There are times in our lives when we had to do something that we really hated and every now and then when it happens, we have to accept that it’s part of our lives. C’est la vie!
If memory serves, when I studied in grade 12, my teacher randomly divided all the members in my class into pairs and asked us to collaborate with our designated partner to finish a joint project. Unfortunately, I was assigned to work with another boy in class, the one I really couldn’t stand as he always appeared to be arrogant and unapproachable. This made me feel very uneasy and uncomfortable so at that moment I intended to ask if someone else in my class would be willing to swap with me. However, this seemed like a mission impossible as many other classmates also didn’t like him at all. Well, as you can imagine, I had no choice but to work with him and try to finish our task for the teacher.
It wasn’t easy for me at first because we had had lots of arguments about how everything should get going. There were some moments when I said to myself I just couldn’t work with that guy anymore. You know, he could be as stubborn as a mule some time and it took us one entire afternoon just to reach agreement on how we would conduct the project. Thankfully, he conceded that I had got some interesting points and became more open to my suggestions. In the end, we got very high marks for that cooperative effort.
More surprisingly, he asked me out for a drink to celebrate the success of our project and most importantly, it was his treat. Well, thanks to this, I finally came to realize that he wasn’t that bad and the real problem with him was that he didn’t know how to express his feelings. After all, we’ve become good friends and believe it or not, he’s the only one from high school that I still keep in touch with.
Vocabulary
every now and then: thỉnh thoảng, đôi lúc
c’est la vie: cuộc đời là thế mà
if memory serves: nếu như tôi nhớ không nhầm thì
designated partner: bạn được chỉ định làm chung
joint project: dự án làm chung
assign: giao cho ai làm gì đó
can’t stand sb: không chịu được ai đó
arrogant: chảnh
unapproachable: khó gần
uneasy: không thoải mái
swap with sb: đổi với ai đó
mission impossible: nhiệm vụ bất khả thi
as stubborn as a mule: rất cứng đầu, bướng bỉnh
one entire afternoon: cả một buổi chiều
reach agreement on sth: đạt được thỏa thuận về gì đó
conduct the project: tiến hành, thực hiện dự án
concede: nhượng bộ
become more open to sth: cảm thấy thoải mái, cởi mở hơn với gì đó
cooperative effort: nỗ lực chung, không phải của mỗi cá nhân
sb’s treat: ai đó bao, trả tiền
come to realize sth: nhận ra điều gì đó
* Bài viết là học liệu trong khóa học IELTS Inspiration 6.5+ Tìm hiểu thêm về khóa học IELTS Inspiration tại: https://www.ola.edu.vn/luyen-thi-ielts-ielts-inspiration |
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