Lesson 6. Dialogues Involving Suggestions, Invitations, Offers, and Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SECTION 1: LISTENING



Sample Item

You will hear:*

M1: I’m doing so poorly in physics class, I think I’m going to have to drop it.

F1: You know, Frank, you should talk to Professor de Marco before you do anything. He’s given

special help to lots of students who were having trouble.

M2: What does the woman suggest Frank do?

You will read:

What does the woman suggest Frank do?

(A) Study with a group of students

(B) Drop his mathematics course

(C) Discuss the problem with the professor

(D) Take no action at this time

The correct answer is (C). The woman suggests that the man talk to Professor de Marco

because the professor has helped many students in the past.



INVITATIONS

These are requests for someone to come somewhere or to take part in some activity. The first speaker may

invite the second speaker to do something, and the second speaker responds or the second speaker may

invite the first speaker to do something.

Making Invitations

Shall we . . .

Would you like to . . .

Would you care to . . .

Would you be able to . . .

Want to . . .



Let’s . . .

Do you want to . . .

Could you . . .

Can you . . .



Positive Responses



Negative Responses



Yes, let’s.

Sure, thanks.

Sounds good.

All right, I’d love to.

I’d like that.

What a great idea!

Sure. Thanks for inviting me.

If you want me to.

Don’t mind if I do.



I’m sorry, but . . .

I’d like to, but . . .

I’d love to, but . . .

Thanks a lot, but . . .

That sounds nice, but . . .

I’ll pass.

Thanks for the invitation, but . . .

I don’t think I’ll be able to make it this time.



* Note:

M1 = first male voice

F2 = second female voice



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M2 = second male voice



44



M3 = third male voice



F1 = first female voice



LESSON 6: DIALOGUES INVOLVING SUGGESTIONS, INVITATIONS, OFFERS, AND REQUESTS



Sample Item

You will hear:*

M1: Would you like to join us on Sunday? We’re going to go on a picnic at the lake.

F1: I’d love to, but I have a test Monday, and I have to get ready for it.

M2: What will the woman probably do on Sunday?

You will read:

What will the woman probably do on Sunday?

(A) Study for a test

(B) Go on a picnic

(C) Take an exam

(D) Join a club

The correct answer is (A). The man invites the woman to come to a picnic. The woman says

that she’d love to go, but that she must study for a test she is taking Monday. (If the woman had

accepted the man’s invitation, choice (B) would have been correct.)



OFFERS

These are proposals to help someone or allow someone to do something. Either speaker in the dialogue

may make an offer.

Making Offers

Let me . . .

Shall I . . .

Would you like me to . . .

Do you want me to . . .



Can I . . .

May I . . .

Should I . . .

I could . . .



Positive Responses



Negative Responses



That would be nice.

Yes, please.

Please do.

Sure, thanks.



I don’t think so.

I’m afraid not.

That won’t be necessary.

Thanks anyway.

Please don’t.



* Note:

M1 = first male voice

F2 = second female voice



M2 = second male voice



45



M3 = third male voice



F1 = first female voice



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SECTION 1: LISTENING



Sample Item

You will hear:*

F1: Should I make reservations for dinner Friday night?

M1: Thanks anyway, but I’ve already made them.

M2: What does the man mean?

You will read:

What does the man mean?

(A) He can’t go to dinner Friday night.

(B) Reservations won’t be required.

(C) He made reservations earlier.

(D) He’d like the woman to make reservations.

The correct answer is (C). The woman offers to make reservations, but the man replies that he’s

already made them.



REQUESTS

To make a request is to ask someone to do something or to ask for help or information.

Making Requests

Would you . . .

Could you/I . . .

Do you mind if . . .

Would you mind if . . .



Will you . . .

May I . . .

Can you/I . . .



Positive Responses



Negative Responses



I’d be glad to.

I’d be delighted.

Sure thing.

Certainly.

Why not?

If you want to.

If you’d like.

You bet.

*Not at all.

*Of course not.



Sorry, but . . .

I’m afraid not.

I’d like to, but . . .

I wish I could, but . . .

*Actually, I do/would.

*I’m afraid I do/would.

*As a matter of fact, I do/would.



* Responses for “Do you mind if . . .” or “Would you mind if . . .”



* Note:

M1 = first male voice

F2 = second female voice



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M2 = second male voice



46



M3 = third male voice



F1 = first female voice



LESSON 6: DIALOGUES INVOLVING SUGGESTIONS, INVITATIONS, OFFERS, AND REQUESTS



Sample Item

You will hear:*

M1: I have to make one more phone call before I go.

F2: Take your time. Would you just lock the door when you finish?

M2: What does the woman want the man to do?

You will read:

What does the woman want the man to do?

(A) Lock the office

(B) Finish his phone call quickly

(C) Tell her what time it is

(D) Look up a phone number

The correct answer is (A). The woman requests that the man lock up the office.



EXERCISE 6.1

Focus: Identifying suggestions, invitations, offers, and requests and responses to them

Directions: Listen to the following dialogues. Decide which of the two choices best completes the

sentence, and mark the appropriate space.

Now start the listening program.

1. The man is



6. The man is



______



(A) declining an offer.



______



(A) agreeing to a request.



______



(B) making a suggestion.



______



(B) turning down an offer.



2. The woman is



7. Ed is probably going to



______



(A) accepting an invitation.



______



(A) receive a suggestion.



______



(B) making an offer.



______



(B) make an offer.



3. The woman is



8. The woman is



______



(A) declining an offer.



______



(A) suggesting a solution.



______



(B) making a suggestion.



______



(B) offering help.



4. Mark is



9. Cynthia is



______



(A) rejecting a request



______



(A) giving an invitation.



______



(B) agreeing to a request.



______



(B) accepting an offer.



5. The woman is



10. The woman is



______



(A) giving an invitation.



______



(A) declining an offer.



______



(B) making a suggestion.



______



(B) making a request.



* Note:

M1 = first male voice

F2 = second female voice



M2 = second male voice



47



M3 = third male voice



F1 = first female voice



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SECTION 1: LISTENING

11. The man will probably



13. The man is



______



(A) do what the woman suggests.



______



(A) making a suggestion.



______



(B) turn down the woman’s

invitation.



______



(B) accepting an invitation.



12. Bob is

______



(A) agreeing to an offer.



______



(B) refusing a request.



EXERCISE 6.2

Focus: Listening to dialogues involving suggestions, invitations, offers, and requests and answering

questions about them

Directions: Listen to the following dialogue. Decide which choice—(A), (B), (C), or (D)—best

answers the question about the dialogues, and mark the appropriate answer.

Now start the listening program.

1. What does the man mean?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



6. What will the man probably do?



He would like a cigarette.

The woman can smoke if she likes.

He doesn’t want the woman to smoke.

He thinks he smells smoke.



(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



2. What does the woman say about the gray

suit?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



7. What does the woman imply?

(A) The kitchen also needs cleaning.

(B) The living room doesn’t have to be

cleaned.

(C) The man shouldn’t do the cleaning.

(D) There’s not enough time to clean both

rooms.



The man wears it too often.

It needs to be cleaned.

It’s not as nice as the blue one.

The man could wear it tonight.



3. What does the man say about Cathy?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



She

She

She

She



8. What does the man offer to do for the

woman?



could plan the trip.

may not feel well.

can go on the class trip.

has some other plans.



(A) Give her some information about

classes

(B) Go with her to the registrar’s office

(C) Help her find her way to the registrar’s

office

(D) Tell her where to get her own map



4. What does the man mean?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



He

He

He

He



doesn’t want more coffee.

doesn’t want to use his credit card.

hasn’t had enough coffee.

doesn’t want to make coffee.



9. What does the woman suggest they do?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



5. What does the woman mean?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



She doesn’t think it’s warm.

She’ll open the window herself.

She wants the window closed.

She’s going to turn down the heat.



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Go somewhere else for lunch

Order another type of sandwich

Skip lunch today

Have some soup for lunch



48



Work on their statistics homework

Have breakfast

Stop studying for a little while

Go to work on the math problems



LESSON 6: DIALOGUES INVOLVING SUGGESTIONS, INVITATIONS, OFFERS, AND REQUESTS

10. What does the man suggest that Lisa do?

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



12. What does the woman think the man

should do?



Buy a new toaster

Replace her old shoes

Have repairs done

Make another piece of toast



(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)



11. What does the man tell the woman?



Buy an antique desk

Get a new computer

Sit down and get to work

Use another computer disk



(A) It’s time for her to go now.

(B) She can read his magazine if she

wants.

(C) He hasn’t finished reading the

magazine.

(D) She should finish writing the article.



49



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LESSON 7

Dialogues Involving Contradictions,

Assumptions, and Questions

CONTRADICTIONS

These involve the second speaker correcting what the first speaker says, as in the following samples.



Sample Items

You will hear:*

F2: Amy didn’t work overtime last week.

M1: As a matter of fact, she did.

M2: What does the man say about Amy?

You will read:

What does the man say about Amy?

(A) She is always late for work.

(B) She never works overtime.

(C) She worked extra hours last week.

(D) She hasn’t had her job very long.

The correct answer is (C). The man’s emphatic use of the auxiliary verb did shows that he is

contradicting what the woman said.

You will hear:*

M1: Martin always talks about how he loves to dance.

F1: Yes, but you don’t see him out on the dance floor very often, do you?

M2: What does the woman say about Martin?

You will read:

What does the woman say about Martin?

(A) He is an excellent dancer.

(B) He doesn’t like dancing very much.

(C) He doesn’t talk about dancing very often.

(D) He goes dancing four times a week.

The correct answer is (B). The woman’s use of the word but and the tag question

(“. . . do you?”) suggest that she doesn’t believe that Martin really loves to dance.



* Note:

M1 = first male voice

F2 = second female voice



M2 = second male voice



50



M3 = third male voice



F1 = first female voice



LESSON 7: DIALOGUES INVOLVING CONTRADICTIONS, ASSUMPTIONS, AND QUESTIONS



Sample Items (Continued)

You will hear:*

F1: All of the students voted for the proposal to expand the Student Council.

M1: Well, most of them did, anyway.

M2: What does the man mean?

You will read:

What does the man mean?

(A) All of the students voted.

(B) Some of the students opposed the proposal.

(C) The proposal was defeated.

(D) The Student Council voted.

The correct answer is (B). The man says that most of the students voted for the proposal,

contradicting the idea that all of them did. Therefore, some of the students must have opposed the

proposal.

In some dialogues, such as the third Sample Item, the second speaker does not completely contradict what

the first speaker says but rather limits the first speaker’s idea.



ASSUMPTIONS

These are the beliefs that one speaker has until he or she receives information from a second speaker. You

will generally hear dialogues involving assumptions near the end of Part A. These questions are considered

difficult, but once you understand how they work and practice answering them, you should find them no

more difficult than any other type of question. In this type of dialogue, the first speaker makes a statement.

The second speaker is surprised because the first statement contradicts what he or she believes to be true.

The second speaker’s response often begins with the word “Oh” and ends with the phrase “. . . after all.”

The answer to assumption questions is the reverse of what the second speaker thinks, and, so, what is

“true” according to the first speaker is not the correct choice.

Sample Item

You will hear:*

F1: No, Judy’s not here right now. She’s at her economics class.

M1: Oh, so she decided to take that course after all.

M2: What had the man assumed about Judy?

You will read:

What had the man assumed about Judy?

(A) She wouldn’t take the course.

(B) She had already completed that course.

(C) She was busy studying economics.

(D) She wouldn’t find economics difficult.

The correct answer is (A). The man is surprised that Judy is in economics class because he

thought that she had decided not to take the course. Therefore, he had obviously assumed that Judy

was not going to take the course before he spoke to the woman.



* Note:

M1 = first male voice

F2 = second female voice



M2 = second male voice



51



M3 = third male voice



F1 = first female voice



www.petersons.com