Here’s the story of Melinda who needs some help with her workout.
M – Melinda
B – Bo
M: Excuse me, sir. My name’s Melinda. Could you help me with my workout? I’m preparing for a cycling competition, but I’m all thumbs.
B: What? Even if I bent over backward to teach you something, it would be a lost cause.
M: You think so? Why? I can pay for your time.
B: Get real, woman. You’re never going to pull it off.
M: I’m sure I can do it if I try hard. Why are you writing off my chances right away?
B: You’re not the kind of person I could teach anything.
M: Oh, thanks for dashing my hopes. It was so nice of you.
B: Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.
M: No problem. But I never give up and, you’ll see, I’m going to kick butt.
B: Sure, good luck.
Here’s the vocabulary summary:
| workout | a period of physical exercise that you do in order to improve your fitness, ability, or performance |
| all thumbs | extremely awkward or clumsy |
| bend over backward | to make a great effort to help sb or to reach agreement with sb |
| lost cause | a person or thing that is certain to fail |
| get real | to start to think in a serious or reasonable way, to stop having foolish ideas, hopes, etc. |
| pull sth off | to do sth difficult successfully |
| write sth off | to consider sth to be lost, hopeless, unimportant, etc. |
| right away | without delay or hesitation |
| dash sb’s hopes | to destroy or ruin sb’s hopes |
| kick butt / ass | to succeed or win in a very impressive way |
