House Sitting

Intro

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

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• renovate
• responsible
• rent
• negotiate

• break in
• house sitter
• keep an eye on
• make a living

• catch
• trash

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

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Going on vacation is fun. Coming home to a bunch of dead plants and unhappy animals or, even worse, finding out that someone broke into your house while you were away, is not fun. That’s why some people get house sitters to keep an eye on their home, water their plants and sometimes even take care of their pets while they are away.

Often people just ask a friend to house sit for them for free. But there are actually some professional house sitters who make a living taking care of other people’s homes while they are away. Find out why Ella thinks she would make a bad house sitter.

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.

Ella

Amy

Ella:  So I realized I’m definitely not ever responsible enough to ever house sit for anyone. Just, you know, when I was younger, throwing crazy parties while my parents were gone…I just have that urge to do it, even though I’m an adult now, sort of.

Amy:  Really? Did you have an experience recently where you trashed someone’s house who you were house sitting for?

Ella:  Well, it was more like we trashed my friend’s, who was house sitting for someone.

Amy:  I house sat about a year ago, over the summer, in a really beautiful house. Like, these people had just renovated this Victorian house and made it so gorgeous, and it had a big backyard and, you know, we could have people over for barbecues and stuff. It was great. It made me really sad when I had to return to my little studio.

Ella:  I mean, house sitting, it doesn’t seem like there’s that much responsibility. I mean, you just live, right? You’re livin’ your life in someone else’s house. No responsibility, right?

Amy:  Yeah. And you get to live rent-free.

Ella:  There you go.

Amy:  And if you negotiate with the homeowner, not only do you live rent free, but you get paid, too.

Ella:  Ah, I see.

Amy:  Yeah, I actually did, I got paid to stay in this house. But I did have to take care of their dogs.

Ella:  Oh yeah. I knew there was a catch.

Amy:  They had two little dogs, yeah.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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