IDIOM CONNECTION
Heart Idioms and a Bad Employee
Introduction
Do you know any expressions that use the word heart?
Reading
The employee was a very good person at heart. He seemed to mean well but he was always having problems at work. He could not do his job well. Nobody in the company had the heart to try and talk to him about his job performance. This changed when a new supervisor arrived. The new supervisor knew all of the company work rules by heart and he expected everyone to abide by those rules. The supervisor was not sure what to do about the employee. He went back and forth about trying to find a good solution to the problem. Finally, he decided to have a heart-to-heart talk with the employee so that they could both understand the situation. They could then work together so that the employee would be able to fit in with the company better and improve his job performance.
Reading Questions
Answer the following questions. The answers can easily be found in the reading above.
1. Where has this person been dying to go?
2. What is he warming up to?
3. When was he all ears?
4. What is he open to?
5. Where would this person go at the drop of a hat?
6. He wants to go to Disneyland even if he winds up doing what?
7. What will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
8. What must he take care of?
Making Connections and Idiom Meanings
Some of the idioms have another meaning or are connected to another meaning. Use this information to help you choose the correct meaning for each of the underlined idioms:
Your score is: ___ out of 8
True or False
Your score is: ___ out of 8
Grammar Focus
Your score is: ___ out of 8
Discussion Questions
Answer the following questions using the idioms from this section:
1. Do you know any bad person who is really a good person at heart?
2. Do you know anyone who seems nice but is actually not a good person at heart?
3. Do you know anyone who means well but always causes problems?
4. Do you know anyone who usually does not mean well?
5. Would you have the heart to fire a bad worker who had a family to support?
6. Do you know someone who would not have the heart to make a difficult decision that may hurt someone?
7. Do you know any poems by heart?
8. What other things do people sometimes learn by heart?
9. Did you abide by all of the rules when you were in high school?
10. Are there any rules that you think are very silly so you do not abide by them?
11. Do you often go back and forth when you are trying to decide something?
12. Do you know anyone who goes back and forth about every small decision?
13. Do you sometimes have a heart-to-heart talk with a friend?
14. Did your mother or father ever have a heart-to-heart talk with you about something?
15. Do you know anyone who does not fit in with the people around him or her?
16. Do you think that there are some companies that you would not fit in with?
Role Play
Student A: You are a supervisor in a fast-food restaurant.
You are talking with one of the employees.
The employee is a good person at heart and always means well but she always makes mistakes.
Student B: You are the employee in the fast-food restaurant. You try hard to fit in with the other employees and you abide by all of the rules but little mistakes always seem to happen. You are sorry but you do not know what to do.