Insomnia is a condition where you can’t sleep. Jack and Sasha share a house together and are talking at the breakfast table.
Insomniac
Jack: What’s up? You look awful!
Sasha: Ugh… I feel awful.
Jack: Yeah?
Sasha: I got absolutely no sleep last night.
Jack: How come?
Sasha: First, the neighbours had a fight that went on for hours. Then, just as I was dropping off, their dog started barking!
Jack: What a nightmare!
Sasha: That thing yapped for hours on end!
Jack: Did you manage to get any shuteye at all?
Sasha: I reckon I went off just as the sun was coming up, so only about two hours all in all.
Jack: I feel bad for you.
Sasha: Oh well, no use in complaining I guess.
Jack: Yep. We had better get to work. Come on.
Sasha: Okay. Perhaps I can catch forty winks on the bus!
Vocabulary
awful – very bad
yap – bark (the noise that a dog makes)
shuteye – a word for sleep
all in all – in total
complain – speak negatively about something that you don’t like
catch forty winks – a phrase that means have a small sleep
nightmare – can mean a bad dream or a bad situation
Discussion
- Do you need a minimum amount of sleep every night?
- Have you ever been kept awake? What caused the problem?
- Do you like to catch forty winks in the afternoon? Where is the best place for this?