I have defined some of the words (underlined) in the dialogue, which you can add to your Personal Dictionary. Click on the Excel icon to download the word list to your PC or mobile device, which you can thereafter import into your Personal Dictionary. They are also listed below.
Scroll down to the bottom for links to a crossword and word search using words from this post, as well a YouTube video.
New-born – recently born
Ridiculous – foolish or unreasonable and deserving to be laughed at
Spotless – absolutely clean or pure; immaculate
Infection – an infectious disease
Life expectancy – the average period that a person may expect to live
Leaflet – a printed sheet of paper containing information or advertising and usually distributed free
Octogenarian – a person who is between 80 and 89 years old
Baton – a short stick or tube passed from runner to runner in a relay race
Lifestyle – the way in which a person lives
Deluded – believing something that is not true
Automated - operated by largely automatic equipment
Gadget – a small mechanical or electronic device or tool
Recommend – advise or suggest (something) as a course of action
Thank goodness for that. I don’t want to be inside a hospital again for a very long time.
What are you talking about Ed? We were only there to visit our friend Rachel and her new-born son Jason.
I know, and it was lovely to see them, but I don’t like hospitals, they are too clean.
What a ridiculous thing to say. They must be spotless to minimise the spreading of infection.
You are right and all the staff do a great job.
Did you know that over 1.5 million people work for the National Health Service in Great Britain?
That must make the NHS the biggest employer, I guess.
Yes, I think it does. But we don’t want our video to become political or include too many facts and figures, do we.
I think a few facts are okay. For example, did you know that the life expectancy has risen by well over 10 years for both men and women since the NHS started in 1948?
How do you know that?
I was reading a leaflet in the waiting room, before we saw the new mother and child.
The average life expectancy of a man is now at nearly 80 and for a woman it’s over 83.
So, we could be doing these videos for years to come?
If people want to see a couple of octogenarians talking about life in the UK, then yes.
I think we will have handed on the baton to Ed junior and Jenny by then.
You are probably right Judy. Do you think that better medicine and treatment is the only reason for people living longer?
It might be the main reason, but it is certainly not the only one. Changes to people’s lifestyle and diet probably play a major role.
I agree with you about the fact that we eat better food than in the past, but I think we don’t move as much as we used to. Manual jobs have become automated, and many people sit for 8 hours a day in an office, 4 hours on their sofa, then lay for 8 hours in bed.
Yes, and in the other 4 hours, they sit in their cars, on busses, in trains as well as in seats in restaurants and canteens.
Maybe sitting down is the reason we are living longer. Perhaps hard work and exercise is not good for us.
That’s what some deluded people like you believe, but we need to, at the very least, walk on a daily basis, as well as doing some sort of sport.
That is why I got one of these gadgets to count my steps. Did you know it’s 46 steps from the sofa to the kitchen and back?
No, I didn’t. But you would have to do that over 200 times a day, to reach the 10,000 steps the experts recommend.
I think I could manage that, but the drinks, crisps, biscuits and sweets I get each time I go, are probably not good for my figure.
To test your knowledge, why not do a crossword puzzle, using words from this text?
Click here for instructions on how to play.
To test your knowledge, why not do a word search puzzle, using words from this text?
Click here for instructions on how to play.
