Practice English Listening A2 Exercises – Listening to the results of a survey about family life

Jason complains about how forgetful his dad is getting; He’s always forgetting where his car keys are. Lisa complaints that he can never find his glasses. Lisa complains that her mom wears awful clothes.

Transcripts

JASON:   Have you noticed how forgetful Dad is getting? He’s always forgetting where his car keys are. It drives me crazy.

LISA:   And he can never find his glasses either.

JASON:   I know.

LISA:   You know what drives me crazy about Mom?

JASON:   What?

LISA:   The awful clothes she wears. Her style is so old-fashioned. It’s embarrassing!

JASON:   Yeah, she could use some fashion advice. She should go shopping with you.

LISA:   Oh, well. I guess they’re just getting old. I hope I never get like that.

JASON:   Me, too. Hey, c’mon. Let’s go play that new game online.

LISA:   Great idea. By the way, have you seem my glasses anywhere?

Ken never puts his clothes away. He never does the dishes.

Transcripts

Nolan:   Whose clothes are these, anyway?

Rodrigo:   They must be Ken’s. He never puts his clothes away.

Nolan:   He never puts anything away, you mean. He’s so messy. There was a pile of dirty dishes in the sink this morning. He just leaves them there. He never washes his dishes.

Rodrigo:   We have to sit down and find a way to divide the work around here. We are all messy and lazy, actually.

Nolan:   You know what? I’m beginning to miss home.

A

B, W, B and M, V

B

Men: take out the garbage

Women: cook, do the dishes, clean up

Boys: take out the garbage, put the groceries away

Girls: cook, do the dishes, clean up, put the groceries away

Transcripts

JENNIFER:   Welcome to this week’s program, “Do Men Have it Easy?”, where we’ll take a look at the roles and responsibilities of men and women in families. First, thanks to all of you who responded to our survey. John?

JOHN:   Thanks, Jennifer. Later on in the program, we’ll be taking your phone calls and talking to Dr. Walters, a family psychologist, who will answer your questions. And now for the results of the survey. Jennifer?

JENNIFER:   Well, in response to the first question – “Who is the messiest person in the house?” – the answer was boys! Ninety-two percent of you said that your sons or brothers don’t help much around the house. They don’t pick up their things, don’t hang up their clothes, and leave their clothes lying around.

JOHN:   Interesting. And what about the second question, Jennifer? That was, “Who does most of the work in the kitchen?”

JENNIFER:   Well, 84 percent of you answered “women.” Many of you also explained that the boys and men usually take out the garbage. The girls and women tend to cook, do the dishes, and clean up.

JOHN:   And what about the groceries, Jennifer?

JENNIFER:   Well, according to our results, boys and girls usually put the groceries away.

JOHN:   That’s surprising. So what else do the women do?

JENNIFER:   Ah, well, that’s our next question, “Who worries most about expenses?” In the majority of homes, it seems that women worry most about household expenses. One young man wrote to us saying, “My mother always nags me and my sister. She tells us to get oof the phone, to stop spending so long on the computer, to turn off the TV, well, everything really. I always thought she just liked to nag, but maybe she’s really worried about money.” I think that’s probably true, don’t you, John?

JOHN:   Yes, very interesting. And now I’d like to introduce Dr. Walters …