Printable version
Lisa glanced at the tiny clock in the corner of her computer screen. It said 2:32 am. Her eyelids were heavy but she really wanted to put the finishing touches to her photograph before printing it. And anyway, tomorrow was Saturday and she could have a rest. Twenty minutes later she was standing by her printer, cleaning her teeth while watching the photograph emerge little by little. She had set the printer to highest quality and it was taking such a long time to finish printing. But when it finally did, she was more than happy. The photograph was stunning. It showed her at Angkor Wat in Cambodia at sunrise. The colours of the early morning sky lit up her face with a pinky-orange glow. Lisa knew exactly where on her wall to put the new picture. There was a space between the one of her at the pyramids in Egypt, and the one of her in a hot-air balloon in Kenya. Finally, it was time to sleep. Before bed, Lisa took a quick shower to relax after a long night at her desk. On the bedside table was a wedding picture. In the large, framed photograph, she looked so happy, and so did the groom. Their wide grins showing their very white teeth, and in this photo, Lisa's eyes were vivid blue, to match the groom's eyes.
That night, Lisa dreamed she was on the Greek island of Santorini. She was looking out to sea from the balcony of a white-walled villa. The deep blue of the late-afternoon sky merging with the deep blue of The Aegean. In her dream, Lisa was wearing a long, flowing white dress that flapped around in the cool breeze. Her skin was deep brown, and her hair was bleached blonde from the strong Mediterranean sun. Her companion was a rugged-looking Greek man with thick black hair and a deep, strong chest. He wrapped his muscular arms around her, and whispered in her ear; his voice soft but passionate. And then she woke up.
The morning light was coming
through a crack in the curtains. As Lisa woke up, she blinked as the
strong sunlight shone in her eyes. The memory of the dream lingered
in her mind but was fading
quickly. 'Where was I? Where was I?' She
asked herself. Lisa searched her mind for images from the dream. Then
suddenly, 'Yes! Greece! I remember, I was on Santorini.'
Lisa jumped out of bed, ran to her desk, and switched on her computer.
While she was waiting for her PC to boot,
she made herself some fresh
orange juice and thought about her dream. Sitting in front of her
computer, Lisa clicked onto Google and typed in "Santorini images".
Almost immediately, a selection
of photographs came onto the screen.
She found a great one of a young couple drinking white wine high on the
cliffs above the blue sea. She saved the image. Using her photo editing software,
It took only half an
hour to remove
the girl's face from the photograph and replace
it with
her own face. The result was excellent - so natural. Lisa could use it
as a honeymoon photograph and put it next to her bed.
Adjectives
stunning:
Very attractive or beautiful.
vivid:
Very bright.
rugged:
Good-looking, with strong features, but not perfect.
muscular:
With large or strong muscles.
Verbs
glance:
To look at something quickly, and for only a short time.
emerge:
To appear or come out from somewhere.
set:
Here meaning 'to make the printer ready to do a particular thing'.
merge:
When one thing joins and mixes with another thing.
linger:
Here meaning 'to be slow to disappear'.
fade:
To slowly disappear.
boot:
To make a computer ready when you switch it on.
remove:
To take something away.
replace:
To remove something from its place and put another thing there.
Nouns
finishing
touches:
The final things you do to finish a job or project. Especially artistic
things.
a
glow:
A soft warm light.
a
groom:
The man who is getting married.
a
grin:
A big smile.
a
villa:
Here meaning ' a house in a hot country that you can rent for a
holiday'.
The
Aegean Sea:
The sea between Greece and Turkey.
flap
around:
The quick side to side movement of paper or cloth in the wind.
a
companion:
Someone who you spend a lot of time with. Here meaing 'lover'.
a
selection:
A group of things that have been chosen carefully.
photo
editing software:
Computer software that you use to change photographs.