Learn English meaning of 'Pull Something Off'

Intro

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

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• hang on
• literally
• frosting
• lose interest

• stressed out
• come up with
• pull something off
• cupcake

• nonsense
• baking

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

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What would you do if you just remembered that you have a huge report due tomorrow morning? You need to write 15 pages in just a few hours! Would you feel stressed out? Would you panic? Or would you make a big cup of coffee, open your computer, and start writing? Would you stay up all night to come up with a great report? Could you pull this off?

Sometimes, it’s not easy to pull something off. You might have problems with time or money. You might lose interest in what you’re doing. But when you pull something off, you succeed in doing it. You make it happen. You don’t let anything stop you from your goal. You ask friends for help, you buy supplies, you do whatever you must do to succeed. And, by the way, if you can pull off a 15-page report in just one night, congratulations! You’re pretty amazing.

Andy, Dominique, and Kelsey are trying to come up with a great party for Sheila, but they need to have everything ready by tomorrow. Can they pull it off? Watch today’s soap opera to find out!

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.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Andy_H

Kelsey

Dominique

Andy_H:  You couldn’t find cupcakes?

Kelsey:  Nope.

Andy_H:  Or balloons?

Kelsey:  Nope.

Andy_H:  Or general party supplies?!

Kelsey:  Sorry, Andy. I mean, we’ve been shopping all day, and we couldn’t come up with anything.

Andy_H:  Oh! I don’t think I’m going to be able to pull this off.

Kelsey:  Andy, you can do it! Andy doesn’t think he’s going to make this party happen.

Dominique:  Nonsense. Tell him it will be fine.

Kelsey:  Dominique says you’ll be fine.

Dominique:  Tell him we can help him.

Kelsey:  Dominique says we can still help you out.

Dominique:  Tell him we can make cupcakes.

Kelsey:  Andy, Dominique says we can make cupcakes.

Andy_H:  Oh! OK! Yeah, that sounds great.

Kelsey:  We’re on it.

Andy_H:  Sheila will be home tomorrow, so I need help figuring out general party supplies…. Hello? Kelsey? OK… I guess she’s excited about the cupcakes.

Kelsey:  Ugh! I hate baking.

Dominique:  Yeah, it’s literally the worst.

Kelsey:  I don’t even like cupcakes.

Dominique:  I like the frosting. They’re better than cake.

Kelsey:  Definitely better than cake. And hopefully easier to make.

Dominique:  I think they’re pretty easy. You know what’s good? Cookies!

Kelsey:  Mmm… Cookies and coffee, or pie…

Dominique:  I seriously love pie.

Kelsey:  I’m hungry.

Dominique:  Me, too. Let’s get lunch, and we can talk about cupcakes.

Kelsey:  Have you made cupcakes before?

Dominique:  Yeah. I mean, kind of…. I should say, I’ve tried, but I either lost interest, or they didn’t turn out right.

Kelsey:  Do you think we can pull this off?

Dominique:  We’ll make it happen. And if it doesn’t work out, we can just put lots of frosting on top of them.

Kelsey:  Perfect.

Andy_H:  What kind of cupcakes? What do you mean? What flavor? I don’t know. Chocolate! OK, yeah. That sounds fine, too. Yeah, sure. So does that. Hang on, let me call you back. Get! Away! From! Me! Ahhhh! OK… All right…

Dominique:  Hey, Andy. No, I’m not with Kelsey. She’s getting cupcake supplies, and I was just about to get the balloons.

Andy_H:  No! I already have balloons!

Dominique:  OK, great!

Andy_H:  What kind of cupcakes do you think Sheila will like?

Dominique:  Well, I don’t think it matters as long as you have a lot of frosting on top.

Andy_H:  I am so stressed out!

Dominique:  Andy, it’s going to be fine. I’ll call Kelsey, and we’ll take care of the cupcakes. We’ll be able to pull this party off, but I think you need to try to enjoy getting this ready for Sheila. She’s going to love whatever you do. I’ll call Kelsey.

Andy_H:  That’s a good idea. Ahhhhh!

 

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