Life in England
 |
 |
Mark
|
Todd
|
Todd: So, where did you grow up in England?
Mark: So, I grew up in a place called Bradford.
Todd: Yeah?
Mark: Actually Bradford is famous in England for two things. One, it's famous for curry. Indian curry because in Bradford we have a lot of Indian and muslim people but also it's famous for riots because Bradford had major riots in England. It's had maybe the two worst riots in England for the past 10 years and that's due to racism basically.
Todd: Really?
Mark: Yeah.
Todd: Oh, no! Is it a rough area?
Mark: Yeah, it's very working class. Yeah, not so much money in Bradford, pretty poor.
Todd: What was it like growing up there like, what did you do as a kid?
Mark: What did I do as a kid? It was.. it was tough. I lived on a government. Well, we call it councilor estate, maybe in America it's called maybe government assisted housing. So my area was pretty tough but always there were lots of kids around so we were always playing football, cricket or riding bikes or sometimes causing mischief.
Todd: How would you cause mischief?
Mark: It depends, maybe sometimes there's an old guy who nobody likes who lives near us so we go and throw maybe eggs at his windows and as we grew older we started throwing rocks at his windows, yeah.
Todd: What would you do if you had a house now and some kid threw eggs at your house?
Mark: If some kid threw eggs at my house I'd probably buy a big dog and set the dog off the leash and the dog can chase the kids away.
riots
Bradford is famous for riots.
A 'riot' is a loud public conflict that is usually violent. Riots can happen as a result of protests or outbursts of public emotion. Riots can be very destructive to buildings and street and injure people. Notice the following:
- The police are preparing for riots around the capital building.
- Too many people and too much alcohol in the same place can easily
lead to a fight or riot.
racism
Those riots were due to racism basically.
'Racism' is anger or intolerance towards members of another race. Racism comes from the believe that each race has basic differences at a genetic level and that some races are better than others. Notice the following:
- He experienced a lot of racism growing up in this area.
- Racism is still a big problem in many countries.
rough area
Is Bradford a rough area?
A 'rough area' usually has lots of crimes and violence and is not a safe place to be or live. Notice the following:
- Nobody would ever guess that she grew up in a rough area.
- It's very obvious that this is a rough area of town.
cause mischief
As kids, we were always playing, sometimes causing mischief.
When children 'cause mischief' they are causing problems or playing tricks on people. Notice the following:
- His is a difficult child and causes a lot of mischief in class.
- Halloween is a day for people to cause mischief.
chase away
I'll have the dog chase those kids away.
If you 'chase something away' you run after it in an effort to scare it so it won't be close to you. Notice the following:
- They use their dog to chase strangers away.
- Her dad is really good at chasing the boys away.
Vocabulary Quiz
mischief • chase away
