英语播客 A Cup of English Local rivals.

We spent a noisy night on Saturday at the local arena. We had tickets to go and see a basketball match between the two big local rivals, Wenatchee and Eastmont. We were lucky enough to have box seats, so we were up high with a good view. We took all of the kids, and met up with my husband's brother's family, and another set of friends. We snacked and chatted while the match played. To tell you the truth, I didn't pay much attention to the game; I was more interested in catching up with my sister-in-law and my friend. I would hear comments every now and then from the men about the game. The Eastmont band was just below our box. Whenever they would play, it was loud. The atmosphere was exciting; there was definitely a spirit of competition in the arena that night. Before the game started, a group of students from each high school shot baskets, to see who would make the most. Wenatchee won by a small margin. I'm sure nerves of the event affected the accuracy of the shots. There were quite a few sporty looking, tall young men shooting baskets, but they only did as well as the girls. At half time, there was a dance performance by a large group of local young girls. It was a sort of hip-hop style which went down well with the audience. And then, of course, there were the cheer leaders doing their thing, their arrangement of kicks, moves, and claps. It was a spectacle, as is to be expected of these arena events. While we were there, it snowed heavily. At one point, I went down to the first floor to get a bite to eat, and, as I walked past the windows, I was amazed at the large, thick snowflakes falling. It made the occasion feel special. This weekend, we have tickets to see a country singer called Clint Black, so I'm sure I will be podcasting about that experience.

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: to catch up with, a margin, accuracy, to go down (well/ badly).

1. I hadn't seen my friend for years, so we spent a few hours catching up.

2. In our science class, we are allowed no margin for error.

3. Swiss watches have a reputation of having long term accuracy.

4. The joke was in bad taste; it didn't go down well at the dinner party.