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Mixer #65 | Intermediate B1

Action or Relaxation

Hear what six people would prefer to do on vacation.

Adrienne, The United States
speakerOn vacation do I prefer to have adventure or relaxation? I think lately I prefer relaxation. I think it's nice to go somewhere and not to have to think about work, not have to think about my regular life and all of the busy things I have to do everyday so something that will take my mind off of that and I can just relax and sleep and enjoy.

Mark, England
speakerOn vacation do I prefer relaxation or adventure? Definitely, adventure. I hate sitting on the beach or sitting by the side of the pool, so I like to get out there and do things and the crazier the better, so for example when I was in New Zealand not so long ago I went white water rafting. That was a fantastic experience.

Lisa, Canada
speakerOn vacation do I prefer to adventure or relaxation? I would have to say that lately as I have been working a lot I prefer to have relaxation. I prefer to go somewhere where I wouldn't have to do anything or someone would bring me my meals and all I had to do was choose from what I was going to eat or a menu of what I was going to do or what I was going to drink without having to do anything for myself.

Phil, England
speakerOn vacation, do I prefer to have adventure or relaxation. That's a very difficult question because I enjoy both on vacation however I think because my life is very relaxing at home and my work is very easy, I'd like to have some kind of adventure on holidays. In the summer holiday, I went to a mountain about three hours where I lived, and I hiked to the top of the mountain on a very, very hot day. It was very, very warm and I didn't take enough drinks, or I prepared very badly so it was a really difficult climb. However, I had a fantastic time and I would do it again tomorrow if I could.

Simone, Sweden
speakerOn vacation do I prefer to have adventure or relaxation? I like both. I think you need a mixture to really relax. You need to escape from your everyday life. You need both. I guess, both relaxation and adventure. Do new stuff and relax in the evening.

Skip, The United States
speakerOn vacation do I prefer to have adventure or relaxation? Oh, that's a hard one. I suppose it depends on where I am. I do like adventure, but I don't like to have an adventure in a strange place because it's easy for things to get out of control so I suppose usually if I take a vacation, vacation it's to relax, but I do love adventure.

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson!

take my mind off

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TV helps me take my mind off of my work.

To "take [your] mind off" something means to have a relaxing activity to help you stop thinking about negative things. Here are some examples:

  1. Listening to jazz helps take my mind off of work.
  2. William is stressed out. He can't take his mind off of the exam on Friday.

escape from

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You need to escape from your everyday life.

Here "escape from" means to get away from your everyday problems. It is similar to "take my mind off". Notice the following:

  1. Reading novels helps me escape from my everyday life.
  2. In August I'm going to escape from the city and take a long vacation in Nice.

stuff

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I love to do new stuff.

Again, "stuff" can mean almost anything in English. In this mixer it means to do new things. Here are two sample sentences:

  1. I have to work late tonight. My boss gave me a lot of new stuff to do.
  2. I can do lots of new stuff with my Blackberry that I couldn't on my old phone.

a hard one

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That's a hard one.

When something is hard, it is not easy. See the samples below:

  1. What's the best way to learn English? That's a hard one.
  2. My best fried speaks five languages. She said Chinese was the hardest one to learn.

out of control

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It's easy for things to get out of control.

Things get "out of control" when they don't happen the way we want and we can't stop them. Notice the samples:

  1. So many people came to the party, it soon got out of control.
  2. The road was wet and icy when the car went out of control.

Vocabulary Quiz

mind off • escape • stuff
hard one • of control
  1. What kind of do you do on the weekend?
  2. Exercise helps me take my problems in my life.
  3. All of the fans were out at the game.
  4. Sometimes it is good to from your normal life and try something new.
  5. What is my favorite country? Oh, that's a .
Answer the following questions about the interview.

One Minute English Video

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Mixer Video #65
Action or Relaxation

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