Alcohol, let’s face it, can be really dangerous… There are no rules and no particular limits for us. It is said that one beer won’t harm you, but it may just be a very dangerous beginning for us.

Tony tells his story

I was about 14 when my parents let me go camping with my friends for the first time. I’d never been a troublesome kid and my parents really trusted me. Besides one of my friends’ parents were there. We had a bonfire, you know, sausages, some singing and joking. One of the guys asked me if I wanted a beer. Normally I wouldn’t take it but this time… everybody had one! One beer was enough to relax me. I wasn’t drunk, just relaxed. My friends’ parents were coming every half an hour to check if everything was OK. Some guys called me to go with them behind the toilet. They asked if I wanted some vodka. My answer was ”yes”.

I don’t know why. Maybe that beer was working like that. We were drinking straight from the bottle. We were in a hurry ‘cause their parents might have caught us.

After three sips I felt nothing but a horrible taste in my mouth. I thought I would vomit. We had some orange juice as well so finally after fifteen minutes four of us finished the whole bottle.

Suddenly I felt very strange, horribly dizzy. I couldn’t control my movements. It wasn’t any fun at all. My stomach was heavy and I felt like vomiting. On the other hand, alcohol gave me more courage. I was talking to girls, behaving really stupidly, talking all the time, trying to stand and walk straight.

Somebody said something about jumping over the fire. It was a joke but not to me. I fell down straight into the fire. It didn’t hurt too much, well, for half an hour at least. My friends’ parents took me to the hospital. They were really angry especially because they noticed I had been drinking alcohol. And you can’t imagine my parents’ anger!

I was really lucky because they told me to put some cream on and that was it. Unfortunately, it was my last party. My parents stopped trusting me and they were so disappointed they didn’t speak to me for several days. It was worse than a big fight! And the worst thing was that many of my friends didn’t find me cool but stupid and pathetic. Many girls still don’t speak to me because they are really upset about the things I said when I was drunk.

Słowniczek

limits – granice możliwości
go camping – jechać pod namiot
a troublesome kid – dziecko sprawiające problemy
a bonfire – ognisko
(it) was enough – (to) wystarczyło
drunk – pijany (także III forma od drink – pić)
to check – sprawdzić
straight from the bottle – prosto z butelki
‘cause – ponieważ (JĘZYK POTOCZNY); zapamiętaj, że cause znaczy przyczyna, ponieważ to because. Gdy zapisujesz słowo tak, jak mówisz w mowie potocznej, postaw apostrof na początku, aby zaznaczyć, że jest to skrót od because, a nie inne słowo
sips – łyki
nothing but… – nic tylko…
dizzy – kołowaty (kiedy kręci się w głowie)
to feel like (+ końcówka -ing) – mieć ochotę
on the other hand – z drugiej strony
courage – odwaga
to walk straight – chodzić prosto
over the fire – nad ogniem
to fall down – przewrócić się
they told me to – kazali mi
disappointed – rozczarowany
a fight – kłótnia; walka
pathetic – żałosny

True or false

Which sentences are true and which are false?

1 Tony used to go to a party every week. true false
2 Tony brought two cans of beer to the party. true false
3 Tony’s friends had some vodka. true false
4 Tony felt all right after drinking alcohol. true false
5 Tony fell down and found himself in the fire. true false
6 Tony had to go to a hospital although. true false
his wound wasn’t very serious. true false
7 Tony’s parents never learnt about his accident. true false
8 Everybody is now a bit angry with Tony. true false