MARTIN: Excuse me. I'm a reporter. I want to ask some questions.
MAN: A reporter!
MANAGER: He's writing a story about Western clothing.
MARTIN: That's right. Do you wear Western clothing?
MAN: Sometimes. It's good casual clothing. I want a Western hat.
MANAGER: Do you like this one?
MAN: I have a large head.
MANAGER: This is a large hat.
MAN: Let me try it.
MARTIN: Do you like it?
MAN: No, I don't. My face is very round. I don't like the hat.
MANAGER: Try this one.
MAN: My head looks very big.
MARTIN: You look tall.
MARTIN: Hello, I'm Martin Learner. I phoned this morning. I want to speak to the manager.
MANAGER: Good afternoon. I'm the manager.
MARTIN: I'm happy to meet you. I want to talk to you about your clothing store. I'm writing a story.
MANAGER: You told me. Are you writing about the store?
MARTIN: I write about people. I want to write about the shoppers in your store.
MANAGER: Fine. What do you want to know?
MARTIN: What's your name?
MANAGER: I'm Penny Byrd.
MARTIN: May I call you Penny?
MANAGER: Of course.
MARTIN: Thanks. Do you sell men's clothing?
MANAGER: Yes. We sell women's and men's clothing. The men's clothing is over there.
MARTIN: What do you sell?
MANAGER: We sell only Western clothing.
MARTIN: Western clothing. What does that mean?
MANAGER: The Western United States. People in the Western United States wear this clothing. Now many people like it.
MARTIN: Do all people wear this clothing?
MANAGER: No. Only some people wear this clothing. It's casual clothing.
MARTIN: Is it cowboy clothing?
MANAGER: Sometimes. Cowboys wear some of this clothing.
MARTIN: OK. Now, let's look at some shoppers. Do you see that tall woman?
MANAGER: Yes, I know her. She shops here often. She likes Western clothing. She's tall and thin. She looks very nice in Western shirts and pants.
MARTIN: She doesn't look like a cowboy.
MANAGER: No, she doesn't.
MARTIN: Do you know the other woman?
MANAGER: Yes, that's her daughter.
MARTIN: She's very pretty.
MANAGER: She works in a jewelry store. She likes long dresses for work. Her legs are long. She's very tall. She's big. She likes Western clothing. Come see the men's clothing.
MARTIN: This shirt is nice.
MANAGER: Do you like these things? Do you wear Western clothing?
MARTIN: No. I'm not tall and thin.
MANAGER: You're not short. And you're not fat.
MARTIN: I'm average. I'm not tall and I'm not short. I'm not thin and I'm not fat.
MANAGER: You have nice hair.
MARTIN: It's average. It's not dark and it's not light. It's average brown. I'm only average.
C: I'm writing a letter to my mother. I wanna tell her about the score I got this semester.
J: So why don't you use e-mail? You see, it's faster and more convenient. You don't have
to use any paper and you don't need to worry about spelling mistakes. It has more advantages.
C: You're right. But my mother is not very good at computer things. I taught her before, but she doesn't like to use computer and forget it soon.
J: Maybe you should keep on teaching her. Finally she can leam it.
C: Yeah. maybe. But my mom likes reading my letters much more. We write every week and
she said when she saw my letter she felt that I'm standing in front of her. This is the feeling e-mail can not bring to her. And for me, I don't think it's a waste of time.
C: Hi, Mary. happy birthday! Have you received my message?
M: Thank you! Yes, I received.Cherry. I think you are one of "clan of the thumbs" now.
C: What does it mean?
M: That is a newly coined word. It means people send messages with the tip of their fingers, especially thumbs. Now more and more people tent to use short messages.
C: Yeah. It's very convenient and I can do it anywhere.
M: And now many people use short messages to pay a New Year call. We also can download rings and pictures to the cell phone, and send them to our friends.
C: That's multi-media massage. It costs more than text messages.
M: But it's more interesting.
C: I almost can't live without messages now.
M: I can see. You're always busy editing messages.