This is Your Life - Unit 1

B2 First · Multiple Matching · Ready for B2 First 4th Edition, Macmillan Education Limited

You are going to read an article in which four people talk about their lifestyles. For questions 1–10, choose from the people (A-D). The people may be chosen more than once.

Lucas Martin: television and stage actor

Normally I get out of bed around midday. I'll sometimes go for a run after I get up, though it's not really my idea of fun. I'm not a fitness fan, but I realise it's important. When I'm not rehearsing or on tour, afternoons generally involve reading scripts or learning lines. My flatmates are also actors, so at home there are usually scripts lying all over the place. It's a bit of a mess, I'm ashamed to say. I'm passionate about history, and if I'm working away from home, I'll often spend the afternoon in a museum or historic building. I sometimes lose track of time, and I once turned up late for a play I was in. I felt terrible, so now I always get to the theatre early; I'm usually the first to arrive. After a performance I eat and spend a few hours unwinding, so bedtime is often one or two in the morning. I'm normally out like a light as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Maja Andersson: ski and snowboard instructor

I generally spend six months in Europe and six in New Zealand, but I've also worked in Japan and Canada. Wherever I am, I love the fact that I usually live just a short walk from the slopes, so I can get up reasonably late and still have time for a decent breakfast before setting off for work. When I started out eight years ago, I used to teach groups of young kids. Now I'm fully qualified, I tend to get the advanced classes, which I find more interesting. We get plenty of days off and when I'm not working, I go skiing by myself, or catch up on my sleep – I have no problem spending the morning in bed. I love the lifestyle, but I'm not sure I can carry on doing this for much longer. It might be time to settle down and get a more normal job, something steady and secure. I haven't made up my mind yet, though.

Reo Tanaka: farm vet

I used to have a dog and we'd go running together most mornings, but I gave him to my mum in the end. I tend to be out all day, visiting farms, and it wasn't fair to leave him alone. So now I don't get as much exercise as I'd like to. I love my job, especially the variety and not knowing what you'll be doing from one day to the next. But being a vet – any type of vet – is not what most people think. It's not all cuddly lambs and cute little calves. We have to do some pretty unpleasant things sometimes, things which might put some people off working with animals for life. My mum wants to know when I'm going to find someone to settle down with, but it's not as if I have loads of free time to go looking. There's not even room for a dog in my life, so I don't see how I'll be able to fit marriage in.

Ben Adams: mountaineer and wind turbine technician

As a child, I would tell everyone that when I grew up, I wanted to climb Everest. I've actually climbed it three times now, and I've also scaled four more of the fourteen peaks over 8000 metres. And when I'm not on a mountain, you might come across me hanging on a rope from a wind turbine, carrying out repairs to damaged blades at heights of up to 100 metres. That's how I make a living and pay for my climbing trips. I also sometimes get sponsorships from companies, which provide funding and maybe food and equipment. In return, I mention the sponsors in the talks I give and the articles I write when I get back from my climbs. It's a fairly unconventional way of life, and not one I'd actively encourage others to adopt – there's a lot of danger involved – but it works for me. It's precisely that sense of danger that makes me feel alive.

This is Your Life

Four more personal accounts in our series on lifestyles. This week we focus on people's work and how it shapes the way they live.

admits to having an untidy house

would not recommend their lifestyle to other people

likes the unpredictable nature of their work

is not particularly keen on taking exercise

has a lot of free time

has achieved an early ambition

usually has no trouble getting to sleep at night

does not normally have to go far to get to their place of work

says that people have the wrong idea about their work

is considering introducing more stability into their life

Which person

Available as a free printable PDF worksheet with an optional answer key.

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