General Listening Quiz

Listen to the recording and read along with the conversation. Review the key vocabulary and the sample sentences.

Daughter: Dad. You love me, don’t you?

Father: Of course, I do. Why do you ask . . . Ah, what’s on your mind?

Daughter: Well, I saw this great offer for a free cell phone here in the newspaper, and . . .

Father: Free? Nothing’s ever free.

Daughter: Well, the phone is free . . . after a $50 mail-in rebate.

Father: Ah, so that’s the catch. And why do you need a cell phone anyway?

Daughter: Dad. All my friends have one, and I can use it to call you in case the car breaks down.

Father:  I don’t know. There are always so many fees.

Daughter: But the monthly charge for this service is only $29.99, with 1,000 free weekday minutes nationwide, and unlimited weekend minutes. Plus, unlimited, anytime minutes for anyone using the same service.

Father: I don’t know.

Daughter: And you can roll over the extra minutes to the next month instead of just losing them. What do you think of that?

Father: Yeah, but what is the term of the service agreement?

Daughter: It’s only for six months.

Father: But what if you cancel early?

Daughter: Um . . . Ah, there’s a cancellation fee of $200, but with . . .

Father: Two hundred bucks!

Daughter: Yeah, but you won’t have to worry about me while I’m driving the new car.

Father: New car? What new car?

Daughter: The new car you’re gonna buy me so I can use the cell phone. I mean, what’s it gonna look like if I’m using a cell phone in our old lemon.

Father: Teenagers. What’ll they think of next?

• rebate (noun): a refund of part of all of the amount paid 
  – The company offers a fifty-dollar rebate on the purchase of a new smartphone.
• catch (noun): a hidden drawback or disadvantage 
  – So, there must be a catch to buying this smartphone. I mean, why would the company offer it for free?
• in case (adverb): in the event that 
  – Bring your phone in case we need to call for help.
• fee (noun): cost, the amount of money you have to pay for something 
  – There are always a number of fees you have to pay when buying a car.
• charge (noun, also a verb): fee, the amount of money you have to pay for something or (as a verb), require someone to pay money for a product or service 
  – The store charged me too much for the cell phone, so I’m going to return it.
• nationwide (adverb and adjective): happening around the nation or country 
  – The cell phone company is promoting their services nationwide. 
  – That company offers nationwide cell phone coverage.
• roll over (phrasal verb): transfer or carry over 
  – This is one of the few companies that allows you to roll over your minutes to the next month without losing them.
• term (noun): period of time 
  – Over the long term, buying a high-quality phone might make the most financial sense.
• lemon (noun): a defective automobile 
  – I bought a used car at a really good price, but it turned out to be a lemon.