Saturday, April 4, 2009

Assignment 5: Two audio clips from Randall's Cyber Listening Lab




Audio 1: A Student Credit Card

Level:medium
Type:conversation
Speakers:man - woman
Length:02:00

1. dough (noun): informal for money - He didn't have enough dough to buy the TV, so he borrowed money from his brother.

P.s. According to Cambridge Online Dictionary, dough is an OLD-FASHIONED SLANG.

2. spend yourself in a hole (idiom): spend too much that leads to heavy debt - Some people spend themselves in a hole because they can't control their shopping habits.


Audio 2: College Majors

Level: medium
Topic:
Type: conversation
Speakers: man - woman
Length: 02:11

3. bat around (idiom): consider different choices, including the positive and negative points of each option - My daughter batted around a few ideas on where to travel over the holidays until she settled on Hawaii.
P.s.1. It's an informal phrase and it can be used as "bat around something" or "bat something around".
P.s.2. Another usage of bat:
off your own bat (BrE, informal) if you do sth off your own bat, it is your own idea and you do it without help or encouragement from anyone else. You do is through your own efforts.
Example: She made the suggestions entirely off her own bat.
4. bad-mouth (idiom): criticize or to say unpleasant things about somebody - He always bad-mouths people behind their backs. If you have anything to say about people, it's best to say it to their faces.
5. sermon (noun): a talk with moral advice about life- The minister gave an interesting sermon at church this past week about serving others in need.
P.s. This word has two similar meanings. The first meaning has something to do with religion, refering to a speech about a moral or religious subject that is usually given by a religious leader. The second meaning in this conversation is informal and usually disapproving, refering to serious talk about how someone should behave.

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