Intermediate Listening Power

Activity 1.

Listen to the file.

Dinner Time

Activity 2.

Listening Comprehension. Answer the following questions.

1. What does the conversation imply about the mother?
A. She is busy at work.
B. She had to run some errands.
C. She is resting in bed.

2. What is the first problem the girl notices about her father's cooking?
A. He is not following the recipe.
B. He is missing the right pan to cook the pizza.
C. He is using the directions for a different food.

3. How does the girl know her father doesn't like the pizza he prepared?
A. He tells her honestly what he thinks about it.
B. She can tell by his non-verbal expressions.
C. He throws it away after making it.

4. What problem did the girl NOT mention about the pizza?
A. It was too salty. 
B. It was burned.
C. It was too chewy.

5. What do they end up doing for lunch?
A. They decide to go out to eat.
B. They eat something different at home.
C. They eat at friend's house.

Activity 3.

Listening to Details. Listen to the file for the last time and fill in the blanks with the correct answer.

Father: Time to eat!

Daughter: Coming. Oh, I'm ⁽¹⁾. Oh yuck! What is that?

Father: Oh, don't ⁽²⁾!

Daughter: But what is it, and where is mom?

Father: Now, mom put me in charge of dinner because she's not ⁽³⁾ well tonight.

Daughter: But what is it . . . and that smell!

Father: It's pizza. I just followed an old ⁽⁴⁾ recipe here, and . . .

Daughter: Let me see that . . . Oh, Dad. [What?] You're missing a page!

Father: Oh, uh, well, I couldn't find the second page of the recipe, but don't worry. I have ⁽⁵⁾ of experience around the house. Plenty of experience cooking.

Daughter: That's not what mom says.

Father:Well, wait, wait, here let me try a piece first. Here, let me, let me cool this off here. Ohhh, yeah. Oh, this is great stuff.

Daughter: Yeah right. Why are you making that face?

Father: Well, well, it's just, just a little ⁽⁶⁾ for me. That's all.

Daughter: Let me try it Dad. Uh. Dad. You put a little too much salt in it and besides its ⁽⁷⁾. And what's that?

Father: Oh, well, well, that's just part of my own adaptation to the recipe. I ⁽⁸⁾some pumpkin.

Daughter: Oh, not another of your ⁽⁹⁾. Pumpkin doesn't go on pizza!

Father: Well, okay, well, so what? Uh, what do we do now?

Daughter: Well, how about cold ⁽¹⁰⁾ . . . You can't mess up on that, Dad.

Activity 4

Vocabulary. Read and study the following words.

• starving (verb): hungry, famished
  - Many deer will starve to death in the mountains because of the harsh winter.

• yuck or yucky: expression showing strong displeasure or dislike for something (informal)
  - Oh, Dad. I don't like this yucky soup.

• adaptation (noun), adapt (verb): a change or modification to something, revision
  - Sometimes it takes time to adapt to the customs and language of another culture.

• mess up (phrasal verb): (1) to make a mistake or (2) make something untidy or cluttered
  - If you take your eyes off that boy, he might mess up your entire house.

Activity 5.

Discussion. Answer the following questions related to the conversation.

• What are typical foods you eat in your country for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? 
• Is there a another small meal or snack between the main mealtimes? 
• Who usually prepares the food in your home?