Speakout Advanced p 53. Talking about a court case. Listening

It is often the case that families are being (1)___________ by money.
It's rather (2)________ to have a will (3)____________ in court. This is why you need really (4)____________.
Apparently Nicholas doesn't seem to have (5)___________ that his elder brother (6)___________ his father into changing his will.
However, another issue on the table is whether the father was (7)__________  mind. Since he was taking a lot of medication he might not have been (8)__________________.
The daunting challenge is to prove something like this in (9)_____________, showing that he'd lost his (10)____________.


KEY

1. torn apart
tear apart: to make people argue and damage their relationship. E.g. This issue is tearing their marriage apart. Families are always being torn apart by money.



2. rare




 
3. overturned
overturn something to officially decide that a legal decision, etc. is not correct, and to make it no longer valid. E.g. to overturn a decision/ conviction/ verdict. His sentence was overturned by the appeal court. 











4. solid evidence
solid: that you can rely on; having a strong basis. E.g. As yet, they have no solid evidence. His advice was always solid and practical. This provided a solid foundation for their marriage. The Irish team were solid as a rock in defence. 

evidence:  the information that is used in court to try to prove something. E.g. I was asked to give evidence (= to say what I knew, describe what I had seen, etc.) at the trial. He was released when the judge ruled there was no evidence against him. There’s no evidence to suggest he’d lost his mental capabilities.



5. any proof


proof: information, documents, etc. that show that something is true. E.g. There is no proof that the knife belonged to her. Conclusive proof. Without proof you have no case.



6.  pressurised
pressurise: (also pressurize) to persuade somebody to do something, especially by making them feel that they have to or should do it. E.g. Stop trying to pressurize me! She was pressurized into accepting the job. He felt that he was being pressurized to resign.



7. of sound 


sound: sensible; that you can rely on and that will probably give good results. Reliable. E.g. a person of sound judgement. He gave me some very sound advice. This gives the design team a sound basis for their work. The proposal makes sound commercial sense. Their policies are environmentally sound.
 


8. thinking straight
think straight: to think in a clear or logical way. E.g.  'I just can't think straight,' she said, trying not to cry. He was taking a lot of medication so maybe he wasn’t thinking straight.



9. retrospect


in retrospect: /ˈretrəspekt/ thinking about a past event or situation, often with a different opinion of it from the one you had at the time. E.g. In retrospect, I think that I was wrong. The decision seems extremely odd, in retrospect.



10. mental capabilities

Transcript:
Unit 4 Recording 7
M=Man W=Woman
W : This kind of thing seems to be quite common. Families are always being torn apart by money.
M: By arguments about money, it's true. But what do you think should happen in this case?
W: Well, my first point is that it's quite rare to have a will overturned in court so you need really solid evidence.
M: Right ...
W: And it seems as if the younger brother ...
M: Nicholas.
W: Nicholas. He doesn't have any proof that ...
M: Um any proof that the father was pressurised ...
W: That the father was pressurised into changing his will.
M: And without proof you have no case.
W : Exactly.
M: But having said that, there's also the issue of whether the father was 'of sound mind'. He was taking a lot of medication apparently so maybe he wasn't thinking straight.
W : Again, the question is can you prove that? It's very difficult to do in retrospect, especially if there's no evidence to suggest he'd lost his mental capabilities.
M: Right.