General Listening Quiz

Listen to the recording and read along with the conversation. Review the key vocabulary and the sample sentences.

Chef Randall: Well, hello everyone, and welcome to today’s show. And joining me today is my daughter, Ashley, who has had to endure my cooking experiments over the years.

Are we ready, Ashley? [Ready to eat.] No, no, let’s wait for a few minutes. We’ll get to that. But as you know, my faithful listeners, I started cooking and baking almost 30 years ago when my grandmother taught me in her humble kitchen. In fact, she taught me almost  everything I know, and I’ve never attended cooking classes [You should have . . .] Wait, wait, wait . . . I know my daughter’s going to mention to you faithful listeners that recently as I was helping the kids prepare for our kitchen for chicken meal, I forgot to take the chicken out of the oven, burned the bird to a crisp, and we ended up ordering pizza for dinner.

Ashley: We had to use the fire extinguisher.

Chef Randall: But that’s another story. So, anyway, today I’d like to share with you our favorite . . . at least my favorite . . . chocolate chip cookie recipe. Now, before you switch the TV channel, I know what you’re thinking. “Another fattening cookie recipe.” But wait. What makes this recipe great is that it offers a wonderful low-fat, low-calorie, low-cholesterol dessert for the entire family.

Ashley: We still like [the] fat though.

Chef Randall: Well, I know we do. But let’s see. We have all the ingredients, and so we can start by mixing all of the ingredients, the sugars, the flour, the egg whites, the low-fat butter, vanilla, baking soda, and a pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl. Then, we add the mini chocolate chips

Now, my kids would like me to add the big ones but we start with the mini-chocolate chips. And don’t forget to preheat the oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit).

And finally, when the cookies are done, take them out of the oven, remove them from the cookie sheet, and let them cool before their fingers get into them. Did I forget anything?

Ashley: Yeah, if you have college-age kids, be sure to make a few extra batches they can take back to school for their roommates. And don’t forget the kids still at home.

Chef Randall: Oh, well yeah. We can’t do that. We can’t forget them. And unfortunately, by the time your kids get the cookies, you, the cook, will be left with a single cookie – your instant diet plan for you – and a dirty kitchen.

So, that’s all for today. On next week’s show, we will be showing you how to feed hungry teenagers on a budget without having to sell the family car. Until then.

• endure (verb): keep doing something unpleasant or difficult
  – I can’t endure my roommate’s cooking for another day. It’s terrible!
• switch (verb): exchange for another
  – Can we switch recipes for tonight’s dinner? I’d rather have chicken instead of fish.
• entire (adjective): complete or whole 
  – My daughter prepared the entire meal for the family.
• ingredients (noun): materials for cooking
  – These are great cookies. What ingredients do you use to make them?
• pinch (noun): a small amount
  – The chicken might taste better if you add a pinch of salt and pepper.
• preheat (verb): heat an oven or stove before you start cooking something
  – First, you should preheat the oven to 325 degrees before you start preparing the meal.
• batch (noun): a group of similar things, used also with baking cookies
  – I don’t think two batches of cookies will be enough to feed all of the guests at the party.