Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
Have you ever had a really difficult decision to make? You have two choices, but neither feels right. In fact, if you choose either one, you feel as if something will go wrong, or you’ll miss out on something important. You feel trapped. You’re caught between a rock and a hard place.
And it really does feel like that. It feels as if you were exploring a cave, and then a rockslide occurred. Now a rock blocks your entrance. Behind you is only the hard cave wall. Both choices are bad: push against the heavy rock, or try to find some way through the hard wall.
Amanda is faced with one of those difficult decisions right now. Find out what she considers the rock and the hard place in this choices English lesson.
3. Watch - Watch the video without reading the dialog.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
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Amanda: Marni, how did you know when the time was right?
Marni: Well, I knew I wanted to be a mom, and I’m certainly not getting any younger, so I just kept trying and it happened. I don’t think you can ever feel completely ready, but I just jumped in.
Amanda: I know. I just, I feel like my career is going really well right now. And I feel like I’m being forced to make a choice: career or baby. And I can’t really get around that. I feel like I have to sacrifice one for another. Basically, I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Marni: Plenty of women have careers and children. You don’t have to sacrifice one for the other. It doesn’t feel like being stuck between a rock and a hard place to me.
Greta: Guys, do you have a minute? I’ve got something really important that I need help with.
Amanda: Well, actually, we were…
Greta: Great. OK. So. Here’s the thing. I talked to the people at SlipperSoft. Basically, the slippers are like a horrible sandpaper if you don’t use the penguin eyelashes. So if we quit using them, the company goes out of business, and all those people lose their jobs, and I don’t want to be responsible for lots of people losing their jobs. But penguins are so cute! I don’t want to be responsible for hurting them either. I feel like I’m between a rock and a hard place here.
Amanda: Surely there’s something else they can use to make those slippers soft, right?
Greta: I don’t know…
Marni: You guys. Jeff’s on the phone. He was in a skydiving accident.
Amanda: Oh my god!
Greta: Is he OK?
Marni: He’s trapped under a giant rock. He only has one arm free, and he used it to call us for help.
Greta: Why did he call you for help?
Marni: He didn’t have your number. But he wants to talk to you. Jeff, Jeff, are you there? Here.
Greta: Hello?
Grammar Point
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Discussion
Amanda is talking to Marni because she’s facing a difficult decision. She doesn’t know how to choose between having a career and having a child. She feels that if she does one, she’ll have to give up the other. She’s caught between a rock and a hard place.
Marni thinks it’s not that big a deal. She thinks that plenty of women have both careers and children. Amanda just needs to not stress out about it so much.
Greta feels stuck, too. She doesn’t know what to do about the slippers. If she insists that they stop using the penguin eyelashes, the company will go out of business and people will lose their jobs. But if she doesn’t insist, then penguins will be hurt. She’s caught between a rock and a hard place, too.
Then a call comes in from Jeff, and it turns out he’s had a skydiving accident. He is literally stuck underneath a rock. And he wants to talk to Greta!
Have you ever been stuck between a rock and a hard place? What happened? How did you make a decision?
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