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GLOSSARYadd up to exp to total; to be the total a bill n a piece of paper that tells you how much you must pay for something a receipt n a piece of paper that has information about something you have bought a purse n an object women use to carry their money a wallet n an object men use to carry their moneya ring n a round piece of jewellery you put around a finger an earring n a piece of jewellery that people wear in their ears a hectic lifestyle n if someone has a “hectic lifestyle”, they do many things and have no time to relax a spouse n your “spouse” is your wife/husband/partner to belong vb the place where something “belongs” is the place where it normally goes untidiness n the state of not being tidy: not putting things back in the place where they normally go absent-mindedness n if someone is suffering from “absent-mindedness”, they often forget things or can’t remember them a self-help guru n an expert on how to be successful / happy / rich / organised, etc. to label vb if you “label” an object, you put a piece of paper on it with information about it to designate vb if you “designate” a place for an object, you choose that place for that object and say it must go there

ReaDIng Itrack

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Englishman & Irishwoman

The results of a survey on the things we can’t stop losing!

W hen was the last time you lost something? What was it? According to a recent survey, we spend about ten minutes a day looking for lost things.

Over an average lifetime, this adds up to an incredible 3,680 hours (or 153 days). Is there anything we can do about it?

The study of 3,000 adults was carried out by home insurance company esure. They found that mobile phones and car keys were the most frequently lost items. Other things on the list included:

house keys, bills, receipts, sunglasses, glasses, purses, wallets, hairbrushes, gloves, umbrellas, bank cards, train or bus tickets, coats, diaries, personal organisers, batteries, passports, ID cards, software installation CDs, caps, hats, laptops, watches, socks, jewellery (particularly rings and earrings), shoes, slippers, tablets and e-readers.

So, what’s going on? “Most blame it on a hectic lifestyle,” says Nikki Sellers, the head of esure. “Others say it’s the fault of spouses or children for not putting things back where they belong. A few admitted to untidiness, absent-mindedness and a poor memory, with more than half wishing they were more organised.”

So, what’s the solution? “You need to assign a place for something and always put it back there,” said self-help guru Abbie Gale. “And you need to make sure everyone else in the house knows where to put it back too. You also need to keep your house tidy, label boxes clearly and designate a place near the front door for all the items that you need in the morning. A good idea would be to have a shelf there with a bowl for your keys, purse, wallet and anything else,” she added. If you’re still having trouble finding things, don’t worry – things could be a lot worse: fourteen people in the survey said they spent over an hour every day looking for lost items. Surely you can’t be as bad as that!

lost... and Found do you often lose things? why? which objects do you lose most frequently? what was the last thing you lost and then found? what’s the most valuable thing you’ve ever lost? how did it happen? how do you decide where to put things?

other tips for not losing things include the following:

Immediately file phone numbers or business cards. Put bills and receipts away as soon as you get them. Write down the number of the parking space when you park your car in a busy car park.

Attach a paging device to your keychain. Keep your mobile on ringtone (not vibration), so you can call it to find it.

Keep like items together and create boxes for them, labelling them clearly: a Christmas box, a cables box, a box for old batteries, etc.

Never put keys, mobile phones or wallets on the table in restaurants. Before you leave a bus or train, etc., turn around and look back at your seat to make sure you haven’t left anything behind.

Where is it?

think about

it!

1 pre-readingLook at this list of objects. Which ones have you lost? Which ones do you lose frequently?

2 reading iWhich objects from the Pre-reading task are the most frequently lost? Think. Then, read the article once to compare your ideas.

3 reading iiRead the article again. Then, write T (true) or F (false) next to each statement. 1. Organisers of the study spoke

to 3,000 people. 2. Coats and diaries were the most

frequently lost items. 3. Some people blamed work

colleagues for losing things. 4. Abbie Gale suggests always

putting things back where you found them.

5. Some people in the survey said they spent two hours a day looking for things.

answers on

page 45

Keys

Sunglasses

Passport

ID card

Glasses

Laptop / e-reader /

tablet

Gloves

Watch

Umbrella

Coat

Jewellery

Batteries

Slippers

Mobile phone

Socks