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Out of the Loop

Learn English with this gossip English lesson

Date: Apr 23 2013

Themes: Celebrity, Soap Opera

Grammar: Present Progressive Tense

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Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

Go Super to Listen

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

Go Super to Listen

All your friends are talking about the hottest new band. Usually, you know what’s going on in the music scene, but you’ve been really busy with work lately and you haven’t been paying attention to what’s new. You have no idea who your friends are talking about. You must be really out of the loop.

Or let’s say that you and your family are planning a vacation. You know what cities you’re going to visit, what hotel you’re going to stay at, and all the dates of travel. Your brother comes in and asks, “Where are we going again?” “Haven’t you been paying attention?” you say. “You’re so out of the loop!”

We can think of “the loop” as the current information that most people are up on. If you’re out of the loop, then you simply don’t know what’s going on.

Greta’s about to find out that she’s been out of the loop about something that affects her in a big way. Discover what it is in this gossip English lesson.

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.

Jeff: Is he still out there?

Mason: Still there!

Jeff: Wow. He doesn’t even take a break to go to the bathroom! Can you see what that sign says?

Mason: Jeez, if I squint, I can tell…It looks like one side says, “Penguin eyelashes are not yours to pluck.” The other side says, “SlipperSoft hates penguins.”

Jeff: I wonder what they’re protesting in front of our building?

Mason: Oh, wait here comes Greta. Looks like he’s gonna go talk to her. He probably wants an autograph. No, wait, actually, it seems like he’s yelling at her! And now she’s running away from him! Wow, what the heck’s going on?

Greta: Why are you guys just standing there? Didn’t you see that crazed person harassing me? Somebody call the police!

Jeff: What was he saying to you?

Greta: I don’t know! Something about penguins and eyelashes and sensitive tear ducts… What does that have to do with me?

Lily: You don’t know?

Greta: No!

Mason: You do?

Lily: It’s only all over the Internet. It’s the top story on Squawker and Undercarriage.com, and everyone’s tweeting about it.

Greta: About what?

Lily: That SlipperSoft, “The slippers so soft that they feel like clouds,” they use penguin eyelashes for the special lining.

Mason: What does that have to do with us? I didn’t even know penguins had eyelashes!

Lily: Well, Greta…

Greta: It’s one of the products that I endorse.

Jeff: You would do that to penguins?

Greta: I had no idea! They told me that no mammals were harmed in the making of the slippers!

Jeff: But they didn’t say anything about birds?

Greta: I guess not! Oh my god. I can’t believe it.

Lily: I can’t believe you guys are just hearing about this. What do you do on the Internet all day? You are so out of the loop.

Jeff: Uh oh.

Greta: What?

Jeff: Have you logged onto your AmericanDreamD8 profile recently?

Greta: Not since last night. Why?

Jeff: It seems like a lot of people are canceling their requests to date you. They’re calling you a penguin abuser. This one guy asked how it would feel to have your eyelashes pulled out. In the Arctic.

Mason: Ouch!

Greta: But I didn’t even know! I was out of the loop, how can they blame me?

Lily: If there’s one thing people on the Internet are good at, it’s blaming people.

Greta: Even when they don’t deserve it?

Grammar Point

Go Super to learn "Present Progressive Tense" from this lesson

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Go Super to Listen

Jeff and Mason notice someone outside holding a sign. He’s protesting something. It’s something about penguins and their eyelashes. When Greta walks by, the protestor harasses her.

Greta runs in, upset. She doesn’t know why the protestor bothered her. Lily can’t believe she’s not up on what’s going on: the slippers Greta endorses use penguin eyelashes to make them soft. People are saying bad things about Greta on the Internet because of it.

Greta doesn’t know what to do. How can she be to blame when she was out of the loop?

Have you ever felt out of the loop? How do you try to not be out of the loop?

Comments

julito

Argentina

I am so out of the loop about what`s going on in the political arena of my country that my friends wonder if actually i live in a submarine. The reason is that i have stopped reading the newspaper and watching TV news relating to political affaires.

Ngubo Sixtus

South Africa

when you see your friends busy with their conversation,then you tag along with them. will you please ask what they are talking about so that you would be not out of the loop.

ola33

Japan

I agree with Light, what is more important to you, what you’re using right now and will be the part of your future life – stay tuned! It’s like organizing yourself, you can’t be aware of everything what’s going on. So, sort it out, purge, leave what is yours and concentrate on it. All the rest – stay out of the loop or your head will spin around.

samirah

Saudi Arabia

iam always out of the loop

DarknessLight

Germany

I can sometimes be out of the loop, especially when I have zero interest in the subject that’s trending. However, I try as much as I can to stay up on what’s going on, especially if it’s extremely important, something that would affect us directly or something that I’m actually interested in.

CyrilCui

China

People pay attention to different news,and everyone is good at different things.Many boys like playing basketball and computer games,so they know a lot about NBA and Warcraft.Most of girls like shopping and colorful things,so they usually follow closely the most fashionable informations.If you ask a guy how to use colored contact lenses,and ask a girl a question about the rookie of NBA in 2012 or which is the best hero in The Frozen Throne,they can’t answer you for sure.If they could’t give you the answers you want,would you say they are out of the loop?

No one is perfect.We can’t know everything in this world,so I never care about being out of the loop.

Daniel_chew

China

my girlfriend had an operation a few days ago.i went to hospital to see her. when i entered the room, i saw a strange man sitting there and talking to her with holding her hand. she told me that man was her boyfriend. then who was I to her? when she got a new boyfriend?it’s awful. can i say i was out of the loop for a long time?

Ngubo Sixtus

South Africa

sometime when you jion your friends busy having a conversation on something,you better ask what the conversation is about because you will be out of loop if you don’t ask.