I bet that must have been scary

Answers to the Exercise

There are many possible ways of replying to A's statements in this exercise. Below are some suggestions.
1. I did a bungee jump last weekend.
2. Wow! That must have been exciting.
   That sounds pretty dangerous. Rather you than me! (*see the note below).
1. I've just met an old friend I hadn't seen for more than 20 years.
2. 20 years? Wow! That must have been great.
1. I spent most of Saturday afternoon listening to speeches at City Hall.
2. I bet that must have been boring.
   That doesn't sound very exciting.
1. Last Saturday my sister drove all the way from Tokyo to Kagoshima in one day.
2. I bet she must have been exhausted.
*Note
Rather you than me. This is another useful phrase we can use in responses. We can use it when somebody does something that we consider dangerous, unpleasant, hard etc:
1. I have to go to the dentist tomorrow.
2. Hmmph! Rather you than me.
In this expression, both you and me are said with a stress.

Study Tip
Make a chart in your notebook like the one below. If you come across more expressions like the ones we've met in this lesson, you can record them like this:

That sounds... That must have been... I bet that was...    I bet that must have been...

great    nice    interesting    exciting    tiring    scary    exhausting    tiring    _________        _________        _________

Acknowledgement: The chart idea is adapted from Michael Lewis, 1997, Implementing the Lexical Approach page 39, published by LTP, Hove.

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   © Robert E. Jones, 2003