分类： Let’s Learn English (Level 1)

Speaking

Pronunciation

Conversation

Anna: Happy New Year! Some people, at the start of a new year, make a resolution — a promise to yourself to be better. I thought about my resolution carefully. I want to be an actor on the stage! Today I will audition for a show called “The Woods Are Alive!” Wish me luck!
Director: Next! What is your name?
Anna: My name is Anna Matteo.
Director: Are you ready to audition?
Anna: (warms up voice) Yes.
Director: Great. Let’s begin on page 1. Here is the story. You are lost in the woods. You are searching desperately for a way out. Suddenly, you hear something.
Director: Now, say your line.
Anna: ‘What was that? Hello. Is someone there?’
Director: Anna, you are speaking too softly. Can you speak more loudly and a little more, um, seriously?
Anna: Yes, of course I can. ‘What was that? Hello. Is someone there?’ Is that loud enough?
Director: Yes, that is loud enough. Let’s turn to page 25. In this scene, you are moving slowly and quietly through the woods.
Director: Anna. Anna! You are walking quickly and loudly. Walk slowly and quietly.
Anna: I’m walking slowly and quietly. I am walking…
Director: Anna. Anna. You don’t need to say “slowly” and “quietly.” Alright, let’s try the last scene. Turn to page 48. I say my line first, then you say your line.
Director: ‘You will never get out of these woods alive! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!’
Anna: ‘Yes, I will.’
Director: Okay, Anna, you said that line — you said that line really late. You need to say it earlier.
Anna: Sorry. Sorry. Let me try again.
Director: ‘You will never …’
Anna: ‘Yes, I will.’
Director: ‘… get out of the woods alive.’
Anna: I was too early, wasn’t I?
Director: Yes. Yes, you were.
Anna: Director, how am I doing?
Director: You know, Anna. I think that I have the perfect part for you.
Director: The costume is in the back. Please go try it on.
Anna: Awesome! (Anna returns as a tree.)
Director: Oh, Anna, that fits you perfectly!
Anna: I’m a tree. I’m a tree in … “The Woods Are Alive!” Yes!
Anna: My new year is starting awesomely! Excuse me, Director! I have a great idea for my tree. Oh, wait! Until next time!

Speaking

Pronunciation

Conversation

Anna: Hello! Winter weather in Washington, D.C. can be really windy. And wind messes up my hair. It is really windy today. Look at my hair. Will it be windy this weekend? I’ll listen to the news. I am tired of my untidy hair.
Pete: Are you tired of your untidy hair?
Anna: Yes. Yes, I am. And it’s … uncomfortable.
Pete: Is it … uncomfortable?
Anna: Yes. Yes, it is! Hey, is that … Pete?
Pete: Hi. I’m Pete. And I have the perfect product for you — Hair Be Good!
Pete: Just spray Hair Be Good on your hair … wrap in a towel … and you are done! Hair Be Good works and it’s inexpensive. One can costs only $10! So, go online and order your Hair Be Good today!
Anna: Hair Be Good sounds perfect! And I can trust Pete! I am buying some right now. Okay, I will order one can of Hair Be Good for $10. I’ll pay with a credit card. My delivery will arrive in 2 days. Awesome!
Anna: It arrived! I’ll use it before I go to work. Okay, Hair Be Good, make my untidy hair tidy! No, make it … fabulous!
Amelia: Hi, Anna.
Anna: Hello, Amelia!
Amelia: Anna, you look … different.
Anna: Thanks! I used a new product called Hair Be Good.
Amelia: Well, it’s not.
Anna: It’s not what?
Amelia: Good. Your hair does not look good.
Anna: Oh, no! This is not good.
Amelia: Why don’t you go home and take care of … this.
Anna: Good idea.
Pete: Hi, Anna!
Anna: Hello, Pete.
Pete: Is something wrong?
Anna: This is wrong!
Pete: What did you do to your hair?
Anna: Hair Be Good did this to my hair.
Pete: Ah, you bought it!
Anna: Yes, I bought it. You said in your ad it was a perfect product. This is not perfect. This is imperfect!
Pete: It’s unbelievable!
Anna: I believed your ad, Pete. It was dishonest!
Pete: Anna, you don’t believe everything you see in ads, do you?
Anna: No, Pete. Just the ones with my friends.
Pete: Your hair will be okay. Just wash it … a couple of times.
Anna: Thanks. Thanks a lot, Pete! Here, here’s your product! You should call it “Hair Be Really, Really Bad!” Until next time, Pete! Till next time.

Speaking

Pronunciation

Conversation

Anna: Hello! I have great news. My best friend from my hometown is coming here — to Washington, D.C.! I can’t wait to catch up with her! Oh! I gotta go. Her train arrives in 10 minutes!
Anna: Penelope!
Penelope: Anna! I am really happy to see you!
Anna: Me too! How was your trip?
Penelope: It was fine.
Anna: Let me help you with your bags.
Penelope: I’m really excited to be in Washington, D.C.! I can’t wait to hear about … everything!
Anna: I have so much to tell you. Let’s go to my apartment. We can talk over a hot cup of tea.
Penelope: I love your apartment building, Anna. Is your rent expensive?
Anna: Well, I have a roommate. So, we split the rent.
Penelope: Oh, that’s right. Is your roommate nice?
Anna: Marsha is the nicest person I know in this city. Sometimes she worries too much. And she says I’m the messiest cook she knows. But we are great roommates.
Penelope: So, Anna, is it hard to make friends in D.C.?
Anna: At first it was hard. But now, Marsha is a good friend. And there’s Pete. Of all the people I know in D.C., Pete is the most serious and also the silliest.
Penelope: He sounds … interesting.
Anna: Jonathan and Ashley are two other good friends of mine. In the city, they are the friendliest people I know. They always help me when I need it.
Penelope: Your friends sound great! So, tell me about your job.
Anna: I love my work! I make a children’s show called the “Time Traveling Treehouse.”
Penelope: Anna, that is the best job for you! Do you remember when we were little? We played in that old treehouse behind my family’s house for hours!
Anna: I forgot about that! We thought it really time traveled! It is really good to talk to you. New friends are good. But old friends are the best.
Penelope: I know. Our hometown isn’t the same now. You are not there.
Anna: No crying. No crying. Penelope, why don’t you move here and live with me and Marsha?
Penelope: Anna, I can’t leave our hometown. You forget — I love my job, too.
Anna: I didn’t forget. You are the most famous turkey farmer I know!
Penelope: Thanks, Anna.
Anna: Come on. Let’s go eat dinner at one of D.C.’s most famous restaurants.
Penelope: Awesome!
Anna: I have a great apartment. I love my work. And I have awesome friends. I am the luckiest woman in Washington, D.C.
(sound of thunder)
Anna: Until next time?