Unit Two  Communication Problems

Part 1  Listening, Understanding and Speaking

Listening I 

Exercise 1  1)F 2)T 3)F 4)F 5)T

Exercise 2  1)skin 2)local hospital 3)eat; skin trouble 4)waiting for; a big basket 5)done all her/the shopping; her/a shopping list

Scripts:

Mrs. Black was having a lot of trouble with her skin, so she went to her doctor. However he could not find anything wrong with her. So he sent her to the local hospital for some tests. The hospital, of course, sent the results of the tests directly to Mrs. Black's doctor. The next morning, he telephoned her to give her a list of the things that he thought she should not eat, as any of them might be the cause of her skin trouble.

Mrs. Black carefully wrote all the things down on a piece of paper, which she then left beside the telephone while she went out to a meeting.

When she got back home two hours later, she found her husband waiting for her. He had a big basket full of packages beside him, and when he saw her, he said, “Hello, dear. I have done all your shopping for you.”

“Done all my shopping?” she asked in surprise. “But how did you know what I wanted?”

“Well, when I got home, I found your shopping list beside the telephone,” answered her husband, “so I went down to the shops and bought everything you had written down.”

Of course, Mrs. Black had to tell him that he had bought all the things the doctor did not allow her to eat!

 

Listening II  

Exercise 1  1)British English; American English 2)sound, words and expressions; grammar 3)confusing; different; understandable; each

Exercise 2 

I don’t know.  What do you say?  jumper; trousers; chips; chemist’s shop; ring them up;  Have you got an extra pen?

Scripts:

American and British people both speak English, of course, but sometimes it does not seem like the same language. In fact, there are some important differences between British and American English.

First of all, they sound very different. Often, Americans don't say all the letters in each word. For example, Americans may say “I dunno” instead of “I don't know”, or they may say “Whaddya say?” instead of “What do you say?”

Sound is not the only difference between British and American English. The two languages have different words and expressions for some things. For example, some words for clothing are different. Americans use the word “sweater”, but the British say “jumper”. Americans wear “vests” over their shirts, but British people wear “vests” under their shirts. Americans talk about “pants” or “slacks”, but the British talk about “trousers”. The British chips are American French fries. A British chemist is an American drugstore. In Britain, if you are going to telephone friends, you “ring them up”. In America, you “give them a call”.

There are also some differences in grammar. For example, Americans almost always use the helping verb “do” with the verb “have”. They might say, “Do you have an extra pen?” The British often ask the question a different way. They might say, “Have you got an extra pen?”

These differences can be confusing when you are learning English. But when the same language is used in different places, it is understandable that it changes in each place.

 

Listening III

Exercise 1  1)T 2)F 3)F 4)F 5)F 6)T     

Exercise 2 

1)small 2)pie 3)pine 4)big 5)small 6)pint 7)half 8)German 9)warm; brown 10)English 11)a packet of 12)in the evening 13)fried potatoes 14)crisps

Scripts:

Nick: Hi, Dieter. OK?

Dieter: Oh, hi, Nick. Yes, I'm fine, except that I had a big problem ordering my drink. I didn't think my English was so bad!

Nick: Your English is very good! What kind of problem?

Dieter: Well, look at this beer I've got here—this warm, brown, English beer—it wasn't what I wanted!

Nick: Why, what did you ask for?

Dieter: Well, I just asked for a small beer. Then the barman asked what type of beer and said lots of names that I didn't understand—and something about a pie or a pine. I didn't understand anything!

Nick: Oh, no! He probably said a pint! In English you don't ask for a big or a small beer. You ask for either a pint or a half. A pint's the big one.

Dieter: So this one I've got here is a half?

Nick: Yes, that's a half of bitter. Bitter's the name for that type of beer.

Dieter: Ah, that's what he said—bitter! Well, it's very different from the beer we drink in Germany, I must say.

Nick: Yes, I know. They call the German type of beer lager. So you have to ask for a half of lager, or a pint of lager.

Dieter: OK. I understand that now. My another problem was chips. I asked for a packet of chips, and the barman said something strange—that they don't have chips in the evening, only at lunchtime. What did he mean?

Nick: Yes, they have fish and chips, but I think you meant crisps. In England, chips are fried potatoes, you know, French fries. The ones you buy in a packet are crisps.

Dieter: Well, in the end I didn't get anything to eat. So you see, I did everything wrong!

 

Listening IV

Exercise 1  1)F 2)T 3)T 4)F 5)T    

Exercise 2

MEN; HIS; MAN-made; mental image; females/women; females/women; males/men; citizens

Scripts:

(Mr. and Mrs. Jones are having a conversation one evening while Mrs. Jones happens to be looking at some of the textbooks her daughter, who is in the fifth grade, is using.)

Mrs. Jones:Listen to what this book says. It really makes me angry! When talking about the settling of the western part of the U.S., it says, “MEN by the thousands headed west.” Then on the very same page it says, “The average citizen in the United States is proud of HIS heritage.”

Mr. Jones: What's wrong with that? It's true. I don't understand why you are angry.

Mrs. Jones:Why? Because women are left out!

Mr. Jones: Everyone knows when the author says “men” or “his” in those sentences that the author means to include women.

Mrs. Jones:I think you are wrong. When young people read these sentences, they simply do not form a mental image which includes females.

Mr. Jones: Mm. Do you have other examples?

Mrs. Jones: Yes I do! This book mentions “MAN-made improvements that have raised America's standard of living”. A child will not think that females as well as males have made contributions when reading this.

Mr. Jones: I still don't think it's very important.

Mrs. Jones:Of course you don't! You're a man. But don't you want our daughter and other little girls to have the idea that they can be important citizens in their country, just as other women have been in the past?

Mr. Jones: Well, I guess you're right. I hope not all textbooks are like that.

 

Part 2  Viewing, Understanding and Speaking

Exercise 1  1)T 2)F 3)F 4)F 5)F 6)T   

Exercise 2  1) or another 2) seeing each other 3) boating 4)half an hour 5)someone else 6)anymore 7)Of course I do 8) two different places 9)stupid

 

Part 3  Video Appreciation and Singing for Fun

Exercise 1 

Tip 1: Use open-ended questions.  Tip 2: Active listening.  Tip 3: The cocoon.  Tip 4: Engage with the other person.  Tip 5: Don’t make assumptions.  Tip 6: Avoid antagonistic sentences.

Exercise 2 

1)closed questions 2)kill the conversation 3)summarizing 4)concentrate on 5)visualize a “cocoon” 6)turn around and face that individual 7)a particular topic 8)projecting your own thoughts or feelings 9)a form of attack 10)a lot less conflicts

 

Part 4  Further Listening

Listening I  1)closer 2)regular 3)down 4)sense 5)envelope 6)convenience 7)instant 8)longer 9)positive 10)2,252 11)quality 12)decreased 13)similar 14)inside 15)agreed 16)different

Scripts:

Much has been said about how anti-social the Internet and mobile phones are. The truth is, however, according to new research, communication technology is bringing people closer together. A study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found family members were keeping in regular contact today more than ever before. And this is all down to e-mail, chat, cell phones and SMS messaging. It makes sense. Years ago, it took a long time to write a letter, then find an envelope and go to the post office to buy a stamp and post it. Today we write mails while we wait for our change in the convenience store and they’re sent in an instant. Having free Internet telephone calls also helps us to stay in touch more often and for longer. Everyone’s at it, from five-year-olds to tech-savvy grandparents.

According to the Pew survey, technology has a very positive effect on communication within families. Researchers asked 2,252 adults whether new technologies had increased the quality of communication with their family. Fifty-three percent said it increased communication with family members they did not live with; two percent said technology decreased this. Numbers were similar for those living in the same house as their family. The project director Lee Rainey said: “There’s a new kind of connectedness being built inside of families with these technologies.” Survey co-author Barry Wellman agreed. “It used to be that husbands went off to work, wives went off to a different job or else stayed home… and the kids went off to school… and not until 5:30, 6 o’clock did they ever connect,” he said.

 

Listening II

1)status 2)definite 3)doubts 4)interrupt 5)power structure 6)establish and test 7)knowledge 8)power 9)sharing approach 10)encourage

Scripts:

At an early age, little girls' conversation is less definite and expresses more doubts, while little boys use conversation to establish status with their listeners.

These differences continue into adult life. In public conversations, men talk more and interrupt other speakers more. In private conversations, men and women speak in equal amounts, although they say things in a different style. For women, private talking is a way to establish and test intimacy. For men, private talking is a way to explore the power structure of a relationship.

Teaching is one job which shows the differences between men's and women's ways of talking. When a man teaches a woman, he wants to show that he has more knowledge, and hence more power in conversation. He uses his language to show this. When a woman teaches another woman, however, she is more likely to take a sharing approach and to encourage her student to join in.

But it doesn't suggest that women are naturally more helpful. Actually, women feel they achieve power by being able to help others.

 

Listening III  1) F 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) T

Scripts:

Walking down the street, a dog saw an ad in an office window. “Help wanted. Must type 70 words a minute. Must be computer literate. Must be bilingual. An equal-opportunity employer.”

The dog applied for the position, but he was quickly refused. “I can't hire a dog for this job,” the office manager said. But when the dog pointed to the line that read “An equal-opportunity employer”, the office manager sighed and asked, “Can you type?” Silently, the dog walked over to a typewriter and typed a letter without a mistake. “Can you operate a computer?” the manager inquired. The dog then sat down at a computer, wrote a program and ran it perfectly.

“Look, I still can't hire a dog for this position,” said the office manager. “You have fine skills, but I need someone who's bilingual. It says so right in the ad.”

The dog looked up at the manager and said, “Meow.”

 

Listening IV 

Exercise 1  1)T 2)F 3)T 4)F 5)T 6)T

Exercise 2  1)an American education 2)fluent English 3)misses 4)nice 5)little things 6)walking the dog 7)weather 8)snowy 9)sunshine 10)boots 11)umbrella 12)a big smile

Scripts:

Ramon Romero is a seventeen-year-old boy from Bolivia. He speaks Spanish and a little bit of English.

Ramon lives in the United States now, in Little Rock, Arkansas, with the Hutchinsons. They are not his real family. His real family is back in Bolivia. They cannot come to America because they have jobs and duties in their country and aren't able to leave. However, they do want their son to have an American education and be fluent in English.

He misses his family and wishes to see them. It seems that no one understands his true feelings. It is difficult to listen to English all the time and then to express his thoughts in English. His American family is very nice to him and helps him in every way. In return, Ramon does little things to help the family. For instance, he takes the dog for a walk every morning and every evening.

When he comes back from the morning walk, he tells Mrs. Hutchinson about the weather. This tells her how to dress her four-year-old son. On Tuesday, Mrs. Hutchinson asks, “How is the weather today?”

Ramon answers, “It rain.”

“No, Ramon, in English we say, 'It's raining.'”

On Wednesday, it rains again.

“It's raining today,” reports Ramon.

On Thursday, it snows. On Friday, the sun finally shines. Ramon is very happy that he doesn't have to wear boots or carry an umbrella. He comes into the house with a big smile on his face.

“How's the weather today?” asks Mrs. Hutchinson.

“Oh, today I am very happy,” replies Ramon. “There is no weather.”