have arrived at the top just as the just was setting and it would have been very dangerous I think coming back down, so.
Todd: Because it would have been dark?
Steven: Yeah, yeah.
Todd: OK. Wow, well, really impressive.
Steven: Yeah, I really loved it.
big
Are you a big mountain man?
The example sentence is really asking: Do you like the mountains. Or, do you go to the mountains a lot? If you put the word 'big' in front of a noun phrase it means that it is something that you enjoy. Notice the following:
- He's a big sports fan and watches games every Sunday.
- She is a big reader and always has a book with her.
constant
We were constantly walking.
If you do something 'constantly' you do it continuously, without stopping. Notice the following:
- She is constantly chewing gum.
- It feels like it constantly rains here.
slip
Wasn't the ice really slippery?
If something is 'slippery' it is easy to slide and fall. A wet floor can be very slippery. Notice the following:
- He slipped on the spilled soda.
- Because he wasn't wearing good boots it was difficult to walk up the slippery hill.
particular
On this particular occasion.
In the example sentence 'particular' can be replaced with specific or exact. We can use this word to demonstrate a difference between the current situation and what is normal. Notice the following:
- She is very organized. Everything has to be in its particular place.
- In this particular market, they usually have an excellent selection of fresh fruit.
impressive
Wow, really impressive.
If something is 'impressive' it is really incredible or amazing. Notice the following:
- You can run for a long time. It's really impressive.
- The last five minutes of the basketball game were really impressive.
Vocabulary Quiz
particular • impressive
Roe was an exchange student in Idaho. He talks about his stay while he was there.
