A domestic disagreement

Ella: How come this carpet’s covered in crumbs? Have you been eating
those cookies again?
Paul: Yeah. They’re so good.
Ella: Well, you know where the vacuum cleaner is.
Paul: I thought it was your turn.
Ella: No, Paul, we agreed about today’s chores. We said I’d do the
grocery shopping and you’d do the dishes, the dusting, and the
vacuuming. And what about the bathroom? You said you’d clean it
about three days ago. We’ve got people coming over for dinner
tonight. Do you really want them using our bathroom the way it
looks right now?
Paul: They won’t notice. I haven’t changed that light bulb yet, so it’s
pretty dark in there.
Ella: It’s not funny, Paul. It’s not fair to be lazy like this. Especially
when I’ve just been doing the grocery shopping for an hour and a
half. You know what the supermarket’s like on Saturdays – totally
packed. And I had to stand in line for twenty minutes. Twenty
minutes! I’m exhausted, and you’ve just been sitting here
watching TV.
Paul: That’s not true. I made the bed.
Ella: Big deal.
Paul: Hey, don’t start saying I don’t do my share around the house, ok?
Who does all the repairs? Who put these shelves up last weekend?
Ella: You did. All I’m saying is that we’ll have guests here in about three
hours and this house’s a pigsty. So we need to get a move on. I
can’t start cooking until you’ve done the dishes – all the pans I
need are dirty.
Paul: All right, all right. Just let me finish my coffee, ok? There’s no
rush.
Ella: That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have a three-course meal to
make.
Paul: Well, cooking’s easier than cleaning.
Ella: How do you know? When was the last time you cooked for guests?
Paul: Um ...
Ella: Exactly. Now come on, let’s get started. If you run out of
dishwashing liquid, there’s a new bottle in my grocery bag.

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 A domestic disagreement – Glossary
big deal phrase How come you never listen to anything I say?
used for showing that you do not think that something is
very good or impressive light bulb noun [countable]
So she got a part in the school play? Big deal! a glass object that you put in an electric light to
produce light
chore noun [countable]
an ordinary job that must be done regularly line noun [countable]
You can go play after you’ve done your chores. a row of people who are waiting for something
stand in line: We stood in line for about an hour to get
course noun [countable] the tickets.
one of the parts of a meal
They offer a two-course lunch for $4.99. notice verb [transitive]
to become conscious of someone or something by seeing,
crumb noun [countable – usually plural] hearing, or feeling them
very small piece that falls off a dry food such as bread or I noticed that the door was open.
cake
He brushed the crumbs from his jacket. packed adjective
extremely crowded
dishwashing liquid noun [uncountable]
a liquid soap that you add to water used for washing pigsty noun [countable]
dishes a place that is very dirty or messy

dust verb [intransitive/transitive] put up phrasal verb [transitive]

to wipe the dust off the surface of something such as to build something such as a wall, fence, or house
furniture John was in the yard putting a fence up.
Elaine has already mopped the floor and dusted.
run out of phrasal verb [transitive]
exhausted adjective to use all of something and not have any left
extremely tired and without enough energy to do Some hospitals are running out of blood supplies.
anything else
The exhausted skiers are looking forward to a good share noun [uncountable]
night’s sleep. a part of the total amount of work or responsibility of
several people
fair adjective He does his share of the cooking.
if a situation is fair, everyone is treated equally and in a
reasonable way turn noun [countable]
Life is not always fair. someone’s turn is the time when they can or must do
something, because they are with other people who are
get started phrase each doing the same activity one after the other
to begin doing something I’m sure it’s your turn to wash the dishes.
We couldn't wait to get started on the next job.
vacuum cleaner noun [countable]
get a move on phrase a piece of electrical equipment that cleans floors by
used for telling someone to hurry sucking up dirt
Get a move on or we’ll miss our flight.

how come phrase

used for asking why or how something happened

CASA MATRIZ · Av. Apoquindo 4499 · Piso 3 · Las Condes – Chile · Teléfono 2461040 · Fax 2289739
e-mail: info.cursos@tronwell.com · Visítanos en www.tronwell.com