Snowboarding for beginners

Maybe my blog should be retitled:  A blog about snowboarding.  I just can't help myself.  It seems everywhere I go someone is asking me about snowboarding.  When will the mountains open?  Where are we going to go?  I can't wait to try out my new board! These are just a few of the questions that I have been hearing.  So here is a rundown of the equipment you need to snowboard.  You can rent it at most mountains so you don't need to make a large investment upfront.  But be warned, snowboarding is a very expensive hobby!

You will need special boots called snowboarding boots.  On the left are the boots I wear.  They are basically just thick snowboots.  One advantage of snowboarding over skiing is that the boots are more natural and comfortable.

You will also need bindings.  Bindings hold your boots to the board.  On the left is an old binding that I still have around.  The straps close around your boot.  (I am just wearing my jeans and sneakers)

And of course you will need a snowboard! On the left are my snowboard (can you see the bindings?) and a new snowboard I bought for my girlfriend.

Vocabulary:

1. rundown (noun):  a short list with just a few details about each item

2. rent (verb): to pay to borrow something for a short time

3. investment (noun): money used to start something including savings, a business or a hobby

4. to warn (warned) (verb): saying something that helps avoid danger or difficulty

5. expensive (adj.): worth a lot or costing a lot of money

6. binding (noun): an object that holds other things together, like the spine of a book or a snowboard binding.

Fill in exercise:

1.  You should also be __________ that snowboarding can be dangerous.

2.  I like to _________ movies instead of buying them because I don't usually watch them more than once.

3.  Putting money in the stock market is a form of financial _________.

4.  I will warn you that it can be __________ if you don't invest wisely.

5.  The _________ is wearing off of the back of my favorite book because I have read it so many times.

6.  Can you please give me a ___________ of what we are going to do today in class?

Grammar Point:

A form of a verb that is used as an adjective is called a participle.  Warned is a particple of the verb to warn.  In the examples in this blog post it is used as a predicate adjective along with the verb 'to be'.

For instance:  You should be warned...

We can also write: You should be happy...      See how happy is the predicate adjective here?

'Warned' is playing the same role in the previous sentence.  The difference is that it was formed from the verb 'to warn' by adding 'ed' on the end.  This makes it the past participle.

PS.  Here's a closer look at the graphic(picture) on the white snowboard.