Dealing with complaints- Amusing and odd excuses-Student A
(Mainly adapted from http://members.tripod.com/Madtbone)
Choose one of the situations below and read the excuses to your partner, starting with the most difficult one to guess from, until they work out what the situation is.
Situation 1- Excuses for falling asleep at work
“They told me at the blood bank this might happen.”
“Whew! I guess I left the top off the liquid paper”
“This is one of the seven habits of highly effective people”
“I was doing a Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress”
“The coffee machine is broken”
“Someone must’ve put decaf in the wrong pot.”
“Boy, that cold medicine I took last night just won’t wear off!”
Situation 2- Excuses for being stopped by the police while not wearing a seatbelt
“I usually don’t wear it on Thursdays”
“I didn’t want to mess up my suit”
Situation 3- Excuses for dropping a ball when juggling
“Whoops! Sudden gust of gravity there.”
“That is good! It’s a learning experience.”
“At least it didn’t hit anyone this time.”
Situation 4- Excuses for missing a day of work
“My fish is sick and I need to take it to the vet.”
“I’m still drunk from last night.”
“Last night we had a party and I woke up with a strange man in my bed”
“My car ran out of gas on the way to work. I was pushing it to a gas station and I got a stomach hernia and I have to go to the doctor”
“The city is paving my street and I can’t get out!”
“My dog ate my car keys”
“I can’t find my shoes”
“I can’t find my son”
With your partner, compete to think of the best possible excuse for each situation and then work together to write it out in the best way (maybe using the Apology + Excuse + Promise of future action format)
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Dealing with complaints- Amusing and odd excuses- Student B
(Mainly adapted from http://members.tripod.com/Madtbone)
Choose one of the situations below and read the excuses to your partner, starting with the most difficult one to guess from, until they work out what the situation is.
Situation 5- Excuses for being late for work
“My neighbor’s daughter got a hair brush stuck in her hair and I needed to help her get it out”
“My car caught on fire on the way to work”
“I had to be rushed to hospital for coffee burns on my lap”
Situation 6- Excuses for speeding
“I’ve been living in Germany for so many years that I forgot how to read the signs in miles per hour.”
“My new tires are bigger than the old ones”
“I was leading in the Indianapolis 500…but I think I took a wrong turn!”
Situation 7: Excuses for breaking a date
“I went surfing today and got washed out to sea”
“I was out bowling with my friend’s tonight and I got my hand stuck in the ball, and they had to take me to E.R”
“My mum wouldn’t give me permission”
“My friend is a psychic and she thinks that you are the devil”
Situation 8: Excuses for not filing your tax returns/ not paying your tax
“It was my accountant’s job”
“I had back pain”
“I meant to mail it but I left it in my office while away on a business trip.”
“It is against my religious beliefs”
“I am exempt because I am an African American”
“Our accountant was in Oklahoma taking care of his dying mother”
“There were construction delays at our new place of business, so we couldn’t move in and unpack the boxes which held our records and paperwork”
“We switched bookkeepers and the old bookkeeper thought that the new one would do it but the new one thought that the old one had done it”
With your partner, compete to think of the best possible excuse for each situation and then work together to write it out in the best way (maybe using the Apology + Excuse + Promise of future action format)
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PDF version for easy printing: ComplaintsPairwork
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