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

Set 45 - You don’t have to shower me with your wise remarks

Maya: One more sale like this and I’ll fulfill all my dreams. I knew I would do it.

Jenny: Slow down! Don’t be too overoptimistic. Okay? You’re still an unknown quantity in the market. As they say “one swallow doesn’t make a summer.” You’ve got to get real, dude. Will you?

Maya: Don’t you see that the only thing you’re good at is discouraging me. You don’t have to shower me with your wise remarks. What’s wrong with strokes of luck?

Jenny: Don’t take my advice amiss. I just want you to rise to the occasion and act sensibly. Suppose you made one more big sale but the client was dissatisfied and left an offensive review on social media platforms. You can’t imagine our loss then. I just want you to keep your standards high. That’s it.

Maya: OK. Message delivered. Just pick your words more carefully next time. Will you?

Jenny: Next time! Huh. Unless you quit being edgy and critical, you’re way off if you think there’ll be a next time. See you!

Vocabulary;

fulfill one’s dream: to accomplish; to make a dream come true.

overoptimistic: (adjective) too hopeful; unjustifiably optimistic.

one swallow doesn’t make a summer: a single fortunate event does not mean that what follows will also be good.

get real: to realize or accept the truth; to be realistic or practical.

discourage: to make someone feel less confident, enthusiastic, and positive about something, or less willing to do something.

shower someone with: to give someone a lot of something.

a stroke of luck: something good that happens to you by chance.

take something amiss: to understand something as wrong or insulting.

rise to the occasion: to perform better than usual in response to a special situation or event.

keep one’s standards high: to raise the quality of your reality; to refuse excuses and shortcuts.

edgy: (adjective) nervous; not calm.

way off: completely incorrect, mistaken, or misinformed.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases or words;

1. If you are not working to earn your food, you will soon become someone else's food. If you are not working to .......... your dreams, you will soon be used by someone to fulfill their dreams.

2. One swallow doesn't make a .......... and we won't be content to slip back into some of the bad habits that have seen us lose games this year.

3. Though he has a lot on his plate, Burrus says he can .......... to the occasion. "Every generation has its challenges.”

4. Tom is .......... off about Jenny if he thinks she's the type to rat us out.

5. Make this call instead of me. I am getting so .......... I might scream at her.

6. He wanted to live up to her standards. And though she .......... her standards high, they were not unrealistic.

7. He .......... me with questions about my background and intentions, each one eliciting a purposeful response from me.

8. I don't want to .......... her - merely inject a note of realism.

9. Planning for the project was grossly inadequate and .........., particularly as regards staffing.

10. Oh, get .......... — there's no way you got the job over the CEO's son, no matter how qualified you are.

11. I suppose it was a .......... of luck that the firm was so up-to-date, so enthusiastic to capture and keep its young executives that it had put such provisions into its package.

12. Please don't take my comment .......... — I was merely trying to suggest a few ways to improve your performance, not criticize everything about it.

1. fulfill 2. summer 3. rise 4. way 5. edgy 6. kept 7. showered 8. discourage 9. overoptimistic 10. real 11. stroke 12. amiss