General Listening Quiz

“Phone Message”

Level:	Topic:	Speakers:	Length:
medium	phone message	man – girl	.50

Pre-Listening Exercise

Make a list of all of the reasons why a person may not be able to take a call (e.g., she’s out of the office, he’s on another line, etc.). When you do take a call, be sure to repeat the caller’s name, number, and message before you hang up to confirm that you have the correct information.

Idioms

“sleep on it” = wait until tomorrow to make a decision
“She wanted to sleep on it before making such an important decision.”

“right off the bat” = immediately
“When I called her yesterday, she told me right off the bat that she was getting married.”

Listening Exercise

A. Listen to the recording and answer the questions.

What is the name of the caller?

Nick

Neil

Nate

Caller: Yeah. This is . . . my name's Nick Johnson.

According to the girl, her father ____.

is on another line.

can't come to the telephone.

is not home.

Older Sister: Oh, he can't come to the phone right now.

What is the man's telephone number?

587-4728

589-7248

598-7482

Caller: Yeah if you could tell him. Yeah, the phone number is 589 [Uh-huh] 7248. Older Sister: 589-7248?

The man tells the girl ____.

to ask her father to call him later.

that he will call again sometime after 7:00 p.m.

that he will drop by around 8:30 p.m.

Caller: Yeah, right and if you could tell him to call me tonight between 7:00 and 8:30?

What does the girl refuse to tell the caller?

her name

her address

her age

Caller: Yeah, now what's your name? Older Sister: I . . . I'm not supposed to tell that.

Post-Listening Exercise

Practice this conversation with a partner. Then write your own telephone conversation by using some of the phrases you came up with in the pre-listening activity.

Online Investigation

At times, people may need a voicemail service to keep track of their incoming messages. In addition, some teachers even use such services to communicate with students and even perform speaking tests. Thus, search online and compare at least two companies that provide voice mail services and compare pricing and features.

See Listening Script

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