Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
Basketball superstar LeBron James recently said that he takes a nap every day. And if he does it, shouldn’t everybody?
In some cultures, it’s common to lie down and rest or even sleep in the middle of the day. But in the U.S., not many people take naps during the work week, except for children. A quick nap can be a good way to refresh oneself after a late night. But people who nap all the time are usually seen as lazy. Find out if Amy and Devan like to catch some zzz’s in the middle of the day.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
![]() Amy |
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Amy: I wish that I were a person who could take naps. It seems like such a nice thing to do and such a good way to refresh yourself if you’re, you know…if you didn’t sleep well or if you’re having a hard day.
Devan: So why don’t you take naps?
Amy: I just can’t do it. I just can’t go to sleep in the daytime. I don’t know. I try, and I just end up lying there, you know, for hours, potentially, just staring at the ceiling. Do you take naps?
Devan: Sometimes I’ll take like a power nap, like right after I get off work I’ll take a quick 20 minute nap. But I can’t take a nap longer than that, because if I fall asleep for hours in the middle of the day, then when I wake up I feel really awful. Like I just need a really quick power nap to get me re-energized, but if I sleep too long then I’m gonna want to sleep all night and then I’ll wake up again at three o’clock in the morning. But you know, in a lot of cultures it’s very common to have like a siesta or a nap in the middle of the day, and I wonder why in the United States that hasn’t really become a common practice.
Amy: Sometimes I’ll just take it easy in the middle of the day, if I’m feeling tired and I need to have a little break, just watch TV for a half an hour or do something mindless to relax. But I just…I kind of feel the same way you do, like if I really lay down and tried to take a nap in the middle of the day, it would be really hard to get up and go back to work. I don’t know how people do it.
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Discussion
Amy doesn’t take naps, because she finds it difficult to fall asleep in the middle of the day. But sometimes she wishes she could take naps, because it seems like a good way to refresh oneself in the middle of the day.
Devan sometimes likes to take short naps after work, but she doesn’t like to sleep for a long time when she takes a nap. If she takes a long nap, she has a hard time getting up and doing anything productive afterward.
Is it common to take a nap in the afternoon in your country? Do you enjoy taking naps?
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