Success for a young bricklayer – answers and notes
1 Derbyshire, in the East Midlands of the UK
Notice the pronunciation of ‘Derby’ – Darby’. Jason Stanley is from Ashbourne in Derbyshire.
Notice Jason’s Derbyshire accent when he says ‘good lads like‘ ‘come‘ and ‘country‘
2 Something of a reputation = quite a reputation / a real reputation.
build a reputation / a career = to create a good reputation / career gradually and carefully
3 He was crowned the best young bricklayer in Britain.
be crowned sth – be declared the best at some activity such as sport, or in a competition. Gapfillers was crowned the winners of a recent competition = i.e. won the top award / prize.
a bricklayer lays bricks to build structures such as walls. Sometimes, informally, this is shortend to a ‘brickie‘.
4 He thought he had won nothing. He assumed he had not been placed in the competition – that he had not won anything – he thought that that was it, that he had had it – i.e. he had no hope of winning. He says "that’s it for me = I’ve had it".
To think that that is it / that you have had it – to hold out no hope of a positive / successful outcome
Eg If it’s promotion within the firm you want, I think you’ve had it / I think that’s it. – i.e. there is no possibility of it.
5 The fact that they were good and also not just local but from all over the country.
6 It makes it more intense because the bricklayers have to complete it within a certain time.
7 They were decorative all the way through – so there were no plain, straightforward elements to complete, everything demanded extra skill.
8 To take over his father’s building firm.
9 It isn’t – it is currently booming despite the housing slump.
boom – noun – a period of sudden economic growth, especially one that results in a lot of money being made:
eg We knew the property boom of the 1990s was bound to end at some stage.
In 2005 we had a boom in car sales.
The insurance business suffered from a vicious cycle of boom and bust (real success and utter or serious failure).
boom – verb – The furniture industry is booming (= is very successful) .
a slump – noun – 1) a fall in the price, value, sales, etc. of something:
There’s been a slump in the demand for new housing.
2) a period when an industry or the economy is in a bad state and there is a lot of unemployment:
eg an economic slump
The property industry is currently in a slump.
10 He is a semi-professional goalkeeper for Buxton FC (Football Club).
If you have a sideline you have an activity that is additional to your main job:
Eg Trevor works in a printing firm, but has a job in a bar in the evenings as a sideline.
11 That he deserves to get on, given the amount of training and the time he puts into it, but that it’s just a wish (i.e. just a dream) Jason has. If it comes true his father wishes him all the best (informal ‘good luck to him’ = I wish him all the best)
to get on = to do well
12 There are still trophies to be won from his day job.
a trophy – a cup, certificate, decorative object awarded as a prize, or a cash prize etc
the day job – the usual, often ordinary way you earn your living. Sometimes people have a dream of doing something special, such as being an athlete, a writer, dancer, singer or artist of some kind, but know they must be realistic on their way to reaching that goal – so they stay on in the day job – they don’t give it up, because it pays for what they need day to day.
If you think someone is not very good at what he / she longs to do you might say (to others, probably not to their face!) that you hope (s)he doesn’t give up the day job – i.e. you have little conviction (s)he would succeed in doing what (s)he hopes to.
13 He’s come out as the winner of every one – a fantastic achievement.
14 To continue his winning streak.
to have a winning streak / or to be on a winning streak – to enjoy a spell of success or luck
15 In Canada – the reporter is inventing the idea that there is a ‘bricklaying equivalent of the World Cup’ in Canada!