Lesson #3 9 "An > 9:35 a.m. Sara and Judy wait for their weekly meeting with Joan in the conference room. Sara and Judy are discussing Art Advertising, a competitor. ee Have you seen Art's new TV ad for Morgan Financial? Ihave. What a dog. I wonder who dreamed that one up? I wouldn't want to be in that guy's shoes. Can you believe it? Two years ago, Art Advertising was eating our lunch. They were the 800-pound gorilla. Since then they've gone off the rails. Judy: I've heard they cleaned house and brought in new blood. Don't quote me, but I've also heard that General Motors is headed our way. Sara: GM is leaving Art? No way. Maybe we should send out some feelers. Let put Jake on it. He's our best pitch man. s Relax. I've got it covered. I'm having lunch with John Phillips, GM's vice president of marketing. We went to UMass together. We even dated for a while, so I definitely have an in. Small world. Judy: You know what they say: What goes around, comes around. So how much do we stand to gain if GM jumps ship? I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations. Sara: And? Judy: If we land GM, we stand to make ten million at the very least. And that's just for starters. If GM jumps ship, others are sure to follow. If that happens, believe me, the sky is the limit. Sara: Does Joan know about this? Joan: (entering) Sorry I'm late. Traffic was a nightmare. So, what's with Mr. Pizza? Why's Mario Biagi having kittens? Sara: You'd better talk to Jake about it. Joan: Right. Judy, you look like the cat that ate the canary. Good news, I hope.1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) dog (a) - a bad idea; a poor performer eat one's lunch (to) - to take away market share; to have a competitive advantage 800-pound gorilla (the) - the dominant player in a market go off the rails (to) to lose focus; to act strange clean house (to) - to fire/lay off employees new blood - new employees; new talent have (got) it covered (to) * to take control/action have an in (to) - to have a connection with influence stand to gain (to) - to benefit from jump ship (to) - to leave suddenly back-of the-envelope calculations - a rough estimate on paper land something (to) - to get/win something sky is the limit (the) - unlimited opportunities have kittens (to) - to express extreme worry/fear look like the cat that ate the canary (to) - to look self-satisfied /pleased sty3.B > Practice > Answers Pg. 158 Task 9 Fill in the blanks using the idioms on the previous page 10. ie 12. 13. 14. 15. I've heard that movie is real Google is in the internet-search business. Elvia because she got a better offer. ‘Talita would love a job at Austen Advertising. ‘The company intends ? Really? No, I hadn't heard. ‘Thanks for the heads up. We are losing market share. Our competitors are ‘The scuttlebutt is the CEO has : Now that we've sealed the dez Don't worry. I . [just ran the numbers. What do we if we hire a heavy hitter? ‘The company is in the market for some : These are through the roof. Joe is such a schmoozer. I swear, he everywhere. Joan is because we forgot to work up some ideas. "Why does Anne 2" Brian asked. Because,” Dave replied, "she brought the project in under budget.”3.C » The Story Continues Task ® Read the rest of the conversation, then answer the questions. Judy: Joan: Judy: Joan: Judy: Joan: Judy: Joan: Judy: Great news. I'm having lunch with John Phillips, GM's V.P. of marketing. ‘The buzz is GM is leaving Art Advertising and Mr. Phillips wants to be, and I quote, "Brought up to speed on Austen Advertising.” That's fantastic. Nothing is set in stone. This little téte-a-téte is just a trial balloon. It doesn't matter. Pull out all the stops. Believe me, I'm going to make him an offer he can't refus Where are you taking him? He's taking me to that new French place, La Baguette. Have you been? No. I'm off butter and cream. Me too. But I'm willing to take one for the team if it means snagging GM. 1. How many idioms can you identify in the passage above? What does each mean? Compare your choices to those on pg. 159. For definitions, see the word list, pg. 188. 2. How do you think Judy will pull out all the stops? Explain. 3. When looking for work, how important are connections in your country compared to the United States? Explain. 4. In your country, do business people meet and work over lunch? Explain. 5. Verbally summarize this lesson. Time yourself. You have 2 minutes. * See Movie-TV quotes pg. 2143.D > Expansion > Answers Pg Task } Match the expressions in column A with the definitions in column B. 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) have an out (to) ___ clean up (to) ___ stand to lose (to) have all the bases covered (to) jump the gun (to) "A" player (an) ___ shape up or ship out (to) ___ wishy-washy (to be) ___ It's a dog-eat-dog world. hob knob (to) (S)___ learn the ropes (to) in the doghouse (to be) ___ jump the shark (to) ___ take the bull by the horns (to) ___ the canary in the coal mine bite the bullet (to) jump through the hoops (to) __ pass the buck (to) ___ work out the kinks (to) go overboard (to) B) c) D) E) F) G) H) ) 3) K) 1) M) N) 0) P) Q R) s) a heavy hitter to learn the system to face possible loss a warning sign to face many obstacles to reach a goal to win decisively to find and solve problems to try too hard My way or the highway. the point at which something successful begins to go downhill; the beginning of the end to avoid responsibility by giving it to someone else to be out of favor/under a cloud to have an exit strategy/excuse to be prepared thoroughly to rush to a wrong conclusion to schmooze; to rub elbows with to accept a difficult challenge to be uncertain /undecided to make a difficult decision everyone for themselves; no mercy3.E > Wi ig Practice Task ® Write a sentence using each idiom. 1) dog (a) 2) eat someone's lunch (to) 3) 800-pound gorilla (the) 4) go off the rails (to) 5) clean house (to) 6) new blood 7) have (got) it covered (to) 8) have an in (to) 9) stand to gain (to) 10) jump ship (to)11) back-of-the-envelope calculations 12) land something (to) 13) sky is the limit (the) 14) have kittens (to) 15) look like the cat that ate the canary (to) 3.F > More Writing Practice Task ® Write a short passage using as many idioms as you can from this lesson. The topic is your choice. Make it business-related if possible.