Listening Speaking Read and match the conversations with

Listening & Speaking

Read and match the conversations with the places. A. at a summer school B. during a job interview C. on a boat

1. A: Wonderful, aren’t they? B: Er… I’m sorry? A: The cliffs. B: Oh, yes, they are. A: Been here before? B: Pardon? On a boat

2. A: So… you wrote in your application form that you are interested in mountains. B: Yes. A: Have you ever climbed a mountain? B: No.

A: Have you ever read any books about mountain-climbing? B: No. During a job interview

3. A: When did you arrive? B: Yesterday A: Nice journey? B: Very nice. A: Did the immigration people ask to see your visa? B: I didn’t need to get a visa.

A: Really? Why not? B: Because I was born here. A: Oh yes, of course! At a summer school

Answer the questions about the conversations above. 1. Do you think the conversations are between people who know each other? 2. Give reasons for your answers.

No, they aren’t. In Conversation 1 “Been here before? ” indicates they are strangers. The second conversation is an interview between strangers.

In the third conversation, Speaker A obviously knows something about Speaker B, but probably doesn’t know him very much.

2. Which of the conversations would you call small talk? conversation 1 and possibly conversation 3 3. What do you think about the answers in the interview? The answers are too short and impolite.

Listen to the whole of the first conversation and answer the questions. 1. Do the people both speak English as a first language? No, they don’t.

2. Why did the woman have problems understanding what the man was saying? She needed to get used to his voice. 3. How did the man help her to understand him better? He spoke slowly and repeated things.

Listen again and choose the correct endings to the lines from the conversation. 1. Sorry, I couldn’t ______. 2. A. hear what you said. 3. B. understand what you said.

2. I didn’t _______. A. like what you said. B. catch what you said. 3. Could you ______? A. repeat what you said. B. explain what you said.

4. You needn’t have ______. A. spoken to me B. spoken so slowly. 5. I just needed a few seconds _____. A. to get used to your voice. B. to understand your voice.

Speaking Work in pairs. 1. Decide who the two speakers may be in Conversation 1 and Conversation 2 and 3. In Conversation 1: Travel guide and tourist

In Conversation 2: interviewer and job applicant In conversation 3: teacher and student 2. Continue three conversations and complete them. Open answers

Additional activity 1. Guess who the two speakers are 2. Complete the following conversation.

A: So how was your holiday? B: Absolutely wonderful. A: Really? Where did you go? B: … The answer to question 1: between two friends Question 2: Open answer

Model answer to the conversation A: So how was your holiday? B: Absolutely wonderful. A: Really? Where did you go? B: Oh, we flew to Florence and stayed in a villa in Tuscany. A: Very nice.

B: It was great. There was a pool, a restaurant in the village. The countryside is beautiful. A: Sounds like a dream. Do you want another drink?

Reading and vocabulary

Revise the words Look at the new words in the box. absence acquaintance anniversary apology awkward brunch cautious clerk customer fax firm fool haircut hostess human being interrupt mature messy motto outspoken pregnant saleswoman shortcoming tease typist

Find words for: 1. a place of work firm apology motto 2. 2. thing you say or write 3. 3. a physical state pregnant 4. people or jobs acquaintance clerk customer fool hostess human being saleswoman typist

5. personal characteristics/appearance awkward cautious mature messy outspoken 6. meal brunch

Work in pairs. You’re going to read a story about a sales woman. Discuss what kind of small talk you need as a statesperson.