(Woman) I was wondering if I could borrow a cup of sugar. I’m baking a cake, and I ran out.

(Man) I’m glad it’s your turn to ask for something.

(Narrator) What does the man mean?

 (Woman) I bought this tie for my husband, but he doesn’t like the color.

(Man) Would you like to take another look at our selection?

(Woman) I’d rather have a refund.

(Narrator) What is the man’s job?

 (Woman) I’m afraid there is no Sunday edition. It comes out only on weekdays.

(Man) Isn’t there news on Sunday?

(Narrator) What are the man and the woman talking about?

 (Man) Have you seen a thick, dark-blue pen? I’ve looked for twenty minutes, and I can’t find it

anywhere.

(Woman) Did you misplace it again? You’ll find it. You always do.

(Narrator) What conclusion can be drawn from the woman’s statement?

(Woman) Because of the fog in Seattle, Mr. Black’s flight has been delayed, and it looks like he’s still waiting for the departure.

(Man) Oh, thank you for calling. Is he going to be in his office tomorrow, or is he going directly to San Francisco?

(Narrator) Where is Mr. Black today?

 (Man) I’ve gained weight. If I don’t start exercising every day, none of my clothes will fit.

(Woman) I could’ve told you that.

(Narrator) What does the woman suggest to the man?

 (Woman) I’d like a pound of your chicken salad and a half a pound of roast beef.

(Man) Will that be all?

(Woman) I guess so.

(Narrator) What does the woman mean?

(Man) Marsha strikes me as an unreliable person. She has lost more papers than I care to mention.

(Woman) She is not half as bad as Tracey.

(Narrator) What does the woman say about Tracey?

 (Woman) Motorcycle races can be very dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing.

(Man) No kidding.

(Narrator) What can be concluded from the man’s response?

 (Woman) I am looking forward to this trip. Don’t forget the camera. Last time we had a tour, you left it behind.

(Man) You carry it then.

(Narrator) What are the man and the woman going to do next?

 (Woman) Do you mind closing the door? When they unload the truck, they are very noisy.

(Man) Do I mind? I’d be happy to.

(Narrator) What does the man mean?

Man) Peggy wanted to cancel her appointment with Dr. Robinson this afternoon.

(Woman) She can certainly do that, but the doctor is leaving tomorrow, and he won’t be back until June.

(Man) In this case, I think she’d better keep it.

(Narrator) What did the man say Peggy will do?

 (Man) The bank has turned down my application for a loan. I need $ 5 00 to pay my tuition.

(Woman) Don’t look at me.

(Narrator) What does the woman mean?

 (Woman) The deadline for the market survey is the fifteenth of December. To analyze the data, we

have to finish collecting it by the first of November.

(Man) This may be cutting it a little too close.

(Narrator) What does the man mean?

(Man) The road construction on route seventy-one (71) is creating terrible traffic backups.

(Woman) Tell me about it. That’s the road I have to take home.

(Narrator) What can be said about the woman?

 (Man) They got so lost driving from the stadium that it took them almost two hours to find their

way back to the hotel.

(Woman) Didn’t they have a map?

(Narrator) What does the woman mean?

 (Man) This house has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a spacious living room, and a volleyball

court in the backyard.

(Woman) Do you suppose we could schedule an appointment with the owner?

(Narrator) What would the woman like to do?

(Man) Mrs. Cook’s class is going to visit the newspaper on Tuesday, and we are asking for volunteers

to help with transportation.

(Woman) Thirty-five children would require eight passenger cars. What else can we do?

(Narrator) What does the woman suggest?

(Woman) This game can be run, and it also helps you expand your vocabulary. It’s easy to learn. You

put together words in a sequence, using the letters on these cards. See?

(Man) Where did you put the letter cards?

(Narrator) What are the man and the woman doing?

 (Man) I heard Matthew followed Jenny to her new job. And their house is up for sale.

(Woman) Is that so?

(Narrator) What does the woman mean?

 (Woman) Two for dinner tonight?

(Man) Another person is going to join us.

(Narrator) What does the woman mean?

 (Woman) I don’t think the salesman helped us a whole lot.

(Man) I agree.

(Narrator) What does the man mean?

 (Man) It’s dark in the front hall.

(Woman) The bulb’s burned out.

(Narrator) What does the woman imply?

 (Woman) How about some sandwiches and chips for lunch?

(Man) What, again?

(Narrator) What does the man mean?

 (Man) I thought the band played really well. How did you like it?

(Woman) I’ve heard better.

(Narrator) What does the woman mean?

(Woman) Only city residents are allowed to swim in the pool.

(Man) I’ve lived here for the past nine years.

(Narrator) What does the man imply?

 (Man) It’s quarter to twelve. Your flight is at 1:15, and it’ll take us good hour to get to the airport.

(Woman) The clock is ten minutes fast

(Narrator) What does the woman mean?

(Woman) Photography is an exciting hobby. I’d like to learn how to take good pictures.

(Man) Last year, you wanted to take guitar lessons.

(Narrator) What does the man imply?

 (Man) I have to see my accountant tomorrow, and my car is in the shop. Could you take me?

(Woman) Sorry. I have to work all day tomorrow. But you are welcome to use my car.

(Narrator) What does the woman mean?

(Man) My math instructor doesn’t want to help me with the course assignments. She seems to think that we are all mathematicians.

(Woman) Keeping up with the assignments is your responsibility.

(Narrator) What does the woman imply?

 (Woman) When I graduated from high school, I never had a chance to go to college, but now I may be able to. So, I’ve been trying to decide what college to apply to and thought you could help me.

(Man) I’d be glad to talk to you about it. There are many things to consider. When you think of going to college, you need to be prepared to work hard. Studying takes up a lot of time, and students who are not motivated usually don’t succeed.

(Woman) I can easily see how motivation can affect success in learning. Taking college classes may not be very different from doing many other things. If you like what you do, you do a better job.

(Man) And when you are trying to figure out which college to attend, there are many questions one should ask. Asking for information can help you discover many facts about the school, what courses it offers, and what kinds of facilities it provides for students.

(Woman) Should I ask for a brochure? Maybe I need to write letters to several schools to find out about their libraries, laboratories, computers, and other facilities.

(Man) That sounds like a good start. In addition, asking about their teaching methods and the average class size may give you the information you need to decide.

(Woman) These are essential facts. So, if I’m going to write to them for information, what else do I need to find out?

(Man) Okay, other key questions are about their tuition, fees, and assistance available for students. For example, can the college help students get a job? Many colleges hire their students to work in offices, mail rooms, food services, and dorms. Not only do students earn money, but also they acquire work experience that they need to get jobs when they graduate.

 (Man) You bought a dog! I can’t believe it. Why did you buy a dog?

(Woman) It’s not just a dog. It’s a bearded collie. They were known for being guards of cattle and sheep in Scotland in the fifteenth century. I bought it because I thought it would be good for the children to have. They’ll have to take care of it and feed it. And they will learn responsibility by caring for another living creature.

(Man) Why did you buy a collie?

(Woman) Collies are disciplined and reliable. They are highly intelligent. They can help their owners by guarding the house. They don’t require a lot of attention and can be left alone for long periods of time. When we both go to work and the children go to school, it’ll have to stay alone and take care of itself.

(Man) Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.

(Woman) Yes, I have. Besides collies, I also studied up on terriers, golden retrievers, cocker spaniels, and foxhounds. Terriers are good dogs, and they are beautiful. They have clean, smooth coats, square heads, and big brown eyes. Terriers like people, and they are good pets because they like affection. Terriers are smaller than collies, and they are very playful.

(Man) So, why didn’t you get a terrier then?

(Woman) I didn’t because they seem to be strongly attached to people. I’m in the office from eight to four, and the children are at school from 7:30 to 3:30. So, if we are out of the house all day, who is going to take care of the dog? Collies seem to be a better choice. We need a dog that doesn’t need a lot of attention. It seems that a terrier wouldn’t fit in because it likes to.

(Woman) Like most other businesses, home video consists of three segments. They are first, production, second, distribution, and finally, retail. When companies produce prerecorded cassettes, that’s production. Most of the home-video market consists of sales of movies, and almost all motion picture studios dominate the production of cassettes. Just as an example, two thirds of video-cassette sales come from the ten largest studios, and 20th Century Fox and Columbia occupy the first and the second place.

Studios do not sell directly to retailers, distributors do. And more than ninety distribution firms in the U.S. have become the bridge between production and retail. Cassette distributors make it easy for retail stores to become a video-rental outlet. These days, more than 60,000 convenience stores rent videos. And that’s in addition to the 30,000 video rental stores. The retail business is volatile, and it’s very competitive.

A retail store can carry about 5,000 to 7,000 movies, which include current and old titles. On the other hand, convenience and grocery stores usually have about 300 to 500 titles that are current pictures. The video-rental business these days is almost like fast-food restaurants, and a store covers a certain area of about three miles in each direction. Independently owned stores have a tough time competing with large chains that dominate the business. The largest one has about 2,700 franchises, and the second largest, about 800.

(Man) Iron and aluminum represent ninety-four percent of all metal use. Recycling items that contain these metals extends the supply of mineral resources because it reduces the use of virgin materials mined from the earth’s crust. Using recycled iron, or scrap iron as it is also called, not only conserves iron ore and coal, but it also requires sixty-five percent less energy and forty-two percent less water to process.

 In addition, recycling produces eighty-five percent less air pollution. It is somewhat surprising that only about one fourth of all iron and aluminum used in the world today comes from recycling efforts. For example, beverage cans are one of the largest sources of recycled aluminum, but almost half of all cans produced each year are thrown away.

There are several factors that negatively affect metal recycling in the U.S. The fact that the U.S. metal industry has not modified its equipment to process recycled metals is one of them. Another is that most Americans have a “throwaway” mentality; they have been conditioned to throw things away.

Manufacturers promote this lifestyle through advertising because it increases short-term consumption, but they neglect to take into account the long-term environmental costs. Consumers pay for these costs in the form of taxes and have no easily identifiable reason to recycle. American consumers often think that returning beverage cans is too much trouble. They would rather toss them away and have someone else deal with them. Merchants don’t like having returned metal cans in their stores. Labor unions worry that workers in the can manufacturing industry will lose their jobs. A national law requiring the return of beverage cans would reduce the processing of virgin aluminum ore by fifty-five to seventy-five percent. Urban solid waste would also fall by one percent and save taxpayers twenty-five to fifty million dollars a year.

 (Woman) There is little doubt that roses are one of the most preferred and best-loved flowers in almost all climate zones. Most lose their leaves in the fall, but some can be evergreen in very mild climates. Centuries of cultivation have created an amazing array of flowers of every form and color. The smallest are a foot high, with flowers as small as a thumbnail. The largest bloom with flowers as big as a salad plate. Red, pink, and white are the traditional colors, but orange, yellow, black, and purple also can be found in the gardens of devoted growers.

Growing these shrubs is not complicated if their type and variety are suitable for the climate zone. Each year, the American Rose Society publishes ratings of roses on the scale from one to ten, and the higher the rating, the better the rose. The highest-rated roses grow in most climates, but those with low ratings do well only in certain regions of the country. In areas with cool summers, roses with a great number of petals should be avoided because they often fail to open. Also dark-colored roses don’t do well because they do not develop their full color. In hot-summer areas, roses can grow in any garden, but their flowers open soon after they bud, and the color of their petals fades quickly. Roses bloom best during the spring and fall, and flower production falls during intensely hot summers.

In areas with cold winters, some of the marketed roses are not hardy enough, and special protection is needed to assure that they survive from winter to winter. To determine which roses are best suited for a particular climate, a novice gardener may want to take a trip to a municipal garden or an established private rose garden. Obviously, the varieties of shrubs found there will perform well in that climate zone.