Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
When something bothers you, you can usually deal with it for a while. But there’s a limit to what you can tolerate. At some point, you’re going to snap. When you do, it may seem like you’re overreacting to a small problem. Really, though, you’ve been building up frustration for a long time and the thing that upset you was just the last straw.
This phrase is a shortened version of an older idiom: “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” A camel can carry a lot of weight. But at some point, it will reach a limit, and if you add one more straw, even though it doesn’t weigh much on its own, it will be too much for the camel to hold up.
No one would know that Ella has been bothering Jason. She doesn’t work very hard and can be a little distracting, but Jason’s a pretty easygoing guy. Nonetheless, watch what happens when Ella makes a disgusting noise while finishing a drink.
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.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
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Ella: Slurp…slurp...
Jason: OK, that’s it!
Ella: What?
Jason: The noise! It’s driving me crazy!
Ella: I’m thirsty!
Jason: That’s the last straw. I’m reporting you to Devan.
Ella: What do you mean, it’s the last straw?
Jason: What do I mean it’s the last straw? I mean, you have such a poor work ethic, you date your coworkers, you make noise! That’s it! That’s the last thing! That’s the one that pushes me over the edge!
Ella: What?
Jason: I mean, that’s the last in a series of annoyances and disappointments that has led me to lose patience, trust and hope.
Ella: You’re gonna be sorry, Jason…
Jason: Oh yeah? Am I? Am I, now? Am I, really? Enough is enough, you know. OK, that was the last straw. I was kidding before, about that being the last straw, but that is the last straw!
Grammar Point
Go Super to learn "Simple Future Tense" from this lesson 
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Discussion
While Jason is using the fax machine, Ella is standing next to him slurping her drink and making an annoying noise. Suddenly, Jason gets upset. He tells Ella that she has been bothering him for a long time and that the noise she was making is the last straw. He’s going to talk to their boss about her.
Ella doesn’t understand, so Jason explains that he thinks she’s a bad worker and has reached the end of his patience. Clearly, he’s angry since he complains that Ella dates a coworker, forgetting that he does too. Naturally, Ella is hurt and tells Jason he’ll regret what he has said.
Then, she throws a whole box of straws on Jason’s head.
Of course, this makes him even more upset. He says he wasn’t serious before, but this new offense really is the last straw.
Is there something or someone that bothered you for a long time before you got upset? What was the last straw?
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