Text 1

W: What do you think of today's basketball game?

M: I haven't seen a better one. Kevin Durant really did a good job.

Text 2

W: I feel so happy on sunny days like this, although it's still cold outside. It's strange how quickly weather can change here.

M: Yes, it was raining heavily a moment ago.

Text 3

W: Mr. Kennedy? It's Becky. I'm sorry, but I can't go to work today. I'm at the hospital.

M: Are you all right?

W: It's my daughter. She woke up with stomach pains this morning.

Text 4

W: Well, dinner is ready. I wonder why Tom hasn't come back yet.

M: I just asked him to go to the supermarket after work. He should be on the way back home.

W: Let me call him to ask.

Text 5

M: What do you want to do on your vacation?

W: I'd like to visit some museums, enjoy a movie and buy the latest dresses. Oh, it seems I have to choose a fashionable city for my vacation.

Text 6

M: Hello, do you remember me? I bought some vases from you yesterday.

W: Yes, you said you wanted to send them to your girlfriend, right?

M: That's right. I've come back to buy some more souvenirs for myself.

W: What do you have in mind?

M: Well, my sister used to send postcards to herself wherever she went. I want to do that, too.

Text 7

W: Next, please.

M: Yes, I just received a telephone bill, and there's a problem with it.

W: And what exactly is the problem?

M: There's a call to Finland on there, and I don't know anyone in Finland! I'm upset. Could you please take the charge off my bill?

W: May I see your bill, please?

M: Certainly. There it is. On July 1st. I really don't know anybody in Finland.

W: OK, don't worry. I'll take the call off. Let's see. It was $60. Your bill was $84, minus $60, so your new total is $24. I'm very sorry about the fault.

M: That's OK.

Text 8

M: Alice, what's wrong? You don't look so good today. Are you alright?

W: No. I've had a headache for three days. It just won't go away!

M: Sorry to hear that. But have you tried any medicine for it?

W: I visited the doctor and he gave me some painkillers. But those pills make me really sick and I even have a stomachache now.

M: Are you feeling tired?

W: Not really. I've been getting seven or eight hours of sleep every night, so I don't think it's sleep-related.

M: Are you feeling stressed? Stress can also cause headaches.

W: Maybe a little bit. You know I'm advertising an online education program. I'm working full-time. I live away from my family. I've been sick most of the year. So yes, stressed! But what can I do about that?

M: Basically, when I feel stressed, I review my to-do-list. I only focus on the things that need to be done first, rather than move blindly from one task to another. And I only do things I enjoy, say walking, reading or listening to music.

Text 9

M: Hey, Rachel. What are you doing?

W: I'm making my exam study schedule.

M: Exams are a week away!

W: Exactly! I really should have started on this schedule earlier.

M: Wait, you don't have a test on running.

W: Taking small breaks gives my brain time to review what I've studied.

M: Why not watch TV, then? That's more fun than running.

W: Exercise will help keep my brain clear and make my studying more effective.

M: I'm not going to study, but I bet I'll still get better grades than you do!

W: It's not only about grades. The point of tests is to help you review everything you've learned before moving on. I want to learn something, not a score.

M: Well, I always study for a whole night before the test.

W: That's a terrible way to study. If you do that, you won't really learn anything, and you'll be tired of the test! You need to get prepared one day before the test instead of studying until the last minute.

M: You're right.

Text 10

M: Grandma Moses is among the most well-known 20th-century painters of the United States, yet she had hardly started painting before she was in her late seventies. She was born on a farm in New York, one of five boys and five girls. At 12, she left home and worked as a housekeeper until she married Thomas Moses at 27. They farmed most of their lives, first in Virginia and then in New York. Grandma Moses began to paint using oils at her old age because she wanted to keep busy and pass the time. Her pictures were first sold at the local drugstore and at a market, and were soon noticed by a businessman who bought everything she painted. Three of those pictures were exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, and in 1940, she had her first exhibition in New York. Between the 1930s and her death, she produced some 1,600 pictures.