General Listening Quiz

Finding pen friends (pen pals) or developing good friendships, either through online dating or talking with friends, can be an important part of a happy life. However, in dating relationships, what kinds of difficulties and problems can arise? What are the best ways to learn to solve such situations? What dating tips can you think of to ensure good relationships?

Listen to the recording and answer the questions. (See transcript)

Here are some words and expressions that appear in the recording:

• be in hot water (idiom): be in serious trouble – (See Idiom Lesson)
  – I’ll be in hot water if I don’t buy my wife flowers for Valentines Day.
• vicious (adjective): something causing great physical or emotional pain through aggressive actions or behavior, dangerous
  – That watch dog is really vicious. It will bite you if you get too close.
• peel out (phrasal verb): to accelerate a vehicle very quickly
  – The man peeled out of the parking lot and nearly ran into our car.
• maniac (noun): a person who acts in a wild or uncontrollable way
  – That guy is a maniac. He was driving out of control and almost hit us.
• run off (phrasal verb): to force or drive off
  – He fell asleep at the wheel, and the car ran off the road.
• hide (verb): to prevent from being seen or discovered
  – Last night, I just wanted to hide under the table when I spilt my drink on my date.
• wacky (adjective): crazy, irrational, or silly
  – Don’t listen to his wacky ideas. They’ll only get you in hot water.

Do the vocabulary quizzes with the words from the conversation for more practice:

• Mixed-Up Sentence  |   Sentence and Vocabulary Matching

What could or should Dave have done to avoid the dilemma he finds himself in?

Use the Internet to find a Web site that discusses (1) common problems in dating relationships, and (2) one or two specific ideas on how to resolve these issues. What is the name of the Web site? Are there any problems that might occur in some cultures, but not others? What solutions have worked for you in your everyday relationships with others outside of dating?