| Level | Topic | Speakers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intermediate | School | Man – Woman | 02:12 |
Pre-Listening Exercise
What are some common excuses that students come up with for missing class or not doing homework?
- Some school excuses should be accepted without any questions.
- Being tired is not a good excuse for missing class.
- Students often use fake excuses to avoid homework.
- Family emergencies should always be accepted as valid excuses.
- Teachers are too strict about student excuses.
- Technology problems (like a dead battery or no Wi-Fi) are real excuses.
- Forgetting to bring homework is worse than not doing it at all.
- Students should be allowed to make up work if they miss class.
- School rules about absences and excuses are fair.
- Mental health should be an acceptable reason to miss school.
Idioms
“paint yourself into a corner” = do something to put yourself into a difficult situation
“Okay. So, you didn’t study, you didn’t go to class, you didn’t take things seriously, and now the school isn’t going to continue your scholarship. It looks like you’ve really painted yourself into a corner.”
“weasel out of something” = get out of doing something
“He tried to weasel out of taking the class again by giving the teacher gifts, but it didn’t work.”
Listening Exercise
Listen to the recording and answer the questions.
Post-Listening Exercise
Talk about people you know that have used similar excuses as the student in the conversation. What are the underlying causes of making poor choices? What are the short-term and long-term consequences of such behavior?