Placez le pointeur de la souris sur les mots soulignés, sans cliquer.
A soldier ran up toA COURU VERS a nun.
Out of breathÀ BOUT DE SOUFFLE, he asked,
“Please, Sister, may I hide under
your skirt VOTRE JUPE? I’ll explain later.”
The nun agreedACQUIESÇA… and a moment later,
two Military Cops ran up and asked,
“Sister, have you seen a soldier
go by herePASSA PAR ICI?”
The nun replied, “He went that way.”
After the Military Cops had turned the corner, the soldier
crawled outSORTIT EN RAMPANT
from under her skirt and said,
“I can’t thank you enough, Sister. You see, I don’t want to go to Iraq.”
The nun said, “I understand completely.”
The soldier added, “I hope I’m not being
rudeIMPOLI,
but you have a great pair of legs!”
The nun replied, “If you had looked a little higher, you would have seen a great pair of
something elseAUTRE CHOSE.
I don’t want to go to Iraq either.”
Vocabulary
Nun: a woman who belongs to a religious order.
Skirt: a piece of clothing worn from the waist down.
Rude: impolite or disrespectful.
Grammar
Past simple: used for completed actions in the past.
Reported speech: retelling what someone said.
Third conditional: talks about unreal or hypothetical situations in the past.
Placez le pointeur de la souris sur les mots soulignés, sans cliquer.
A woman got on a bus, holding a baby.
The bus driver said, “That’s the ugliestLE PLUS MOCHE baby I’ve ever seen!”
The woman slammedCLAQUA VIOLEMMENT her money down and went to sit at the back of the bus.
The man next to her sensedRESSENTIT that she was not happy and asked her what was wrong.
“That bus driver just insulted meM’INSULTA,” she fumedFULMINA.
The man sympathised and said, “Why, he’s a public servantFONCTIONNAIRE and shouldn’t say things to insult passengers.”
“You’re right,” she said. “I think I’ll go back there and give him a piece of my mindLUI DIT SES QUATRE VÉRITÉS.”
“That’s a good idea,” the man said. “Here, let me holdTENIR your monkey.”
Vocabulary
Ugliest: extremely unattractive.
Public servant: a person employed by the state.
Fumed: expressed anger intensely.
The driver called the baby ugliestLE PLUS MOCHE.
A bus driver is a public servantFONCTIONNAIRE.
She fumedFULMINA with rage.
Grammar
Past simple: describes completed actions in the past.
Direct speech: exact words spoken, shown in quotation marks.
Placez le pointeur de la souris sur les mots soulignés, sans cliquer.
Husband: "When I get madFÂCHÉ at you, you never fight backCONTRE-ATTAQUER. How do you control your angerCOLÈRE?"
Wife: "I cleanJE NETTOIE the toilet."
Husband: "And how does that helpAIDER?"
Wife: "I useJ’UTILISE your toothbrushBROSSE À DENTS."
Vocabulary
Mad: angry or annoyed.
Fight back: to defend oneself or respond aggressively.
Toothbrush: a small brush used for cleaning teeth.
He got madFÂCHÉ when the team lost.
She didn’t fight backCONTRE-ATTAQUER during the argument.
Leave your toothbrushBROSSE À DENTS in the bathroom.
Grammar
We use the present simple for habits, routines and general truths. Direct speech is introduced without a reporting verb when it continues a conversation.
Present simple (habits): You never fight back.
Present simple (routines):I clean the toilet.
Direct speech continuation: "And how does that help?"
Synonyms & Alternatives
Mad: angry, cross
Fight back: retaliate, defend oneself
Toothbrush: electric toothbrush, dental brush
Mini Dialogue
Husband: Why don’t you ever fight backCONTRE-ATTAQUER when I get madFÂCHÉ?
Wife: I just cleanNETTOIE something.
Husband: Does that really helpAIDER with your angerCOLÈRE?
Wife: Yes – especially when I use your toothbrushBROSSE À DENTS!
Placez le pointeur de la souris sur les mots soulignés, sans cliquer.
A week after arriving back homeDE RETOUR CHEZ LUI in the States, a guy wakesSE RÉVEILLA one morning to find his penis covered with bright green and purple spotsDES TACHES VERTES ET VIOLETTES ÉCLATANTES. Horrified, he immediately goes to see a doctor.
The doctor, never having seen anything like this before, orders some testsPRESCRIVIT DES ANALYSES and tells the man to return in two days for the results. Two days later, the doctor tells him, “I’ve got bad newsDE MAUVAISES NOUVELLES for you. You have contracted Mongolian VDLA MALADIE VÉNÉRIENNE MONGOLE. It’s very rare and almost unheard ofINCONNUE here in the U.S. We know very little about it.”
The man, perplexed, asks, “Well, can’t you give me a shotUNE PIQÛRE or something to fix me upPOUR ME GUÉRIR, Doc?”
The doctor answers, “I’m sorry. There’s no known cureIL N’Y A PAS DE REMÈDE CONNU. We are going to have to amputate your penis.”
The man screams in horror, “Absolutely not! I want a second opinion!”
The doctor replies, “Well, it’s your choice. Go ahead if you want, but surgery is your only option.”
The next day, the man seeks outCONSULTA a Chinese doctor, figuring thatPENSANT QUE he will know more about the disease. The Chinese doctor examines his penis and proclaimsDÉCLARA, “Ah, yes. Mongolian VD. Very rare disease.”
The man says, “Yeah, yeah, I alreadyDÉJÀ know that. But what can we do? My American doctor wants to cut offCOUPER my penis!”
The Chinese doctor shakes his headSECOUA LA TÊTE and laughs. “Stupid American doctor. Always want operate—make more money that way. No need amputate!”
“Oh, thank God!” the man exclaimsS’EXCLAMA L’HOMME.
“Yes,” says the Chinese doctor. “Wait two weeks. It fall off by itselfIL TOMBERA DE LUI-MÊME.”
Vocabulary
Horrified: extremely shocked and frightened.
Amputate: to cut off a limb or body part surgically.
Contracted: caught (a disease).
He was horrifiedHORRIFIÉ by the sight.
The doctors decided to amputateAMPUTER the infected leg.
She contractedCONTRACTA a rare illness abroad.
Grammar
Reported speech is used to relate what someone said without quoting directly. Past perfect describes an action completed before another past action.
Reported speech: The doctor told him that he had contracted Mongolian VD.
Past perfect: He had never seen anything like this before.
Modal for suggestion: “Can’t you give me a shot?”
Synonyms & Alternatives
Horrified: terrified, appalled
Amputate: remove surgically, sever
Contracted: caught, acquired
Mini Dialogue
Patient: Doctor, these spotsTACHES are worrying me!
Doctor: I’m afraid you’ve contractedCONTRACTÉ a rare disease.
Placez le pointeur de la souris sur les mots soulignés, sans cliquer.
A Texan walks into a pub in Ireland and clears his throatS’ÉCLAIRCIT LA GORGE to address the crowdLA FOULE of drinkers. He says, “I hear you Irish are a bunch ofUNE BANDE DE hard drinkers. I’ll give €500 to anybody in here who can drink 10 pints of10 PINTES DE Guinness back-to-backÀ LA SUITE.”
The room falls quietSE TUT and no one takes up the Texan’s offer. One man even gets up and leavesSE LÈVE ET PART. Thirty minutes later, the same man returns, tapsTAPOTE the Texan on the shoulderÉPAULE, and asks, “Is your bet still goodVOTRE PARI TIENT TOUJOURS?”
The Texan says “yes” and asks the bartenderBARMAN to line up 10 pints of Guinness. Immediately, the Irishman tears into themS’Y ATTÈLE, drinking all 10 pints back-to-back.
The other pub patronsCLIENTScheerACCLAMENT as the Texan sits in amazementÉBAHI. He hands overTEND the €500 and says, “If ya don’t mind me askin’SI ÇA NE VOUS DÉRANGE PAS QUE JE DEMANDE, where did you go for those 30 minutes you were gone?”
The Irishman replies, “Oh… I had to goJ’AI DÛ ALLER to the pub down the streetPLUS LOIN DANS LA RUE to see if I could do itSI J’ÉTAIS CAPABLE DE LE FAIRE first.”
Vocabulary
Pub: a public house where people drink alcohol, especially beer.
Pint: a unit of measure for beer (about half a litre).
Bet: a wager; an agreement to pay money if you lose a challenge.
The pubPUB was full of cheerful drinkers.
He ordered two pintsPINTES of Guinness.
They made a betPARI on the football match.
Grammar
Direct speech is used to report exactly what someone said, placed inside quotation marks. The past simple tense describes completed actions in the past.
Direct speech: “Is your bet still good?” asked the Irishman.
Past simple: He tapped the Texan on the shoulder and asked a question.
Past continuous: The patrons were cheering loudly.
Synonyms & Alternatives
Pub: bar, tavern
Bartender: barman, publican
Patrons: customers, regulars
Mini Dialogue
Friend 1: Fancy a pintPINTE down the pubPUB?
Friend 2: I’ll betPARIER I can drink more than you!
Friend 1: You’re on! But let me test it at the place down the streetPLUS LOIN DANS LA RUE first.
