General Listening Quiz

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

Florist: Hi. May I help you?

Customer: Yeah. Um. You see, I need some flowers for my wife, and uh, and, you know, I . . .

Florist: Let . . . Let me guess. You forget your anniversary, and you’re trying to make things up, right?

Customer: Oh. Yeah, is it that obvious?

Florist: Well, yeah. We see men like you all the time that are so involved in their work that they simply forget about us.

Customer: Well, in, in . . . in this case, it’s not like that.

Florist: Sure. What do you need?

Customer: Well, uh, I’d like to get a dozen roses with some greenery, and a very nice card.

Florist: Do you really think a dozen roses is going to cut it?

Customer: Well, yeah . . .

Florist: I mean, if my husband forgot our anniversary, he’d be in the doghouse for sure. [Well . . . it’s . . . ] You need at least two dozen roses, a dozen balloons, and a romantic evening at an expensive restaurant.

Customer: Well, I only have $10, and . . .

Florist: Ten dollars? Well, that will buy you a single rose and a hamburger at McDonalds, but that’s it.

Customer: Uh, wait. I actually have twelve dollars and, uh . . . wait, hang on, let me see here . . . thirty-two cents, so that might be . . .

Florist: Forget playing golf this weekend. Your wife is way more important.

Customer: Oh, no. OH, NO! My wife is out in the parking lot looking for me. Oh. And, and . . . she’s looking this way. PLEASE, PLEASE. Help me! She’ll wring my neck for sure.

Florist: Okay, Okay. Uh, let’s see. Hum. [PLEASE, PLEASE!]. Well, well, it looks like I can arrange a small bouquet of roses. [Okay.] A couple are a little wilted [Oh, that’s okay.], but that’s the best I can do. [Oh, yes. Oh, yes. That’s fine.] And, and I can also attach a small card and tie a nice ribbon around the flowers.

Customer: Oh, that would be great. You’re a lifesaver. I’ll put you on my Christmas card list forever.

Florist: Okay. Okay. That’ll be twelve dollars even.

Customer: You’re an angel. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, no. [What?] Now, she’s parked in front of your store waiting for me. I’m dead meat. Do you have a back door?

Florist: No! It looks like you need to face the music and just talk to her. [I can’t, I can’t.] She’ll probably be very understanding after you promise you’ll wash . . . [You don’t know my wife.] Well, you need to promise to wash the dishes and clean the bathroom for the next six months. Get out there and be a man.

Customer: Could you call an ambulance . . . just in case? This could get ugly.

Florist: Men.

• make up (phrasal verb): become friendly after having a fight or argument 
  – My parents made up after having a simple argument over who cooked more at home.
• cut it (phrasal verb): be enough to do something or deal with an issue 
  – Studying only 30 minutes for the final exam just won’t cut it. You’ll fail the test for sure if you don’t study more. 
  – Buying cheap flowers for your wife won’t cut it. She’ll certainly be unhappy if you do that.
• be in the doghouse (idiom): be in disfavor or in a bad situation because you did or said something bad 
  – He was in the doghouse for a while because didn’t tell his wife the truth.
• wring someone’s neck (idiom): punish someone for something he or she did 
  – My girlfriend will wring my neck if she finds out I watched a football game with some friends instead of taking her out for dinner.
• wilt (verb): to bend over and look dead because something is old and dry 
  – The flowers I was going to give my wife wilted because I forgot to water them.
• dead meat ( (idiom): in serious trouble 
  – Sara’s boyfriend is dead meat. She just found out that he has been seeing someone else.
• face the music (idiom): accept the punishment or the consequences for certain events or your actions 
  – Hey, you have to face the music sooner or later and just accept the fact that your girlfriend isn’t coming back to you.
• ugly (adjective): very bad or potentially violent
  – The game turned ugly when players from both teams ran onto the field and started fighting.