Learn English meaning of ‘whip into shape’

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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• hire
• reliable
• supervise
• harsh

• expectation
• employee
• key
• replace

• whip into shape
• direct

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Sometimes, you might not exercise for a long time. You might begin to feel unhealthy. Maybe you will feel tired, or you might feel weak. A simple solution is to begin to exercise every day with a coach. An exercise coach can whip you into shape. They can supervise your exercise and give you specific expectations. When someone whips something into shape, they make it better. You can whip your body into shape with exercise.

You can whip many other things into shape, too. For example, when a company hires a new employee, they need to teach this person many things. They need to whip her into shape, so she can do a good job. She will need to learn many key things. If the company can’t whip this employee into shape, they might need to replace her.

Brian and Sara are going to whip Sara’s website into shape, but first Sara wants to talk about her difficult employee. Find out more in today’s English lesson about making things better.

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.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Brian

Sara_R

Brian:  So, are you ready to start making changes to your website?

Sara_R:  Absolutely. Let’s whip it into shape!

Brian:  It’s not going to start making money right away, though. It’ll take some time.

Sara_R:  I understand. I’m patient! Well, about almost everything.

Brian:  That doesn’t sound good. What’s wrong?

Sara_R:  It’s my employee, Stuart. I hired him to help me out for a few hours a week, but he’s not very reliable.

Brian:  You just need to whip him into shape.

Sara_R:  I know, I know. But I don’t have a lot of experience supervising people.

Brian:  What’s key is that he understands your expectations.

Sara_R:  It sounds like you’ve done this before.

Brian:  Yup. Stuart needs to know exactly what you expect him to do, and when you expect him to do it. And let’s be honest, you can easily replace him. He should probably know that, too.

Sara_R:  But that sounds so harsh, Brian!

Brian:  You can find a way to say it that doesn’t sound mean. But you should be direct. It’s important to be direct. People respect that.

Sara_R:  You are right about that. Thanks. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Brian:  You can do it. Now, about this website…

Sara_R:  Stuart!

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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