Quiet Foo-foo!

Mari Goes to Australia - Part 5 of 7

Shirley pays Mari a visit to discuss her dog and all the noise he has been making.

Script
Vocab
Quiz

Mari Looks for a Flat (25)



Shirley	Mari

Mari: Foo-foo be quiet, you need to calm down. (a knock on the door) Yep!

Shirley: Oh hello Mari. How are you?

Mari: Hi Shirley.

Shirley: Actually, I needed to speak to you Mari, um, actually, oh your dog it’s so sweet, isn’t he?

Mari: Yes. Foo-foo is a real sweetie.

Shirley: Yeah, actually that’s the reason I need to speak to you. There has been some complaints from a couple of the neighbors, one upstairs and one close by, that he is barking a lot during the daytime. And the upstairs people have a young baby that he has been keeping awake. I’m just wondering, I know that when I spoke to you before you moved in you said he was well-behaved but he’s...as I said, there seems to be barking a lot during the day.

Mari: I’m in shock. Foo-foo never barks.

Shirley: Well, you know, I come past here a couple of times a day as well and have heard him. He’s yapping quite loudly.

Mari: He must be really lonely because I work a lot, and there’s no one. Usually, when I was living in New York, I would have time to walk him but there is no one... He doesn’t get walked.

Shirley: Yeah, they do get lonely, um...

Mari: Do you know of a place, or someone in the building, or a pet store that walks dogs?

Shirley: Well actually, there is a place not too far down the road called Pet Palace and I did notice last time I was there that there was advertisements for dog walkers in the window so perhaps that might be something worth pursuing.

Mari: I think that if he gets walked sometime during the day, he’ll probably bark less when I’m away.

Shirley: Ok well, do you think you could get onto that as soon as possible because, as I said, the people upstairs are having a rather difficult time with their new baby.

Mari: Ok, of course. I’m sorry.

Shirley: Yeah. As I said to you, you know, really, our policy is not to allow pets and you assured me that he was used to being an inside dog so you kind of need to get onto that as soon as possible if you can.

Mari: Alright, thank you.

Shirley: Ok. Well, that aside, how is everything else going? Are you getting out and about in Sydney?

Mari: No, I’m working a little too much lately so I haven’t been able to go out but I hope that once I adjust to the work schedule I’ll be able to go out.

Mari Goes to Australia

Part 1: Any Vacancies?
Part 2: About the Apartment
Part 3: Money Details
Part 4: Getting Connected
Part 5: Quiet Foo-foo!
Part 6: Dinner
Part 7: Leaving

Shirley: Ok, well yeah, ‘cause there’s a lot of great eating places here and some nice places, the weather is so beautiful at the moment, there’s a lot of outdoor eateries that, you know, if you get to, I think you’ll really enjoy it. Most of them are within walking distance from here so... Perhaps you could take Foo-foo, was it?

Mari: Foo-foo, yes.

Shirley: Yeah, right. Perhaps you could take him with you and, you know, get out and he could get a little exercise at the same time.

Mari: Yeah. Thank you Shirley. I’m sorry about Foo-foo.

Shirley: That’s ok. Just keep in touch with me and let me know if there is anything I can do.

Mari: Thank you.

Shirley: Ok.

Mari: Goodnight.

Shirley: Bye.

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

keep awake

There is a baby the dog has been keeping awake.

When you keep something awake, that means you prevent it from sleeping.

For example, you can keep your roommate awake by playing loud music. Here are a few other examples:

I was kept awake by the party next door.
Coffee keeps me awake when I am sleepy.

down the road

There is a place not far down the road called Pet Palace.

When something is down the road, that means it is on a nearby street.

The term 'down the road' and 'up the road' basically mean the same thing: that a place is nearby on the street being mentioned. Here are a few examples:

There is a cute little cafe just down the road.
I work out at a gym up the street.

worth pursuing

A dog walker might be something worth pursuing.

When something is worth pursuing that means if you do it, you will benefit from doing it.

For example, a college degree is worth pursuing because it will usually lead to a higher income. Notice the following:

Those tax benefits are worth pursuing. (i.e. they might say the person money)
Free legal advice is always something worth pursuing.

get on to (something)

You need to get onto that.

Here the phrase "to get on something" means to take care of something.

We usually try to get on something before it is too late or it is a problem. Here are a few examples:

My phone bill is really overdue. I need to get on that soon. (i.e. you need to pay the phone bill)
Your roof is leaking. You better get on that soon. (i.e. you need to fix the roof)

eateries