A British mother gave birth on a New York street after she tried to hail a cab – only to see another woman steal her ride.

Polly McCourt, 39, went into labour and tried to flag down a taxi outside her Manhattan apartment at the junction of 68^th Street and Third Avenue with the help of her doorman. She said: ‘He was trying desperately to hail a cab and a lady walked out five metres in front of him and hailed a cab and got into it. I went: “That’s my cab, I want that cab!”’ Her baby’s head was showing and Mrs McCourt, originally from Black Bourton in Oxfordshire, had to give birth on the pavement with help from passers-by and her doorman.

Her husband, Cian McCourt, 40, was reportedly stuck in traffic when he found out she was in labour and arrived just after she gave birth to their healthy daughter. The scene was caught on camera by a passing news crew, capturing the moment the 3350g newborn was successfully delivered. The pair were kept warm with coats and scarves until an ambulance arrived to take them to Lennox Hill Hospital. Mrs McCourt named her girl Ila Isabella McCourt, the middle name honouring a woman who helped her through the ordeal.

source: www.metro.co.uk, skynews

to hail a cab – taxit leinteni
labour – vajúdás
junction – kereszteződés
doorman – portás
pavement – járda
passer-by – járókelő
to be stuck in traffic – dugóban elakadni
scene – jelenet
news crew – hír forgatócsoport
newborn – újszülött
to deliver a baby – baba megszületésében segédkezni
middle name – második keresztnév
ordeal – megpróbáltatás

Fill in the gaps with the words in the table. There is one extra.

1. Kate found a purse full of money lying on the ……………….. outside her house.

2. I’m sorry I’m late, I ……………….. .

3. Take a left turn at the next ……………….. .

4. I wanted to ……………….. but Kate offered to take me home.

5. Only a few ……………….. stopped to help my grandmother when she fell.

answers: 1-pavement 2-was stuck in traffic 3-junction 4-hail a cab 5-passers-by

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Real-life indecent proposal: George Clooney lookalike offered £5,500 to sleep with businessman’s wife

A successful George Clooney lookalike has revealed how he was offered £5,000 by a businessman to sleep with his wife for her 40th birthday. The conscientious doppelganger turned the money down because ‘it just felt so wrong’.

Gary Tate, 56, also runs a cleaning business – aptly titled Clooney’s Cleaning – despite turning up at countless red carpet events and glitzy balls over a 16-year period as George’s double. ‘I’ve been doing this since 1997. George was just starting to become famous as he had a major part in the TV programme ER, and that was when people started to comment on my similarity to him,’ Mr Tate said. ‘In 1998, the Sun newspaper did one of those “do you know anyone that looks like George” competitions. Out of thousands of pictures that were sent in, I won. My life as a lookalike started then. Since then, I’ve lost count of the red carpets I’ve walked down, the limos I’ve ridden in, and the many countries around the world I’ve visited.’

Mr Tate – who lives in Ashford, Kent – was surprised, however, to have been asked by a man to sleep with his wife in return for thousands of pounds. The lookalike was single at the time of the offer – six years ago – so considered the offer but ultimately turned it down. ‘When I asked why he would want me to do that he said “we have an open relationship, she’s mad about Clooney, and I can’t get him so I’m asking you”. When I turned him down, he upped his offer to £5,500. I ummed and ahhed about it but turned him down.’

Source: www.metro.co.uk

indecent proposal – tisztességtelen ajánlat
lookalike – hasonmás
to offer – felajánlani
to sleep with someone – lefeküdni valakivel
conscientious – lelkiismeretes
doppelganger – hasonmás
to turn something down – elutasítani valamit
to turn up – megjelenni
countless – számtalan
red carpet event – vörös szőnyeges esemény
ball – bál
similarity – hasonlóság
competition – verseny
to lose count of – nem tudja számon tartani
limo(usine) – limuzin
in return for – valamiért cserébe
single – egyedülálló
to consider an offer – meggondolni egy ajánlatot
ultimately – végül
open relationship – nyitott kapcsolat
to be mad about someone – bolondulni valakiért
to up something – megemelni (árat)
to umm and ah – hümmögni

Match the words with the definitions.

answers: 1-c 2-e 3-a 4-b 5-d

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Alcoholics paid in BEER and CIGARETTES to clean the streets of Amsterdam

Alcoholics in Amsterdam are helping to clean the streets of the Dutch city – and are being paid in BEER and CIGARETTES to do so. Officials in the Dutch city came up with the unorthodox idea in order to tackle a growing problem of anti-social behaviour on the streets.

Groups of homeless people are given five cans a day – two in the morning, two at lunchtime and one at the end of the day – in exchange for them helping out in the areas they live. Participants work up to three days a week and each of them is given just £8 per shift along with a half-packet of rolling tobacco.

A group called the Rainbow Foundation came up with the idea and Gerrie Holterman defended the decision to hand more drink to individuals who already have alcohol problems. "This group of chronic alcoholics was causing a nuisance in Amsterdam’s Oosterpark: fights, noise, disagreeable comments to women," she told AFP. "The aim is to keep them occupied, to get them doing something so they no longer cause trouble at the park." She continued: "They’re no longer in the park, they drink less, they eat better and they have something to keep them busy during the day. Heroin addicts can go to shooting galleries, so why shouldn’t we also give people beer?"

source: www.mirror.co.uk

alcoholic – alkoholista
official – tisztviselő
unorthodox – a konvencióktól eltérő
in order to – azért, hogy
to tackle – megbirkózni valamivel
behaviour – viselkedés
homeless – hajléktalan
can – italos doboz
in exchange for – valamiért cserébe
participant – résztvevő
shift – műszak
rolling tobacco – cigarettadohány
to defend – védeni
nuisance – kellemetlenség
disagreeable comment – ellenszenves beszólás
to keep someone occupied – lefoglalni valakit valamivel
to cause trouble – bajt okozni
heroin addict – heroin-függő

Pick the right ending to the sentences.

1. Alcoholics used to

a) cause trouble in Amsterdam’s parks.

b) clean the streets for free.
 

2. People didn’t like

a) the noise and mess.

b) the police who came to stop the fights.
 

3. This solution is

a) quite usual in the Netherlands.

b) new in Amsterdam.
 

4. Officials say that

a) the situation is worse now.

b) the situation is better now.
 

5. The alcoholics are paid

a) in beer, tobacco and money.

b) in beer, food and money.

answers: 1-a 2-a 3-b 4-b 5-a

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