O que significa "to labor under an assumption"?

Do you know what the word labor means? It is petty simple if you simply start thinking "to labor" means "to work", but there's a difference between them. The difference is that if you're laboring, it means you're engaged in your work, you're being productive. The same doesn't always apply to the verb to work. You can say you've been working on your project for the past 5 months, but never really been committed to it.

But let's say the same project might get you a promotion. That would make you so much more encouraged to finish it, wouldn't it? Even if it required you extra hours of work or even many sleepless nights, you'd still try to make it on time. That's what we call motivation. If you're motivated by a special reason (maybe a bonus, an advantage), you suddenly become a much more productive worker.

Still talking about the supposed promotion you're trying to get, let's suppose you find your boss and tell him how much you've worked on your project lately. Instead of getting a positive response, he then pauses and says: If you're laboring under the notion that you are going to be promoted, you'd better keep your expectations low.

When you're laboring under the notion/idea/assumption of something, it means you're functioning or operating believing something. You're going about living while assuming something. In that case, you labored under the idea that you were going to be promoted. Now that you know that might not ever happen, you'll be no longer as energetic as before.

Collocations com a palavra TEAR

When we talk about tears, of course we're partially talking about crying. But there are several reasons for one to shed tears besides crying. If you have some kind of respiratory allergy for example, from time to time you may find yourself weeping uncontrollable tears. Suddenly your nose starts itching, tears fill your eyes and you have no option but cry.
But emotions are always the major cause for tears. Sadness for example may bring tears to your eyes, but who never laughed so hard until tears brim over? There's also a stigma that says men don't cry. Some men take it so seriously they'll always try to fight back tears whenever they feel like crying. On the other hand, women are known for being more sensitive. They're more likely to break down in tears while watching a blue movie for instance. But speaking of movies, even if you're not a woman, sometimes you relate so much to a sad plot that you're in floods of tears at the end of the movie.
Anger can also reduce you to tears. Some people choose to shout or cry in order to supress anger. They do it most of the times as an attempt to avoid irational decisions.
And since the topic is tears, funeral is the right place to cry. Some people who have lost close relatives or friends say they couldn't cry at the funeral. They say there are times when suffering may be too deep for tears. I think that happens because sometimes people need some time to process the situation and finally burst into tears.

Collocations com a palavra BLAME

Abaixo você encontrará um texto falando sobre culpa (blame). Dê atenção especialmente às palavras que combinam com essa palavra em negrito. Elas são o que chamamos de collocations: palavras que simplesmente combinam com outras, neste caso BLAME.

When in trouble, some people have a hard time shouldering the blame. I think it's part of human nature to try to avoid blame or even put blame on someone else.
You just have to take a look at how children behave in trouble. It's very unusual to see a child taking full blame for something wrong they've done. When they don't try to make the blame fall on someone else, the best they can do is share the blame.
But as I said before, that does not only apply with children. A perfect place for you to see adults laying the blame at someone's door is in court. There is where people gather in favor of a common goal: apportion blame.
If you've commited a crime and can prove innocence, they may absolve you from blame. On the other hand, if you can't, blame will probably rest on you. Depending on which crime you've commited, your lawyer may advise you to either bear the blame or keep lying.