F2F Class Notes (Ben)

Vocabulary

a hypocrite = someone who claims to have a quality they don’t actually have, someone who believes in an insincere, deceitful way

He always says we should help poor people but I have never seen him give any money to them. What a hypocrite.

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a difference in
After the employees got better training, there was a big difference in the number of complaints they received.
There was a change in his expression when he heard he was let go.

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an ultimatum = an ultimate (=final) warning to a person or country that you will take action against them if they don’t listen to you

Many husbands give ultimatums to their wives by asking them to choose between their husband and their mom.

My girlfriend asked me to stop seeing my female friends or she would leave me. I broke up with her, because I can’t stand ultimatums.

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Phillip works hard in his company but he is not popular because every time his colleagues ask him for help his answer is “I’m not engaged to do this.” Therefore, all his colleagues have a deep dislike for him.
One day he had an appointment with a client but his car broke down halfway so he had to pull over and check the engine. He couldn’t fix it by himself and decided in a heartbeat to take a taxi. Unfortunately, none of the taxi driver stopped to pick him up which made him had no choice but to call his colleagues for help.
After being refused by the first person he called, he had to call everyone else he knew of. Finally, someone agreed to offer help and asked him to wait at the roadside. 10 minutes later, his colleague drove there. He was so happy and thankful until he saw him opened the trunk and took out an undersized bike. “Do I detect a subtle difference of your expression?” His colleague said. “Can you find something smaller than this?” Phillip was so upset. His colleague smiled:”Don’t complain! This is the best thing I can get for you on such short notice. I need to go somewhere else. Bye.”
Well, what can I say, what goes around comes around.

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Phillip worked hard in his company but he was not popular because every time his colleagues asked him for help, his answer was “I was not engaged to do this.” Therefore, all his colleagues had a deep dislike for him.
One day he had an appointment with a client but his car broke down halfway so he had to pull over and check the engine. He couldn’t fix it by himself and decided in a heartbeat to take a taxi.

Unfortunately, none of the taxi drivers stopped to pick him up, which left him no choice but to call his colleagues for help.
After being refused by the first person he called, he had to call everyone else he knew of. Finally, someone agreed to offer help and asked him to wait on the roadside.

10 minutes later, one of his colleagues arrived there. He was so happy and thankful until he saw him open the trunk and take out an undersized bike.
“Do I detect a subtle difference in your expression?” his colleague said.

“Could you have found something smaller than this?” he asked.

Phillip was so upset. His colleague smiled and said:”Don’t complain! This is the best thing I could get for you on such short notice. I need to go somewhere else. Bye.”

Well, what can I say, what goes around comes around.

Grammar

MY, YOUR, HIS = 特定, just like THE

THE colleague = MY colleague
–> There is ONLY ONE. Everyone knows which one

eg. Ben / Cricket / the colleague who agreed to help / the colleague that we just spoke about

“I went shopping with my friend”
The implication is that everyone knows which friend you are talking about –

不特定: one of my friends

English learners often say “with my friend” instead of “with one of my friends”

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When 2 verbs are together, only the first one changes

I could swam –> I could swim.
When I was a child, I could swim.

I saw him cried –> I saw him cry.
I let him went to the party –> I let him go

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The PAST CONDITIONAL is:

• could have
• should have
• would have

It is often used to express regrets or accusations.

I’m sorry, I should have called you.
I’m sorry, I would have called you, but it was too late.
I could have asked you first, but I thought it wasn’t necessary.

Oops, I should not have said that.

• You should have told me if you couldn’t come !
• I would have called you but I thought Ben had done it !
• Then you could have asked him !