General Listening Quiz

"Smartphones"

Level:	Topic:	Speakers:	Length:
intermediate	phones	young man and woman	01:23

Pre-Listening Exercise

In today's world, is a smartphone a necessity for people of all ages, or is it just a luxury item? Why or why not? How do people who grew up without mobile phones feel about this?

Idioms

"phone someone" = call someone
"Why don't you phone him and see if he's coming to the party?"

"call it day" = finish work and leave your workplace
"Let's call it a day. We can finish this project tomorrow."

Listening Exercise

A. Listen to the recording and answer the questions.

The young man needs a new phone because ____.

someone stole his last one

his parents took his last one

his phone is an older model

Woman: Uh, excuse me, but uh, don't you already have a iPhone? Young Man: Man, yeah, but it's three months old, and it has a small scratch on it.

How many phones does the young man already have?

two

four

three

Woman: What? You have two phones?

According to the conversation, what are the young man's parents like?

friendly

kind

generous

Woman: What do you mean? When I met them last week, they seemed really caring.

What do his parents want their son to do to get a phone

find a job and work to earn money

ask his brother if he can use an old phone

take out money from his bank account

Young Man: Not a good one. Only something about being self-reliant and not being so entitled, or something like that. And now they want me to work . . . on the neighbor's farm to pay for it. [Good idea!] It's not fair.

What is the BEST word to describe the young man's personality?

self-centered

mean

talkative

In the conversation, the man appears to be thinking about himself.

Vocabulary Practice

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

Mixed-Up Sentence | Sentence and Vocabulary Matching

Post-Listening Exercise

Many teachers have concerns about students' use of cell phones at school and in the classroom. Think of three reasons for and against this issue and explain your ideas from your own experience.

Online Investigation

Write one of your teachers an email about one of the topics or questions below. Then, summarize the teacher's response and compare his or her answer to your own opinion.

At what age is it appropriate for a child to have his or her own phone?
How important is it for parents to track their children's phone calls, text messages, or Internet use on the phone?
Should children pay at least a part of their phone bill, and if so, how much?
Which method is better to ask someone out on a date: sending a text message or calling the person?
Which method is better to end a relationship: sending a text message or calling the person?
Is it illegal to text and drive in your city or region? If so, what is the penalty?
If a student cheats on a test by taking pictures of it and sending them to a friend, how do you handle the situation?

See Listening Script

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