CLASS 03-10-23

Going Out for Lunch #1

CONVERSATION:

Tom: So how’s the bull market treating you these days, Jenny?

Jenny: Business is booming and we’ll be even busier in the next few weeks. We fast-tracked this new project and
want to hit the ground running with the latest technology. We hope to corner the market before our competitors
come up with similar products.

Tom: It sounds like you’re really in the driver’s seat.

Jenny: Well we’re walking a tightrope. Regulators could pull the plug at any time and we’ve already spent a fortune
on development.

Waiter: Hi, my name’s Todd and I’ll be your waiter today. Can I get you something to drink?

Jenny: I’d like a glass of the Cabernet Sauvignon, and we’re ready to order too.

Waiter: Sure, what would you like?

Jenny: I’ll have the lasagna, please.

Tom: And I’ll have the chicken penne with cream sauce and a glass off your house white.

Waiter: Sure. I’ll bring those drinks right out.

VOCABULARY:

Bull market: When share prices are rising in the stock market.

Booming: growing or expanding rapidly.

Fast-tracked: Treated special to make progress more quickly than normal; given a higher priority.

Hit the ground running: start something and make progress on it quickly.

Corner the market: gain a lot of the market share; control supply and the price of something.

In the driver’s seat: in control

Walking a tightrope: doing something dangerous that requires extreme care and precision; navigating a situation
that must not have any errors.

Pull the plug: end or finish something, usually suddenly and without warning.

Spent a fortune: used a lot of money.

POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

Walking a tightrope hit the ground running driver’s seat

Corner the market pull the plug booming

Fast-tracked bull market spend a fortune

EXERCISE:

1. I was having a lot of fun working on this project, but then my boss suddenly decided to pull the plug_. Wow, it
was sudden! What will I be doing next?

2. We’re doing well these days and business is Booming.

3. His corporation is quietly buying all the real estate in Richmond hoping to _ Corner the market _ and have
complete control.

4. It’s best to sell stocks in a Bull market, when the prices are high.

5. I need a new car but I can’t Spent a fortune on it, my budget is too tight.

6. We’re Walking a tightrope dealing with the local regulators, we have to be very careful, and make sure we do
everything right.

7. Our company is in the In the driver’s seat with our latest innovations. Nobody knows more about this business
than we do.

8. When we jump out of the helicopter, we have to Hit the ground running.

9. The project I’m working on got Fast-tracked and I’ll have to do lots of overtime to keep on schedule. It has a
higher importance than anything else I’m doing.

10. I don’t know how to turn off the fan and I don’t like it blowing on me, how about if I just pull the plug_, that’ll
make it stop.

11. We don’t have a lot of time to work on this, we’re on a very tight schedule, there’s no time to waste, we have to
Fast-tracked if we’re going to be successful.

12. Anybody who wants to buy a house in this seller’s market better be ready to Spent a fortune

1) 13. I’m the only one providing this service, it is my own invention, I charge as much as I like. I’m so glad I
was able to __ Corner the market _.

Going out for Lunch #2

CONVERSATION

Carrie: How’s business these days?

Thomas: Well, our shareholders are happy but behind the scenes, it’s pretty chaotic.

Carrie: I know you can’t tell me much but, in a nutshell, what’s going on?

Thomas: Well, we’re caught between a rock and a hard place with this latest project. Our competition is so
cutthroat on their pricing that we’ve had to cut corners.

Carrie: Hopefully you’ll bounce back. Will you be able to break even?

Thomas: My gut feeling is that we’ll succeed only if we go for broke.

Waiter: Are you ready to order?

Carrie: Not quite yet. Can you give us another minute? I haven’t looked at the menu.

VOCABULARY

1.Shareholders: people who hold shares in a company; people who share the risks and the benefits of a
company’s business.

2.Behind the scenes: what happens out of sight from the public; things that must be done but that only the
people in control know about.

3.In a nutshell: a quick summary of something.

4.Caught between a rock and hard place: in a difficult situation or position that needs a decision between
two or more difficult options.

5.Cutthroat: competitive, fierce, ruthless, unkind, not caring what happens to an adversary as long as I do
well.

6.Cut corners: do something cheaply and easily by ignoring rules or the best way of doing things.

7.Bounce back: recover from something bad that happened.

8.Break even: not making money but not losing money.

9.Gut feeling: an immediate feeling about something that is not based on reason, logic, or rationality, that
cannot be proved very easily.

10.Go for broke: risk everything in one final effort or push.

POSSIBLE ANSWERS

Caught between a rock and a hard place cutthroat gut feeling

Go for broke behind the scenes bounce back

Cut corners shareholders in a nutshell

Break even

EXERCISE:

1. We were getting near the end of the game and we were down by several points, so we decided to put in
some more effort and _ Go for broke.

2. Big business is very _ Cutthroat, they care only about themselves and they don’t worry about it if a
smaller business fails.

3. It’s like watching swans on the water – they look so smooth and effortless on the surface, but Behind the
scenes their feet are paddling really hard.

4. I’m hoping my wife can Bounce back quickly after she gets back from the hospital.

5. My Gut feeling is that we’re not going to do very well these next few months.
6. I know we should always follow the safety rules but we have to _Cut corners if we expect to make a
profit. I hope we don’t get in trouble.

7. As long as they make money our Shareholders don’t care too much how we do business.

8. We can _break even_ from now until the Christmas shopping season, but I hope we can get out of the
red from Thanksgiving until then.

9. Having to make difficult choices often means that you are __ Cutthroat _.

10. Richard doesn’t do quality work and I have to fix his mistakes. In a nutshell HE is the problem – I
have to fire him.

11. It was a gorgeous musical presentation, technically perfect, I’m sure that Behind the scenes the
production people were working very hard.

12. The first thing we have to do if we want to stay in business is keep our __ Shareholders _ happy – if
they get worried they might sell their stock and then we would look weak.

13. I don’t have time for a long explanation of what the problems are, just give me to me In a nutshell,
briefly.

14.When I first started selling my art work, I could pay for my supplies and electricity but I wasn’t getting
anything for my labor. I could not Break even _ until the following year.

15. We have to find ways to spend less money and still keep our quality high. How can we cut corners_
and still make a good product?

16.My daughter-in-law got Covid when it first started – she lives in Brooklyn, NY – and has not been able
to _ Bounce back. She is still weak and is often out of breath.

17. Years ago, when I was seventeen years old, I met a very interesting girl. I had a Gut feeling

Change the statements from plural to singular.

1. Hurricanes bring heavy rain and strong wind.

A hurricane brings heavy rain and strong wind.

2. Weather maps illustrate the weather forecast.

A weather map illustrate the weather forecast.

3. Thermometers measure the temperature.

A ther
4. Meteorologists study the weather.
A Meteorologists studies the weather.

Change the statements from singular to plural.

5. A tornado is a strong, violent wind.

tornados are a strong, violent wind.
6. A reservoir stores water for an area’s use.

7. A flood covers dry land with water.

8. A volcano causes great destruction when it erupts.

Circle the correct verb in each statement.

1. A plateau (is are) a raised area of flat land.

2. Climate ( describes describe) the typical weather of an area.

3. In the northeast, seasons (changes change ) four times a year.

4. Bridges (crosses cross ) over rivers or roads and ( connects connect ) two bodies of land.

5. A tunnel ( cut cuts ) through a mountain or under the ground.

6. Millions of tourists (travels travel) in the summer.

7. Tropical rain forests (grows grow ) near the equator where it is very hot and wet.

8. An earthquake (shakes shake) the earth, at times causing great damage.

9. Streams (is are) flowing bodies of water, smaller than rivers.

10. Valleys (is are ) areas of low land that ( lies lie ) between mountains.

The Mississippi River (is, are) the longest river in the United States. It ( flows, flow) 2,300 miles from
Minnesota to New Orleans on the Gulf of Mexico. The name Mississippi ( comes, come ) from an Indian
word that means “Big Water.”

The Mississippi ( provides, provide ) a transportation route for farms and industrial products going up and
down the river. Goods ( travels, travel) from the center of the nation to the Gulf of Mexico. Tugboats
(pushes, push) barges, which are large flat boats, up and down the river. These barges (is, are ) arranged in
large convoys, sometimes with one hundred or more barges joined together.

The Mississippi (serves, serve ) other purposes, also. It (provides, provide) water for irrigation for farming.
Large refining companies (needs, need ) thousands of gallons of water to process oil. People ( fishes, fish)
the waters, weekend boaters ( speeds, speed ) up and down the banks, and bird watchers (keeps, keep )
track of the hundreds of species of birds that stop at the river on their way north or south.

The Mississippi ( does, do ) not always (flows, flow ) peacefully along. Flooding ( occurs, occur ) at times
of heavy rain. Levees, which are walls built along the river, ( protects, protect ) hundreds of miles of towns,
homes and farms. In other areas, spillways ( drains, drain ) high water into floodways or reservoirs. But the
Mississippi (has, have ) a mind of its own, and major floods still (occurs, occur ) from time to time.

A short story from FLASH FICTION, 72 Very Short Stories edited by James Thomas

Mr. Mumsford by Larry French

Bibs, the janitor, had never killed a man before. He’d raised rabbits as a boy and killed one now and then
for supper. A quick blow to the back of the neck, and it was done. He was not a particularly intelligent man
and was not suffering from guilt or any philosophical questions about what he was going to do. He had
come to the small southern school as a janitor twenty-seven years ago. On his first day at school, he had
worn a pair of old bib overalls and thus earned the nickname of Bibs. This was the reason he had come to
kill the principal who was working late in his office down the hall. Earlier in the evening, Bibs had gone
into the equipment room and picked out the largest baseball bat he could find. He then went and hid in a
space between the green metal lockers that lined the hallways. At a little past ten the principal walked out
of his office, locked it, and started down the hall. Bibs stepped out in front of him.

“Say, Bibs,” asked the principal. “What are you doing here this time of night?”

Beads of sweat stood out on Bibs’ forehead, and he clinched the bat with both hands. He was six feet tall,
very black, and towered over the principal.

“I come to kill you,” said Bibs.

“But why? What have I ever done to you?”

“Just what you called me is why!” said Bibs. “Nobody in this school, including you, has ever bothered to
learn my real name. Onliest person knows my real name is that woman signs my check, and even she puts
it in an envelope marked BIBS. The kids should learn my name in four years. Hell, I know more’n half of
their names and where they live. This morning I stopped a couple of “em and asked ‘em did they know my
real name, and they looked at me like I was crazy. That’s why I come to kill you!”

The principal was a short man anyway, but now his shoulders slumped even further, and he looked sad and
confused.

“Well,” he said. “Well, what is your name?

“Ralph Mumsford,” said Bibs.

“Mumsford’s a strange name for a black man to have,” said the principal. “It’s English, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know.”

“You should look it up,” said the principal. You should go over to the school library and look it up. Say,
lookee here, if I promise me and all my teachers call you by your real name from now on, will you not kill
me?”

Bibs thought for a moment, seemed to waver, and then said, “Well, that seems fair. You do that, and I
won’t have to kill you.”

The principal looked tired.

“You been working too many hours,” said Bibs. “A Christian man ought to always eat the supper meal with
his wife.”

The principal sighed and said, “I do believe you’re right, Mr. Mumsford. I do believe you have a point
there.” Then he turned and walked down the dark corridor toward the green exit sign leading out to the
playground.

QUESTIONS.

1. How important is a person’s name?

2. Does the principal use good grammar?

3. How will the principal persuade all the teachers to use Mr. Mumsford’s real name?

Why aren’t we told the principal's name?