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Views #429 | Low-Intermediate 4

Phones

Simon and Todd share feelings about the phone.

Script
Vocab
Quiz


Simon	Todd

Simon: Yeah, hey Todd, I have one complaint. Why can't I never reach you on the phone?

Todd: Ah, I know, I'm really bad with my phone. I hate the phone. I can not stand the phone. I hate talking on the phone, so I have a hand-held phone and I always go and put it in the closet and I turn it off.

Simon: Oh, really! Yeah, you said hand-held. I usually call it a cell phone or a mobile phone. (Yeah) but, uh, well, I mean, these days everybody has one, so uh, I think they're quite useful actually. You can call people when you want, and you can call people who you want. You don't have to pick up like you don't sometimes, it's.

Todd: See the thing is, if somebody calls me, right, and I see that they called me, I feel really guilty for not calling them back, or no answering the phone if I'm very busy, so I don't want to feel guilty, so I just turn off the phone and put it in my closet.

Simon: Well, I guess that's why you like land lines, because you can pretend like you didn't hear it or that you weren't home at the time.

Todd: Exactly, I really miss the old style phones. The old phones that would ring and you'd have to walk over and pick up the phone. I thought those were great.

Simon: You know what, I think that you're just not going with progress. The old style, uh, life has changed, yeah, we use technology every day, and this is just the next step, you know, being able to communicate at all times, anywhere and anyhow, and we're using technology right now.

Todd: That's true, I mean, obviously I have my website, I'm very into computers. I love e-mail. I love Internet telephone like Skype but there's just something about hand-held phones that I don't like. I don't know why. I just don't like them.

Simon: OK, well, let's agree to disagree.

Learn vocabulary from the lesson!

reach (you) on the phone

Why can't I ever reach you on the phone?

When you 'reach someone on the phone' it means that you contact them using the telephone. Notice the following:

I will just try to reach you on your house phone tonight.
We have been trying to reach you for three days now, but never answered.

hand-held phone or mobile phone

You said hand-held, but I usually call it a cell phone or a mobile phone.

A 'mobile phone' and a 'hand-held phone' are other words for a cell phone. This is a phone that you can take with you anywhere to make phone calls. Notice the following:

My hand-held phone didn't get good reception in the building.
I think I forgot my mobile phone at home. Can we go back?

feel guilty

If I see that somebody has called me, I feel really guilty for not calling them back.

When you 'feel guilty' about something it means you feel as though you did something wrong and you feel responsible for what happened as a result. You feel as though something is your fault. Notice the following:

I feel really guilty that you had to wait for me for two hours. I'm so sorry.
Eating a lot of chocolate always makes you feel guilty.

internet telephone

I'm very into computers, and I love internet telephone like Skype.

'Internet telephone' is a way to make phone calls using the internet instead of a landline or cell phone. These calls are usually very cheap, but only work if you have a very internet connection. Notice the following:

Do you have an internet phone number where we could reach you?
Internet telephone has made it easy for me to stay in contact with my family even when I'm in another country.

agree to disagree

We have different opinions, so let's just agree to disagree.

When you 'agree to disagree' it means that you understand that you will never have the same opinion as the person you are talking to. You can use this phrase to end a discussion or debate that will never be resolved. Notice the following: