Victor's Secret

When Victor was small, he spent most of his time sitting or lying on the living room carpet. He loved all his toys, but his favourite was the box  full of blocks his parents had bought him for his birthday. He was very creative and, in a few minutes, he would make a tower, a robot or... anything really.

He often talked to himself while he played, or so his parents thought. The truth is he had three invisible friends. One of them was a talking piggy bank who could be a bit annoying at times. Another was a sweet little fairy who always spoke in a whisper, like a breeze dancing among the leaves. His favourite, however, was a headless horseman called Igor.

Victor admired Igor and wanted to be like him. He insisted on wearing his knight disguise everyday to his mother's surprise (he used to hate it). And even though he never asked for anything, he begged till his parents got him a toy horse.

'Thanks, Mum. Thanks, Dad. It's the best present ever,' he said, trotting into the living room after they came back from the toy store.

Time passed and nothing much changed. Victor turned six and there was a party at home with cake and songs and presents. None of the presents was as good as his horse. However, as he was very polite, he smiled at everybody and pretended to like whatever they had bought.

When they had all left, he sat on the carpet again. After a while, he started talking,

'There's something I'll never be able to change, Igor. I'd like to be exactly like you, but I can't.'

Igor, for the first time ever, looked bemused.

'What do you mean?' he asked the little boy.

'Isn't it obvious? I have a head!'

'I don't think that's a problem. Quite the opposite.'

'But...'

'Let's drop the subject, young man. Your time will come.'

When Victor was eleven, he stopped seeing his three friends. It didn't happen all of a sudden, but so gradually that he hardly noticed.

His mum looked at the worn carpet nostalgically while he went out with his buddies and grew up a little bit more every day.

At seventeen, he shocked his conservative parents when he told them what he wanted to do for a living.

'I've decided to be a guitarist.'

'You mean like... play classical music?'

'No,' Victor answered, looking horrified. 'I want to play heavy metal, rock and roll...'

He wasn't able to finish because his dad interrupted him,

'Are you serious? Is this some kind of joke?'

'No, it isn't, Dad.'

A few days later, he came home with a shiny new guitar he'd bought with all the money he'd been saving since he was a small child. It was red. It was a beauty. It had been difficult to choose one. He would have taken them all.

He spent so much time at the music store that the owner offered him a job there. He said yes.

When he wasn't working, he was always playing. His dad wore earplugs, but his mum started enjoying his music.

One day, when the store was about to close for the night, his boss told him he wanted to talk to him. Victor thought he was about to be fired.

'I've been thinking. You're a great player. Why don't you make a few videos and upload them so that people can see them online?'

Victor didn't love the idea because he was very shy, but, after a while, he realised he had nothing to lose.

Once at home in his room, he positioned the camera and started to play. He didn't like the result. He looked terrible, he thought. 

The truth is he looked great, but his self-confidence was taking an extended holiday.

He was about to delete the video, when he heard a voice he had almost forgotten.

'The time has come. You can be exactly like me now.'

'Igor?'

'Yes, it's me. I've been watching you and I'm really proud of everything you've achieved.'

'Thanks, but what do you mean?'

'You don't need your head to play the guitar, just your hands, and it's obvious it's bothering you. I can cut it off.'

'Whaaaat?'

'You heard me. It would be painless.'

Victor thought about it. It was a crazy idea, but he wouldn't have to worry about not being photogenic anymore.

'Okay. You sure it won't hurt?'

'Sure.'

'Just one thing. I'd like to keep my hair.'

And, well, you can imagine the rest.

That's the story of how Victor The Guitar Nerd lost his head. Literally and for good.

Vocabulary to talk about food and diets.

Types of food

meat (or “red meat”) = lamb, pork or beef

poultry (or “white meat”) = chicken, turkey, goose, duck

game (“wild” meat) = rabbit, hare, partridge, pheasant

fish = salt water fish / sea fish or fresh water fish

seafood = prawns, shrimps, lobster, scallops, mussels, crab

vegetables = leafy vegetables (such as broccoli or spinach), root vegetables (such as carrots and onions) etc

fruit = soft fruit (such as plums and peaches); berry fruit (such as strawberries or raspberries) etc

You can also talk about the different food groups: fats and oils (such as olive oil, butter etc); fruit; vegetables; protein (such as meat); dairy(such as milk, cheese, and yoghurt); grains (such as wheat, or corn); and sugar. 

How food is cooked

boiled – cooked in boiling water

steamed – cooked over a saucepan of boiling water

fried / sauteed – cooked in oil in a frying pan

stir-fried – fried fast in hot oil

pan-fried – fried in a frying pan

roasted – cooked in oil in the oven

grilled – cooked under a grill or on a ridged pan

baked – cooked in the oven

stewed – cooked for a long time on a low heat

casseroled – cooked slowly in juices

Dishes

Here are some of the names of dishes you can see in restaurant menus:

starter / hors d’oeuvre / appetiser = the first thing you eat as part of a more formal meal

main course = often a meat, fish or vegetarian dish

dessert / pudding = a sweet course at the end of the meal. You might also see cheese or fruit offered.

Diets

If you are overweight or obese, your doctor will probably recommend that you “go on a diet”. Here are some words and phrases that we use to talk about dieting, body size and putting on weight.

watch what you eat = be careful about what you eat, and the quantities you eat

watch your figure = refuse certain food because you want to stay slim

go on a crash diet = start a radical diet to lose weight quickly

count the calories / a calorie-controlled diet = a diet where you measure the calories of each item of food you eat

snack between meals = to eat between meals (avoid doing this if you are on a diet!)

cut out certain foods altogether (i.e. stop eating bread or pasta, for example) 

cut down on = reduce the amount of (fatty or sugary foods, for example)

Body size and putting on weight

“You are what you eat!” = a common expression meaning that your body shape is directly related to what or how much you eat.

middle-age spread = where you put on weight especially around your waist and hips.

put on / gain weight = become heavier

pinch an inch = where you can measure at least an inch worth of fat around your middle (an inch is approximately 2.5 cm)

pile on the pounds = gain a lot of weight (a pound is approximately half a kilo)

lose / shed weight = become lighter

go up a size = become one size larger (the opposite is to drop a size = become one size smaller)

Other expressions

have a sweet tooth = like eating sweet or sugary things like cakes, sweets or chocolate 

eat sensibly = eat moderate quantities of food, and not over-indulging in unhealthy food

five a day = five portions of fruit or vegetables every day

Speak English Fluently!

Source: https://english-at-home.com

LOL

 

The importance of correct spelling