8 hours of sleep: English Dictation Exercise

This is an extract from a podcast interview with a sleep expert, who questions the idea that we need eight hours of sleep every night.

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, , I o'clock alarm's . . .

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So, you know, I o'clock and their alarm's . . But you're you're here because .

About the sentence

…their alarm's set for six…

Notice the way that the final ‘s’ of ‘alarm’s’ (or ‘alarm is’) merges with the starting ‘s’ of set, to make it sound like ‘alarm set’. This is one of the ways that words can blend together in connected speech.

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, , . that .

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, hours to , hours of . and that .

About the sentence

…if it takes you two hours to fall asleep…

The structure to take (sb) time to do something is an extremely common and useful way to talk about the time required for something.

e.g. It took me all night to finish the essay, but I’m finally done.

e.g. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

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Esc — Play/Pause (rewinds 1.5s)

Ctrl/⌘ + ← — Skip back 1.5s

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, of , .

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So I think again, of hours of sleep, .

About the sentence

…you're going to…

The use of going to + verb here is an example of a prediction made using present evidence. The prediction is that someone is going to die a horrible death is based on the evidence that they aren’t getting eight hours of sleep.

e.g. What an amazing sunrise – looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day!

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8 hours of sleep
Micro-listenings | C1

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8 hours of sleepMicro-listenings | C1

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8 hours of sleep
Micro-listenings | C1