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Bad Habits: A Listening Exercise

About This Lesson

In this listening exercise, you'll learn about bad habits that people and pets have. You'll practice vocabulary related to habits and daily routines.

Learning Objectives:

  • Learn vocabulary about habits in English
  • Practice listening for specific information about habits
  • Learn how to describe good and bad habits
  • Expand your vocabulary related to daily activities

Pre-Listening Task

Match the words with their definitions:
Habit
Chew
Climb
Bark
Snore
Get on the phone
Get off the phone

Listening Task

A. Fill in the gaps with the words you hear (use CAPITAL LETTERS):

Ak = Akwasi An = Anya B = Bruce Je = Jerry Ji = Jim K = Karen Ka = Kate N = Noelle P = Paula

Do your family members or pets have any bad habits?

A: My dog sometimes the furniture.

J: My cat up the curtains.

N: My sister . That's a bad habit.

P: My kids their nails.

J: Yes, my brother tobacco.

B: Well, at Christmas the cats like to the tree and they topple it over, so it's not very good for the ornaments.

K: My dog at the TV at animals, and whether it's a real animal or an animation, she just recognises them all.

Ka: Yes, several! My husband . My dogs . My children wet towels on the bathroom floor, clothes everywhere, but they're teenagers, that's it, what can I expect?!

A: Yeah, my sister likes to the phone and endlessly. Talks my ears off until I have to literally beg her to just get off the cell phone.

B. Who says what? Write the correct letter (Ak, An, B, Je, Ji, K, Ka, N, P):
Statement Who?
Has a dog that barks at animals on TV
Has cats that climb the Christmas tree
Says her sister smokes
Mentions his brother chews tobacco
Has a husband who snores and dogs who snore

Post-Listening Task

Answer the questions about the bad habits:
What does Akwasi's dog chew?
What does Jerry's cat climb?
What bad habit does Noelle's sister have?
What do Paula's kids do to their nails?
What does Karen's dog bark at?

Grammar Focus: Talking About Habits

Notice how the speakers talk about habits:

Useful structures:

  • "My dog sometimes chews..."
  • "My cat climbs up..."
  • "My sister smokes."
  • "My kids bite their nails."
  • "My husband snores."

Verbs for habits:

  • chew - to bite food or other things
  • climb - to go up something
  • bark - sound a dog makes
  • snore - loud breathing during sleep
  • get on the phone - start a phone call
  • get off the phone - end a phone call

Remember: Use the simple present tense to talk about habits and things that happen regularly.

Try It Yourself

Write about bad habits in your family or pets:

Example: My dog barks at the postman every day. My brother always leaves his clothes on the floor. I sometimes bite my nails when I'm nervous.

Translation

Translate into English: