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Views #561 | Intermediate 5

Wild Vacation

Jeff talks about an adventure he has planned.

Todd: So Jeff, you're going back to Canada. What are you gonna do, just sit on the couch and watch TV?

Jeff: No, I'm going to go on a trip with my father.

Todd: Really, just your dad?

Jeff: Just me and my dad. We are going to go back to the island, the small island in Eastern Canada, that I was born on and that my dad lived on for about 12 years.

Todd: Cool.

Jeff: We haven't been back there together since.

Todd: So how long's it been?

Jeff: 28 years.

Todd: Woah.

Jeff: So, and the island is, it's a very interesting island. It's very rugged and rough and the people that live there are very hard-nosed, inhospitable and most of it is very inhospitable. It's very rough and rocky and lots of animals there and a very beautiful place so it's a very unique and sort of exotic island.

Todd: What's this place called?

Jeff: It's called Newfoundland.

Todd: Newfoundland.

Jeff: Newfoundland. Yes,and it's a pretty notorious island around the world, and my dad had four of his five kids there, and I was born there, and so it's a special place for him and it's a curious, it's a curious place for me. I'm very curious about it because I haven't been back there since I was a child, since I was five so, it's going to be an interesting trip I think.

Todd: What type of things do you plan to do with your father?

Jeff: Well, we're going to take a ferry. It takes 24 hours to get there by ferry, so we will take a ferry there, and then we're going to drive on 4x4's, little four wheeled vehicles, like a motorcyle from one side of the island all the way through the interior through the woods, to the other coast, and it's over a thousand kilometers, and it's pretty rough and slow and we're just going to go through the woods, straight across the island, through the woods.

Todd: In this a truck?

Jeff: In these, we each have a little 4x4, each have a little four-wheeled vehicle and at night we'll camp in a tent and we'll have campfires and ...

Todd: Oh, you mean the offroad vehicles like the little buggy thing.

Jeff: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And my dad will have a gun so we'll probably shoot some animals and cook them up in the fire and we'll go fishing and so, yes, it'll just be very clean and very wholesome and very nice, quiet, two weeks.

Todd: Are you a little worried about bears?

Jeff: Ah, there're lots of bears around but they don't usually, they won't hurt you if you make enough noise, they'll, there scared of you. There're more scared of you than you are scared of them. Generally.

Todd: But don't they want to eat your food and stuff?

Jeff: Yeah, maybe, but you take certain precautions and you don't leave things lying around your camp or you hang them from a tree and usually the bears will leave you alone if you don't, if you don't entice them with food by leaving things around the camp.

Todd: Oh, be careful. Sounds fun though.

Jeff: Thank you. If you have time you can come along.

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

rugged

It's very rugged and rough.

We usually use this term to refer to a road or a path.  A 'rugged' path would have a lot of rocks, be very uneven and difficult to walk on, and it is not well maintained.  Notice the following:

  1. The road to the cabin is a little rugged, so be careful when you are driving in.
  2. The hike up the mountain was rugged and difficult.

hard-nosed

The people that live there are very hard-nosed.

A 'hard-nosed' person is stubborn and difficult, usually to the point of being impractical.  Notice the following:

  1. He is very hard-nosed about his job and is not easy to work with.
  2. Don't be so hard-nosed about the situation.  Just say you are sorry.

inhospitable

Most of it is very inhospitable.

If a person or place is 'inhospitable,' then it is not welcoming or friendly. It's not a comfortable place to be.  Notice the following:

  1. The receptionist at the hotel was very inhospitable.
  2. There was only one space left to put our tent and it was inhospitable.

rough and rocky

It's very rough and rocky.

If a surface is not smooth, but is sharp, uneven and has a lot of rocks then it is "rough and rocky."  Notice the following:

  1. I fell coming down the hill because the path was so rough and rocky.
  2. My legs hurt from the rough and rocky climb today.

notorious

It's a pretty notorious island.

Something famous or well-known is "notorious."  Usually something is notorious for a particular and specific reason. This word is frequently used with negative ideas. Notice the following:

  1. He is a notorious problem child in the classroom.
  2. That part of town is notorious for crime.

Vocabulary Quiz

rugged • hard-nosed • inhospitable
rocky • notorious
  1. The burgler was for stealing diamonds.
  2. I have such a teacher, she never likes my work .
  3. Sometimes it is better to take the path, it may lead to more adventure.
  4. I had the most host at the hotel, she didn't even look at me.
  5. That mountain looks very and will be hard to climb .
Answer these questions about the interview.

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