New Year Resolutions
Dan: Hello and welcome to this week’s 6 Minute English. I’m Dan Walker Smith and today I’m joined (присоединилась) by Kate.
Kate: Hi Dan. Happy New Year!
Dan: And Happy New Year to you!
Kate: So what did you do on New Year’s Eve?
Dan: Well, this New Year I went to a party in East London with lots of friends; lots of dancing. Good times really.
Kate: That sounds great fun - a great way to bring in the New Year!
Dan: It was. It was very good indeed (на самом деле). And, of course, as well as (также как) celebrations (празднования), New Year is also the traditional time to make resolutions (твердое намерение, решение), which are plans to improve yourself. So what were your resolutions this year?
Kate: I don't actually think I've made any yet, but I suppose (пологаю, считаю) now I think about it, I'd like to do more exercise, be healthy (здоровый) and travel more.
Dan: They sound like good resolutions. The aim (цель) of most resolutions is to ‘turn over a new leaf’ (начать все с чистого листа). That is, to make yourself better by changing your routines (текущий режим, рутина) and habits (привычки). It’s making a fresh (свежий) or new start in your life.
So the question for this week is:
What is the most common goal (обычная цель) for people making New Year’s Resolutions? Is it:
a) to sort out (улаживать проблемы) their finances and money
b) to lose weight
c) to learn a new language
Kate: Hmm, that's a tricky (каверзный) one. But thinking about it, we've just had Christmas-time, where people tend to (склоняются) eat an awful lot (ужасно много) or overindulge (злоупотреблять) themselves. So I'm going to go for b, to lose weight.
Dan: OK, we’ll see if you’re right at the end of the programme. Now generally (как правило), there are two main types of resolution:
To give up (отказаться) something is to stop it, such as when someone says they’re giving up smoking or giving up fattening foods (клорийная пища).
Kate: And to take up (заняться) something is to start a new activity for the first time. For example you can take up the guitar, or take up a new sport. A lot of people say that their New Year’s Resolutions are to give up a bad habit or to take up a new hobby.
Dan: Now we’re going to hear some of the resolutions a British radio DJ has made for 2010. You're going to hear the expression 'carry on'. Can you explain what this means Kate?
Kate: Sure. Well 'carry on' (продолжать) means to continue to do something as you were before. So if, for example, last year I went swimming every day, I could say 'I want to carry on going swimming', which means just to continue the same actions as you were doing before.
Dan: OK, so let's listen. What resolutions does the speaker have for this year?
Extract 1
Right, New Year's Resolutions 2010. It's the end of a decade (десятилетие). I think that what I would just like to do is carry on working hard (усердно работать); carry on being happy and healthy. So keep on (продолжать) exercising in the park, keep on eating well and keep on sleeping well. And that’s about it – nothing else. Nothing too big, nothing too heavy, ‘cos experience tells me that if you try to ask yourself to do too much stuff (слишком много) it will eventually (в итоге, в конце концов) not happen.
Kate: OK, that was a bit (чуть-чуть) different, as she’s not giving up or taking up anything, but she wants to carry on or continue what she’s already been doing (что она уже делала). There are some pretty common or usual resolutions there: doing exercise, eating healthily and sleeping well – quite (довольно-таки) similar to the ones I made actually (вообще-то).
Dan: Well, she's not exactly (не совсем) turning over a new leaf in the New Year, but just keeping herself healthy with resolutions she can achieve (достичь). As well as keeping healthy, one of the most common New Year's resolutions in the UK each year is to stop smoking.
Kate: Yes, and it’s also one of the hardest resolutions to keep, so this year the British government is launching (запускает) a new campaign for people who want to stop smoking. Have a listen to the next report. Can you hear how many people tried to give up smoking last year and how many actually succeeded (преуспели)?
Extract 2
More than three quarters of a million smokers tried to give up last New Year. But fewer (меньше) than 40,000 have managed (сумели, смогли) to keep that resolution.
Kate: Oh dear, not a great success rate then. Only around five per cent of the smokers managed to keep their resolution.
Dan: Resolutions are basically (по сути) promises to yourself, and like promises, you either keep (исполнять обещание) them or break (нарушать обещание) them. That is, you either successful in keeping to your plans, or you're not and you go back to your old habits.
Kate: Well we’re almost out of time now, so let's go over (пересматривать, повторять) some of the vocabulary we’ve come across (натолкнулись сегодня) today:
First of all, we had resolution, which is a type of promise you make to yourself to improve yourself or your actions.
To turn over a new leaf is an expression meaning to make a new start in your life.
To give up something means to stop it.
Whereas (в то время как), to take up something is to start it for the first time.
Then we heard to carry on, which means to continue with an action that you’re already doing.
And finally (наконец-то) to keep or break a resolution, is either to persist (настоять) with your new changes or to go back to your old routine.
Dan: Oh and there’s just time to answer the question I asked at the beginning of the show: What is the most common goal for people making New Year’s resolutions? Is it:
a) to sort out their finances and money
b) to lose weight
c) to learn a new language
Kate: And I said b, to lose weight
Dan: Actually (вообще-то) it's both (оба) a and b. Most men want to sort out their finances and most women apparently (очевидно) want to lose weight in the New Year.
Kate: Ah, a trick (хитрый) question then.
Dan: A trick question indeed (определенно).
Kate: But I'm sure there must be some women out there (где-то там) who want to sort out their finances.
Dan: And there must be some men who want to lose weight.
Kate: Of course! So Dan can you tell me if you have any resolutions for the coming year?
Dan: I've actually signed up (зарегистрировался) to run a marathon, so I'll be doing that in April. I'm training quite a lot at the moment; it's beginning to kick in (срабатывать, начинать действовать).
Kate: Wow, well that's very impressive (впечатляющее). Good luck with this year's resolution.
Dan: We'll see how it goes in April. So from all of us here at BBC Learning English, thanks for listening. I hope you're sticking to (придерживаться чего-то) your resolution and have a very Happy New Year! Goodbye!
Kate: Goodbye!
Here are flashcards for new words:
✿ Materials used: ✿
➪ BBC podcasts, 6 minute English dated 7 January 2010, New Year's resolutions.
✿ Here is a list of my other posts: ✿
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