Conversation with a Vendor

  • Post category:Listening

Topic: Shopping

Mode: Interpretive

Level: Novice

Students will listen to a conversation between a shopper and a clerk and then answer comprehension questions.

Components of this activity: Script, recording, multiple choice worksheet

Instructions to the teacher

In advance, make a recording of the following dialogue, ideally with the help of another native speaker. Expand and edit the activity as necessary for your context and purposes. Below, the correct answers appear in bold.

Script

Shopper: Do you have any yellow tomatoes?

Vendor: Sorry, we just sold our last ones, but we still have orange tomatoes.

Shopper: Oh, that’s too bad. The yellow ones I bought last week were excellent, and I need them to prepare a recipe.

Vendor: If you would like to taste an orange tomato, I think you’ll agree that they are also delicious.

Shopper: Okay, I’d like to taste one.

Vendor: What do you think?

Shopper: They are good. Not too sweet and not too sour. I think they will work in the recipe I’m making. I’ll take five tomatoes.

Instructions to students

Listen to the dialogue and answer the following questions.

  1. What is the person shopping for?
  • red tomatoes       
  • potatoes    
  • yellow tomatoes
  1. The salesperson has no more yellow tomatoes.
  • True        
  • False
  1. Why does the shopper need to buy tomatoes?
  • The shopper likes to eat them   
  • The shopper is making a recipe     
  • The shopper’s child loves them
  1. What does the salesperson suggest to the shopper?
  • To come back tomorrow    
  • To taste another kind of tomato       
  • To use a different vegetable
  1. How does the shopper respond to the salesperson’s suggestion?
  • The shopper tastes another type of tomato.     
  • The shopper doesn’t taste another type of tomato.
  • The shopper asks for a different vegetable.
  1. What does the shopper do at the end of the transaction
  • Buys 5 tomatoes
  • Buys nothing and decides to come back tomorrow
  • Buys a different kind of vegetable