Advanced English Conversations (2) - Robert Allans, Matt Edie, A. Mustafaoglu 2020
Set 6 - I have nagging doubts
Joe: I have nagging doubts about your ability to carry out this task on your own.
Mary: What makes you come to this conclusion?
Joe: Alec showed up a couple of days ago and fueled speculation that you are not qualified. He gave me an account of your failures while you were working for him.
Mary: Alec’s quick to pass judgments on other people but he’s far from perfect herself. He used to be the ballbuster and gave everybody around a hard time.
Joe: Don’t judge him too harshly. He really couldn’t have done things differently with a bunch of underperformers around. Alec is an experienced director and far from showing poor judgment of the economic situation or jump to conclusions.
Mary: Your remarks are a true error of judgment. The truth is Alec downgraded me after declining his endless offers to make me rat on my colleagues against my better judgment.
Vocabulary
nagging: (adjective) annoying or worrying you because it does not completely stop.
carry out: to perform or complete a job or activity; to fulfill.
come to a/the conclusion: to decide (something) after consideration.
show up: to arrive somewhere.
fuel speculation: to intensify possible answers/guesses to a question without having enough information to be certain.
pass judgment: to express a strong opinion about someone or something.
ballbuster: a person who is relentlessly aggressive, intimidating, or domineering.
jump to conclusions: make a hasty judgment before considering all the facts.
error of judgment: a mistake in the way that you examine a situation and decide what to do.
downgrade: to reduce to a lower grade, rank, or level of importance. rat on: to disclose incriminating information about someone; to report.
against one’s better judgment: contrary to what one feels to be wise or sensible.
Exercise;
Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases or words;
1. My wife pushed me to sell the ranch against my .......... I used to spend wonderful time over there.
2. Don't .......... - just because they're late doesn't mean they've had an accident!
3. News of the president's illness .......... that an election will be held later in the year.
4. He complained a little of a .......... pain between his shoulder blades.
5. It seems that Dave had .......... that both he and his firm had reached a sort of crossroads.
6. You have to be ashamed of yourself. It was mean of you to .......... your friends.
7. The hurricane was .......... to a tropical storm when its speed dropped to 70mph.
8. Many others, however, are perfectly decent, ordinary citizens who are guilty of one .........., or sometimes of technical errors.
9. John's boss, Mark, is quite the .......... After completing the project ahead of time and under budget, Mark ordered John to work through the weekend to finish up other meaningless tasks.
10. Don't .......... on Lori until you hear what happened.
11. So I took it out on Phil when he did .......... which was natural enough I suppose but probably unhelpful.
12. The local authority is to.......... a feasibility study into expanding the old stadium.
1. better judgment 2. jump to conclusions 3. fuelled speculation 4. nagging 5. come to the conclusion 6. rat on 7. downgraded 8. error of judgment 9. ball-buster 10. pass judgment 11. show up 12. carry out