Put back the menu!

Analysis


1.

a.Probably not b.Yes c.No
Andrea is rude and aggressive. She does not return the greeting, and she does not use an honorific (e.g. "Mister"). In English to "have a word" means a discussion about something. "I want" means that she will talk whether Bill likes it or not. A politer form would be "can I have...".


2.

a.Yes b.No c.Yes
"That Wendy Farrel?" suggests Mike knows about the person, but has never met her. "Gosh" shows he is impressed. So Mike is not being insulting. (Unless he is being sarcastic, and pretending to be impressed.)


3.

a.Yes b.No c.Yes
Kate gives a casual greeting, Mike does not return it. This informality means they know each other well. If Mike had asked about the trip he would have said "How was it?" . His question was whether the purpose of the trip was successful; so he knows where she went.


4.

a.No b.No c.Yes
Becky gives her full name, and calls Philip "Mr". Philip's response of "Miss" shows that the meeting is not social. "There you are" shows he was waiting for Becky to find him, suggesting that he was expecting her, and he is of higher status.


5.

a.No b.Yes c.Yes
Janet is using a line from many old movies, when the hero meets the villain. So she uses a "ve" for "we", since the villains in many of these films were foriegners! So she is joking. She must know of Doug, since English people do not answer strangers like that. Probably they have the same friends, and have heard of each other.


6.

a. Probably not
b. No
c. Probably not
John is using a "pick-up line", to start a conversation with a girl he has never seen before. Julie is not interested, since she suggests that John would have made a strong impression (negative) on her if they had met. Of course, if Julie's voice suggests she would have remembered him favourably, John still has a chance ...

Put back the menu!