LESSON NOTES

Upper Intermediate S1 #11

Are you Running Late in the United
States?

CONTENTS
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
3 Vocabulary Phrase Usage
4 Grammar
5 Cultural Insight

# 11
COPYRIGHT © 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
 ENGLISH

1. MARK: So nice of you to finally join us. Please sit down.

2. SHEILA: I'm sorry! The bus was late, and I didn't make it to the Metro station in
time.

3. MARK: Please don't let it happen again.

4. SHEILA: It won't. I promise.

5. MARK: I hope at least you have that memo that I asked you to prepare.

6. SHEILA: Of course. It's right here. Oh my goodness! My roommate was sick

this morning, and I was distracted. I must have left my folder with it
at home.

7. MARK: Save the excuses; we're fortunate this time because we had
someone else researching it who can write it quickly, but please be
more vigilant in the future.

8. SHEILA: I'm so sorry, sir. I'm such an idiot.

9. MARK: It's okay. To err is human. Just try to be more careful next time.

10. SHEILA: Of course.

VOCABULARY

V oc abular y English C lass

a memorandum, a short
memo document informing noun
recipients on a specific topic

explanation for mistakes or

excuse bad behavior noun

ENGLISHCLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #11 - ARE YOU RUNNING LATE IN THE UNITED STATES? 2
 prepare to write verb

a professional bag used to

briefcase carry documents noun

not focused, not paying

distracted attention adjective

aware, careful, paying

vigilant attention adjective

err to make a mistake verb

idiot a stupid person, a fool noun

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Did you read the memo on the new Giving apologies is better than giving
policies? excuses.

I'm tired of your excuses for your behavior. I prepared a speech for the Senator but
Grow up! she decided to rewrite it herself.

A nice leather briefcase can cost a lot of The noise distracted him from work.
money.

She distracted her friend to ask a question. Soldiers must always be vigilant when on
guard.

Excuse me, I erred when I said that the My sister is such an idiot; she always locks
meeting is today, it is tomorrow. herself out of her car!

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

ENGLISHCLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #11 - ARE YOU RUNNING LATE IN THE UNITED STATES? 3
Mark says "Save the excuses." This is also a somewhat harsh comment for Sheila, telling her
he does not want to hear the reasons why she failed at her task. We can say "Save the ____" to
tell someone not to tell us something. Again, this can be considered kind of rude, so never
use it for a superior, and be careful when using it to not offend someone.

For Example:

1. A: "Good morning, sir. Great weather we're having today, isn't it?"
B: "Save the small talk. What's the news on our quarterly profits?"

Mark says "To err is human." This is a much softer comment by Mark after being harsh with
Sheila earlier. A common idiom in English is "To err is human, to forgive divine," meaning
that everybody occasionally makes mistakes, but it is good for us to forgive others when they
make errors. By saying even just the first part of this saying, Mark shows that he forgives Sheila
for her mistakes.

For Example:

1. A: "Oh dear, I spilled juice on your newspaper."

B: "That's okay. To err is human."

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson Is Explaining Without Conjunctions.

"I'm sorry! The bus was late, and I didn't make it to the Metro station in time."

Often when we are constructing excuses, reasons, or arguments, we use connecting words
like "because," "on account of," or "as a result of." However, these types of words are not
always necessary. This is especially true of spoken English, when simply listing your reasons in
a logical order is sufficient to explain. Sometimes, this makes your verbal statement clearer
and more logical. Here are some examples of excuses using connecting words and then the
same ideas without them.

For Example:

1. "On account of the bus being late, I missed my flight." = "The bus was late, and I
missed my flight."

2. "Because we didn't have enough time and the budget was too small, we couldn't finish
the project." = "We couldn't finish the project. The budget was too small, and we didn't
have enough time."

It is usually quite simple to construct reasons in this way and can sometimes give your

ENGLISHCLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #11 - ARE YOU RUNNING LATE IN THE UNITED STATES? 4
arguments more emphasis. It is especially effective to use this phrasing when you are
apologizing and want to explain why something happened, but you do not want to look like
you are trying to make excuses. It is useful to put an apologetic statement in front of the reason,
as in the following examples.

For Example:

1. "I'm sorry, we won't be able to finish the project with the current budget. Material costs
rose, and we can't afford it with the old amount."

2. "Unfortunately, James won't be coming in today. He's out sick with the flu."

Language Tip

Mark says "So nice of you to finally join us" to Sheila when she enters the meeting. This is a
somewhat harsh criticism of Sheila's lateness. Mark uses sarcasm to mockingly elevate
Sheila's status and "thank" her for her presence. This shows that Mark is upset that Sheila is late
to the meeting. In order to show disapproval, sarcasm is sometimes used to "thank" people for
things that they should do automatically. It can be rude and should never be used to a
superior.

For Example:

1. Employee: "I know it is two weeks overdue, but I just contributed an e-mail to the
group discussion."
Boss: "Why, thank you so much for honoring us with your input. Please try and do so
on time in the future."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

"To Err Is Human"

People make mistakes in every country. What differs from country to country is how you
respond. In the United States, it is usually sufficient to simply apologize for your mistake and
explain why it happened. However, with a more serious error, it is often a good idea to try to
explain what steps you will take to ensure that it will not happen again. If you have been late to
a meeting twice in a row because you overslept, it is a good idea to get a new alarm clock to
make sure that you wake up on time in the future.

ENGLISHCLASS101.COM UPPER INTERMEDIATE S1 #11 - ARE YOU RUNNING LATE IN THE UNITED STATES? 5