Set 44 - Don’t make much of it

Advanced English Conversations (2) - Robert Allans, Matt Edie, A. Mustafaoglu 2020

Set 44 - Don’t make much of it

Bill: How did the match go?

Jason: Terrible! I can’t find any justification for that poor performance.

Man! we’re getting complacent.

Bill: You’re not. Don’t make much of it. OK? We’re all bound to fall short somewhere.

Jason: Don’t make me laugh! You can’t make champions out of a bunch of idlers and slackers. What’s making me nauseous is that nobody was willing to stick to the plan.

Bill: Well, let’s face the facts and get it straight. You can’t expect strained and shattered people to outperform their rivals. That was obvious through the look on their dead faces.

Jason: Well; you’ve got a point there! They didn’t sleep a wink for 48 hours prior to the match.

Bill: See! Your job now is to reinvigorate and encourage them and they will undoubtedly regain momentum and produce deliverables as they always did.

Jason: Will do. We’ll have to make a comeback very soon.

Vocabulary;

justification: a good reason or explanation for something.

complacent: (adjective) feeling so satisfied with your own abilities or situation that you feel you do not need to try any harder.

make much of: to give a lot of importance to someone or something.

fall short (of): to fail to meet or reach something, usually a goal, standard, or requirement.

Don’t make me laugh: said to someone to show that you cannot take their suggestion seriously.

idler: a person who avoids work or spends time in an aimless or lazy way.

slacker: a person who does not work hard enough.

make someone nauseous: to disgust someone.

get something straight/right: to understand correctly or make something clear.

outperform: to do well in a particular job or activity compared to others of a similar type.

not sleep a wink: not to sleep at all.

reinvigorate: to make someone feel healthier, and more energetic again.

regain momentum: to take or get back; recover.

deliverable: an anticipated outcome; an expected result.

make a comeback: to achieve a success after retirement or failure.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases or words;

1. Watch yourself! There is no .......... for treating people so badly.

2. Let’s get one thing .......... I’m the boss and I tell you what to do.

3. After analysts predicted her campaign was dead in the water two months ago, the candidate appears to be making an incredible ..........

4. Each study also has a set of key .......... which also need to be defined at an early stage.

5. The company regained .......... after introducing more effective marketing polices.

6. Lower interest rates could .......... consumer spending and the struggling housing market.

7. Our newborn son is rather colicky, so my wife and I haven't slept a .......... the last few nights.

8. The company has consistently .......... its rivals this season.

9. The management where I work thinks that taking time to eat lunch is only for ..........

10. We can't afford to become .......... about any of our products.

11. Her tactless and foolish comments on the report made me ..........

12. To get rid of .........., install cameras and give them tasks that require constant attention.

13. James is going to give the talk! Don’t .......... me laugh! He’ll make a mess of everything.

14. Unfortunately, your application fell .......... of the requirements for entry, so it has been denied.

15. They've made .......... of this new marketing director coming in. I just hope he's up to the job.

1. justification 2. straight 3. comeback 4. deliverables 5. momentum 6. reinvigorate 7. wink 8. outperformed 9. slackers 10. complacent 11. nauseous 12. idlers 13. make 1 4. short 15. much