Listening Test 1

The podcast discusses phrases and vocabulary related to expressing confidence and preferences. It includes examples of phrases like "I bet," "I doubt," and "it must be." It also covers the usage of "preferably" and the idiom "beggars can't be choosers." The second dialogue focuses on expressing preferences politely and the importance of a minimum salary in a new job. The third dialogue explores the meaning of the conjunction "while," the idiom "nothing to write home about," and the phrase "I'd rather." This is the Accelerate Your Listening and Speaking Podcast, where every lesson makes you a little bit better at communicating with the world. This is listening test number one. Remember that you can find the transcript to the dialogues in today's listening test, as well as the vocabulary from the test, on my website, www.accelerateenglish.com slash podcast. Dialogue number one. There are four phrases for this dialogue. The first one is, I bet. If somebody says, I bet, and then they give you some sort of clause, it means that they're very confident that that clause is true. So for example, if I know somebody who is always late, and we're planning to meet in the future, and I say, I bet he'll be late as usual. It means I'm very confident that he'll be late. I bet he'll be late as usual. The next phrase is, I doubt. And I doubt is the opposite of I bet. If you say, I doubt, it means that you're very confident that something is not true or something is not going to happen. So if I say, I doubt he'll be on time, that is the same as saying, I bet he'll be late. So if this person is always late, I can say, I bet he'll be late, or I doubt he'll be on time, because I doubt means I'm confident that this will not happen. Another word that we're focusing on for this dialogue is the modal must. When somebody uses the modal must, it's a way of expressing confidence that something is true at the moment without knowing for sure. So if you look out your window and you don't know the temperature outside, but everybody is wearing heavy jackets, you could say, it must be cold outside. And you don't know for sure. You have not been outside to check for yourself. But you are using the information that you are seeing with everybody wearing jackets, and you are making a confident guess that something is true at the moment without knowing for sure. It must be cold outside. That's similar to saying, I bet it's cold outside. They're both ways of expressing that you are confident that something is true without knowing for sure. And finally, the phrase, what's going on? As a question, what's going on means what's happening. And as part of a statement, if you say, for example, I don't know what's going on, it means I don't know what's happening. So the phrasal verb go on is kind of like happen. And if you say, what's going on? Or I don't know what's going on, it means what's happening, or I don't know what's happening. So now you'll hear a question and a dialogue, and try to answer the question based on what you hear in the dialogue. You'll hear the question and the dialogue three times. The first two times will be at normal speed, and the third time will be more slowly. At the end of the third time, you'll get the answer. What does the speaker confidently think is not going to happen? I just heard that our flight is now delayed. I bet it's the weather. It's snowing a lot outside. It's supposed to keep snowing heavily for the next two hours, so I doubt we'll be departing anytime soon. I'll ask someone at the gate for more information. They must know what's going on. What does the speaker confidently think is not going to happen? I just heard that our flight is now delayed. I bet it's the weather. It's snowing a lot outside. It's supposed to keep snowing heavily for the next two hours, so I doubt we'll be departing anytime soon. I'll ask someone at the gate for more information. They must know what's going on. What does the speaker confidently think is not going to happen? I just heard that our flight is now delayed. I bet it's the weather. It's snowing a lot outside. It's supposed to keep snowing heavily for the next two hours, so I doubt we'll be departing anytime soon. I'll ask someone at the gate for more information. They must know what's going on. The answer to the question, what does the speaker confidently think is not going to happen, is departing anytime soon, and it comes from the part of the dialogue where the speaker says, so I doubt we'll be departing anytime soon. Dialogue number two. This dialogue has four vocabulary words or phrases, and the first one is if you say, something would be ideal. If a person says, something would be ideal, or blah, blah, blah, would be ideal, it is a way of expressing a preference, but in an indirect, polite way. So if I was making plans with a friend to meet them, and I said, if we could meet at 3 p.m., it would be ideal, that is an indirect and polite way of saying, I prefer 3 p.m. If we could meet at 3 p.m., it would be ideal, or meeting at 3 p.m. would be ideal. Another way of introducing your preference politely is using the adverb preferably, preferably. Sometimes people pronounce it preferably, so you can pronounce it preferably or preferably, and it's a way of introducing your preference. So if you say, I'd like to travel somewhere, preferably a place with nice beaches, it means a place with nice beaches is your preference or your first choice. Next is an idiom, and the idiom is beggars can't be choosers. Beggars can't be choosers means that if you're in a desperate situation where you really need something, you should accept whatever you can get without complaining, even if it's not exactly what you want. So for example, if I say, I needed a car for my trip, and my brother agreed to lend me his car, it's not very big, but beggars can't be choosers. It means I shouldn't complain about his car being small, because I just need a car, and my brother is helping me. Beggars can't be choosers. If you're begging for something because you really need it from someone else, you can't complain about what you receive. That's the message. Beggars can't be choosers. And finally, the last vocabulary word is the adjective imperative. If something is imperative, it's very important. So if you say, wearing a seatbelt is imperative for your safety, it means wearing a seatbelt is very important for your safety. So now you're going to hear a dialogue three times. Each time you'll hear a question for the dialogue, and you'll get the answer at the end of the third time. Which factor is most important for the speaker with regard to a new job? I'm looking for a new job these days. Something that provides eight hours a day would be ideal, preferably morning and afternoon, but I realize that beggars can't be choosers. On the other hand, a minimum salary of $40,000 a year is imperative. I can't live on any less. Which factor is most important for the speaker with regard to a new job? I'm looking for a new job these days. Something that provides eight hours a day would be ideal, preferably morning and afternoon, but I realize that beggars can't be choosers. On the other hand, a minimum salary of $40,000 a year is imperative. I can't live on any less. Which factor is most important for the speaker with regard to a new job? I'm looking for a new job these days. Something that provides eight hours a day would be ideal, preferably morning and afternoon, but I realize that beggars can't be choosers. On the other hand, a minimum salary of $40,000 a year is imperative. I can't live on any less. The answer to the question, which factor is most important for the speaker with regard to a new job, is a minimum salary of $40,000 a year, and it comes from the part in the dialogue where the speaker says, on the other hand, a minimum salary of $40,000 a year is imperative. Dialogue number three has four vocabulary words or phrases. The first one is the conjunction while. While has more than one meaning in English, but in this dialogue, you're going to hear while used as a conjunction to link two contrasting or opposite points. So, for example, if I say, while I like watching sports, I don't like playing them, I can use while because I'm connecting two opposite points. I like watching sports, I don't like playing them, and I can link them by saying, while I like watching sports, I don't like playing them. The next piece of vocabulary is an idiom. When we say that something is nothing to write home about, we mean that it's not impressive. So if you say, the hotel that we stayed at was nothing to write home about, it means the hotel was not impressive, and it comes from the meaning from a long time ago when people wrote to their families about things that were interesting or impressive while they were away from home. If something was impressive to you, you probably would write home about it, but when we say that something is nothing to write home about, we're saying the opposite. It's not impressive. The next phrase is all things considered. We say all things considered similar to how we say overall, when we're giving a final opinion about something after thinking about many different factors or aspects. So if you say, if you're talking about a movie and you say, the story was kind of predictable, but the acting was very good and it had a great ending, all things considered, I like the movie, that means your final overall opinion is, I like the movie. The story was kind of predictable, that's not great. The acting was very good, that's positive, and it had a good ending, that's also positive. So there's a few factors, and then at the end you can say, all things considered, I like the movie. And finally, the last piece of vocabulary is the phrase, I'd rather, which means I would rather, but we often shorten it and just say, I'd rather. Whenever we put I'd rather with a verb, it means that that is our preference. So if you say, I'd rather eat pizza than pasta tonight, it means eating pizza is your preference. I'd rather eat pizza than pasta. What was the speaker not impressed with at the restaurant? We tried the new Italian restaurant that opened on 4th Street. While the interior design was nice and the service was better than average, the food was nothing to write home about compared to the delicious cuisines I was expecting for their prices. All things considered, I'd rather go elsewhere next time we want Italian. What was the speaker not impressed with at the restaurant? We tried the new Italian restaurant that opened on 4th Street. While the interior design was nice and the service was better than average, the food was nothing to write home about compared to the delicious cuisines I was expecting for their prices. All things considered, I'd rather go elsewhere next time we want Italian. What was the speaker not impressed with at the restaurant? We tried the new Italian restaurant that opened on 4th Street. While the interior design was nice and the service was better than average, the food was nothing to write home about compared to the delicious cuisines I was expecting for their prices. All things considered, I'd rather go elsewhere next time we want Italian. The answer is the food. What was the speaker not impressed with at the restaurant? The food. It comes with a part of the dialogue where the speaker says, the food was nothing to write home about. I hope you enjoyed today's listening test and remember that you can get the transcript and the vocabulary at my website www.accelerateenglish.com slash podcast.