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WARM-UP
What do you think people mean when they say they want to have a good life?
What is a good, successful life in your opinion?

To thrive in life you need three bones.
A wishbone. A backbone. And a funny bone.
Reba McIntyre (born 1955, American country music artist)

VOCABULARY

A. Which of the following verbs have the same meaning as the word in bold?

a. develop d. prosper
thrive b. enjoy oneself e. grow up
c. be successful f. find home

B. Match each of the words in bold with their two definitions on the right.


wishbone
a. spine
b. a sense of humour
c. the V-shaped bone between the neck and the breast in a bird
d. the tender part of the elbow that hurts if you hit it
e. the strength of character
f. the breast bone from the cooked bird (chicken, duck etc.) which two people pull
apart and the person with a larger part makes a wish

backbone

funny bone


DISCUSSION

1. What does it mean that a person thrives in life in your opinion? Which of the following aspects
are the most important?

physical and mental health
social position
material wealth
family life
a satisfying job
leisure time
number of friends
a place of living (residence)
spirituality and religion
freedom to make choices
a sense of belonging
a sense of safety
a sense of morality
character
personality


2. To what extent do the above aspects contribute to a persons good and happy life? Are some of
them more important? Why is that so?
3. If you were to make a wish that you know would come true, what would it be? Which aspect of
your life would it satisfy?
4. To what extent is it important to have a dream or dreams in life? What can a dream make us do?
5. A dream in life may be an important goal or several goals we want to achieve in life. How can
having goals make us happy?
6. How can we help ourselves achieve goals in life? To what extent can the following be helpful?

planning
inspiration
hope
vision
making the right decisions
belief
confidence
determination
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7. What do we mean when we say that a person has a strong character? To what extent can the
following contribute or be related to the strength of character?

family background
personality traits
moral strength
a sense of values
having a vision
determination
persistence
self-respect
confidence
courage
having a source of inspiration
high self-esteem
motivation
self-reliance
independence
being unaffected by difficulties

8. What is meant by the phrase moral backbone? In what situations having strong moral backbone
can be important? Why? Give examples.
9. How can a sense of humour help a person in life? Consider the following:

ability to laugh at your mistakes
learning from your mistakes
not taking things too seriously
maintaining a positive attitude
the ability to move on
enjoying life
laughing at jokes
being sociable
keeping distance

10. Does having a sense of humour always help in life? Give examples of situations when it is
appropriate to show it and when it is not.
11. Briefly explain the meaning of the quotation from Reba McIntyre.
12. Do you agree with the meaning of the quotation? Why? Why not?

EXTRAS

A. Match the expressions with their meanings.

1. bone-idle
2. bone-dry
3. a bonehead
4. bone marrow
5. skin and bones
6. the bare bones
7. a bag of bones
8. to the bone
9. close to the bone
10. a bone of contention
a. a soft substance in the bones, in which blood cells are produced
b. a source of disagreement
c. a stupid person
d. affecting a person deeply
e. an extremely thin person
f. completely dry
g. extremely thin
h. so honest it may be offensive or cruel
i. the most important details
j. very lazy

B. Fill in the blanks with the expressions above.

1. Her remarks about his overweight parents were rather ................... .
2. After another snowball fight Ruth was wet ................... .
3. The terms of the old womans last will were ................... to her children.
4. You could achieve much more in your life if you werent so ................... .
5. I keep making the same mistakes, I am such ................... .
6. The clothes are ................... after hanging a whole day in the scorching sun.
7. If there were more ................... donors, there would be fewer people suffering from leukaemia.
8. These fashion models are so thin they are little more than ................... .
9. Since we dont have much time for details, just give me ................... of the problem.
10. This extreme diet plan of yours is not healthy at all as youre slowly changing into ................... .

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KEY
Vocabulary:
A: a, c, d.
B: wishbone: c,f; backbone: a, e; funny bone: b, d.
Extras:
A: 1j, 2f, 3c, 4a, 5g, 6i, 7e, 8d, 9h, 10b.
B: 1. close to the bone; 2. to the bone; 3. a bone of contention; 4. bone-idle; 5. a bonehead; 6. bone-
dry; 7. bone marrow; 8. skin and bones; 9. the bare bones; 10. a bag of bones.