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12

Unit 12: The continuous passive
How to sound less direct and more polite!

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  30. 30 Linking words of contrast

Session 5

Gordon gives Mary and Ceilia a shock, but shock turns to amusement when they find out why he's been sleeping in the kitchen. Find out his reasons in this episode, and learn phrases about shock.

Sessions in this unit

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Session 5 score

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    Activity 1
  1. Activity 1

Activity 1

Drama: The White Elephant

Episode 12: Shock!

When Mary and Ceilia arrive early for work they get the shock of their lives when they discover Gordon sleeping in the kitchen. What's caused him to spend the night there? Find out in this episode and listen out for shock-related phrases.

Watch the video and complete the activity

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Ceilia
Thanks for coming in earlier than normal. I wanted to give the kitchen a good spring clean. Hopefully the others will be here soon to help.

Mary
No problem - although it was a bit of a shock to the system getting up this early!

Ceilia
What on earth was that?

Mary
I heard it too. Hang on, I'm just going to go and put the lights on. Oh, it's Gordon! He gave me the shock of my life.

Ceilia
Gordon? What's he doing sleeping here in the kitchen?

Gordon
Oh… err… hello Ceilia, hello Mary. I was just err…

Mary
… sleeping on the floor. Gordon, you made me jump out of my skin.

Gordon
Sorry about that. I was just checking the… cooker connections.

Ceilia
Sleeping more like. The last time I saw you looking this bad was when you came back drunk from that party and I kicked you out.

Gordon
Well… errr… I've been kicked out again. It happened out of the blue. I came home last night and my girlfriend… my new girlfriend… my new ex-girlfriend, she said she was sick of me coming home late and stinking of fried food.

Mary
Yes, so I can smell.

Ceilia
Gordon, I'm stunned. I thought your girlfriend had no taste but now I can see she has!

Peter
Sorry I'm late. Oh, what's that smell?

Mary
It's Gordon. He's been kicked out of his house and he's been sleeping here. Hang on a minute Peter - don't you have space at your house?

Peter
Yes I have.

Mary
Could Gordon stay with you until he sorts himself out?

Peter
What a great idea Mary. I'd love a bit of company. You can sleep on the sofa. Is that OK?

Ceilia
That's great! Gordon the great chef sleeping on the sofa of the little waiter. Sounds perfect! But you're going to have to get some earplugs, Peter.

Peter
Why?

Ceilia
Well - he snores!

Download

You can download the drama from our Unit 12 downloads page.

Vocabulary

a shock to the system
an unexpected surprise

what on earth!
(said to show complete surprise or anger)

the shock of my life
a very big shock

to jump out of your skin
to be very surprised or shocked

out of the blue
completely unexpected

stunned
very shocked or surprised

To do

See how much you understood from the story by answering these questions...

White Elephant quiz

3 Questions

How much did you understand in The White Elephant: Episode 12?

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Credits

Gordon Grater: Neil Frost

Ceilia Spatula: Amina Zia

Peter Peppermill: Darren Benedict

Marigold Marcelo (Mary for short): Stacha Hicks

Written, produced and directed by: Rob Carter

More

You can find our other BBC Learning English dramas on our Drama page.

End of Session 5

Next time, Ceilia reveals some worrying news about the business so she has a plan to save the restaurant from closing but Gordon doesn't like what he hears.

Session Grammar

View full grammar reference

Session Vocabulary

  • a shock to the system 
    an unexpected surprise

    what on earth! 
    (said to show complete surprise or anger)

    the shock of my life 
    a very big shock

    to jump out of your skin 
    to be very surprised or shocked

    out of the blue
    completely unexpected

    stunned 
    very shocked or surprised

View full vocabulary reference

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