Listening Basics part 2 (2) / New Listening Basics part 2

RS: Child psychiatrist Elizabeth Berger is author of the book ―Raising

Children With Character: Parents, Trust, and the Development of Personal

Integrity.‖

AA: And that‘s Wordmaster for this week. You can find our segments on American English, dating back to 1998, on our Web site, voanews.com/wordmaster. And our e-mail address is word@voanews.com. With Rosanne Skirble, I‘m Avi Arditti.

E. Continue with the text. You have 18 missing words to supply while listening.

4. The Statistics

A. Words

Make sure you know the following words from the dialog: labor force

to decline

a divorce rate

B. Below there are three incomplete graphs. In Graphs 1 and 3, the

numbers at the bottom represent years and the numbers on the left represent percentages. Listen to the information. Use it to fill in the graphs.

21

wanted to save a few (8) __________ to go back to college—or simply realized it‘s a pretty good (9) __________ to live rent-free, with meals cooked by Mom, while they play in a garage band, dabble in acting, or (10)

__________ what they want to do with their lives.

C. Listen to the article about Americans who left home and then moved back with Mom and Dad. Answer the questions:

1.What are the reasons for such a tendency?

2.Why are these people called ―boomerang adults‖?

3.What is even a newer tendency about ―boomerangers‖?

4.What are some advantages and disadvantages of such lifestyle according to the author?

D. Listen to a piece of business advice concerning ―boomerangers‖.

What rules should the parents set up for their grown up children?

1.Identify ____________________________________________

2.Set up _____________________________________________

3.Outline ____________________________________________

4.Communicate _______________________________________

The children should

5. contribute ___________________ through ___________________

Would you agree with such rules if you were a child? A parent?

24

6. Turning Your Back On Your Lifestyle

A. You are going to hear six speakers talking about how they turned their backs on their lifestyles to do something completely different. Decide which speaker, 1-6, expresses statements a-g. One statement does not fit any speaker.

Speaker 1 __ ___

Speaker 2 __ ___

Speaker 3 __ ___

Speaker 4 __ ___

Speaker 5 __ ___

Speaker 6 __ ___

a.I was surprised by my own success.

b.I felt isolated because of my talent.

c.I made a sudden decision to change my lifestyle.

d.I regret making the decision to change my lifestyle.

e.I have made sacrifices to change my lifestyle.

f.I had a little trouble with the locals.

g.I planned my change in lifestyle carefully.

B. Which speakers' stories do you think the pictures illustrate?

25

Speaker 4

8. It turned out that I had a _______________ for clowning around.

Speaker 5

9.They thought that I'd _______________my ______________.

10.It's ________________hard work.

Speaker 6

11.I decided it wasn't _________________the effort.

D. Can you describe what the idioms mean?

7. Swapping Lifestyles

Ian Baldwin works as a wildlife ranger on the Surrey Heaths in England. Akwasi Gyebi works for the Ghana Wildlife Society, protecting the African rainforest. As part of a Millennium project called 'On the Line', Ian and Akwasi swapped jobs for two weeks.

Listen to the two people talking about their experiences and decide which speaker expresses statements a-g. Write I for Ian and A for Akwasi. One statement does not fit either speaker. Some statements may be expressed by both speakers.

a.I found that arriving late for an appointment was a problem.

b.The accommodation was completely different to what I was used to.

c.I found the environment less varied than in my old job.

d.The risks I had to take in my new job were greater.

e.The experience benefited me physically.

f.The local people I met made me feel very welcome.

27

g.It was impossible to get used to the climate.

8.New Home + New Job = New Lifestyle

A. You are going to hear Hadley Freeman, an American, talking about how she felt when she and her family moved from New York to London. As you listen, number the comments a-e in the order in which you hear them, 1 to 5.

a.When I went to live in France, I began to have more confidence in myself.

b.I chose to study a subject which would prove I was really English.

c.You have to accept that people find your country amusing.

d.I soon realized that I would have to be the same as everyone else.

e.I found it difficult to get rid of my American accent.

B. Listen to Tom Turner, an Australian, talking about his new life and job making perfume in Paris. Before you listen, read through the statements carefully. As you listen, decide weather they are true or false.

1.Tom needed special training to be a perfumer.

2.Tom began his new career in Paris.

3.He found the language difficult at first.

4.He prefers to tell people he‘s French.

5.Tom is a non-smoker.

6.Tom‘s original contract was for a fixed time.

28

C.Divide into small groups. Discuss the following questions.

1.When you move to another country, what do you have to get used to?

2.How did Hadley try to become more like the English?

3.How did Hadley‘s sister cope with moving to another country?

4.How does Hadley feel about her identity now?

5.How did Tom get his job in Paris?

6.What was life like in the first six months he spent there?

7.What does he not like so much about Paris?

8.Why has he decided to stay there?

9. Women and Home Improvement

A. Words

debris

to empower fix-it man to motion

to splinter up to flock leaky

to outnumber trend

Below you‘ll find pairs of sentences. Put the words above into the proper blank, so that the two sentences are roughly synonymous.

29

7.Building things makes her feel strong. Building things ____________

her.

8.Scattered remains covered the floor. ____________ covered the floor.

9.People come in droves to that store. People ____________ to that store.

B. Listen and fill in the blanks. This is a real speech, complete with background noise, so you may need to listen several times.

―I love (1) __________. I do a lot of my (2) __________ work, you know, in my house and (3) __________ like that.‖

She‘s wearing (4) __________ protection because you will have (5)

__________ occasionally (6) __________ up, and, and of course you wanna protect your eyes. Um, and also (7) __________ wearing ear protection and, as you‘ll (8) __________, these (9) __________ do get… are loud. Okay, Cindy, why (10) __________ you go ahead and, uh, take a hand at it?‖

C. Listen to the rest of the article and mark the following statements as true or false.

30