General Listening Quiz

Listen to the recording on parental guidance and read along with the conversation. Review the key vocabulary and the sample sentences.

Dad: Hey. What are you doing home this weekend? I thought classes didn’t end until next week.

Daughter: Hey, Dad. I love you.

Dad: Ah, the three magic words: I NEED HELP! I’ve, I’ve heard those before.

Daughter: We . . we‘d better sit down.

Dad: Uh, this doesn’t sound good.

Daughter: First of all . . . hey, is that painting on the wall new?

Dad: No, no, no, no, no. Let’s get back to the conversation now.

Daughter: Oh, okay, first of all, I’m failing all of my classes, I lost my job, I wrecked my car, I mean, your car last week. It’s at the bottom of a lake . . . I, I think, and the laptop I borrowed from you [Yeah?] . . . well, it was in the backseat of the car. That’s all of the good news.

Dad: Uh, wait . . .

Daughter: Y . . .You’re not saying anything . . .

Dad: Okay. Now, what’s the bad news?

Daughter: Well, I just found out that my old boyfriend was a member of a gang; he says that he and 20 of his friends are gonna come over here to talk about what you’ve posted on their Facebook page.

Dad: I don’t even have a Facebook page!

Daughter: Well, you do now. [Oh!] I have to go. I’d rather not be here (in) about 20 minutes. Love you. Bye.

Dad: Ugh!!

• had better (modal of advice): similar to “should,” but somewhat stronger. There could be negative consequences if the advice or suggestion is not followed. 
  – You‘d better see a doctor before your condition takes a turn for the worse.
• fail (verb): not pass 
  – You will fail the test if you don’t sit down and study.
• wreck (verb; also noun): crash or destroy 
  – You’re going to wreck your parents’ car if you keep driving like this.
• post (verb): put up something in writing on a wall or online 
  – I posted a funny message on her Facebook page this morning.