III. Listening In
Task 1: A Friendly Stylist
Stylist: Morning, sir. This chair, please. What can I do for you?
Nick: A simple haircut: short on the back and sides.
Stylist: Very good. I can, of course, do something fashionable for only $60.
Nick: 60 dollars! That’s highway robbery—twice what I ordinarily pay.
Stylist: Perhaps, sir. But your haircuts haven’t been in harmony with your character. Your hair is at war with your soul.
Nick: I’ve never heard of such a thing.
Stylist: If I may say, I’m an expert at matching hairstyle to personalities. Believe me; you’re suffering a “disjunction”.
Nick: A disjunction? What the devil is a disjunction?
Stylist: Your hair does not match you.
Nick: This is utter nonsense. However, I’d like to hear how you’d solve this so-called problem.
Stylist: Your character is artistic, imaginative. But your hair is dull. I can correct that imbalance in seconds.
Nick: Okay, let me see what can you do about the…uh…disjunction, as you call it.
Stylist: We’re going to use scissors to create peaks, which we’ll keep in place with a liberal helping of gel….This tuft in the back we’ll braid into a pigtail. Now, it’s the new you!
Nick: I love it. It’s just like me: imaginative and artistic. Now what are you doing? What’s wrong? Don’t you see harmony in my new hairstyle?
Stylist: Something’s preventing your hairstyle from being a true fashionable statement.
Nick: For heaven’s sake, tell me what’s missing.
Stylist: Streaks. By putting in a few yellow streaks in your hair, it will become a work of art. Streaking will cost you more, but…
Nick: Do it. Forget the cost. But, by the way, what is the total getting to be? How much am I paying to avoid disjunction?
Stylist: That’s…$135. Sir? Sir, are you all right? Oh, he fainted.
1. When the stylist mentions $60, what does the customer say?
2. What does the stylist think about the customer’s hairstyle?
3. What will the stylist do with the customer’s hair?
4. What will streaking do to the man’s hair according to the stylist?
5. What is the passage mainly about?
Keys: 1C.A 3.D4.B 5.A
For Reference:
1. It means there is no match between you and your hair.
2. That’s…$135. Sir? Sir, are you all right? Oh, he fainted.
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