Today we are going to focus on vocabulary. I’ve written a list of words and their definitions above the article. All you need to do is decide which word completes which gap.
Minnie Driver is a British actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, as well as for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in the television series The Riches.
Lesson by Caroline.
Shame – something regrettable or unfortunate.
Responsible – expected to take care of someone.
Passionate – having strong feelings for something/someone.
Reinvent – to recreate something.
Lap – from the waist to the knees when a person is sitting down.
Nanny – an employee who takes care of children.
Ethic – a moral standard or value.
Minnie was the nickname my sister gave me – well, I was never going to be an Amelia, was I?
We are still very close, although like most siblings we fought like cat and dog when we were young.
Our parents separated when I was six, and Kate, being two years older, had to always be the one who was _(1)_ for me.
No child should have to do that really. But she was a sweetheart – amazingly strong and loving.
I remember her making me a calendar when our parents split up because I missed Daddy so badly and putting a star on the day when I would see him again.
My sister and I were sent to the boarding school Bedales in Hampshire after the split. Kate, now in an older class, was no longer nice to me in public, only behind closed doors.
I was only six when I boarded and Hampshire was a complete shock after having lived in Barbados previously.
My dad instilled in us a very strong work _(2)_. He had been brought up in a terraced house in Swansea, the son of a wool trader, but was a bombardier and pilot in the second world war.
He must have seen so much horror because he never talked about it. However, the war gave him an opportunity to_(3)_ himself because there were no men left afterwards.
He was welcomed into society because he was a veteran and class no longer mattered, just hard work.
He became a successful financial consultant and businessman and was_(4)_ about his work.
Funnily enough, a friend recently came across an old pamphlet about war heroes at a car boot sale which featured morale boosting stories – and there was a picture of Dad, aged 19, in his flak jacket, telling a swashbuckling tale about a bombing tour over France.
I was amazed because I'd never heard about it.
My mother is also very driven.
She was a fabric designer when I was young and a brilliant seamstress, so you can imagine what fantastic costumes she'd run up for us to play in.
Now she runs her own interiors company.
She's clever and beautiful – the sort of person you want to sit next to at a dinner party.
My father did get to meet my son Henry, now two.
He liked to hold him on his_(5)_. It is a _(6)_ it wasn't longer, but I guess you have to be thankful for what you have.
Being a single parent isn't how I imagined having a family, but you have to work with what you've got, another lesson my parents taught me.
It is also very important to me that Henry has his dad in his life, even though we aren't together.
As a single mum I have to work, so I'm grateful to have the help of a wonderful and trusted nanny like I had when I was young.
I'm in contact with my _(7)_ Sheila, who was with us from babies to the age of nine. I still ring her for advice and ask stuff like, "Is it normal for Henry to eat non-stop 24/7
To read the full article visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/25/minnie-driver-family-values
