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370 Ageing
Vivian talks to her granddaughter about what it is like to get old.
- Transcript
- Vocabulary
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Vivian
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Adrienne
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Adrienne: Now, Vivian, do you mind me asking how old you are?
Vivian: I was 80 years old on November 3rd, 2004.
Adrienne: Wow! 80! What does it feel like to be 80?
Vivian: It's a little inconvenient because my mind didn't turn 80 but my body did and I find it sometimes my mind follows my body too! And it's hard to be as quick as I used to be and I always want to do more, now than I able to do. I can't do what I used to do when I was younger.
Adrienne: Oh, that's disappointing and probably a little frustrating.
Vivian: Very frustrating! Very frustrating! Especially when you have been active all of your life and all of a sudden things are just, have slowed down to where you can't do all those running around, flying around tasks that you used to be able to do in the morning.
Sometimes it takes me two days to get everything accomplished. Well those are definite disadvantages to getting older. Are there any advantages? Can you give us some hope? Yes! Yes! There is hope. You have reached an age where you understand where you have been. I'm very fortunate that I lived in the 1900's. I was born in 1924. I saw the airplane invented. I saw the beginning of penicillin. I saw the medication for polio which stopped it in its track. I saw so many things. World War II. I was married in World War II and my husband went overseas for two years during that time, and my first two years of marriage was by letters, so it was, it's a good time, 80, you look back on all those things and you're glad to be part of it. You begin to understand the changes that are taking place just as they took place when you were young, but you don't come to that realization until you become old. You don't become wiser.
You just become more knowledgeable.
Adrienne: Well, that doesn't sound so bad.
turn 80
It's a little inconvenient because my mind didn't turn 80
but my body did.
When you 'turn 80' it means that you have had your 80th
birthday.
Notice the following:
- When I turn 80 I want to be living in a nice retirement
village.
- We are planning on throwing him a big birthday party
when he turns 80.
frustrating
Oh, that's disappointing and probably a
little frustrating.
Something is 'frustrating' if it is not going the way that
you had planned, but you have no power to change it.
Frustrating things can make you a little angry.
Notice the following:
- It was very frustrating that the store was closed, as it
meant that I could not buy my groceries.
- She finds it very frustrating that she cannot drive
because it means that she finds it difficult to see her
friends.
accomplish
Sometimes it takes me two days to get everything
accomplished.
When you 'accomplish' something it means that you complete
or finish it. You can accomplish goals or plans.
Notice the following:
- I want to accomplish so much in my life, I have a lot of
ambitions.
- She can accomplish a lot in a short amount of time if
she really focuses.
to be part of it
You look back on all those things and you're glad to be
part of it.
'To be part of something' means that you are included in
something or a member of it.
Notice the following:
- It would be great if I could be part of it. I would love
to be in a band.
- She asked me to join in the choir and be part of it.
knowledgeable
You just become more knowledgeable.
When somebody is 'knowledgeable' it means that they know a
lot about something.
Notice the following:
- My teacher is very knowledgeable so we learn a great
deal in class.
- The more knowledgeable I am about English, the better I
will be able to speak it.
