| Level: |
Topic: |
Speakers: |
Length: |
| difficult |
apartments for rent |
man – man |
01:40 |
Pre-Listening Exercise
Finding a good apartment for rent sometimes takes time, but things always come up. What kinds of complaints or problems do tenants experience when renting a home or apartment? Briefly discuss these ideas with a partner. Explain one solution for each problem.
Idioms
“teed off” = upset, angry
“She was really teed off because the landlord wouldn’t fix her toilet.”
“go ballistic” = become very angry suddenly
“The landlord went ballistic when he found out the tenants destroyed the apartment.”
Listening Exercise
A. Listen to the recording and answer the questions.
Post-Listening Exercise
What would you do if you were Mr. Burton at the end of this conversation? For each of these situations, what request would you use and how would you respond to possible objections on the part of the individual(s) you are talking to:
- you decide to speak to the man in 4B by yourself
- you call up the landowners next door to complain
- you visit the owner’s office to vent your frustrations
Online Investigation
Imagine that you need to make the following improvements and repairs to your home. The cost of the service or product is important to you, but you are equally concerned about the quality of service and any guarantees on the work. Use the Internet to compare two or more companies that can do the work. Then, make recommendations on which company you would do the best job.
- a leaky and cracked toilet
- an old and inefficient water heater
- a broken window
- a new air conditioning system