Robert: God, it’s baking out there!
Claudia: I know! The weatherman got it wrong again. He predicted a cold front coming in.
Robert: Same old, same old. Oof, it’s sweltering in here, too. Don’t tell me the air-con’s down again?
Claudia: I’m afraid so! We’ll have to make do with the fan.
Robert: That blows all my papers of my desk. It gives me a sore throat, too.
Claudia: Yep! A sore throat in the middle of a heat wave.
Robert: I guess we mustn’t grumble. It’s always too hot or too rainy or too cold or too blustery…
Claudia: Yes, you’re right. The upside is that it’s Friday. It’ll be perfect beach weather!
Robert: I bet it rains, though. It always takes a turn for the worse at the weekend.
Claudia: Now where’s that optimism?
Robert: Hey, I’m British! I’m supposed to complain about the weather!
NOW LET’S REVIEW THE VOCABULARY!
Baking and sweltering are synonyms for ‘very hot’. You can also say ‘scorching’ or ‘boiling’.
When you are mistaken, you get it wrong; conversely, when you guess correctly, you ‘get it right’.
Same old, same old is an expression to indicate that the same thing always happens in a particular situation.
In this context, down means it is not working.
To make do with something means to tolerate it.
A heat wave is a period of unusually hot weather.
To grumble is a synonym of ‘to complain’.
Blustery is another word for ‘windy’. Other options include ‘gusty’ or ‘breezy’.
Upside means the positive aspect of a situation which is generally bad. The opposite is ‘downside’.
When something takes a turn for the worse, it suddenly becomes bad.
