| Level | Topic | Speakers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Difficult | Banking | Man | 00:31 |
Pre-Listening Exercise
Where do you do your banking and what online services does it provide?
Idioms
“foot someone a loan” = loan someone money
“Uh, I was wondering if you could foot me a loan until I can get to the bank tomorrow.”
“fork over” = give up something like money
“Hey, fork over cash you owe me! I don’t want a check.”
Listening Exercise
Listen to the recording and answer the questions. (See transcript)
Vocabulary and Sample Sentences
Here are some words and expressions that appear in the recording:
- automated (adjective): operated by machines or computers with little or no human control
– The company installed an automated system to answer customer phone calls. - touch-tone (adjective): relating to a telephone system where you press buttons to send signals
– The customer used the touch-tone phone to select an option from the menu. - account history (noun): a record of all the transactions made in a bank account
– I checked my account history to make sure all my recent purchases were correct. - transfer (verb): the act of moving money from one account to another
– She transferred money from her savings account to pay her credit card bill. - interest rate (noun): the percentage a bank pays you for keeping money in your account or charges when you borrow money
– The bank increased the interest rate on savings accounts this year.
Post-Listening Exercise
What do you do to protect your personal information online?
Online Investigation
Use the internet to answer these question:
- What are two banks in your area that provide online banking services?
- What can customers do online to manage their bank accounts?
- How does the company protect your personal information?