Listening Practice Through Dictation Level 1 – Topic: People and Work

M:   I had a big problem at the office today! W: What happened?
M:   I could not use my computer all day!
W:   Was it because of a virus?
M:   Yes. I opened a file that had a virus.
W:   Oh no! You must be careful when you open files in your email. A virus can make your whole computer crash.
M:   It was an accident! I didn’t know the file had a virus. I’ll be more careful next time.
W:   What did you do next?
M:   I asked a computer repairman to come to the office. He worked all day to repair my computer. But the real problem is that I may have lost some of my work.
W:   Don’t worry. Your work is probably still on your computer. I can help you get it back. Next time, make sure you have back-up files. Just in case it happens again!

G :   What do you want to be when you grow up, Mark?
B :   I want to be a teacher. I think I would like to help children learn.
G :   Well, you know, teachers work very hard, and they are not paid much money.
B :   I don’t care about money. Teaching is an important job.
G :   What subject do you want to teach?
B :   I want to teach mathematics, like Ms. Kim. She makes learning fun. I didn’t know that I would like math so much until I joined her class. Now, mathematics is my favorite subject.
G :   If you want to teach math, you’ll have to work hard and learn it well.
B :   No problem! I got an A on the mathematics examination last week. With good teachers like Ms. Kim, learning is easy.
G :   I want to be a teacher, too. But I want to teach English, not math!

W:   We are having a summer sale. Everything is 50% off the normal price.
M:   Really? Everything?
W:   Yes. Everything is on sale, including sunglasses, hats, and bags. All the summer clothes are on sale, too.
M:   I do need some new sunglasses. I lost mine when I went to the beach this summer. Oh, these are really nice. What is the price of these? There is no price tag on them.
W:   Well, sir, there’s no price tag on those sunglasses because they are mine!
M:   Really? I would like to get a pair of sunglasses just like these. Where did you get them?
W:   Actually, I got them for $15 at Super Glasses.
M:   There is a Super Glasses store in this mall, isn’t there?
W:   Yes, but let me show you the sunglasses we have on sale.
M:   No, thanks. I think I’ll just go to Super Glasses!

B :   I want to find a part-time job. Do you have any ideas about where I should look for work?
W:   Have you looked in the newspaper? There are lots of job advertisements in the newspaper.
B :   Yes, I have. But there were no jobs I was interested in.
W:   Did you search on the Internet? Many companies put job advertisements on the Internet.
B :   No, I haven’t looked on the Internet. I don’t know what I should search for.
W:   There are many websites that have job postings that you could look at. You could also search for the type of job you are interested in.
B :   OK. Thanks for telling me what I need to do. I’ll start my Internet search right now.
W:   I have a list of some websites. You could start looking at those first. That might save you some time.
B :   That would be very useful. Thanks!

G :   When people work together as a team, they can achieve a lot. You can easily get things done when you share the work.
We practice teamwork in my family. Both my parents have jobs. My father is a doctor. My mother is a teacher. Both of them work long hours all week. My brother is a student at college. I am a student in school. We all have very busy lives. So, when it comes to household chores, we all work together to get them done.
Each of us has different chores. My parents take turns to cook. My father takes out the trash. My mother does the laundry. My brother washes the dishes. I sweep the floor. We share the chores and work together. Everything gets done fast.
People should practice working as a team. Teamwork works!