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On The Fence

Date: Aug 03 2010

Themes: Romance, Soap Opera

Grammar: Contractions and Abbreviations

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Intro

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clueless

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

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Decisions can be hard. No one wants to make a bad decision or miss an opportunity, but if it’s not immediately clear what to do, how do you figure it out?

Ella has realized that it’s time to make a decision about Mason. She has been leading him on long enough. He’s a nice guy, but her feelings for him aren’t very strong. She doesn’t want to miss out on a good relationship, but she also doesn’t want to miss out on someone better. She could go either way. She is on the fence, so she asks Jeff for some advice.

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Dialog

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

Jeff

Ella

Jeff: Hey, I just wanted to tell you thank you for making me feel a part of the team.

Ella: No worries! I figured, you know…

Jeff: The whole fish out of water thing…It’s been quite a weight on my shoulders.

Ella: Yeah, I’m glad I could help.

Jeff: What’s up with you?

Ella: I don’t know, I’m starting to feel a little guilty, I’ve got a little weight on my shoulders, ‘cause I think Mason is starting to really like me and I’m just not feeling that same way. I’m kind of on the fence about it because I kind of told him a big secret that means a lot to me, but, I don’t know. I want him to be able to keep it, so, I’m trying to be faithful…I don’t know what to do! I don’t want to lead him on.

Jeff: What…”on the fence,” like…you don’t quite know which way you’re going to go with this? Or…

Ella: I’m really on the fence. Like, I have no idea what to do. There’s just…I just can’t decide what to do! I just feel clueless and…I just, I don’t know how to tell him directly I don’t like him like that, but, I don’t know if it’s worth it because he knows the big secret, so… I’m just trying to weigh out my options. If there are even any. ‘Cause I don’t think I want to date Mason, that’s…

Jeff: Okay, so, you’re veering towards one side of that fence?

Ella: I don’t know. I just don’t know.

Jeff: You do have other options.

Ella: I guess I could be just celibate?

Jeff: Right under your nose. Right in front of your face.

Ella: I am having allergies…

Jeff: There are other options besides that Mason guy.

Ella: Hmm. Not really clicking. Could be… yeah, I got nothing.

Jeff: Just think about it for a while.

Ella: Okay. I’ll ponder.

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Discussion

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Jeff thanks Ella for helping him fit in at the office. He asks her if he can help her with anything.

She says that she’s been on the fence about what to do about Mason. He likes her, but she can’t decide if she should date him or not. She’s thinking about it and could choose either option, so it’s kind of like she’s balanced on top of a fence and could fall in either direction.

Jeff doesn’t seem to think Ella should date Mason. He says she has “other options.” What do you think he’s talking about?

Have you ever been on the fence about something? How did you decide?

Comments

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crumarina

United States

In my opinion, I believe Jeff is starting to like Ella and probably the other option he asked her to think about was himself, but she didn't realize of that.