HOMEWORK 116
LORY CHAPTER 37 (221-226)
ENGLISH
Ultimate Concerns
I’m soaked when I get to Wendell’s office this
morning. During my short walk across the
street from the parking lot to his building, the
winter’s first downpour began unannounced.
Having no umbrella or coat, I threw my cotton
blazer over my head and ran.
Now my blazer is dripping, my hair is frizzing,
my makeup is running, and my wet clothes
are sticking to my body like leeches in the
most unfortunate places. Too damp to sit, I’m
standing by the waiting-room chairs,
wondering how I’m going to make myself
presentable for work, when the door to
Wendell’s inner office opens and out comes
the pretty woman I’ve seen before. Again,
she’s wiping her tears. She lowers her head
and rushes past the paper screen, and I hear
the click-clack of her boots echoing down the
building’s corridor.
Margo?
No—it’s coincidence enough that she’s also
seeing Wendell, but to have our weekly
appointments back to back? I’m being
paranoid. Then again, as the writer Philip K.
Dick put it, “Strange how paranoia can link up
with reality now and then.”
I stand there shivering like a wet puppy until
Wendell’s door opens again, this time to let
me in.
I drag myself to the sofa and settle into
position B, arranging the familiar mismatched
pillows behind my back in the way I’ve
become accustomed. Wendell quietly closes
the office door, walks across the room, lowers
his tall body into his spot, and crosses his legs
when he lands. We begin our opening ritual:
our wordless hello.
But today I’m getting his sofa wet.
“Would you like a towel?” he asks.
“You have towels?”
Wendell smiles, walks over to his armoire,
SPANISH
Últimas preocupaciones
Esta mañana estoy empapada cuando llego al
despacho de Wendell. Durante mi corto
paseo por la calle desde el aparcamiento
hasta su edificio, el primer chaparrón del
invierno empezó sin avisar. Como no tenía
paraguas ni abrigo, me eché la chaqueta de
algodón por encima y eché a correr.
Ahora la americana me gotea, el pelo se
me encrespa, el maquillaje se me corre y
la ropa mojada se me pega al cuerpo como
sanguijuelas en los sitios más
desafortunados. Demasiado húmeda para
sentarme, estoy de pie junto a las sillas de
la sala de espera, preguntándome cómo
voy a ponerme presentable para el trabajo,
cuando se abre la puerta del despacho
interior de Wendell y sale la mujer guapa
que he visto antes. De nuevo, se está
secando las lágrimas. Agacha la cabeza y
se apresura a pasar por delante de la
pantalla de papel, y oigo el clic-clac de
sus botas resonando por el pasillo del
edificio.
¿Margo?
No, ya es bastante coincidencia que también
esté viendo a Wendell, ¿pero tener nuestras
citas semanales seguidas? Estoy paranoica.
Por otra parte, como dijo el escritor Philip K.
Dick, "Es extraño cómo la paranoia puede
enlazar con la realidad de vez en cuando".
Me quedo allí temblando como un cachorro
mojado hasta que la puerta de Wendell
vuelve a abrirse, esta vez para dejarme entrar.
Me arrastro hasta el sofá y me acomodo en la
posición B, colocando los cojines
desparejados a mi espalda de la forma a la
que me he acostumbrado. Wendell cierra en
silencio la puerta del despacho, cruza la
habitación, baja su alto cuerpo hasta su sitio y
cruza las piernas al aterrizar. Comenzamos
nuestro ritual de apertura: nuestro saludo sin
palabras.
Pero hoy le mojo el sofá.
"¿Quieres una toalla?", pregunta.
"¿Tienes toallas?"
Wendell sonríe, se acerca a su armario y me
and tosses me a couple of hand towels. I dry
my hair with one and sit down on the other.
“Thanks,” I say.
“You’re welcome,” he says.
“Why do you have towels here?”
“People get wet,” Wendell replies with a
shrug, as if towels are an office staple. How
strange, I think—and yet I feel so taken care
of, like when he tossed me tissues. I make a
mental note to store towels in my office.
We look at each other in silent greeting again.
I don’t know where to start. Lately I’ve been
anxious about pretty much everything. Even
little things like making small commitments
have left me paralyzed. I’ve become cautious,
afraid of taking risks and making mistakes
because I’ve made so many already and I fear
I won’t have time to clean up the mistakes
anymore.
The night before, as I tried to relax in bed
with a novel, I came across a character who
described his constant worry as “a relentless
need to escape a moment that never ends.”
Exactly, I thought. For the past few weeks,
every second has been linked to the next by
worry. I know the anxiety is front and centre
because of what Wendell said at the end of
our last session. I’d had to cancel my next
appointment to go to an event at my son’s
school, then Wendell was away the following
week, so I’ve been sitting with Wendell’s
words for three weeks now. Me: What fight?
Him: Your fight with death.
The skies opening up on me on my way in
today felt appropriate. I take a deep breath
and tell Wendell about my wandering uterus.
Until today, I’ve never told this story from
tiende un par de toallas de mano. Me seco el
pelo con una y me siento en la otra.
-Gracias,- le digo.
-De nada,- me dice.
-¿Por qué tienes toallas aquí?-
-La gente se moja,- responde Wendell
encogiéndose de hombros, como si las toallas
fueran un elemento básico de la oficina. Qué
extraño, pienso, y sin embargo me siento tan
cuidada, como cuando me lanza pañuelos de
papel. Tomo nota mentalmente de que debo
guardar toallas en mi despacho.
Volvemos a mirarnos en un saludo silencioso.
No sé por dónde empezar. Últimamente estoy
ansiosa por casi todo. Incluso pequeñas
cosas, como asumir pequeños compromisos,
me han dejado paralizada. Me he vuelto
cautelosa, tengo miedo de arriesgarme y
cometer errores porque ya he cometido
muchos y temo no tener tiempo para
enmendarlos.
La noche anterior, mientras intentaba
relajarme en la cama con una novela, me
encontré con un personaje que describía
su preocupación constante como "una
necesidad incesante de escapar de un
momento que nunca termina".
Exactamente, pensé. Durante las últimas
semanas, cada segundo ha estado ligado al
siguiente por la preocupación. Sé que la
ansiedad está en primer plano por lo que
dijo Wendell al final de nuestra última
sesión. Tuve que cancelar mi siguiente
cita para ir a un acto en el colegio de mi
hijo, y Wendell se ausentó la semana
siguiente, así que llevo tres semanas
sentada con las palabras de Wendell. Yo:
¿Qué pelea? Él: Tu lucha con la muerte.
El cielo que se me ha abierto hoy de camino
me ha parecido apropiado. Respiro hondo y
le cuento a Wendell lo de mi útero errante.
Hasta hoy, nunca había contado esta historia
beginning to end. If before I’d been
embarrassed by it, now, as I say it aloud, I
realize how truly terrified I’ve been. Layered
on top of the grief Wendell had mentioned
early on—that half my life is over—has been
the fear that I, like Julie, might be dying much
sooner than expected. There’s nothing scarier
to a single mom than contemplating leaving
her young child on this earth without her.
What if the doctors are missing something
that could be treated if found promptly?
What if they find the cause but it can’t be
treated?
Or what if this is all in my head? What if the
person who can cure my physical symptoms is
none other than the person I am sitting with
right now, Wendell?
“That’s quite a story,” Wendell says when I’m
done, shaking his head and blowing out some
air.
“You think it’s a story?” Et tu, Brute?
“I do,” Wendell says. “It’s a story about
something frightening that’s been happening
to you over the past couple of years. But it’s
also a story about something else. ”
I anticipate what Wendell will say: It’s a story
about avoidance. Everything I’ve told him
since coming to therapy has been about
avoidance, and we both know that avoidance
is almost always about fear. Avoidance of
seeing the clues that Boyfriend and I had
irreconcilable differences. Avoidance of
writing the happiness book. Avoidance of
talking about not writing the happiness book.
Avoidance of thinking about my parents
getting older. Avoidance of the fact that my
son is growing up. Avoidance of my
mysterious illness. I remember something I
learned during my internship: “Avoidance is a
simple way of coping by not having to cope.”
“It’s a story about avoidance, isn’t it?” I say.
“Well, in some ways, yes,” Wendell replies.
“Though I was going to say uncertainty. It’s
also a story about uncertainty.”
Of course, I think. Uncertainty.
de principio a fin. Si antes me había
avergonzado de ella, ahora, al contarla en voz
alta, me doy cuenta de lo verdaderamente
aterrorizada que he estado. Además de la
pena que Wendell había mencionado al
principio -que la mitad de mi vida se ha
acabado-, estaba el miedo de que yo, como
Julie, pudiera morir mucho antes de lo
esperado. No hay nada que asuste más a una
madre soltera que pensar en dejar a su hijo
pequeño en este mundo sin ella. ¿Y si a los
médicos se les escapa algo que podría
tratarse si se descubre pronto? ¿Y si
encuentran la causa pero no se puede tratar?
¿Y si todo está en mi cabeza? ¿Y si la
persona que puede curar mis síntomas
físicos no es otra que la persona con la
que estoy sentada ahora mismo, Wendell?
-Menuda historia,- dice Wendell cuando
termino, sacudiendo la cabeza y echando un
poco de aire.
-¿Crees que es un cuento?- ¿Tú también,
Bruto?
-Sí,- dice Wendell. -Es una historia sobre algo
aterrador que te ha estado ocurriendo en los
últimos dos años. Pero también es una
historia sobre otra cosa.-
Anticipo lo que dirá Wendell: Es una historia
sobre la evitación. Todo lo que le he contado
desde que vine a terapia ha sido sobre la
evitación, y ambos sabemos que la evitación
casi siempre tiene que ver con el miedo.
Evitar ver las pistas de que mi novio y yo
teníamos diferencias irreconciliables. Evitar
escribir el libro de la felicidad. Evitar hablar
de no escribir el libro de la felicidad. Evitar
pensar en que mis padres se hacen mayores.
Evitar el hecho de que mi hijo está creciendo.
Evitar mi misteriosa enfermedad. Recuerdo
algo que aprendí durante mis prácticas: "La
evitación es una forma sencilla de afrontar las
cosas sin tener que afrontarlas".
-Es una historia sobre la evasión, ¿no?- le
digo.
-Bueno, en cierto modo, sí,- responde
Wendell. -Aunque iba a decir incertidumbre.
También es una historia sobre la
incertidumbre.-
Por supuesto. Incertidumbre.
I’ve always thought about uncertainty in
terms of my patients. Will John and Margo
stay together? Will Charlotte stop drinking?
But now so much seems uncertain in my own
life. Will I be healthy again? Will I find the
right partner? Will my writing career go up in
flames? What will the next half of my life—if I
even have that long—look like? I’d once told
Wendell that it was hard to walk around
those prison bars when I didn’t know where I
was headed. I might be free, but which way
should I go?
I remember a patient who had pulled into her
garage at the end of an ordinary workday and
was greeted by an intruder with a gun. The
intruder’s accomplice, she would soon learn,
was in the house with her children and their
babysitter. After a horrific ordeal, they were
saved when a neighbour called the police. My
patient told me that the worst thing about
this incident was that it had shattered her
smug sense of safety, however illusory it
might have been.
And yet, whether she realized it or not, she
still held on to that illusion.
“Do you worry about pulling into your new
garage?” I asked when the family, too
traumatized to live at the scene of the crime,
had moved into a new home.
“Of course not,” she said, as if it were an
absurd question. “Like this would happen
twice? What are the chances of that?”
I tell Wendell this story and he nods. “How do
you make sense of her response?” he asks.
Wendell and I rarely talk about my work as a
therapist, and now I feel self-conscious.
Sometimes I wonder how Wendell would be
with my patients, what he would say to Rita
or John. Therapy is a completely different
experience with a different therapist; no two
are exactly the same. And because Wendell
has been doing this much longer than I have, I
feel like the student to his teacher, Luke
Skywalker to his Yoda.
“I think we want the world to be rational, and
Siempre he pensado en la incertidumbre en
términos de mis pacientes. ¿Seguirán juntos
John y Margo? ¿Dejará Charlotte de beber?
Pero ahora muchas cosas parecen inciertas en
mi propia vida. ¿Volveré a estar sana?
¿Encontraré la pareja adecuada? ¿Arderá mi
carrera de escritora? ¿Cómo será la próxima
mitad de mi vida, si es que la tengo? Una vez
le dije a Wendell que era difícil caminar entre
los barrotes de la prisión cuando no sabía
hacia dónde me dirigía. Puede que sea libre,
pero ¿hacia dónde debo ir?
Recuerdo a una paciente que había entrado
en su garaje al final de un día normal de
trabajo y fue recibida por un intruso armado.
Pronto se enteraría de que el cómplice del
intruso estaba en la casa con sus hijos y su
niñera. Tras un calvario espantoso, se
salvaron cuando un vecino llamó a la policía.
Mi paciente me dijo que lo peor del incidente
era que había hecho añicos su engreída
sensación de seguridad, por ilusoria que
fuera.
Y sin embargo, se diera cuenta o no, seguía
aferrada a esa ilusión.
-¿Te preocupa entrar en tu nuevo garaje?.-
pregunté cuando la familia, demasiado
traumatizada para vivir en la escena del
crimen, se había mudado a una nueva casa.
-Claro que no,- dijo ella, como si fuera
una pregunta absurda. -¿Como si esto
fuera a pasar dos veces? ¿Cuáles son las
probabilidades ?-
Le cuento esta historia a Wendell y él asiente.
-¿Qué sentido tiene su respuesta?,- pregunta.
Wendell y yo rara vez hablamos de mi trabajo
como terapeuta, y ahora me siento cohibida.
A veces me pregunto cómo sería Wendell con
mis pacientes, qué les diría a Rita o a John. La
terapia es una experiencia completamente
distinta con un terapeuta diferente; no hay
dos exactamente iguales. Y como Wendell
lleva haciendo esto mucho más tiempo que
yo, me siento como el alumno ante su
maestro, Luke Skywalker ante su Yoda.
-Creo que queremos que el mundo sea
it was her way of having control over how
uncertain life is,” I say. “Once you know a
truth, you can’t unknow it, but at the same
time, to protect herself from that knowledge,
she convinces herself she could never be
assaulted again.” I pause. “Did I pass the
test?”
Wendell starts to open his mouth but I know
what he’s about to say: This isn’t a test.
“Well,” I say, “was that what you were
thinking? How would you make sense of her
certainty in the face of uncertainty?”
“The way you did with her,” he says. “The
same way I’d make sense of it with you.”
Wendell goes through the concerns I’ve
brought to him: my breakup, my book, my
health, my father’s health, my son’s rapid
ascent through childhood. The seemingly
offhand observations I’d pepper our
conversations with, like “I heard on the radio
that about half of today’s Americans weren’t
alive in the 1970s!” Everything I talk about is
shaded with uncertainty. How much longer
will I live, and what will happen in that time
before I die? How much control will I have
over any of it? But, Wendell says, like my
patient, I’ve come up with my own way to
cope. If I screw up my life, I can engineer my
own death rather than have it happen to me.
It may not be what I want, but at least I’ll
choose it. Like cutting off my nose to spite my
face, this is a way to say, Take that,
uncertainty.
I try to wrap my mind around this paradox:
self-sabotage as a form of control. If I screw
up my life, I can engineer my own death
rather than have it happen to me. If I stay in a
doomed relationship, if I mess up my career,
if I hide in fear instead of facing what’s wrong
with my body, I can create a living death—but
one where I call the shots.
Irvin Yalom, the scholar and psychiatrist,
racional, y era su forma de tener control
sobre lo incierta que es la vida,- digo. -
Una vez que conoces una verdad, no
puedes desconocerla, pero al mismo
tiempo, para protegerse de ese
conocimiento, se convence a sí misma de
que nunca podría volver a ser agredida.-
Hago una pausa. -¿He pasado la prueba?-
Wendell empieza a abrir la boca, pero sé
lo que va a decir: Esto no es un examen.
-Bueno,- le digo, -¿era eso lo que estabas
pensando? ¿Cómo darías sentido a su certeza
frente a la incertidumbre?-
-De la misma forma que lo hiciste con ella,-
dice. -De la misma forma que lo haría
contigo.-
Wendell repasa las preocupaciones que le
he planteado: mi ruptura, mi libro, mi
salud, la salud de mi padre, el rápido
crecimiento de mi hijo en la infancia. Las
observaciones aparentemente
improvisadas con las que salpimentaba
nuestras conversaciones, como -¡He oído
en la radio que aproximadamente la mitad
de los estadounidenses de hoy no vivían
en los años setenta!.- Todo lo que hablo
está teñido de incertidumbre. ¿Cuánto
tiempo viviré y qué ocurrirá en ese tiempo
antes de morir? ¿Cuánto control tendré
sobre todo ello? Pero, dice Wendell, al
igual que mi paciente, he encontrado mi
propia manera de afrontarlo. Si arruino mi
vida, puedo diseñar mi propia muerte en
lugar de que me suceda a mí. Puede que
no sea lo que quiero, pero al menos lo
elegiré. Como cortarme la nariz para
fastidiarme la cara, es una forma de decir:
"Toma eso, incertidumbre".
Intento comprender esta paradoja: el
autosabotaje como forma de control. Si
arruino mi vida, puedo diseñar mi propia
muerte en lugar de que me suceda a mí. Si
me quedo en una relación condenada al
fracaso, si estropeo mi carrera, si me
escondo en el miedo en lugar de afrontar
lo que le pasa a mi cuerpo, puedo crear
una muerte en vida, pero en la que yo
tomo las decisiones.
Irvin Yalom, académico y psiquiatra, solía
often talked about therapy as an existential
experience of self-understanding, which is
why therapists tailor the treatment to the
individual rather than to the problem. Two
patients might have the same problem—say,
they have trouble being vulnerable in
relationships—but the approach I take with
them will vary. The process is highly
idiosyncratic, because there’s no cookie-
cutter way to help people through what are
at the deepest level existential fears—or what
Yalom called “ultimate concerns.”
The four ultimate concerns are death,
isolation, freedom and meaninglessness.
Death, of course, is an instinctive fear that we
often repress but that tends to increase as we
get older. What we fear isn’t just dying in the
literal sense but in the sense of being
extinguished, the loss of our very identities,
of our younger and more vibrant selves. How
do we defend against this fear? Sometimes
we refuse to grow up. Sometimes we self-
sabotage. And sometimes we flat-out deny
our impending deaths. But as Yalom wrote in
Existential Psychotherapy, our awareness of
death helps us live more fully—and with less,
not more, anxiety.
Julie, with the “wacky” risks she’s been
hablar de la terapia como una experiencia
existencial de autocomprensión, razón por la
cual los terapeutas adaptan el tratamiento al
individuo y no al problema. Dos pacientes
pueden tener el mismo problema -digamos,
les cuesta ser vulnerables en las relaciones-,
pero el enfoque que adopte con ellos variará.
El proceso es muy idiosincrásico, porque no
hay una manera única de ayudar a la gente a
superar lo que en el fondo son miedos
existenciales, o lo que Yalom llamaba
"preocupaciones últimas".
Las cuatro preocupaciones últimas son la
muerte, el aislamiento, la libertad y el
sinsentido. La muerte, por supuesto, es un
miedo instintivo que a menudo
reprimimos pero que tiende a aumentar a
medida que envejecemos. Lo que
tememos no es sólo morir en sentido
literal, sino extinguirnos, perder nuestra
propia identidad, nuestro yo más joven y
vibrante. ¿Cómo nos defendemos de este
miedo? A veces nos negamos a crecer. A
veces nos autosaboteamos. Y a veces
negamos rotundamente nuestra muerte
inminente. Pero, como escribió Yalom en
Psicoterapia existencial, ser conscientes
de la muerte nos ayuda a vivir más
plenamente y con menos ansiedad, no con
más.
Julie, con los riesgos "descabellados" que
taking, is a perfect example of this. I never
paid attention to my own death until I
embarked on the Medical Mystery Tour—and
even then, Boyfriend allowed me to distract
myself from my fears of extinction, both
professional and actual. But he also offered
me an antidote to my fear of isolation,
another ultimate concern. There’s a reason
that solitary confinement makes prisoners
literally go crazy; they experience
hallucinations, panic attacks, obsessional
behaviour, paranoia, despair, difficulty with
focus, and suicidal ideation. When released,
these people often struggle with social
atrophy, which renders them unable to
interact with others. (Perhaps this is simply a
more intense version of what happens with
our increasing want, our loneliness, created
by our speedy lifestyles.)
And then there’s the third ultimate concern:
freedom, and all the existential difficulties
that freedom poses for us. On the surface, it’s
almost laughable how much freedom I have
—if, as Wendell pointed out, I’m willing to
walk around those bars. But there’s also the
reality that as people get older, they face
more limitations. It becomes harder to
change careers or to move to a different city
or marry a different person. Their lives are
more defined, and sometimes they crave the
freedom of youth. But children, bound by
parental rules, are really free only in one
respect—emotionally. For a while, at least,
they can cry or laugh or have tantrums
unselfconsciously; they can have big dreams
and unedited desires. Like many people my
age, I don’t feel free because I’ve lost touch
with that emotional freedom. And that’s what
I’m doing here in therapy—trying to free
myself emotionally again.
In a way, this midlife crisis may be more about
ha estado tomando, es un ejemplo perfecto
de esto. Nunca presté atención a mi propia
muerte hasta que me embarqué en el
Historial Médico Misterioso, e incluso
entonces, Novio me permitió abstraerme
de mis temores de extinción, tanto
profesionales como reales. Pero también
me ofreció un antídoto contra mi miedo al
aislamiento, otra preocupación
fundamental. Hay una razón por la que el
aislamiento solitario hace que los presos
se vuelvan literalmente locos;
experimentan alucinaciones, ataques de
pánico, comportamientos obsesivos,
paranoia, desesperación, dificultad para
concentrarse e ideación suicida. Cuando
salen en libertad, estas personas suelen
sufrir atrofia social, lo que les incapacita
para relacionarse con los demás. (Quizá
esto no sea más que una versión más
intensa de lo que ocurre con nuestra
creciente carencia, nuestra soledad,
creada por nuestros acelerados estilos de
vida).
Y luego está la tercera preocupación última:
la libertad, y todas las dificultades
existenciales que la libertad nos plantea. A
primera vista, es casi irrisorio el grado de
libertad que tengo, si, como señaló Wendell,
estoy dispuesta a andar por esos bares. Pero
también está la realidad de que, a medida
que la gente envejece, se enfrenta a más
limitaciones. Es más difícil cambiar de
profesión, mudarse de ciudad o casarse con
otra persona. Sus vidas están más definidas y
a veces anhelan la libertad de la juventud.
Pero los niños, sujetos a las normas de sus
padres, sólo son libres en un aspecto: el
emocional. Al menos durante un tiempo,
pueden llorar o reír o tener rabietas de forma
inconsciente; pueden tener grandes sueños y
deseos inéditos. Como mucha gente de mi
edad, no me siento libre porque he perdido el
contacto con esa libertad emocional. Y eso es
lo que estoy haciendo aquí en la terapia:
intentar liberarme emocionalmente de
nuevo.
En cierto modo, esta crisis de los cuarenta
opening up that shutting down, an expansion
rather than a constriction, a rebirth rather
than a death. I remember when Wendell said
that I wanted to be saved. But Wendell isn’t
here to save me or solve my problems as
much as to guide me though my life as it is so
that I can manage the certainty of uncertainty
without sabotaging myself along the way.
Uncertainty, I’m starting to realize, doesn’t
mean the loss of hope—it means there’s
possibility. I don’t know what will happen
next—how potentially exciting! I’m going to
have to figure out how to make the most of
the life I have, illness or not, partner or not,
the march of time notwithstanding.
Which is to say, I’m going to have to look
more closely at the fourth ultimate concern:
meaninglessness.
puede ser más una apertura que un cierre,
una expansión más que una constricción,
un renacimiento más que una muerte.
Recuerdo cuando Wendell dijo que yo
quería que me salvaran. Pero Wendell no
está aquí para salvarme o resolver mis
problemas, sino para guiarme a través de
mi vida tal y como es, para que pueda
gestionar la certeza de la incertidumbre
sin sabotearme a mí misma por el camino.
Empiezo a darme cuenta de que la
incertidumbre no significa perder la
esperanza, sino que existe la posibilidad.
No sé qué va a pasar ahora, ¡qué
emocionante! Voy a tener que averiguar
cómo aprovechar al máximo la vida que
tengo, con enfermedad o sin ella, con
pareja o sin ella, a pesar del paso del
tiempo.
Es decir, que voy a tener que examinar más
detenidamente la cuarta preocupación
última: el sinsentido.
ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE 72
72- Permission: getting the go-
ahead
A- Permitting and agreeing that something may happen: verbs
All these verbs are formal and many are typically found in newspapers.
verb meaning example
accede accept, but often associated with The factory owner acceded to the
initial unwillingness workers’ demands.
acquiesce permit something to happen, but The Foreign Minister acquiesced in
/ˌækwiˈes/ often associated with a degree of the plan to restrict imports from
secrecy or conspiracy certain countries.
assent agree to something, often associated The shareholders assented to the
with plans, proposals, ideas, etc. takeover.
authorise give official permission. Only authorised people are allowed
entry.
condone approve or allow something which The judge condoned the use of
most people consider to be wrong. reasonable force by police officers.
countenanc consider giving assent or permission, No government would ever
e often used in negative contexts countenance abolishing taxes
altogether.
endorse give official approval to something The cabinet has endorsed a proposal
to change the way universities are
funded.

B- Permitting: phrasal expressions

The committee have been given carte blanche to investigate the problem and come up with a solution.
[/,kɑ:(r)t ‘blɑ:ntʃ/] complete freedom to do whatever they think necessary; formal]
The city has given the go-ahead for / given the green light to the new car park. [given permission for
the building to start; informal]

C- Prohibiting and disapproving: verbs

verb meaning example
bar officially exclude, forbid someone Three students were barred from
access to something using the library because they had
damaged books.
clamp down use your full power to prevent or The government has decided to
limit something clamp down on illegal immigration.
outlaw make something illegal Parliament has passed a bill
outlawing smoking while driving.
veto use your official power to forbid The president has vetoed the plan to
/ˈviːtəʊ/ open membership of the club to the
public.
Common mistakes
Regardless is not an adjective but an adverb. It means in spite of something. It can be used on
its own: Her parents said she couldn’t go to the party but she went to it regardless.
Or it can be followed by a phrase with of: They built the extension to their house regardless of
the fact that they had not received formal planning permission.
EXERCISES
72.1- Fill the gaps with a suitable verb which expresses the meaning in brackets. There may
be more than one possible answer.
1 The committee were in favour of the proposal, but the President ________ it. (used his/her
power to forbid it)

2 I would never ________ the use of capital punishment, no matter how serious the crime.
(approve or refuse to condemn)

3 The newspaper revealed that the Prime Minister had ________ in the secret decision to sell
arms to the dictator. (agreed to it, without openly admitting it)

4 The new bill going through Parliament will ________ the use of unlicensed drugs by doctors.
(make illegal)

5 The manager has ________ the wearing of casual clothes to work on Friday. (used their
official power to permit)

6 She has been ________ from lectures because she disrupted one last term. (forbidden to
enter/attend)

7 The President finally had to ________ to demands for his resignation. (agree after being
initially unwilling)

8 The police have announced that they are to begin to ________ on motorists who exceed the
speed limit. (take serious action to reduce the number of)

72.2- Find and correct the preposition errors in these sentences.

1 Alex parked his car outside the shop regardless the No Parking sign.

2 The Minister said he would never accede for the union’s demands.

3 It’s time the police clamped down to cyclists going through red lights.

4 The President has assented at the latest world environment plan.

5 The Minister is likely to acquiesce with the proposal.

6 The college principal has given the green light on the students’ proposal for an end-of-term
festival.

7 The company has been given the go-ahead at a new factory in the city.

8 The inspector had carte blanche for investigate every aspect of the business.
72.3- Look at these headlines containing
1 GOVERNMENT TO LIFT EMBARGO ON COMPUTER IMPORTS
2 Railway franchise extended for five years
3 POLICE TO ADOPT ZERO-TOLERANCE OF HOOLIGANISM
4 NEW TRADE SANCTIONS ANNOUNCED

a) b) c) d)
The company will be The hope is that …at present, chips …anyone displaying
allowed to run firms will benefit and processors must threatening
services for the from less severe be home-produced behaviour will be
additional period, competition in or else… liable to immediate
provided all domestic markets if arrest…
conditions… imports are subject
to…

1- 2- 3- 4-
LISTENING CAE LISTENING TEST 22
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ0jwSDdLtU&list=PL1VgFeDQB-
hCosQktH4m2KYV8GBszGRrg&index=45

PART 1
You will hear three different extracts. For questions 1-6, choose the answer (A, B, or C) which
fits best according to what you hear. There are two questions for each extract.
Extract One
You hear of an interview with the editor of a book about pop music.

1- He says the public often wrongly assumes that

A) large numbers of people work on the book.
B) their queries can be answered very quickly.
C) the book is actually compiled by non-experts.

2- How does he feel about most of the complaints he receives?

A) He’s irritated when they focus on unimportant details.
B) He’s pleased that people take the book so seriously.
C) He’s not particularly interested in them.

1-A
2-B
Extract Two
You hear part of a radio programme about a photographic competition.

3- What is the presenter doing?

A) announcing a new theme for the competition
B) encouraging listeners to enter the competition
C) explaining how the competition is being judged

4- What do we learn about last week’s winner?

A) He selected the location of the shot in advance.
B) He got his subjects to pose for the shot.
C) He only got one shot of this subject.

3-B
4-C
Extract Three
You hear part of a discussion about playing games.

5- What does the man say about his family?

A) participation in group activities is optional.
B) time spent together is regarded as optional.
C) children may choose how to spend their free time.

6- He says that when asked to give a performance, some of his relations feel
A) amused at the idea.
B) reluctant to join in.
C) honoured to be asked.

5- B
6- B
Part 2
You will hear part of a talk about a type of bird called a crane.
For questions 7-14, complete the sentences with a word or shot phrase.
Cranes
In parts of Asia, the crane is thought to represent both (7) ________and________.
The total population of the blue crane stands at around (8) ________ individuals.
The crane’s usual habitat is in areas of (9) ________, which are getting scarcer in Africa.
Both small animals and (10) ________ are given as examples of what cranes eat.
Cranes often collide with the (11) ________ that are now found across southern Africa.
Crane conservation in South Africa is coordinated by an organisation called (12) ________.
In one conservation scheme, local women both (13) ________ and________ the cranes when
looking after young chicks.
Cranes movements are also being tracked through the use of tiny (14) ________ linked to
airports.

7-
8-
9-
10-
11-
12-
13-
14-
Answer Key: 1 A 2 B 3 B 4 C 5 B 6 B 7. peace/ happiness (in either order) 8. 21,000/ twenty-one
thousand 9. wetlands 10. (fallen) grain 11. power(-)lines 12. Endangered Wildlife Trust 13.
behave/ dress (up) (in either order) 14. transmitters 15 B 16 C 17 A 18 D 19 D 20 C 21 D 22 C 23
F 24 A 25 B 26 G 27 C 28 E 29 A 30 H
LISTENING MARLENA
AI extinction level threats, the study by experts. This is Breaking News English Dot Com. A
report commission by the US State Department has warned that the existential threat from
Artificial Intelligence. The Report posited a worst case scenario: extinction level-threat to
humanity. The authors identified a growing risk to National Security, post by rapidly expanding
AI capabilities, from weaponisation and loss of control. The report added that there is a clear
and urgent need for the US Government to intervene quickly and deciseably. It continued, the
rise of advanced AI has the potential to distabilise Global Security, in ways reminiscent of the
introduction of Nuclear Weapons. The report calls for a New Federal Agency, to regulate
companies developing AI tools, and to limit the growth of AI. The 247-page report was
commissioned by the State Department in November 2022. It was written by a company that
provides technical briefings and guidance on AI. The Authors spoke extensively to experts at AI
companies, like Open AI, Google Deep Mind and Meta. The authors recommended setting an
upper limit on how much computing power an AI model could have. They also recommended
making it a criminal offence to Open Source or reveal the coding behind more powerful AI
models. The future is in dot website stated, over half of the AI researchers surveyed, said
there’s a five per cent chance that humans will be driven to extinction among other extremely
bad outcomes. Thank you for listening to Breaking News English Dot Com.
IDIOMS – NUMBERS
"The whole nine yards" - Meaning to give everything or go all out.
"Two cents" - Offering one's opinion or viewpoint.
"On cloud nine" - Being extremely happy or euphoric.
"Six of one, half a dozen of the other" - Expressing that two alternatives are essentially
the same.
"Behind the eight ball" - Being in a difficult or disadvantageous situation.
"Third time's a charm" - Suggesting that success is more likely on the third attempt.
"Five-finger discount" - Referring to theft or shoplifting.
"The eleventh hour" - Describing a situation where something happens at the last
possible moment.
"Counting chickens before they hatch" - Making plans based on something that has not
yet happened.
"Twenty-four seven" - Meaning something is happening all the time, without
interruption.

Cuando se trata de preparar el acto benéfico anual, Sarah se esfuerza al máximo,

organizando eventos para recaudar fondos, buscando patrocinadores y reuniendo
voluntarios.

Dirigir con éxito un negocio en línea exige estar disponible las 24horas del día

Voy a dar mi opinión al respecto y luego dejaré que tú decidas qué hacer a
continuación.

Tras recibir la buena noticia de su ascenso, Lisa se sintió muy feliz.

Con una deuda cada vez mayor y sin perspectivas de trabajo, Tom se encontró en la
cuerda floja y sin saber cómo cambiar las cosas.

Tras dos intentos fallidos, Sarah decidió volver a intentar la presentación, con la
esperanza de que a la tercera fuera la vencida.