Listening: QuickServe 1
QuickServe is a home repair company.
It provides quick, reliable repair services to homes.
QuickServe handles plumbing and electrical issues 24hours a day.
It also cleans roofs, fixes Internet connections and replaces broken windows.
For a small fee, customers subscribe to the service.
Its main customers are the elderly, which means older people.
Whenever customers have a problem, they can call for help.
There is also a small service charge for each service call.
The company was established five years ago, and is growing rapidly.
It started in one city, but is now in 5 cities.
The company plans to expand to 10 cities within the next24 months.
In each city, there is a small central office in a low-rent area of the city.
The central office handles the business, advertising, payroll and billing.
It also takes calls from customers, either on line or by telephone.
It takes calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Sixty percent of the company’s employees work from their homes.
When a customer calls in to the central office, a service employee is contacted.
The service employee then contacts the customer and sets up an appointment.
These service employees are highly trained and provide excellent service.
In emergencies, such as a serious plumbing problem, service can be provided within an hour.
One reason for this is that the service employees live indifferent parts of the city.
They are not centrally located, so it’s quicker and easier for them to travel to a customer’s home.
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Listening: QuickServe 2
QuickServe has an excellent reputation.
Its prices are reasonable and its services are quick and efficient.
The company’s service employees are clean, polite and efficient.
In this type of business, person to person contact is the key to success.
With each satisfied customer, more customers subscribe.
Satisfied customers recommend QuickServe to their friends.
This kind of word-of-mouth advertising is very cost effective.
Cost effective means that the results are good without paying a high price.
In other words, quality service provides its own reward to the company.
The company takes great pride in being honest with its customers.
There are no hidden charges for their services.
As a result, the number of customers in each city is growing rapidly.
With the aging population, there are more elderly people who need home repair services.
These people need to have confidence in the service provider.
They don’t want to be cheated.
These people don’t mind paying a reasonable fee for high quality service.
High quality service should be rewarded.
The company provides a range of service plans, each with a different subscription price.
The least expensive service plan is called the basic plan.
This plan provides non-emergency services with a very low service charge.
The most expensive service plan is their VIP plan.
The VIP plan provides emergency services 24 hours a day with no additional service charge.
It also provides rebates to customers who don’t call for any service during the year.
In addition, QuickServe gives bonus points to customers for each year that they subscribe.
These bonus points can be used to buy new appliances such as stoves and refrigerators.
If the business continues to grow, the owners may decide to take the company public.
This means that the public can buy shares of the company.
It will then change from a privately-owned company to a public company.
The owners believe that their business is successful and can expand around the world.
They also believe that taking their company public can make them rich.
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Vocabulary: Sciences
Biology is the study of life, including its structure and evolution.
Biologists study how life survives and reproduces.
Chemistry is the study of matter, including the structure of atoms and molecules.
Chemists study how various substances interact with each other.
Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences.
Astronomers study the structure and evolution of the universe, including the study of stars, planets and galaxies.
Geology is the study of the structure and history of theEarth and other planets.
Geologists study different types of rocks, earthquakes and different layers of the Earth.
Mathematics is the study of numbers, shapes, patterns and change.
Mathematics is used by all other branches of science.
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Vocabulary: Disasters
Here are some types of terrible events that hurt or kill people.
Earthquakes are caused by forces deep within the Earth.
During earthquakes, many people are often killed by collapsing buildings and bridges.
Floods happen when rivers rise and overflow their banks.
Floodwaters damage or destroy many houses and businesses.
Fires destroy buildings, land and forests.
There are many causes for fire, including lightning.
In a hurricane, high winds destroy buildings and sometimes cause flooding.
Some hurricanes have winds of more than 200 miles an hour.
Car accidents happen when cars collide or when drivers lose control of their cars.
One of the main causes of car accidents is driving too fast.
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Dialogue: Desk Assembly
W: What’s in that big box you’re carrying?
M: It’s a new desk. I just bought it, and now I have to put it together.
W: Do you need any help?
M: No, I don’t think so. I just need to get my tools.I’ll need a screwdriver and maybe a hammer.
W: Don’t forget to read the instructions.
W: How are things going?
M: I’m almost finished.
W: Something doesn’t look right to me. The right side is higher than the left side.
M: Oh, you’re right. It looks like I put a couple of screws into the wrong places.
W: So now you have to take it apart.
M: Great, and I thought I was almost finished.
W: I told you to read the instructions. Did you read them?
M: No, I didn’t read them. I hate to read the instructions.I looked at them, but they were confusing.
W: Well, this is what happens when you don’t. You were too impatient. Anyway, what can I do to help you?
M: Could you get another screwdriver and help me unscrew some of these screws?
W: Ok, but next time please read the instructions.
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Dialogue: Life and the Universe
W: Do you ever look up at the sky and think about life and universe?
M: I did when I was a kid. But I don’t do that very much anymore. Why do you ask?
W: Sometimes I feel like I’m lost in day-to-day details. Then when I look up at the sky, I see the big pictures. I appreciate things more, even the little things.
M: You sound like a philosopher or a poet. I felt like that too when I was a kid.
W: Don’t you feel like that anymore?
M: No, I don’t. In fact, I try not to. When I think about things too deeply, I get depressed. It’s even a big frightening.
W: Really? For me it’s just the opposite. Everything seems like a wonderful miracle.
M: Doesn’t that frighten you a bit? The universe is so large and we are so small.
W: What I realize is how little we understand. We just need to appreciate our lives and not get lost.
M: Sometimes being lost isn’t so bad. Do you know the expression “ignorance is bliss”?
W: Sure, I’ve heard it many times. To be ignorant is to be happy.
M: Maybe it’s true. Maybe it’s best not to think or know too much.
W: No, that’s not for me. I want to understand as much as possible. That’s why I became a scientist.
M: Well, I respect your choice but it’s not for me. If understanding is painful, I’d rather not understand.