Texts for listening comprehension

164 TEXTS FOR LISTENING COMPREHENSION STUDENT’S BOOK

UNIT 1 My Daily Routine Track 2 Stella

I have to get up at seven even though I would really prefer to sleep much later. I don’t usually have time for breakfast in the morning because I have to catch a bus at half past seven. The bus is usually completely packed and it really makes me envy my schoolmates who don’t have to ride the bus to school. When I get home after school I like to relax for some time and then I start my homework. Before I know it, the afternoon has gone and it is evening. After I help clean up after dinner, I watch a film or music programme on TV or spend some time on the Internet. Sometimes I like to go downtown to see a movie or to go to a concert with my friends. About every other day I have a date with my boyfriend.

Peter

Everybody has a daily routine, but mine is really interesting. Every morning I get up at half past seven and have a shower. At eight o’clock I have my favourite breakfast – two eggs with bacon and orange juice. After breakfast I go for a walk with my dog in the park. After this I go home to relax, listen to music and the news. At two o’clock I go to the swimming pool and teach little children how to swim. When I get back home, I have lunch. After this I go shopping for food for my dog. At six o’clock I study French on a French course. I’m twenty years old so after dinner I hang out with my friends and we chat and have fun.

Helen

My day starts in the ordinary way. I make my bed, brush my teeth, take a shower, have breakfast, put on my school uniform... and then go to school. When I arrive at school, I collect my Tablet PC from the Learning Centre. My school has a great number of computers. Then I go to my Tutor Room for Registration at 8:30. The attendance of every child attending school each morning and afternoon is recorded in a special book. Then we listen to announcements to see what special things are happening at school that day or week. At about 8:50 we leave the Tutor Room to go to our First Period. Every day I have a different lesson during the first period: Humanities, Maths, Drama and Music or French. Each period lasts for 50 minutes.

UNIT 2 Sean Connery as James Bond

Track 7

According to the latest survey, for the British Sean Connery is the best Bond ever. Although this role brought him world-wide fame, he doesn’t want to be remembered only as James Bond. Thomas Sean Connery’s early life was worlds away from that of the character which made him a star. His family was so poor that Connery left school at an early age to take various part-time jobs. At the age of 16, he joined the Navy but left due to health problems. Finally he found himself in the world of films, but playing only small roles at first. However, in 1962 two producers saw a potential Bond in Connery for their adaptation of Ian Fleming’s novel Dr No. The film was a huge hit and Connery became a star. He played the role of the Secret Agent 007 in six films over the next decade. Goldfinger with its glamorous locations, beautiful women and exciting action really started the Bond craze, and Connery found himself part of it. Unfortunately, the public was unwilling to accept him in anything else and his other films all sank without a trace. After long negotiations, Connery agreed to do one more Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever in 1971. He donated his entire fee for that film to a charity he had set up to help educate poor Scottish children. Other actors took part in the next Bond films and Connery slowly started building a reputation as a good actor who was more than just James Bond. He returned to the Bond role one last time in Never Say Never Again in 1983. After that, he appeared in The Name of the Rose and other hits, including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and The Hunt for Red October.

UNIT 3 Chasing tornadoes: More than just a thrill

Track 12

Chasing tornadoes is a business like any other. I think that when I first started, the idea of chasing storms for a living didn’t even cross my mind. I just thought about chasing when I had the time and money to buy gas, maybe going out of state once or twice a year. It was a hobby that didn’t make money, it spent it. At first I went chasing for a couple of weeks in May, but now I spend a few months every year chasing tornadoes. I am now doing serious tornado research in the hope of helping to develop tornado warning systems for people and I’m also working on tornado education and safety. But my research isn’t making money, it costs money. Some researchers are making a full-time living from studying tornadoes, but again, they work all year on the research, and only chase part-time. That means most of their year is spent at desks, in front of computers, working hard on their research and not chasing tornadoes all

year long. These researchers are highly-educated professionals and they must be good at complex mathematics since advanced meteorology requires it. With the help of chasers, their cameras, and some modern mobile instruments, scientists are trying to learn more about how tornadoes form.

UNIT 4 New York

Track 17

The Past – The Native Americans had lived on Manhattan before the Dutch settlers arrived. In 1626 the Dutch bought the island from the Indians for some small items worth $24 and the settlement was given the name New Amsterdam. The British took it over from the Dutch in 1664 without a fight and changed the name to New York. New York has been the country’s largest city since 1790.

The Present - It is one of the most exciting cities in the world. Many landmarks in New York City are well known to foreigners. The Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island, welcoming visitors to the largest city in the United States. That was the first site that millions of immigrants saw before they stepped onto American soil in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lower Manhattan is the financial and artistic part of New York. Wall Street is the most important banking centre in the world. It is a street of spectacular skyscrapers, tall buildings that Americans invented and built faster and higher than anyone else. Until the infamous terrorist attack on September 11th 2001, the two most spectacular skyscrapers were the two towers of the New York World Trade Center, each 110 floors high. Manhattan’s Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere. Bridges, tunnels, ferries and the subway connect the five districts: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx.

UNIT 5 New Year’s Eve in Japan

Track 22

What do you usually do on New Year’s Eve? Does your family have something special to do for the New Year? Maybe you have a party at your friend’s house or you may spend time with your family. In Japan, the way of spending time on New Year’s Eve is pretty different from the way people spend it in Europe. In the morning, Japanese people clean the whole house. There is a special meaning to this cleaning. Its purpose is to welcome in the New Year and to wish for a better life than during the previous year. Cleaning the house is a really important way to start a new year. After finishing cleaning, women start cooking osechi. This is a traditional Japanese dish which is eaten a few days after New Year’s Eve. The dish is made from fish, beans, and eggs. While women are cooking, men are hanging a kind of decoration made from rice stems on the front door. This custom comes from the farmer’s wish to have a good harvest the following year. Today, they wish for good fortune and a good year. In the evening, after they have finished preparing for New Year’s Day, Japanese people normally watch a special TV programme called Singing Battle between the Red and the White Team. It has been on the air for about 50 years. Finally, the last thing to do on New Year’s Eve is to listen to ‘the watch-night bell’. This bell is like the countdown in America. But it should be rung 108 times. The idea of this tradition is to beat away poverty, doubt, selfishness, unhappiness, and so on. In conclusion, New Year’s Eve is a very important moment for Japanese people not only to prepare for the New Year, but also to look back upon their lives from the past year.

UNIT 6 Famous sites in danger

Track 25

When you think of environmental problems, you think of pollution and nuclear waste. You don’t usually think of tourism. The problem is that too many people want to visit the same few places. Large numbers of tourists could cause damage to historic sites such as Westminster Abbey and York Minster. In some parts of Britain’s countryside, mass tourism has already changed the environment. The Lake District is one of Britain’s most popular tourist spots with more than twelve million visitors a year. The number of visitors grew after the Second World War as motorways were built, and people had more leisure time and more money. Stonehenge, the famous stone circle in Wiltshire, has had to be roped off from visitors. Too many people were walking on the grass around the site, touching the ancient stones and even writing graffiti on them. These problems raise difficult questions. To preserve certain sites people should be prohibited from visiting them. On the other hand, everyone should be able to visit a place which is so special.

UNIT 7 Television addiction

Track 30

Television is one of the popular leisure pastimes. For some people life without television is truly unbearable. Every day millions of people turn to their television as a form of escape from the pressures and stress of everyday life.

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There are literally hundreds of channels that can be easily accessed at the press of a button. But what are people watching? There are a variety of shows available — from children’s programmes and afternoon soap operas and talk shows, to evening newscasts, reality shows, films, etc. The choices appear to be limitless. Many surveys have shown that two out of five adults and seven out of 10 teenagers say they spend too much time watching TV. Parents usually see their children’s viewing as TV addiction. There has been much debate on whether and how too much television viewing influences children and what effect it has on their physical and mental health. Evidence from numerous studies indicates that there are real negative effects. TV viewing may lead to less physical activity and aggressive behaviour. Soap operas and sitcoms become addictive because they continue their stories from day to day. The young start identifying with what is shown on TV. They long to live the lives of their favourite TV characters so they get bored of living a normal and simple life. However, it must be said that television is not only a source of entertainment and information, but it can teach, too. It is of great help in preparing children for school and assisting in their education through their schooling, though the Internet is also playing a great role in this nowadays. Whatever the reason for watching TV, it is recommended that total television time should be limited to no more than 1 to 2 hours per day and that the programmes children watch should be appropriate to their age and non-violent in nature. We can conclude that TV, electronic games and Facebook are good in limited doses. But dependence on them should be taken seriously.

UNIT 8 The Generation gap

Track 34

Although some generational differences have existed throughout history, this term was especially popularized in Western countries during the 1960s because of the more rapid cultural changes. The differences between the two generations increased in comparison to previous times, particularly in the choice of music and fashion. Music had an enormous effect on people’s lives, especially on the kind of clothes they wore. Rock musicians had a great influence on young people who started wearing what they wore. During the 1960s, younger generations exhibited great power and a willingness to rebel against society norms. Long haired hippies rebelled against the war and wore ‘Make Love not War’ badges. They lived in communities, wore simple clothes and open sandals, and gave flowers to strangers in the street. They got the name ‘flower children.’ That decade was also marked by the Beatles and their new and exciting singing, as well as their unusual haircuts, which immediately became the latest fashion. In the late 70s, the punk generation appeared as a result of anger and unhappiness because of unemployment. They wore ugly clothes, torn jeans, and black, leather jackets, and they had spiky coloured hair and piercing in their ears and noses. Their music was loud and tuneless. Their behaviour upset people, but luckily they were not widely accepted. In the 21st century the Facebook and YouTube generation emerged, creating clothes and music to follow new trends and changes in their lifestyle.

UNIT 9 A broken friendship

Track 38

Tania and I had been close friends for four years when we decided to go backpacking around the country. We had good weather on our trip and everything was marvellous when I suddenly fell and broke my arm. The doctor told me that it was a serious fracture and they had to put it in a cast. Anyway, we decided to continue hiking because there was only a small part of the route to finish. When we were walking uphill, I got tired and asked Tania to help me with my backpack. She told me that I was unreasonable to expect her to carry my backpack just because I had my arm in a cast. “It’s your arm, Sonia,” she said, “not your leg that’s broken.” How do you think our friendship ended up? I was very hurt and decided to end our hiking trip as well as our friendship. I went to the nearest village, got on a bus and returned home. I’ve never seen or heard from Tania again. Did I react without thinking and considering Tania’s reasons? Maybe. It’s up to you to decide.

UNIT 10 A telephone conversation

Track 44

A: British Airways. Good morning. B: Good morning. I’d like to change a flight booking, please. A: Hold on, please. I’ll put you through to Flight Reservations. C: Flight Reservations. B: Good morning. My name is Mrs Carol Harris. C: How can we help you, Mrs Harris? B: I have a flight booked to Manchester on Sunday at

8p.m.. I’d like to change it for Monday morning at 8.30. C: I’m sorry, madam. There are no seats left, but we can offer you a seat the same day, on the afternoon flight. Shall I book one for you?

UNIT 7

Social media is a new and constantly developing area in all regions of the world. About one in four people globally are using the Internet, because it enables quick and easy access to all kinds of information. However, according to a recent survey, most people still depend on TV for entertainment, news, education, weather reports or sports. The main reason why students use Facebook is to stay in contact with friends. Anne: ‘I use Facebook to keep in touch with people, find out what they are doing and what they are up to.’ Emily: ‘Facebook is important to me because of its convenience. I use it to keep up with my friends’ activities, play games, chat, post photos or find phone numbers.’ Shannon; ‘I see it as a kind of hanging out with all my friends, without having to be in the same room with them. It is like socializing without being social.’ Martha: ‘I didn’t realize the importance of Facebook at first, but it has gradually become an integral part of my life. It helps me to create connections with people I know.’ These answers confirm that although social media offers numerous opportunities, students use Facebook mostly to find out what’s going on in each others’ lives. B: Yes, please. Where can I have my ticket changed? C: You should go to the British Airways desk at the airport 60 minutes before the flight.

WORKBOOK

Social media

Track 31

B: That’s fine. Thank you very much. Goodbye.

UNIT 8 Teens and parents in conflict

Track 36

Psychologists from the University of Michigan examined the relationship between three hundred sets of parents and children aged 15. The commonest teenager/parent rows, which explode every few days, are mostly about homework, housework and respect. Parents want to choose the clothes their children wear, the places they can go to and the friends they hang with. On the other hand, teenagers are angry with their parents because they try to run their lives. As they grow up and become teens, they want to be more independent and have more space to do what they like. Their wish is to make their parents accept the fact they are mature. However, as the kids change and grow, their parents sometimes have problems to adjust. They aren’t used to the new persons their children have become. Besides, their morals and views of life can be very different from their children’s. That is why it is necessary for both sides to talk and express their opinions openly in order to reach compromises that can make everyone happy. In most cases they manage to sort out their problems successfully.

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