Interviews

High-intermediate

There are a number of ways to protect your home or apartment from unwanted intruders. Here are some possible solutions. Rank them in order of importance to you.

• Lock your doors and windows
• Install a home alarm system.
• Limit information about where you live on social media.
• Install motion detector lighting.
• Add a deadbolt or other secure locks to your front doors.
• Secure sliding doors to prevent them from opening easily.
• Lock down your WiFi network.
• Add security cameras around your place.
• Keep spare keys in a safe place.

1. Locking your door at night is always necessary.
2. It’s safe to leave a candle burning while you sleep.
3. A small fire extinguisher is useful in every home.
4. You should always check who is at the door before opening it.
5. Cooking is the most dangerous activity in a home.
6. It’s okay to leave the front door open during the day.
7. Everyone should learn how to turn off the power and water.
8. Having a pet dog makes your home safer.
9. Leaving shoes or toys on the floor can cause accidents.
10. Most people don’t think about safety until something bad happens.

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

highly (adverb): very, to a high level or standard
– James is a highly qualified teacher in our program.

asset (noun): a useful or valuable thing
– Maria is a real asset to our company. Her experience has helped our company improve sales for the past several years.

guard dog (noun): a dog that is trained to guard a place
– We have a guard dog that watches over our place while we are gone.

traumatic experience (noun phrase): a shocking experience that affects you for a long time
– Someone broke into our house and stole a number of things. This was a traumatic experience for our entire family.

ground floor (noun phrase): the first floor of a building
– I would prefer to live on the second floor instead of the ground floor for safety reasons.

Now, watch the interview and answer the comprehension questions. You can also turn on the automatically-generated captions for the video once you start it.

Randall: In this video, Aubrey, let’s talk about home safety and how you can protect your home, your valuables, and one of the things that people often think about is locking your doors. But what other ideas can you think about in protecting our homes?

Aubrey: I mean, I highly recommend a chihuahua. Great alarm system. Great alarm system. I mean, you know, at that point, then it’s your problem because what is your chihuahua gonna do? But yeah, getting a dog . . . 

Randall: And your dog, I mean, it seems like when you just come walking, approaching the door, that he has a sense of.

Aubrey: Oh yeah.

Randall: What is going on outside.

Aubrey: Oh, yeah. And, um, yeah, like, someone threw something at my window yesterday and he was so mad. Uh, and rightfully so, ’cause why was someone throwing something at my window?

Randall: That would be strange.

Aubrey: But Yeah, but chihuahua. Great asset to my family. I have, uh, a little like bumper sticker thing that says “Warning: Do Not Step on Guard Dog.”

Randall: Okay, so locking doors, maybe having a guard dog.

Aubrey: Yeah.

Randall: What are some other things that people can do, just at a very basic simple level, to protect their home?

Aubrey: Yeah. So depending on, you know, whether or not you’re renting or you own the place, uh, that’s going to limit what you’re allowed to do, right? Uh, but, like, getting one of those Ring cameras or, you know, similar cameras, um, doorbell cams can be useful because then, like, if something does happen, you have video evidence of it. Plus, I mean, they’re obvious like you look at it, you know, that that’s what that is. It’s not like it’s a secret. Um, so cameras are good.

Randall: And I think those are becoming more and more popular now.

Aubrey: Yeah, I know. I have, I know someone who, um, had a, uh, traumatic experience with another person. So they bought a Ring camera for their door and they felt a lot safer.

Randall: Yeah.

Aubrey: Plus, you know, it helps, like if your packages are getting stolen too.

Randall: Uh, so what else? Any last tip?

Aubrey: Well, we already covered locking the doors. That’s an important one, because sometimes people will just, you know, try doors and, uh, will go into whatever’s unlocked.

Randall: Right.

Aubrey: If you’re renting an apartment, statistically, you’re safest on the top floor.

Randall: And why is that? For most people?

Aubrey: ‘Cause people are lazy. Right. It’s just easier to rob the ground floor.

Randall: Instead of scaling a wall.

Aubrey: Exactly

Randall: trying to climb in through the roof or something like that.

Aubrey: Climbing three flights of stairs, yeah.

Randall: Absolutely. I think those are really important things. And I would encourage people, if you’re going to leave a key, don’t leave it under your mat. Don’t leave it above your door. Don’t leave it anywhere.

Aubrey: No. Just don’t.

Randall: You know, if you have to maybe leave it with a trusted neighbor in case, uh, but certainly not somewhere where easily where it can be easily found. All right. Well, thank you for sharing those thoughts on home safety.

Aubrey: Thanks.

Finding the ideal home security system for your place can take some research. Do you need a full-scale system including motion detectors to protect your dwelling, or is there a similar solution like a watchdog? Use the Internet to review two companies and their products and review the advantages and disadvantages of these solutions.

The following activities deal with related topics to give you additional language practice.

• Home Security
• Personal Security
• Security Systems