General Listening Quiz

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

Man: Hey. Can you give me a hand with  the groceries? And I told you I could do the shopping.

Woman: Wow! Do we really need all this stuff? Let me see that receipt.

Man: Hey, I only bought the essentials.

Woman: Okay. Let’s see. Dog food. Twenty-four dollars and seventy cents ($24.70)? We don’t even have a dog!

Man: Well, it WAS going to be a surprise, but look in the back of the truck.

Woman: What?

Man: Ah, ha, hah. Speechless. I knew you’d love him.

Woman: That thing? That dog’s as big as a horse. He probably eats like one, too.

Man: Ah, but he’s sure friendly. And someone was giving him away at the supermarket, and I . . . I . . . I couldn’t let that poor thing pass another day without a loving home.

Woman: Whatever. Where was I? Eighteen dollars and nineteen cents ($18.19) for twenty-four cans of tomato juice? You don’t even like that stuff!

Man: Ahhhh. Not yet. I’ve decided to change my eating habits.

Woman: Right.

Man: You’ll, You’ll see, you’ll see.

Woman: Okay. Let’s see. Three eighty-four ($3.84) for a box of chocolate cookies and twelve fifty-six ($12.56) for a case of soft drinks. [Yeah!] Changing your eating habits, huh? Do you really think that cookies are some type of diet food?

Man: Hey, I’ll just eat a cookie or two every other hour. In fact, they’re a great source of carbohydrates for energy. And, you see, the tomato juice and cookies kind of, you know, cancel each other out.

Woman: Oh brother. [I] can’t believe what I’m hearing. Let’s see. Where was I? A carton of eggs, two fifty ($2.50) for a gallon of milk, three cans of tuna. Okay. [Yeah.] And finally two steaks for eight fourteen ($8.14). Now, something worth enjoying. I’ll get the grill started.

Man: Oh, we . . . w . . . well. The steaks are for Herbert.

Woman: Herbert. Who’s Herbert?

Man: Uh, he’s the dog. [No!] You, you, you see, the previous owner said that he’s kind of . . . he’s somewhat picky about what he eats, [No!], and the steaks might help him adjust to his li . . . [Absolutely not!] . . . . no, no, no, and the steaks might help him adjust to his new home. Hey, what are you doing? Oh, no. Why did you throw the steaks out on the ground outside?

Woman: Well, now, you and Herbert can get to know each other better. I’m going out to eat by myself.

Man: Ugh.

• give someone a hand (idiom): help someone, especially with something that requires physical work 
  – A store employee gave my mom a hand to load the groceries in the car.
• groceries (noun): food and other things sold at a supermarket 
  – She bought some groceries for tonight’s party.
• stuff (noun): type(s) of thing(s) (singular or plural)
  – You can buy that stuff at any grocery store.
• receipt (noun): a small piece of paper that shows what you bought at a store
  – You need the receipt to return that stuff to the store. Otherwise, they won’t refund your money.
• essentials (noun): the most needed things
  – You can buy all of the essentials for your trip in this section of the mall.
• speechless (adjective): unable to speech because you are angry, unhappy/happy, embarrassed, or surprised 
  – His behavior left me speechless because he spent so much without talking with his wife.
• give away (phrasal verb): give something without selling it, especially when you do not need it anymore
  – The store was giving away free samples of fried chicken.
• whatever (interjection): used when you don’t care what the person says
  – A: Are you really going to eat all that ice cream? 
  B: Sure, why not?
  A: Whatever. I told you before that you won’t lose weight that way, but you never listen to me. I’m done giving you advice.
• case (noun): a large box or container in which things are sold or stored
  – Could you pick up three cases of chicken soup? I thought we could give some away to family and friends who really need it.
• carton (noun): a small cardboard box that contains food or drink
  – She drank a small carton of juice!
• adjust (verb): get used to a new situation
  – It often takes time to adjust to new foods.