Today' lesson

Idioms

add fuel to the flames	If you add fuel to the flames, you do or say something that makes a difficult situation even worse. He forgot their wedding anniversary, and his apologies only added fuel to the flames.
all ears	To say that you are all ears means that you are listening very attentively. Of course I want to know - I'm all ears!
answer call of nature nature's call	When a person answers the call of nature, they go to the toilet. I had to get up in the middle of the night to answer the call of nature.

Caught in a storm

Black clouds gathered above us, but we were too intent on playing football. We hoped that the clouds would go away so that we could continue playing.Our hopes were dashed when suddenly heavy rain began to pour. In a few seconds we were all soaked to the skin. To make matters worst, lightning flashed dangerously close to us. The deafening thunder and howling wind did not help either. We ran towards a large tree under which we had parked our bicycles. The tree provided some shelter from the rain and we were tempted to remain under it. However we knew that it was dangerous to stay under a tree during a thunderstorm. So we got on our bicycles and pedalled off. There was no other shelter available nearby. So I, for one, decided to go home. Since I was already completely wet, I might was well to go home instead to seeking shelter. It was just about the fiercest storm I had ever been in. The driving rain made cycling difficult as I could not see more that a couple of metres in front of me. A car flashed past me. It was too close for comfort. Perhaps the driver did not even see me. So I thought it was better to stop somewhere before I got hit by another car. Luckily I found a bus-stop with a roof. I hurried gladly under the roof even though I had to share it with a dozen other people who were also soaked to the skin. It was a bit of a squeeze but no one complained. For an hour the storm lashed everything around us. We were silent spectators to an awesome display of power by nature. I felt very small and vulnerable, even afraid; but I could do nothing but watch. Finally the rain slowed down to a drizzle and the wind died down. I could still hear distant thunder but the worst of the storm was over. So happily I got on my bicycle and pedalled home.

dash sb's hopes   to destroy someone's hopes       vulnerable   able to be easily physically, emotionally, or mentally hurt, influenced or attacked       drizzle rain in very small light drops