- The reason is I like working with people, I have experience of looking after elderly people and I enjoy volunteering work.
- The problem is I’m a little lazy, I am often late for work because I sleep in.
- The fact (of the matter is) is that the planet is warming and many species are dying.
- The fact is we need computers to function better in business.
- It is true that a lot of accidents are caused by motorbikes. But the point is that the car if far more dangerous.
- The thing is, he is in a wheelchair and cannot access his own house because of the high steps.
Steve - Come and take a seat, Dave. You look like you've seen a ghost! Can I offer you a drink?
Dave -An orange juice, please, Steve.
S - Orange juice! That makes a change. Something worrying you, Dave?
D - Well, the reason I'm feeling a bit under the weather is because I've just been to the doctor's.
S - I thought doctors were meant to make you feel better, not worse!
D – The thing is I just had a check-up, Steve.
S – Nasty things, check-ups. You’re enjoying life and everything’s in the pink, and then a doctor comes along and tells you that you’ve got one week to live. He didn’t say that, did he?
D – No, Steve. Not exactly. But the problem is my cholesterol is very high apparently, and I’m too overweight.
S – Well, a bit of cholesterol never hurt anybody. The fact is, Dave, you’re 56. You’re not a spring chicken any more.
D – Well, the point is that it’s very high, and if I don’t do anything about it soon, I could have a heart attack.
S – Right. So what do you have to do?
D – I have to exercise more, and eat less – especially fat.
S – Ay. It’s true that you’ve got a good belly on you.
D – But, I don’t understand. I walk to the office every day. I go shopping with Maud on Saturdays. On Fridays, I walk to the pub for a small drink with you. What more should I do?
S – The fact of the matter is, Dave. The office is a two-minute walk from your house. You take the car to the shopping centre with Maud. Then you sit in the café, while Maud does all the shopping. As for your Friday walk to the pub, Dave, you live right next door. That’s hardly a walk, is it?
D – It’s true I live next door to the pub. But that’s not my fault, is it?
S – The point is, Dave, that whether it’s your fault or not, has got nothing to do with it. The truth of the matter is you have to do a lot more exercise than you’re doing at the moment. And the other thing is you like your fish and chips too much – and that’s more chips than fish – and the greasier the better – so you always say.
D – What do you suggest, Dave?
S – Well, what about walking to the football match on Saturdays, instead of taking the car.
D – Walk to the football match? But it must be two miles away!
S – Dave! The problem with you is you’re lazy! You choose, Dave. You walk to the football match, or I lose my best friend from a heart attack before Christmas.
D – Right! I’ll do it! I’ll walk to the football match on Saturdays. I mean, it’s not every Saturday, anyway. Will you walk there with me, Steve?
S – No, I won’t, and the reason is I don’t have high cholesterol, do I?
D – You probably have. You’re as overweight as I am, and just as lazy. And for every fish and chips I eat, you have two hamburgers. The fact of the matter is you just never go to the doctor’s for a check-up!
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