2. Continue the sentences according to the story:

1. Most people in Britain work…….

2. People are usually free…….

3. When Friday comes……

4. It will be more difficult for you to go out for the week-end if……

5. In case you stay at home at the weekend……

6. On Saturday morning……

7. As for Saturday afternoon……

8. Saturday evening is the favorite time for……

9. A lie-in is…….

10. If the weather is fine……

11. After dinner most people…….

12. On Sunday evening……

2. Read the dialogue beneath and see (a) if it’s all rest and no work on week-ends for the British; (b) what is special about inviting and receiving guests on week-ends. See if the text has any new information.

   The British Week-end

Mary: I see some of the sunburn you got in Italy is beginning to wear off, Don. Can’t you manage to get away from London at week-ends and get some sun?

Don: I’m very busy. Is it true that the British invented the week-end?

Colin: Oh, the British like the rest of the world do think they invented it, whether or not it’s true.

Don: Do you think the British invented it because they have to relax more than other people in order to keep going?

Mary: Possibly. But you can’t say the true Englishman really relaxes at week-ends. He certainly has a complete change, but he actually works like a beaver from Friday evening till Monday morning, taking the car to pieces, mowing the lawn and so on.

Don: You mean that for five days he allows himself to relax at his regular so that he can do his most important work at home on Saturdays and Sundays?

Mary: Yes, I think that’s true. We’re really terribly lazy for five days of the week.

Don: Getting back to the typical week-end, I’d like you to tell me the kind of thing that goes on.

Colin: I believe when foreigners over here get some typical English family to invite them down to the country for the week-end they find themselves more or less to their own devices. People think it’s better for their guests not to have too much of their time organized. The idea is that you’re not invited to be entertained but to share in the normal life of the family – in other words to be granted the priceless privilege of being allowed to live as they do for a couple of days, as if it were something too wonderful to miss.

Don: Tell me what happens when you get an invitation.

Mary: On the whole a week-end guest is treated like one of the family.

Don: You mean you have to help with the washing up and things like that?

Mary: Yes, I think you do usually, unless they have a dish-washer. Helping with the washing up is certainly better than having nothing to do all day.

Don: I see. In that case he can’t complain there’s nothing for him to do. It turns out that the secret of a successful week-end is hard work. The more people have to do the better they like it even when they’re supposed to be relaxing.