Maya worked at a small printing shop near a busy shopping center. On Monday morning, a customer came in to pick up 200 flyers for a restaurant event. The flyers were supposed to be ready by 9:00 a.m., but they were still sitting in the computer file. No one had printed them. Maya looked at the order sheet and felt her stomach tighten. She knew the customer had explained the deadline clearly the week before. When the customer asked what happened, Maya did not blame anyone right away. She said, “I’m sorry. We dropped the ball on this order, and I understand why you’re upset.” The customer crossed his arms, but he listened.

A few minutes later, Maya’s coworker Ben came from the back room. He looked embarrassed and said, “I thought it was already taken care of.” Maya looked at him and said, “That’s how things slip through the cracks.” Then she turned back to the customer and said, “We can print them now and deliver them to your restaurant by noon. We want to make this right.” The customer sighed and said, “I appreciate you fixing it, but this put me in a difficult position.” Maya nodded because she understood the message behind his words.

SPEAK

Think about the phrases. Answer in complete sentences.

1. Maya said, “We dropped the ball on this order.” What happened in the shop that made this phrase fit the situation?

2. Ben said, “I thought it was already taken care of.” What did Ben probably fail to do?

3. Maya said, “That’s how things slip through the cracks.” What problem was she pointing out?

4. Maya said, “We want to make this right.” What was she offering to do?

5. The customer said, “This put me in a difficult position.” What part of the story shows why he felt this way?

6. Which phrase shows that someone made a mistake?

7. Which phrase shows that something was missed or forgotten?

8. Which phrase shows that the mistake affected another person?

9. Did Maya sound responsible, careless, or defensive? Use the reading to support your answer.

10. Did Ben’s words make the situation better or worse? Explain your answer.

LISTEN

Listen to your teacher’s statement and question. Then answer in complete sentences.

Teacher recording:

“In this situation, I think Maya handled the problem better than Ben. Maya admitted the mistake and offered a solution. Ben may not have meant to cause a problem, but his words showed that he assumed the order had already been handled.”

1. What did the speaker say?

2. How do you respond to the speaker’s opinion?

3. Use the reading to support your response.

WRITE

Write 5–7 sentences.

Choose two phrases from the reading. Explain what happened in the story and why each phrase fits the situation. Then explain whether each phrase sounds positive, negative, or neutral in the reading.

NOTES

drop the ball

• What it means:
  To make a mistake or fail to do something you were responsible for.

• How we use it:
  We use this phrase when someone had a job, task, or responsibility, but they did not handle it correctly.

• Why we use it:
  It is a natural way to admit a mistake or point out a mistake without giving a long explanation.

• Example:
  We dropped the ball on the order, so we need to fix it quickly.

taken care of

• What it means:
  Handled, finished, or completed.

• How we use it:
  We use this phrase when a task, problem, or responsibility has already been handled.

• Why we use it:
  It sounds natural in everyday English and is softer than saying “completed” or “finished” every time.

• Example:
  The forms were taken care of yesterday.

slip through the cracks

• What it means:
  To be missed, forgotten, or not handled because no one noticed it.

• How we use it:
  We use this phrase when something important was not done, often because people were busy, confused, or not checking carefully.

• Why we use it:
  It helps explain how a mistake happened without always blaming one person directly.

• Example:
  The message slipped through the cracks because everyone thought someone else had answered it.

make this right

• What it means:
  To fix a problem or do something to correct a mistake.

• How we use it:
  We use this phrase when someone wants to repair a situation after something went wrong.

• Why we use it:
  It shows responsibility. It tells the other person, “I know there is a problem, and I want to fix it.”

• Example:
  We made a mistake with your order, but we want to make this right.

put someone in a difficult position

• What it means:
  To cause a problem for someone or make someone’s situation harder.

• How we use it:
  We use this phrase when one person’s action creates stress, delay, pressure, or trouble for another person.

• Why we use it:
  It is a respectful way to say, “This problem affected me.”

• Example:
  Canceling the order at the last minute put the customer in a difficult position.