You might think you need a lot of coffee to get you through the day – but it’s probably nothing compared to Helene Marsot, who drinks up to 100 cups a DAY. A taste tester for Dunkin’ Brands’ coffee, Helene is responsible for overseeing the quality of the drinks the company produces and sells.

During a standard week, the quality assurance manager estimates she gets through hundreds of different coffees on trips around the world. She said: “As a coffee quality assurance expert I will say that a good cup of coffee is a clean and uniform coffee with acidity, body, sweetness and mouthfeel in proper proportion. With coffee, there are so many variables that can impact the flavour.”

Even though she may not finish every cup, she insists the amount of coffee she drinks actually has a positive effect on her health. Helene, based in Canton, Massachusetts, USA, has been working in her current role since 2005 – sampling tens of thousands of cups of coffee in the past nine years.

As well as her own tasting, Helene oversees Dunkin’s coffee lab testers based both in the U.S. and in countries the drink is produced. She added: “It starts from the tree and finishes in the cup, but there are more than 100 steps in between – coffee is full of surprises and experiences.”

Each year, Dunkin’ Donuts sells more than 1.8 billion cups of hot and iced coffee globally. And on their website the brand claims some of their coffee tasters test up to 600 cups each day. Helene said: “I like that you can adjust any coffee to your taste and your mood: from a dark roast to a light roast, a drip brew, an espresso or a French press. You can also adjust the flavour with cream or no cream, sugar or no sugar, and by serving it hot or iced.”

www.mirror.co.uk

Word building exercise.

answers

a) add fuel to the fire
b) catch fire
c) breathe fire
d) fight fire with fire
e) fire away
f) have too many irons in the fire
g) play with fire
h) fire up
i) jump out of the frying pan and into the fire
j) there’s no smoke without fire

1) motivate someone
2) do too many things at the same time
3) ask many questions at once
4) start burning
5) just make things worse
6) be extremely angry
7) do something risky or dangerous
8) there is some truth behind every rumor
9) go from one bad situation to an even worse one
10) use the same methods against an opponent as he/she is using against you

Answers: 1) h, 2) f, 3) e, 4) b, 5) a, 6) c, 7) g, 8) j, 9) i, 10) d

Now use the idioms with fire to fill in the gaps. You will NOT need to use all of them.

a) add fuel to the fire
b) catch fire
c) breathe fire
d) fight fire with fire
e) fire away
f) have too many irons in the fire
g) play with fire
h) fire up
i) jump out of the frying pan and into the fire
j) there’s no smoke without fire

1) He broke up with Mary because she was too flirty and now he’s going out with an ex-stripper. I don’t think he planned to ………. .
2) I know you are eager to ask me about my adventures in the Amazon so ………. .
3) I don’t believe he has a second wife in another city but who knows? ………. .
4) She is very angry about the broken window. I don’t think you should tell her that we were actually playing baseball inside the house. It will only ………. .
5) I’ve had enough! If Mary wants to fight like this, let her have it her way. I’m going to ………. from now on.

Answers: 1) j, 2) e, 3) j, 4) a, 5) d

to add fuel to the fire – olajat önteni a tűzre
to catch fire – lángra lobbani
to breathe fire – tüzet okádni
to fight fire with fire – tűzzel harcolni tűz ellen
to fire away – kibökni, lőni (kérdéseket), ki vele!
to have too many irons in the fire – túl sok vasat tartani a tűzben
to play with fire – tűzzel játszani
to fire up – feltüzelni
to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire – cseberből vederbe
there’s no smoke without a fire – nem zörög a haraszt, ha nem fújják
 

a)   get wind of something
b)   get the wind up
c)   in the wind
d)   take the wind out of someone’s sails
e)   winds of change
f)    gone with the wind
g)   which way the wind is blowing
h)   run like the wind
i)    wind something down
j)    wind up with someone or something

1)   actions that will bring important changes
2)   something that is likely to happen
3)   how something will probably develop
4)   to find out about something secret
5)   to end up having something or someone
6)   to run very fast
7)   to slow something down
8)   to become worried or upset
9)   say or do something to make someone less confident or determined
10) disappeared, gone forever

Answers: 1) e, 2) c, 3) g, 4) a, 5) j, 6) h, 7) I, 8) b, 9) d, 10) f

Now try to fill in the gaps with the expressions.

a)   got the wind up
b)   gone with the wind
c)   got wind of
d)   which way the wind was blowing
e)   wind down
f)    winds of change
g)   took the wind out of his sails
h)   wind up
i)     runs like the wind
j)     in the wind

1)   The surprise birthday party was a failure because he ………. our plans.
2)   As soon as she found out her ex-husband would be her new boss she totally ………. .
3)   He kept bragging about how rich he was until I told him I knew how he earned his money. That really ………. .
4)   They have been an inseparable couple for three years.  I think a marriage is ………. .
5)   We didn’t win the project in the end so everything we worked for was ………. .
6)   I saw ………. so I tried to calm them down before their heated discussion turned into a fight.
7)   I would love to be on the winning team just once but I always ………. with the weakest players.
8)   I think we should try to ………. the party soon because the neighbors will call the police.
9)   You will never catch her. She ………. .
10) I am sure his ideas will bring ………. in the political system.

Answers: 1) c, 2) a, 3) g, 4) j, 5) b, 6) d, 7) h, 8) e, 9) I, 10) f

to get wind of something – megsejteni valamit, tudomást szerezni valamiről
to get the wind up – felhúzni magát valamin
in the wind – várható, előrelátható
to take the wind out of someone’s sails – elkedvteleníteni valakit, letörni valaki magabiztosságát
winds of change – a változás szele
gone with the wind – elfújta a szél
which way the wind is blowing – merről fúj a szél
to run like the wind – sebes, mint a szél

Az alábbi két ‘wind’ ige eltérő kiejtésű a fenti kifejezések ‘wind’ ‘szél’ jelentésű szavaival. Az alábbi ‘wind’ a ‘kind, mind, find’ kiejtésű szavakkal rímel.

to wind something down – lassan befejezni valamit
to wind up with someone or something – valaki/valami mellett végezni

1) break down
2) break in/into
3) break out
4) break up
5) break off

a) escape
b) stop abruptly
c) stop working
d) end a relationship
e) enter with force or illegally

Answers: 1) c, 2) e, 3) a, 4) d, 5) b

Now choose the right answer.

1) Someone broke ………. our flat while we were on holiday.
a) into
b) through
c) down

2) He broke ………. of prison in a week.
a) in
b) up
c) out

3) Have you heard the sad news? Tom and Sally broke ………. after 5 years.
a) up
b) off
c) out

4) I hate this old car. It keeps breaking ………. .
a) out
b) up
c) down

5) She was so surprised to see me that she broke ………. in the middle of her sentence.
a) off
b) out
c) down

Answers: 1) a, 2) c, 3) a, 4) c, 5) a

break down – lerobbanni
break in/into – betörni (valahova)
break out – kitörni (valahonnan)
break up – szakítani (valakivel)
break off – hirtelen abbahagyni (valamit)