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

Set 48 - firing on all cylinders

Pat: Hi, Katie—I’m calling you to cry on your shoulder. Do you mind if I come over? I really need to talk to you.

Katie: Of course I don’t mind. I’ll make a pot of tea in the meanwhile. Pat, what’s the matter?

Pat: It’s just that everything is wrong with my life. My boss’s on my case for every little thing. Also, those two guys I share the house with. They don’t lift a finger to help me. I really feel like throwing in the towel.

Katie: Calm down, Pat, I know you’ve got a heart of gold. Nonetheless, you must be overwhelmed as you’re firing on all cylinders to graduate this year.

Pat: But that doesn’t mean they have the right to treat me like dirt.

Katie: Well. Nobody likes picking fights with you. People around you are making deductions based on your behavior as you don’t have time to talk to them. All you need to do is to handle one issues at a time. This way you’d avoid being sidetracked and you’d have the opportunity to straighten things out.

Pat: Actually, I hadn’t thought of it like that before. That really makes sense. Thanks, Katie. I always count on you for good advice.

Katie: There’s nothing to it.

Vocabulary;

cry on one’s shoulder: To tell one's problems to someone else in an attempt to gain sympathy.

on my case: constantly or frequently nagging, harassing, or annoying someone.

lift a finger: to make the slightest effort to do something, especially to help someone.

throw in the towel: to give up on some endeavor; to quit or abandon something; to admit defeat or failure.

have a heart of gold: to be very sincere, generous, and kind by nature.

fire on all cylinders: working at full strength; making every possible effort.

treat someone like dirt: to be very rude, disrespectful, or unkind to (someone).

pick a fight: to start a fight or argument with someone on purpose.

make deductions: to reach a decision or answer by thinking about the known facts.

one thing at a time: to do or deal with one thing before starting to do or deal with another.

sidetracked: (adjective) to be distracted from an immediate or important issue.

straighten out: to organize or correct something.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases or words;

1. I'm sorry for getting on your .......... about it, but I need an answer soon.

2. He's the kind of troll who just posts on the message board to .......... a fight.

3. It took me a while to .......... out my father's accounts.

4. Can I please cry on your .......... for a little bit? I just found out I failed my Bio exam.

5. After trying their hand in the mobile market for just a few years, the company is already throwing in the .......... after finding very little success.

6. So let's take it a little further. Can you focus upon more than one .......... at a time? You cannot. Can you feel more than one way at a time? Can you feel good and bad at the same time?

7. The new website will be firing on all .......... once we get the comments section up and running!

8. The rich folks treated us like .......... because we were civil servants.

9. It is very easy for participants to become .......... on tangential issues. Focus on the task at hand. Avoid venturing off into several issues at once or revealing information that is yet to be covered.

10. We don’t have a clue how many guests are coming. All we can do is make .......... from the available facts.

11. Sarah always goes out of her way to help everyone she can — she really has a .......... of gold.

12. She does all the work in the house. Nobody else .......... a finger.

1. case 2. pick 3. straighten 4. shoulder 5. towel 6. thing 7. cylinders 8. dirt 9. sidetracked 10. deductions 11. heart 12. lifts