Ring Tones

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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• grating
• wear out
• sick of
• alarm clock

• ring tones
• give someone a piece of one's mind
• rotary phone
• can't stand it

• can't handle
• blare

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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When the telephone was invented, it’s hard to imagine that anyone thought that eventually, the latest hit song would play whenever you got a phone call. But anything can be a ring tone these days. A lot of people choose their favorite song for their ring tone, and others choose a funny sound like a whistle or a drum.

Ring tones can be a fun way to express yourself…or annoy people. When a phone or two or twenty starts blaring an obnoxious song or some other noise in public, it can be annoying. It certainly is to Devan, anyway, and she’s about to give Jeff a piece of her mind about cell phone ring tones.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jeff

Devan

Jeff:  So Devan, what’s your latest ring tone these days?

Devan:  My latest ring tone? My ring tone is a ring. It’s a good old-fashioned telephone bring bring.

Jeff:  Rotary phone...

Devan:  I can’t stand ring tones. They drive me crazy.

Jeff:  I’ve had my phone on vibrate or silent for almost a year now.

Devan:  I just think it’s so obnoxious when you’re like in public, either you’re at a library or you’re on the subway, and someone’s phone starts playing a song really loud, and it’s like, I don’t want to hear your music, you know? And they’ll just like let it ring and ring and ring, and it’ll be like Lil Wayne blaring on their phone.

Jeff:  That’s pretty grating. Especially when you’re tired and on your way to work.

Devan:  Yeah. And it wears out songs, too. Like even if it’s a song that you like, if you have to hear it that many times, like every time your phone rings you have to hear that song, you get really sick of it.

Jeff:  Yeah, I don’t understand how people can do that. What about your alarm clock on your phone, do you use it for an alarm clock?

Devan:  I do.

Jeff:  Is it the same as your regular ring tone.

Devan:  It is. It’s just a regular ringing sound. I can’t handle waking up to the radio, because once again, if it’s a song that I like, but that’s what’s waking me up in the morning, I’m always gonna associate it with that, and it’s gonna make me mad.

Jeff:  Yeah. It kinda turns it into a nightmare.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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