Take a look back
This lesson will look back on the previous four lessons. You will get a chance to remember and use idioms you have learned.
Recall the language you learned in previous lessons. What was your favourite idiom from each lesson? Have you had a chance to use it?
Your teacher will help you to remember at least two idioms from each unit.
- Competition
- Failure
- Success
- Progress
Why idioms?
Idioms bring up a lot of pre-packaged imagery. They are emotive and they resonate with native speakers.
Don't over-use them, but on the other hand, a well-placed idiom will bring your language to life.
Introduction
You do not need to make the student produce each phrase.
Rather, choose any two (or more) from each unit. You may consider the following.
- Which phrase do they remember?
- Which do you tend to use or hear?
- Or, just go with the two recommended review.
Review only the most suitable phrases.
Method to review
Choose about two idioms from each lesson and read the definition like a quiz:
Teacher: What's an idiom for behaving in an unpleasant, threatening way so that you get what you want?
Student: um... to play hardball?
Teacher: Correct!
Business Idioms 11: Competition
- Recommended review:
- to play hardball―to behave in an unpleasant, threatening way so that you get what you want.
- Recommended review:
- two can play at that game―when someone does harm to you, you can do the same to them.
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cut-throat―competing in a fierce and intense way.
- the survival of the fittest―only the strongest people continue to exist or be successful.
- the law of the jungle―people who care only about themselves will be most likely to succeed.
Business Idioms 12: Failure II
- Recommended review:
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not going to fly―will not be successful.
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- Recommended review:
- a no-win situation―a situation which is certain to end in failure.
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lose ground―to fall behind; to fail to maintain your position.
- a disaster waiting to happen―something that is going to fail sooner or later.
- run into the ground―ruined or destroyed by bad management (can be used in the passive or active; here the subject is a company or a project, not a person; also has other meanings, e.g., exhausted).
Business Idioms 13: Success III
- Recommended review:
- plain sailing―easy, without problems.
- Recommended review:
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(the) light at the end of the tunnel―the end of a difficult process.
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- strike gold―do, find or make something that will be very profitable or successful, sometimes by chance.
- stop at nothing―not allow anything to stop you achieving your aim.
- sow the seeds of success―start a process which will produce success in the future.
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set your sights on [something]―decide that you will achieve some goal.
Business Idioms 14: Progress III
- Recommended review:
- get something off the ground―begin something.
- Recommended review:
- get the ball rolling―begin something.
- in full swing―in progress.
- start (get) off on the wrong/right foot―begin something badly/well.
- run (go) around in circles―make no progress.
A. Real-world examples
For each short passage below, do the following:
- Read the passage and predict the idiom.
- Listen to the audio, identify the idiom and compare it to your prediction.
- Explain in your own words what it means.
Note: don't try to grasp the full context; just focus on the idiom being used.
- A speaker at Stanford University (California, U.S.) talks about entrepreneurship and beginning a technology company.
"If you want to invent a new technology, then to ___________, you may have to have that expertise yourself."
- A politician talks about winning a compromise versus failing to compromise.
"In every compromise, some people give, and other people give to get to where you need to be. And, if you post a question where there's opposite ends and no compromise, you put yourself in a ___________."
- An interviewer asks an artist about her work, and the balance of tough times and success.
"At the end of the day, you're very hopeful. That's what I got from a lot of your work is, yea, everything's terrible, but there is ___________."
- An ex-diplomat talks about the toughest negotiation he was involved in.
"In diplomacy, so, I worked with some pretty bad guys when I was in Serbia. To beat this guy, because I wanted not only to see him lose, but I also wanted the country to go in the direction of being oriented towards Europe. And so I got to ___________."
- Education advocate Geoffrey Canada describes how the Western education calendar fails poor children.
"Look! If the science says―this is science, not me―that our poorest children ___________ in the summertime; you see where they are in June and say okay, they're there. You look at them in September, they've gone down."
- A professor at Bristol University (Bristol, U.K.) welcomes students and talks about finding success in school and in life.
"Fourthly, for some of you, life may not be always ___________ during your time with us."
- A conference speaker talks about a DNA research team.
"But they have been doing some fantastic work, at least to ___________ to figure out what we would need to do if we were going to bring a mammoth back to life."
- In a panel discussion, an expert talks about competition in the art world, and why he helped create a generous subsidy.
"It was created because there was a feeling that the marketplace should not be the only determinant of what is seen, of what art survives and what art gets presented. That this is not capitalist, ___________. That there's art that's worth doing that has to be subsidized."
B. Discussion
Now, speak naturally about the following topics.
- Describe an industry that has fierce competition.
- Which players in that industry are succeeding in making progress?
- Which players are failing to make progress?
- Describe an emerging industry.
- Which players in that industry are succeeding?
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What progress has been made?
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What degree of competition is there?
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Has anyone failed in that industry yet?