Exercise 1

A. Listen to Jane and Kyle talking about irritating situations. What bothered each person?

B. Listen again. Discuss the questions.

1   Whose situation do you think was more annoying, Jane’s or Kyle’s?

2   Who do you think handled the situation better, Jane or Kyle?

3   How would you have reacted in each situation?

Answers & Audioscripts

Jane: Her neighbors made a lot of noise and woke her up.

Kyle: People talked during a movie and ruined it for him.

Transcripts

1   Jane

Man:   Hi, Jane. . . . Say, are you OK? You’re looking a bit tired.

Jane:   Oh, I am. It’s my neighbors.

Man:   Oh, so they’re acting up again, huh?

Jane:   Yep. Unfortunately, they are.

Man:   What is it this time? Loud music again?

Jane:   Well, not exactly. You’ve been to my apartment, right?

Man:   Yeah. I’ve been there once. It’s a nice place.

Jane:   Well, thank you. So you remember I live on the top floor, right? Well, last night, around midnight, my neighbors decided to go up on the roof!

Man:   The roof? What for?

Jane:   Apparently, they had this guy in from out of town, and they wanted to show him the view! Can you believe it? I’m fast asleep, and all of a sudden I hear “stomp, stomp, stomp!” They’re walking around on the roof. It sounded like my ceiling was going to fall in.

Man:   So what did you do?

Jane:   Well, after about 15 minutes, I got dressed and went up there and asked them to be quiet. I was so mad. But they said they were sorry and that they hadn’t realized I’d been able to hear them. I told them it was OK, but then of course, after that, I couldn’t go back to sleep.

Man:   Oh, don’t you hate it when that happens? You can’t fall asleep, and then before you know it, it’s morning and the alarm clock is going off.

2   Kyle

Woman:   Hey, Kyle! So, how was the movie?

Kyle:   Well, I didn’t really enjoy it very much.

Woman:   Why? That film got great reviews. It’s really popular.

Kyle:   Oh, the movie was fine. I just got irritated by the people sitting in front of me.

Woman:   What happened?

Kyle:   Well, first, they came in late. It took them a while to get into their seats. All this was happening right during an exciting part of the movie. And then they started talking.

Woman:   Oh, I hate when that happens!

Kyle:   There were two of them: a man and a woman. The man had seen the movie before. And get this – he was telling the woman the entire story. Like they were the only two people in the theater!

Woman:   Did you do anything about it?

Kyle:   Well, no. But another person asked them to be quiet.

Woman:   Did that work?

Kyle:   No. They just started arguing! Their voices were getting louder and louder. One guy was saying, “You shouldn’t talk during the movie,” and the other guy was saying, “I paid my money, and you can’t tell me what to do!”

Woman:   So, what finally happened?

Kyle:   Well, I went and found the usher because it was getting out of hand. Everyone quieted down eventually, but it was too late. They had already ruined the movie for me.

Exercise 2

A. Listen to Gabriel using an automated phone menu. Is he successful? Choose the best summary.

a   He completed his business successfully and will pick up his prescription this evening.

b   He can’t fill his prescription because the machine didn’t recognize what he said.

c   His pronunciation is so poor that the system didn’t understand anything he said.

B. Listen again. Answer the questions.

1   What’s the name of the store?

2   What is his prescription number?

3   What is his phone number?

4   What time does he want to pick up his prescription?

Answers & Audioscripts

A

b   He can’t fill his prescription because the machine didn’t recognize what he said.

B

1   Dial Rite Pharmacy

2   0422708837

3   333-555-5123

4   9:00

Transcripts

Phone:   Hello. Thank you for calling the Dial Rite Pharmacy’s automated phone message system. Please listen carefully to our menu options: If you are calling from a physicians’ office, say, “Physician.” If you need to speak to someone at the pharmacy, say, “Pharmacist.” If you are calling to refill a prescription and know your prescription number, say, “Refill.” If you wish to hear these options repeated, say, “Repeat.”

Gabriel:   Refill.

Phone:   Using our automated voice-recognition system, please say your prescription number, which is located in the upper right-hand corner in the pink shaded area.

Gabriel:   0422708837.

Phone:   I heard 0-4-2-2-7-0-8-8-3-7. If this is correct, please say, “Yes.”

Gabriel:   Yes.

Phone:   Now say the phone number where you can be reached in case the pharmacist has a question.

Gabriel:   333-555-5123.

Phone:   I heard 3-3-3-5-5-5-5-1-2-3. If this is correct, please say, “Yes.”

Gabriel:   Yes.

Phone:   Your refillable prescription will be ready by 8:15 a.m. If you would like to pick it up then, say, “Yes.” If you would like to pick it up later, please say, “Later.”

Gabriel:   Later.

Phone:   What time would you like to pick up your prescription?

Gabriel:   Uh, nine?

Phone:   I’m sorry. I can’t understand you.

Gabriel:   I said, “Nine.”

Phone:   I’m sorry. I can’t understand you.

Gabriel:   Nine, nine, nine!

Phone:   I’m sorry. I can’t understand you. Please call again later. Thank you for calling the Dial Rite Pharmacy. Good-bye.

Gabriel:   Argh!

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