Q2e Listening & Speaking 1: Audio Script

UNIT 4

Unit 4, Physiology, The Q Classroom

Page 64

Teacher: The Unit Question for Unit 4 is “Who makes you laugh?” How about you, Yuna?
Do like comedies on TV?
Yuna: Yes, I love them.
Teacher: Do you think American comedies or Korean comedies are funnier?
Yuna: Korean.
Teacher: How about you, Marcus? Who makes you laugh?
Marcus: I don’t like TV comedies, but I love live comedians. I like to listen to people tell
jokes. Also, I’m very funny myself.
Teacher: That’s true. You are pretty funny. Sophy, who makes you laugh? Besides
Marcus.
Sophy: I think my best friend makes me laugh. We understand each other so well. Lots
of times we laugh at things that no one else thinks are funny.
Teacher: What do you think, Felix? Why are some things funny to one person but not to
another?
Felix: Well, you need to understand the joke. Some English-speaking comedians
aren’t funny to me. It’s like listening to Sophy’s jokes with her friend—I don’t
understand it, so I don’t laugh. But some comedy is funny even when I don’t
understand the language. You know, like people falling down and throwing
pies and silly things like that.

Unit 4, Listening 1, Work with the Listening, Activity A, B; Unit 4, Listening Skill,
Activity A
Page 67, 68, 70

M: People everywhere love to laugh. There are many reasons why we enjoy comedy. First,
our sense of humor can help us connect and make friends with other people. Also,
when we laugh we can take a moment to relax and forget our problems. Comedy and
laughter make us feel happy.

That’s why across the Arab world, from Cairo to Abu Dhabi, more and more people are
watching live performances called “stand-up comedy.” During these shows, a comedian
stands in front of a live audience and tells comical stories and jokes. The comedian has
one main goal—to make people laugh.

Stand-up comedy is only a few years old in the Middle East. But it is becoming popular
very fast. It started with comedy festivals in big cities. The first festival was in Amman,
Jordan, in 2008. The city invited twenty comedians from different countries to perform.
People could buy tickets and watch as many performances as they wanted. The Amman
festival was a hit, and now other cities like Riyadh and Dubai have comedy festivals too.
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Q2e Listening & Speaking 1: Audio Script

Huge crowds attend these events every year. At some festivals, comedians receive
prizes and gifts. For example, at the 2014 festival in Riyadh, Saudi Prince Waleed gave
new cars to 23 comedians. The Prince said he wanted to encourage talented young
stand-up comedians to continue their work.

The number of stand-up comedians from the Middle East is small but growing. Egyptian
Hashem El Garhy helped start the Cairo comedy festival, called Al Hezb El Comedy, or
The Comedy Party. El Garhy says there are many talented funny people in the Middle
East. However, because stand-up comedy is still very new, there are not many
professional comedians yet. Most of the comedians who perform at the festivals have
other jobs. They are doctors, teachers, or business owners. Stand-up comedy is only a
hobby for them. El Garhy says he hopes more people will think about stand-up comedy
as a career.

A group of comedians in Dubai started a comedy school. People who want to try stand-
up comedy can attend classes every Saturday. During the classes, experienced
comedians teach how to do stand-up comedy. Students write jokes and practice their
performances with each other. More and more students are joining the comedy classes
every year. One student, Saleed Rahman, described his experience. Rahman said he
was amazed at how much he learned. After a few classes, he felt ready to perform
comedy in front of people.

Stand-up comedy is just beginning in the Middle East. But it is already making people
happy, and that means it will continue in the future. As more Middle Eastern comedians
begin to perform, people across the Arab world can look forward to a funny future.

Unit 4, Listening Skill, Activity B

Page 70

M: Dean Obeidallah is an Arab-American stand-up comedian. He was born in New

Jersey in 1969. Now almost 50 years old, Obeidallah is one of the most popular
comedians in the United States. He performs on TV shows and he travels the world
and performs stand-up comedy. He does shows in many places in the Middle East,
including Amman, Dubai, Beirut, Cairo, Haifa, Oman, Sharm El Sheikh, Riyadh, and
Ramallah. In 2003, Obeidallah started the first Arab-American Comedy Festival in
the United States. The festival is held every October, in New York City. He also
helped start the first comedy festival in the Middle East in Amman in 2008.

Unit 4, Listening 2, Work with the Listening, Activity A, B

Page 73

Professor: OK, class. Let me introduce today’s guest speaker, psychology professor
Doctor Brian Long. Doctor Long will talk about how we use humor to
communicate. Thanks for coming, Doctor Long.

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Q2e Listening & Speaking 1: Audio Script

Doctor Long: Thank you for inviting me.

Professor: Doctor, first let me ask, how important is a sense of humor?
Doctor Long: Well, Professor, these days, it’s very important. A sense of humor shows we
are happy and confident. It also helps us feel relaxed. And humor is one
way we communicate with other people.
Professor: Yes, that’s true.
Doctor Long: Of course, we don’t all have the same sense of humor. Each one of us has
our own humor style.
Professor: Humor style?
Doctor Long: Yes, there are four main humor styles. The first one isn’t very nice. It’s “put-
down humor.” This is when we make fun of another person; for example,
when we laugh at someone for doing or saying the wrong thing.
Professor: You’re right. That isn’t very nice. Put-down humor can make people feel
bad, and can hurt their feelings.
Doctor Long: Right. Especially if they don’t understand that you’re joking. If put-down
humor is your humor style, you probably don’t have many friends. It’s a
good thing there are other humor styles—like “bonding humor,” for
example.
Professor: Bonding humor?
Doctor Long: Yes. The word bond means “bring together.” So, this style of humor brings
people together. If this is you, you are not afraid to be in front of an
audience. You like to tell jokes, and make other people relax.
Professor: That sounds like some of the students in this class.
Doctor Long: Then there’s what I call “hate-me humor.”
Professor: “Hate-me?” Do they want people to dislike them?
Doctor Long: No, not really. People with this style of humor make themselves the joke.
They make fun of themselves, for example, of the way they look. Or they do
silly things so others will make fun of them.
Professor: Interesting. Yes, I think I know some people with that humor style.
Doctor Long: Finally, there’s the “laughing-at-life” humor style. These people can find
humor in everything—even the sad or difficult parts of life. They don’t
worry about small things. If something bad happens, they just laugh. It
makes life easier.
Professor: That sounds good. I’m going to try to be more of a laughing-at-life person.
Thank you, Doctor Long. I never knew there were so many different kinds
of humor.
Doctor Long: Can you imagine if we didn’t have humor at all? Life would be very boring.
Professor: It sure would.

Unit 4, Grammar, Activity A

Pages 78

1. A man and a woman go to a restaurant for lunch. The woman orders a bowl of soup. A
few minutes later, the waiter brings the soup to the table. The man says, “Excuse me.
Your finger’s in my wife’s soup.” The waiter replies, “Oh, that’s OK. It isn’t too hot.”
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Q2e Listening & Speaking 1: Audio Script

2. A man’s at the doctor’s office. The doctor asks him, “What’s the trouble?” The man
answers, “I hurt everywhere. It hurts when I touch my head. It hurts when I touch my
leg, and it hurts when I touch my arm.” The doctor thinks for a moment. Then he says, “I
know what’s wrong. Your finger is broken!”
3. A man stops his car at a traffic light. A policeman stops next to him and sees a penguin
in the car. The policeman tells the man, “You can’t drive with a penguin in your car.
Take that penguin to the zoo.” The man says, “Yes, sir. I will.” The next day, the
policeman sees the man’s car again. The penguin is still in the car. The policeman asks,
“Why do you have that penguin? I told you to take it to the zoo!” The man looks at the
policeman and says, “I did that yesterday, and we had a great time! Today we’re going
to the park!”

Unit 4, Pronunciation, Examples

Page 81
say says
tell tells
give gives
answer answers
laugh laughs
look looks
stop stops
eat eats
change changes
miss misses
wash washes
watch watches

Unit 4, Speaking Skill, Example

Page 83

Speaker: The man touches the rabbit, and the rabbit bites him. “Ouch!” he says. “You said
your rabbit doesn’t bite!” The shopkeeper replies, “That isn’t my rabbit!”

Unit 4, Speaking Skill, Activity A

Page 83

Man: A man’s at the doctor’s office. The doctor asks him, “What’s the trouble?” The
man answers, “I hurt everywhere. It hurts when I touch my head. It hurts when I
touch my leg, and it hurts when I touch my arm.” The doctor thinks for a
moment. Then he says, “I know what’s wrong. Your finger is broken!”

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Q2e Listening & Speaking 1: Audio Script

Unit 4, Unit Assignment, Activity B, C

iQ Online Resource

Comedian: A tourist visits Sydney, Australia. He wants to go to the beach. But he doesn’t
know how to get there. He sees a policeman. He waves to the policeman and
says, “Excuse me! Can you help me?” The policeman comes over and says,
“Yes, sir. How can I help you?” The tourist says, “Can you tell me the fastest
way to get to the beach?” The policeman asks, “Are you walking or driving?”
The tourist answers, “Driving.” The policeman answers, “Well, that’s the
fastest way.”

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