Book 1 – Unit 6

Optional Listening 1

A housing problem

Mr. Jenner: Come in!

Graciela: Mr. Jenner?

Mr. Jenner: Oh, hi, Graciela. Please, come in.

Graciela: Thanks a lot.

Mr. Jenner: So, how’re you doing?

Graciela: Uh, okay.

Mr. Jenner: Really? Are you doing well in your classes?

Graciela: Yes, I am.

Mr. Jenner: Well … what’s wrong?

Graciela: It’s my housing …

Mr. Jenner: Uh-huh …

Graciela: I like the house, and my host family is very nice. But the house is far from school. It’s a 45-minute bus ride to come here every day. And all my friends live on campus.

Mr. Jenner: I understand. Let’s see … there’s a room in the school dormitory.

Graciela: Okay …

Mr. Jenner: But you share the room with another student.

Graciela: Sounds good!

Optional Listening 2

Places for rent

A. Here is a big house with a big yard. It's for big families. It has four bedrooms, three bathrooms,   a big living room, a great kitchen, and a garage. It’s only $4000 a moth. Call Mrs. Tranh at 456-0987.

B. Here is an apartment at a great location! It is a nice new apartment building with a swimming pool and a tennis court. Inside the apartment, you can find a big living room, one bedroom, one bathroom, and a beautiful kitchen. All this for only $1200 a month. Phone 761-0201, and ask for Dana.

C. Here is a house you can afford. For only $1200 a month, you get a living room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a big kitchen, and a great yard for your children. Please call Nathan at 475-2300.

D. Here is another apartment for relaxed, elegant living! A big apartment with three bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a bathroom, and a big garage and no yard work for only $1400 a month. Call Rolando at 533-0202.

Optional Listening 3

I'm Yaopeng Wong. This is my third month as a student in Denver, Colorado. I'm learning a lot in English class.

I’m living with a host family. Patricia, my host mother, is really nice. She’s divorced and has two kids—a seventeen-year-old son, Jason, and a twelve-year-old daughter, Clarissa. We live in a large apartment. I have my own room. It has a bed, a desk, and small closet. We share a bathroom and a computer in the living room. I can also use the kitchen or watch TV in the living room.

Living with an American family is interesting. On the first day here, Patricia showed me the house and my room. She said, "Make yourself at home." At first, I didn’t understand, but now I do. The apartment is like my apartment. I usually make breakfast for myself. I do my own laundry. I clean my own room. Patricia is my host mother, but she’s like a friend or a roommate. But, there are rules. It’s OK for my friends to visit, but only on the weekend. Jason’s friends come to the apartment on the weekend. They hang out in his room and listen to music or watch videos. Sometimes my friends from school have dinner with my family.  

Optional Listening 4

The Guitar House

In Fayetteville, Georgia, there is a house that is shaped like a guitar. It was built by a song-writer and country music lover, Elvis L. Carden, in the 1970s.

It’s right on the road and is brown. It’s not that strange, when you look at it from ground level. You probably would really notice it just driving by. In fact, you can’t really tell what it is from the street. But if you stop and look, the roof has a very slight slant, and then you can tell.

It’s basically a modified ranch house with a long narrow walkway or hallway leading to the garage, thus the guitar shape. It has a flat roof with the electrical wires running along the top to mimic guitar strings.

The Shoe House

Hellam is a small town in south-central Pennsylvania. In this town, there is a shoe house. The house was built in 1948 by shoe magnate Mahlon N. Haines to advertise his business.

The shoe House is a wood-framed house, which is 48 feet long and 17 feet wide at its widest point. It is a replica of high-top work boot. Besides a sole, heel, and toe, this shoe house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room.

Originally, Haines used Shoes House as a guesthouse. He invented elderly couples to spend the weekend and live like “kings and queens” at his expense. He also let honeymooners stay there for free, as long as they came from a town that they had a Haines shoe store.

After Haines passed away, the Shoe House was sold. Now it has been turned into an ice cream parlor and is open to tourists. 

Keys:

OL1: A. housing; B. C   C. Because it’s too far from school. /It’s a 45-minute bus ride to school.

OL2: A. a dining room: D; a yard: A, C; two bedrooms or more: A, C, D; two bathrooms or more: A, C; a big kitchen: C.    B. C is the best.

OL3: A. c. B. 1. False; doesn’t share, Not share; 2. False; divorced, Not married; 3. True; 4. False; weekends, Not Mondays or Tuesdays; 5. False; his room, Not the living room.

OL4: A. 1. a long narrow walkway or hallway, mimic guitar strings; 2. elderly couples and people on their honeymoon, tourists. B. 1. Elvis L. Carden; 2. he was a song writer and loved country music./He wanted to build a house that would look like a guitar. 4. It looks like a high-top work boot. 5. As a guesthouse. 6. It’s now an ice cream parlor and is open to tourists.

OL5: 1. learn; 2. roommates; 3. town; 4. apartment; 5. needs; 6. four rooms; 7. bedroom; 8. a month; 9. that’s cheap; 10. takes the apartment.