1. Read the question below. Then listen and match speakers 1–6 with appliances a)–h). You do not need all the appliances.
Which domestic appliance could each speaker live without?
1 Linda
2 James
3 Katie
4 Charles
5 Victoria
6 Margaret
a) fridge
b) oven
c) vacuum cleaner
d) microwave
e) washing machine
f) dishwasher
g) toaster
h) iron
2. Listen again and write true (T) or false (F).
1 Linda’s vacuum cleaner is in a terrible condition because she’s used it so much.
2 James hardly ever cooks at home.
3 Katie can’t imagine living without a fridge.
4 Charles doesn’t often use his oven because it isn’t big enough.
5 Victoria’s washing machine is used every day, sometimes more than once.
6 Margaret says single men are not interested in cooking and prefer pre-prepared meals.
Answer & Audioscript
1
1 c) 2 f) 3 h) 4 b) 5 g) 6 d)
2
1 F 2 T 3 T 4 F 5 T 6 F
Audioscript
Narrator: 1
Narrator: Linda
Linda: Which appliance could I live without? Well, actually, that’s not so difficult to answer. I just bought a new condominium, and it has the most beautiful wooden floors everywhere. There isn’t one single piece of carpet to clean! So, you see, I don’t need a vacuum cleaner any more! Great, isn’t it? In fact, I’m trying to get rid of my old one. It’s not even that old really. I bought it a year ago, and it’s only slightly scratched. You don’t need one, do you?
Narrator: 2
Narrator: James
James: What could I live without? Mmm, most of these appliances are essential, aren’t they? I couldn’t possibly live without a fridge or a washing machine—they’re the most important things. If I have to choose, I suppose I’d say the dishwasher. I do have one actually—but I live alone and eat out a lot, so I hardly ever use it. It’s the least important appliance in my house.
Narrator: 3
Narrator: Katie
Katie: I don’t think I could live without any of them really. They’re each as important as the other. I couldn’t possibly live without the fridge, for example. If I didn’t have one, life would be unbearable. I eat a lot of organic food, and it’s more difficult to keep fresh. I also have to do quite a bit of entertaining at home—because of my job—so the fridge is nearly always full. I suppose the least important item would be the iron. Yes, I could live without that. I never iron sheets and towels or T-shirts—that sort of thing. I take all my other clothes to the dry cleaner. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I used the iron.
Narrator: 4
Narrator: Charles
Charles: Well, I definitely couldn’t live without the microwave! I’m the worst cook in the world—absolutely hopeless. I couldn’t boil an egg if I tried. I buy pre-prepared food from the supermarket and just pop it into the microwave when I get home. It’s the quickest, easiest way of cooking ever invented. So, if I have to choose one thing I could live without, it would have to be the oven, wouldn’t it?! My apartment has the biggest oven you’ve ever seen—far bigger than most people would ever need. But I’ve never used it, not once.
Narrator: 5
Narrator: Victoria
Victoria: I have three young boys under the age of ten, so, you can imagine, it’s hard to say which appliance is less important than any other. I use the washing machine every day—sometimes twice if the kids have been playing football and they come home covered in mud! When I think about my grandmother—she used to do all her washing by hand in the old days—with four children! It’s the worst thing you can ever imagine, isn’t it?! But if I had to choose, I suppose it would be the toaster—that I could live without, just about. I have a good grill in my oven, so I could make toast with that.
Narrator: 6
Narrator: Margaret
Margaret: Well, I’m a cook—a professional cook. I give classes at home, so my oven is my livelihood—the most essential thing in my life. I couldn’t possibly live without it, could I? I sometimes have ten people in my kitchen. The classes for single men are by far the most popular. You wouldn’t believe how many of them want to learn to cook these days. They’ve gotten tired of eating processed food and take-out. They want healthier food, don’t they? So the dishwasher is also a necessity—there’s always piles of dirty dishes to do afterward. But the one thing I can easily live without is a microwave. In fact, I don’t have one—and wouldn’t use it if you gave me one! It encourages people to eat pre-prepared food and makes them lazy, don’t you think?
3. Listen and answer the questions below.
1 How much money has Jeremy’s cousin won?
€1.5 million
2 What would Nina do if she won a lot of money?
……………………………………….
3 What is Jeremy’s ambition?
……………………………………….
4 When will Henry find out if he is losing his job?
……………………………………….
5 If Henry loses his job, will he be paid?
……………………………………….
6 What would he like to study at college?
……………………………………….
Answer & Audioscript
2 Travel the world
3 to own his own IT company
4 Next Tuesday
5 Yes, he will get redundancy pay.
6 Plumbing
Audioscript
Narrator: Listen to two conversations about what people might do in different situations.
Narrator: 1
Nina: Hi, Jeremy. You look happy. What’s going on?
Jeremy: You’ll never guess what, Nina. My cousin Declan’s just won one point five million in the Euro lottery.
Nina: A million euros! Wow! If I won that kind of money, I know what I’d do. I’d travel the world and visit as many countries as I could!
Jeremy: Really? I wouldn’t. I mean, I might go on a cruise or a vacation to somewhere exotic, but I think I’d prefer to use the money to do something more long-term, like set up my own business. You know, I’ve always wanted to run my own IT company…
Narrator: 2
Emilia: Hi, Henry. Are you okay? You look a bit worried.
Henry: Hi there, Emilia. Sorry, I just got some bad news.
Emilia: Oh really? What’s happened?
Henry: Well, I might not have a job in a week’s time. My boss told me that the company needs to cut costs and that some of us will have to go. They said they’re going to tell us exactly who next Thursday, I mean, Tuesday.
Emilia: But you’ve been working for them for years! What are you going to do?
Henry: Well, if I get laid off, they’ll have to give me some money for the years I have worked for them—you know, severance pay to help me while I find a new job—then I think I’ll go back to college.
Emilia: Really? What would you study?
Henry: Well, I’ve always been interested in doing something more practical, like furniture making or pottery, but, actually, I think I’d train to become a plumber and take a plumbing course.
Emilia: That’s a good idea. Have you contacted the local college? …
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