More practice with the language you're learning
Supplementary support — grammar, vocabulary, speaking and review — built from language already taught in the course. Not a lesson, and never a test.
1.Notice first: read these and say what they share — "**Hold the tension**: 'I'm not going to close this today, and I don't think I should. Closing it today would be a decision made from tiredness, not conviction.'" / "**Name both truths**: 'It is true that this move would protect the team. It is also true that it would sign off on a version of the product I don't believe in. Both of those are true; I don't want either weakened.'" / "**Resist the false middle**: 'The compromise on the table isn't a compromise — it's a way to leave the room without the argument. I'd rather have the argument.'"
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Four moves at C2: (a) HOLD THE TENSION — say out loud that you're not going to resolve this today, and name why the resolution would be premature; (b) NAME BOTH TRUTHS — state each side in its strongest form, not as a hedge; (c) RESIST THE FALSE MIDDLE — refuse the fake compromise that would let everyone leave the room without the real disagreement; (d) COMMIT TO A NEXT STEP, NOT A VERDICT — end on a specific action or trigger, not on a synthesis. 'On Monday I will X; by June I will know Y; then I will decide.'
2.Hold the tension out loud on: 'Do we accept the client's contract as offered?'
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'I'm going to leave this open until Friday. Signing today would be a fatigue decision. Refusing today would be a pride decision. Neither is the call I want to make.'
3.Name both truths for: a public health measure that saves lives and shrinks civil liberties.
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'It is true that this measure would save an estimated N lives per year. It is also true that it would set a precedent for compulsion in a domain where compulsion has historically been misused. Both are true. I don't want either flattened.'
4.Commit to a next step, not a verdict, for a decision of your choice.
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Model answer will vary; must include a specific action AND a specific trigger date AND the decision it will unlock.
5.Sort these into "natural" and "not natural" and justify each decision out loud: "**Hold the tension**: 'I'm not going to close this today, and I don't think I should. Closing it today would be a decision made from tiredness, not conviction.'" · "**Name both truths**: 'It is true that this move would protect the team. It is also true that it would sign off on a version of the product I don't believe in. Both of those are true; I don't want either weakened.'" · "**Resist the false middle**: 'The compromise on the table isn't a compromise — it's a way to leave the room without the argument. I'd rather have the argument.'" · "**Commit to a next step**: 'Here's what I'll do this week. On Monday I open the hiring plan. By the 20th I'll know whether the pilot metric moved. On the 21st I'll come back with a decision, not before.'"
6.Build three sentences on this pattern about your own week — one neutral, one emphatic, one tentative.
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Four moves at C2: (a) HOLD THE TENSION — say out loud that you're not going to resolve this today, and name why the resolution would be premature; (b) NAME BOTH TRUTHS — state each side in its strongest form, not as a hedge; (c) RESIST THE FALSE MIDDLE — refuse the fake compromise that would let everyone leave the room without the real disagreement; (d) COMMIT TO A NEXT STEP, NOT A VERDICT — end on a specific action or trigger, not on a synthesis. 'On Monday I will X; by June I will know Y; then I will decide.'
1.Fill: 'That would be a ____ ____.' (2 words — about a tired call)
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fatigue decision
2.Fill: 'Give me a ____ ____, not a verdict.' (2 words)
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next step
3.Fill: 'This is a ____ ____. More talking won't close it.' (2 words)
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stable disagreement
4.Complete in context: "Hold the tension. Closing today would be a tiredness decision."
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to hold the tension
5.Complete in context: "Name both truths, don't average them."
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to name both truths
6.Complete in context: "That's ______. It lets everyone leave without the argument."
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the false middle
7.Complete in context: "This is ______. Don't try to solve it in ten minutes."
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productive tension
8.Complete in context: "That would be ______. It's a decision about the meeting, not the question."
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a premature resolution
9.Complete in context: "That was ______. We'll be back at it in six months."
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a fatigue decision
10.Complete in context: "Give me ______. What are we doing on Monday?"
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a next step, not a verdict
11.Complete in context: "For five minutes, argue against your own view. Then we'll come back."
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to argue against your own view
12.Complete in context: "This is ______. More talking won't close it. A decision might."
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a stable disagreement
13.Complete in context: "Say 'not yet' honestly. 'Not yet' with no date is just evasion."
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to say 'not yet' honestly
14.Cover the list. Which words can you still recall, and what does each one add that a simpler word wouldn't?
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to hold the tension — to keep two opposing positions in play instead of collapsing them prematurely | to name both truths — to state each side of the tension in its strongest form, not as a hedge | the false middle — a fake compromise built to avoid the real disagreement rather than resolve it | productive tension — the state of holding two views in a way that generates thinking rather than paralysis | a premature resolution — a decision made to end discomfort rather than because the case is ready to close | a fatigue decision — a decision made because the parties are tired of the conversation, not because they've finished it | a next step, not a verdict — the honest close for a genuinely open question — a specific action and trigger, not a synthesis | to argue against your own view — to state the strongest case against your current position aloud, without irony | a stable disagreement — the state in which both sides have understood each other and still disagree, with no further clarification available | to say 'not yet' honestly — to refuse to close a question today with a specific trigger and date attached
1.Give two natural word partners for "to hold the tension" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: Hold the tension. Closing today would be a tiredness decision.
2.Give two natural word partners for "to name both truths" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: Name both truths, don't average them.
3.Give two natural word partners for "the false middle" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: That's the false middle. It lets everyone leave without the argument.
4.Give two natural word partners for "productive tension" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: This is productive tension. Don't try to solve it in ten minutes.
5.Give two natural word partners for "a premature resolution" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: That would be a premature resolution. It's a decision about the meeting, not the question.
6.Give two natural word partners for "a fatigue decision" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: That was a fatigue decision. We'll be back at it in six months.
7.Give two natural word partners for "a next step, not a verdict" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: Give me a next step, not a verdict. What are we doing on Monday?
8.Give two natural word partners for "to argue against your own view" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: For five minutes, argue against your own view. Then we'll come back.
9.Give two natural word partners for "a stable disagreement" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: This is a stable disagreement. More talking won't close it. A decision might.
10.Give two natural word partners for "to say 'not yet' honestly" (adjective + noun, verb + noun, or adverb + adjective), then use one.
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Model use: Say 'not yet' honestly. 'Not yet' with no date is just evasion.
11.Choose three words from this lesson and build one sentence that uses all three naturally.
1.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "to hold the tension": "Hold the tension. Closing today would be a tiredness decision."
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Keep the meaning of: to keep two opposing positions in play instead of collapsing them prematurely
2.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "to name both truths": "Name both truths, don't average them."
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Keep the meaning of: to state each side of the tension in its strongest form, not as a hedge
3.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "the false middle": "That's the false middle. It lets everyone leave without the argument."
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Keep the meaning of: a fake compromise built to avoid the real disagreement rather than resolve it
4.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "productive tension": "This is productive tension. Don't try to solve it in ten minutes."
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Keep the meaning of: the state of holding two views in a way that generates thinking rather than paralysis
5.Rewrite so the meaning stays the same but you do NOT use "a premature resolution": "That would be a premature resolution. It's a decision about the meeting, not the question."
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Keep the meaning of: a decision made to end discomfort rather than because the case is ready to close
6.Summarise the lesson's main idea in exactly 20 words — no more, no less.
1.The tension you brought.
2.Back-up if yours collapses: 'Do I take the promotion that means less of the work I love?'
3.Back-up: 'Do we sign the client whose money we need and whose values we don't share?'
4.Long turn (2 minutes, no notes): Bring the live tension you prepared. Teacher plays TWO board members — one wants to close today in one direction, one in the other. Your job as chair: (a) hold the tension out loud in your opening, (b) force each board member to NAME BOTH TRUTHS of the other's position at least once, (c) refuse at least one FALSE MIDDLE by name, (d) close on a next step with a specific trigger and a specific date — not on a verdict, and not on evasion. In the final 5 minutes draft the meeting minute in the register of the transcript.
5.Record 90 seconds using at least four of: to hold the tension, to name both truths, the false middle, productive tension, to argue against your own view, a next step, not a verdict. Listen back and mark one thing to make more precise.
1.Plan first: write a three-line outline (position → strongest support → concession) before you draft.
2.Write a 280-word dialectical essay on your tension in the register of a serious weekend column. It MUST: (a) open by HOLDING THE TENSION out loud; (b) NAME BOTH TRUTHS in their strongest form, one paragraph each — no hedges; (c) explicitly REFUSE the false middle available on this question by name; (d) close with a NEXT STEP, NOT A VERDICT — a specific action and trigger date and what would have to be true. Alongside, submit a 40-word POSTSCRIPT — 'The trigger' — stating exactly what would have to happen by when for you to close the tension in each direction. Use at least SEVEN target items naturally. (280 words + 40-word trigger postscript). Include: to hold the tension, to name both truths, the false middle, productive tension, a premature resolution, a fatigue decision, a next step, not a verdict, a stable disagreement, to say 'not yet' honestly.
3.Model analysis: compare your text with the model. What does the model do in its first and last sentences that yours doesn't?
1.Examiners at Band 5 explicitly reward candidates who 'develop discussion of complex issues with nuance'. Holding-the-tension answers — 'I hold two views here, and I want to name both of them clearly before I say which one moves me on Monday' — read as C2 nuance, not as evasion, provided you close with a next-step commitment.
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For any Part 4 question you feel torn on ('Is it possible to be truly independent in modern society?'), open with 'I hold two views on this and I'd like to state both.' Name both truths in one sentence each. Close with 'What I would actually do this week is X — and here's what I'd need to see to change my mind.' That structure is C2 nuance, delivered in 60 seconds.
2.Where does the Chair open by HOLDING THE TENSION?
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First paragraph: 'That's the tame version of what's on the table. But that's not the actual question in this room and I don't think we should pretend it is.' The Chair refuses to let the arithmetic close a question that isn't only arithmetic, without dismissing the arithmetic.
3.Where does the Head of Retail NAME BOTH TRUTHS?
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'The first one: I think we should close it… The second one: I think we shouldn't close it… Those two are both true. I'm not comfortable with either of them alone.' Both positions stated in their strongest form, neither hedged.
4.Where does the CFO catch a potential FALSE MIDDLE — and how does the Head of Retail answer honestly?
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'That's the kind of statement that sounds honest and stops us making a decision.' The Head of Retail concedes it in principle, then offers a NEXT STEP with a specific trigger (£100k number, 20th of next month) — the answer to 'sounds honest' is 'give me a trigger, not just a feeling'.
5.How does the Chair COMMIT TO A NEXT STEP rather than a verdict?
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'We don't vote today. We vote in ninety days. Between now and then, the retail team has a written plan on the £100k number by the 20th of next month.' Specific action, specific trigger, specific date — the honest form of 'not yet'.
6.Which line prevents the whole minute from being an evasion dressed up as complexity?
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The CFO's line: 'when we come back — if the number hasn't moved — I want us to be the kind of room that votes to close.' That commits, on the record, to the outcome under a stated condition. Held complexity is not the absence of a decision; it is the deferral of one, on terms.
1.In your own words, when do you use "Dialectical thinking: hold the tension · name both truths · resist the false middle · commit to a next step, not a verdict"?
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Four moves at C2: (a) HOLD THE TENSION — say out loud that you're not going to resolve this today, and name why the resolution would be premature; (b) NAME BOTH TRUTHS — state each side in its strongest form, not as a hedge; (c) RESIST THE FALSE MIDDLE — refuse the fake compromise that would let everyone leave the room without the real disagreement; (d) COMMIT TO A NEXT STEP, NOT A VERDICT — end on a specific action or trigger, not on a synthesis. 'On Monday I will X; by June I will know Y; then I will decide.'
2.Complete naturally: "Hold the tension. Closing today would be a tiredness decision."
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to hold the tension
3.Complete naturally: "Name both truths, don't average them."
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to name both truths
4.Complete naturally: "That's ______. It lets everyone leave without the argument."
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the false middle
5.Complete naturally: "This is ______. Don't try to solve it in ten minutes."
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productive tension
6.Complete naturally: "That would be ______. It's a decision about the meeting, not the question."
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a premature resolution
7.Two-minute retell: summarise the reading/listening from this lesson without looking at it.
8.Which decision in your own life did you settle out of fatigue rather than out of conviction — and what did that cost you?
9.Where in your work are you currently holding a productive tension well, and where are you being paid to pretend you've resolved it?