英語(yǔ)播客 A Cup of English In search of swords.

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Have you ever been roped into a project that you didn't plan, or necessarily want? To be roped into something, is to be caught up, or carried along by someone else's idea. It's like being involved because you are forced to, or you feel obliged. Well, I have been roped into a project recently. My son Cass is having his birthday party soon, and wants to have a medieval battle with his friends on our back lawn......hmmm, I'm not sure if that's a good idea. I have been given orders to collect as many Nerf swords as possible. These are replicas of real swords that are made out of a hard foam, like a spongey plastic. You can hit someone with them and not cause any damage. That is the whole point, - a friendly battle. There will be two teams, the Reds and the Greens. My other task is to buy some material to make the slip-on, sleeveless shirts. On the one hand, fighting with spongey swords shouldn't be a problem; but on the other hand, kids in battle can quickly get over excited and have accidents. I suppose the answer is to have a few rules, explain them clearly to everyone, and then to supervise. I will have my camera ready; there are bound to be some excellent photo opportunities that I would like to share with you. I should probably also have a box of bandaids or plasters, and some ice available for the wounded soldiers. I will be the nurse Florence Nightingale for a while during the party, I'm sure. Well, I've managed to collect five swords so far; I need to find seven more. And then I'll get to work, making the team shirts. I don't mind being roped into this really; it's quite fun, and it's what my son really wants for his birthday. If he has his battle, a chocolate icecream cake, and a pinata, he will be one happy birthday boy.

Grammar notes.

Common expressions: to be roped into, the whole point, slip-on clothing, to manage to.

1. I got roped into decorating all the tables at my sister's wedding; it was a big job!

2. Can you take off those dirty shoes and leave them in the garage? The whole point of having an area for shoes in the garage, is to keep the house clean.

3. This slip-on skirt is so easy; there are no zips, clips, or buttons to deal with.

4. They managed to reach the top of Mount Everest before it was too late; they still had time to climb down to base camp.