Listening
exercise
Popular song: Behind the
Wall
by Tracy Chapman
Listen to "Behind the wall" by Tracy Chapman (on your listening tape) and transcribe the lyrics. When you have done your best, look up the lyrics on the Internet and correct your transcription with a red pen. Count the mistakes and write the number wrong in the upper right hand corner of your paper. Enter the mistakes in your pronunciation journal. Finally, answer the questions below.
Vocabulary:
screaming
domestic affairs
to interfere
for tears to well up in one's eyes
to chill one's soul
to pray
ambulance
to keep the peace
for a crowd to disperse
Listening
comprehension questions:
1. What does the narrator
hear that's keeping her awake?
2. What is its cause?
3. Do the the police always come when she calls them about the problem?
4. What do the policemen say about what they can or can't do in such a situation,
and why?
5. Does the situation stop or continue?
6. In the last stanza, why have crowds gathered?
7. Was the narrator only dreaming?
8. How does the policeman seem to feel about what has happened?
9. What is the song's message regarding domestic violence?
10. What would you do if you were in the narrator's situation?