. I hope you fed
[105] them all that guff
[106] about your qualifications and experience in your application.
Bob: Oh yes, of course.
Joe: But you didn’t lay it on too thick[107], did you? They can go off[108] if you make yourself sound too good, you know.
Bob: Well, I don’t think I did. I just tried to be factual and emphasise the most important points.
Joe: I bet you’ll cake walk it[109]. I’ll keep my fingers crossed[110] for you, at any rate.
Bob: Thanks, I’ll need it.
Joe: But what about the prospect of going South? Does that bother you at all?
Bob: Well, I know it’s got its disadvantages. Housing’s very expensive and travelling in the rush hour can be a bit of a bind[111]. But no doubt it’s got its compensations, too, and if you want to get on you’ve got to be prepared to move around, haven’t you?
Joe: Well, that’s true. But you’ve always lived in Yorkshire and you’ll find things very different in London. No more Sunday mornings on the moors[112].
Bob: Hey, steady on[113]! I haven’t got the job yet.
Joe: No, but if you do get it you won’t be able to pop out[114] of the back door and run up a mountain.
Bob: True. That is something that I’d miss. That’s one thing about these parts — you’re never very far from some real country. Still, I suppose I could get used to country lanes in the Home Counties[115] if I had to.
Joe: Ugh! You don’t call that walking, do you?
Bob: Well, no, not really, but you can’t have everything, so I’d have to amuse myself in other ways. They do have a few more theatres and museums than we do, you know.
Joe: You’ll get fat, middle-aged and civilised. What a fate.
Bob: I’ll have to ring off now. I’ve got one or two things to do before I turn in[116].
Joe: О. K. But don’t forget to let me know if you get an interview.
Bob: I will. Cheerio.
Joe: Cheerio, Bob. Thanks for ringing.
EXERCISES
I. Define the meaning of these words and phrases. Make up sentences using them.
to organise oneself a suitable hotel, to do smth. the hard way, to be a great one for smth., with one’s lot, to put up smb., to put up with smb. (smth.), masses of adverts, to be a dead loss, to scrabble in the sand, to pop into the sea, to overlook the beach, to keep half an eye on smb., to manage a quiet snooze, facilities, to allow for a bit of exaggeration, over the road, to pop around, what with the children and the holiday traffic, to rattle on, to apply for a job, light engineering, to put smb. in with a chance, to get shortlisted, to feel at one’s best, to feel off balance, to be in the hot seat, an applicant, the pay, to be loaded, to have more scope for smth., a stick-in-the-mud, to move with the times, to be left behind, to have a bash, to go off smth., to keep one’s fingers crossed for smb., a bit of a bind, to amuse oneself, to turn in
