CAMBRIDGE
ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE ADVANCED
UNIT 76
Promises and bets
A
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Promises
If you promise someone the earth/moon,
you promise them a great deal. It is usually implied that such a promise is
unrealistic: The afternoon promises to be interesting! [the speaker
expects it will be interesting = We anticipate that the afternoon will
be interesting] To anticipate something is to expect it before it
happens.
Promise can also be used to indicate positive future development:
The child already shows great
promise as a violinist. She’s a promising artist although
her style is still rather immature.
An oath / to swear is a
formal promise. In court, witnesses are put on/under oath when
they have to swear to tell the truth.
Notice how swear is often used
in informal spoken English in expressions:
I could have sworn I left my
purse on the table. [was absolutely certain]
I think she lives on Rose Street but
I couldn’t swear to it. [am not totally sure]
My mother swears by these
vitamin pills. [uses them and thinks they are wonderful]
Tom often uses swear words / bad
language. [taboo expressions]
To pledge (a pledge)
means to promise something, often friendship or money: Mayor Williams has pledged
millions of dollars to improve the city centre.
To vow (a vow) is to
make a determined decision or promise to do something: He vowed to
discover who had killed his father. At a marriage ceremony, the couple exchange
vows. Both vow and pledge are found more in written than
spoken English.
New Year’s resolutions are special promises to turn over a new leaf at the
beginning of a new year. [to change your behaviour for the better]
Resolutions and vows, like promises or pledges,
can be made, kept or broken. If you go back on your
word, you break a promise.
Language help
Swear can mean either to make a solemn promise or to use taboo
language.
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B
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Bets
To
bet (a bet) is to risk something, usually money, on the unknown
result of something, in the hope of winning more money; people spend (and
lose) a lot of money betting on horse racing or football matches, for
example. Putting money on the results of a game of some kind is called gambling.
The amount of money that you risk is your stake. You can stake a
sum of money on something happening. If something is at stake, then it
is at risk: Many lives will be at stake if the flood barrier is not
built. A more formal word for bet is wager: She put a wager of
£10 on a horse. Both words can be used in a non-literal sense: I’d wager that
he will come to a bad end.
There
are a number of informal expressions connected with betting.
Your
best bet would be to look for a part-time job.
[the best decision or choice]
You
think Stuart’ll win? Don’t bet on it! [I think what you’ve just said
is unlikely to happen]
My
granny enjoys having a flutter on the horses. [having a small bet]
I’d
put (good) money / bet my life on James getting the job. [I’m
sure that James will get the job]
Do
you feel like coming to the beach with us? You bet! [I certainly do!]
You
can also hedge your bets by investing in several companies. [protect
yourself from the results of making a single wrong choice]
The
odds are the statistical or betting chances of something happening.
What
are the odds of Olivia finishing her course, do you think?
The
odds are against her getting that promotion.
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EXERCISES
76.1
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Which
sentence in each pair sounds more formal?
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76.2
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Fill
the gaps in these sentences with one word.
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76.3
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Rewrite
these sentences using the word in brackets, so meaning is the same.
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76.4
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Over
to you
•
‘Promises and piecrusts are made to
be broken, they say.’ (Jonathan Swift, Irish writer, 1667–1745) What
point is Jonathan Swift making, in your opinion, and how is his use of
language effective?
•
‘To promise not to do a thing is the
surest way in the world to make a body want to go and do that very thing.’ (Mark
Twain, American novelist, 1835–1910)
Do
you agree with him?
•
Look at what some people promise one
another during a wedding service:
‘…
to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer
for poorer, in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish, till death us
do part.’ (part of Church of England wedding vows) What wedding
vows
do
people make in your country? Can you translate them?
•
In the UK and the US, witnesses in
law courts swear that the evidence they give will be ‘the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth’.
What
oath do witnesses have to swear in your country?
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ANSWER KEY
76.1
1
B
2 B (swore, possibly because of its close associations with taboo language, sounds much less formal than vowed) 3 A 4 B (because New Year’s resolutions is the standard phrase and such resolutions are perhaps best known for being quickly broken, vow sounds much more formal)
76.2
1
promised
2 oath 3 best 4 flutter 5 back 6 life
76.3
Suggested
answers:
1 Your best bet would be to stay overnight in a hotel near the airport. 2 My father swears by these herbal teas. 3 John’s been rather lazy with his homework, but he has promised to turn over a new leaf next year. 4 I could have sworn I locked the door when I went out. 5 The writer’s new play promises to be as good as his last one. 6 I’d put money on the Democratic Party winning the next election. 7 Do you ever have a flutter on the national lottery? 8 Her mother disliked the film because it contained so many swear words / so much swearing. 9 I/We anticipate that the documentary will be controversial. 10 I hedged my bets by buying shares in both of the companies that had a serious chance of winning the contract.
76.4
Suggested
answers:
• Swift is making the point that many people don’t take promises seriously. His point is effective because of the comparison of a solemn thing like a promise with such an everyday thing as a piecrust, which is of course intended to be broken; it has to be broken for the pie to be eaten. • Most people probably do agree with Twain that making someone promise not to do something may often serve to put the idea of doing it actually into their head! |
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