Lesson Nineteen
STORIES (I)

Part A Micro-Listening (Exercises with Key)
Communicative Function Making Judgements Directions: You're going to hear ten short conversations between two speakers. At the end of each conversation, a question will be asked about what was said. Choose a, b, c or d for the best answer to the question you've heard. (20 points)
1. W: Would you like to see the menu?
M: No, thank you. I know what to order.
Q: Where does the conversation take place?

2. W: How come you're late again, Paul? Don't you remember this is the review session?
M: I'm sorry, Miss Yates. I won't be late again.
Q: Who might be the woman?

3. W: The forecast says there's going to be a thunderstorm today.
W: I don't believe it. Look, the sun is out.
Q: What are they discussing?
4. M: There's a limit of three books for each.
W: Fine. I'll return them on time.
Q: Where does this conversation take place?

5. M: What seems to be the trouble?
W: I've been coughing badly for a couple of days. And also I have a slight fever.
Q: Who are the two speakers?

6. M: I wonder why John isn't here yet. He promised to come at 10. But now it's 10:20.
W: He's probably got caught in traffic. Let's give him a few more minutes.
Q: What are they going to do?

7. W: Must you leave so soon?
M: I'm sorry, Betty, but I must go back to the hospital. There are some sick children waiting for me.
Q: Who is the man?

8. M: I'm off now, Sally. What do you want me to get?
W: Could you pick up 3 rolls of film and some aspirins for me?
Q: Where is the man probably going?

9. M: May I help you?
W: Yes, I'd like to open an account. Besides, please cash these traveller's checks.
Q: Where does this conversation take place?

10. W: I'd like to take an advanced English course during the summer vacation. What about you?
M: I want to get a part-time job.
Q: What are they discussing?
Part B Macro-Listening (Tapescripts, Notes, Exercises with Key)
Passage 1
Unusual Echoes
Tapescript
Once Mark Twain and two friends were sitting in a restaurant. One friend had just returned from a trip to Vermont. The friend said that the air in the mountains of Vermont was very clear. In many places the echo of a voice came back five times stronger than the original voice. The second friend said that was nothing. In Colorado, where he lived, in many places the echo of a voice spoken in the morning came back in the afternoon. Mark Twain laughed. Then he said:
Listen. The echoes which you have told about are very unusual. But in a small church in Missouri, where I was born, there is an echo more unusual even than those. 'What is so strange about the echo there?' asked one of the men.
'Well, I'll tell you,' said Mark Twain. 'The echo in that church is so unusual that if one asks in a loud voice: Good morning! How are you? The echo repeats very clearly after a moment: Very well, thank you. And how are you?'

Passage 2
A Man of Bad Memory
Tapescript
I once knew a man whose memory was very bad. Richard Rudd was so forgetful that he sometimes forgot what he was talking about in the middle of a sentence. His wife had to remind him constantly about his appointments, his classes even his meals!
Since Rudd was a professor at a well-known university, his forgetfulness was often an embarrassment. It wasn't that he was unintelligent, as some critical people tend to gossip. He was just very, very absent-minded.
One hot summer day, Professor Rudd decided to take his children to the beach. These aside town he planned to visit was a three-hour train ride away. To make the trip more interesting for his young children, he kept the name of the town a secret. Unfortunately, by the time Rudd had arrived at the train station, the poor forgetful man had forgotten the name of his destination himself. Luckily, a friend of his happened to be in the station. He offered to take care of the children while Rudd went back home to find out where he was going.
The professor's wife was surprised to see him again so soon, but she was amused when she heard what was the matter. She distrusted his memory, so she wrote the name of the town on a piece of paper. Satisfied that she had solved the problem, she sent her husband off again. Ten minutes later, she was astonished to see him outside the house again. What was the matter now?