Practice Listening English Exercises for B2 – Unsolved mysteries

(top row)

4 (ESP Illustrated), 1 (Creatures From Beyond)

(bottom row)

2 (Tales From Outer Space), X, 3 (Phantom Weekly)

Audioscripts in B below

1 2, 3, 1   2 2, 1, 3   3 2, 3, 1   4 2, 3, 1

Audioscripts

1

Woman:   I’ll never forget it. We were returning to London. We’d been on vacation in northern Scotland. We were driving along the lake when I looked out the window and saw it. I noticed something moving in the water. It was some sort of shape – a large animal with a long neck and a huge body. Its body was huge and dark gray, like an elephant. I guess it was about twenty-five meters long. It was carrying something in its mouth. I couldn’t tell what it was. Then it disappeared under the water.

2

Man:   This happened to my wife and me several years ago. We were driving home after a party when suddenly we saw a strange object in the sky. We stopped the car to get a better look. It was high up in the air and had a strange, green light. We could see these creatures – definitely not humans – looking at us from the window. We were so scared. We tried to drive away, but our car wouldn’t move. There was a bright light coming from the sky, and it started to get really hot. Then suddenly we couldn’t see anything. That’s the last thing I remember. We woke up still sitting in the car. We were back home in our own driveway. We had been gone for two days!

3

Man:   About ten years ago, we bought a new house. Our first guest there was my friend Bill. He came to visit for a few days, and he stayed in the small guest room upstairs. That night, we all went to bed around ten o’clock. Everything seemed normal, but then my wife and I heard something in the night. It was Bill. He woke us up around midnight. He said he had heard a strange sound coming from the closet. So, he got up to see what it was. He opened the door, and at first he thought he was dreaming. But Bill swears he saw a woman standing there – just standing in the closet. A moment later, she disappeared.

4

Woman:   I usually don’t have trouble sleeping. But one night a few years ago, I just couldn’t get to sleep. Finally, around three A.M., I fell asleep, but not for long. About five A.M., I woke up. I was sitting up in bed and screaming, “Mom, Mom, Mom!” I don’t recall having a bad dream or anything. For some reason, I just was in great need of my mother. I finally calmed down and went back to sleep. I woke up at seven o’clock to the sound of the telephone ringing. It was my mother on the phone. She said she’d been awake since five o’clock worrying about me. She didn’t know why, but she just wanted to make sure I was all right.

1 What are crop circles?

2 Where are they found?

3 When are crop circles made?

4 Who or what makes the crop circles?

5 What do people believe about crop circles?

Audioscripts in B below

1 strange pictures, patterns in fields

2 70 different countries

3 late at night

4 mystery, still don’t know

5 the work of aliens

Audioscripts

1

Host:   Welcome to Mysteries of the Universe, the show about mysterious events that cannot be explained by our ordinary senses. Today’s guest is researcher Robert White, the famous expert on crop circle. Thank you for being here, Robert. First, could you give the audience some general information on crop circles. What are crop circles exactly?

Robert:   Well, crop circles are strange pictures – actually patterns – which mysteriously appear in large fields, such as corn, rice, or wheat fields. Sometimes they are simple designs, usually circle patterns of different sizes, and other times they can be very detailed. They are very large and can take up quite a lot of space in the field.

2

Host:   This is very interesting. Could you tell us more about these crop circles? Where are they found?

Robert:   Well, people in seventy different countries have reported seeing crop circles. But most of my research has focused on the ones in England. That’s where the most crop circle sighting have been reported.

3

Host:   All right, Robert. You’ve said that people all around the world have seen these strange circles. But has anyone actually watched the circles being formed? I mean, when are crop circles made?

Robert:   Most of the time, farmers have reported that they left their field in the evening. When they returned the next morning, a big section of the plants was on the ground, and there was a giant pattern in the middle of the field. There is no sign of anyone entering or leaving the field. So, it usually happens very late at night, long after the farm workers have finished working.

4

Host:   OK. Robert, you’ve studied these things extensively for many years. You must have some idea of what’s behind the mystery of the crop circles. Tell us: Who or what makes them?

Robert:   I’m afraid I can’t answer that. It’s still a mystery. Researchers have done experiments to try to recreate the patterns using different methods, but no one has been able to recreate them in exactly the same way. After years of serious research, we still don’t know who or what makes them. But every year crop circles continue to appear. I’m convinced there is an unexplained force here. And we are working hard to discover what that force could be.

5

Host:   Hmm. This is all so amazing. I’d love to hear more, but we’re getting close to the end of today’s show. Let’s finish up by talking about some of the different possibilities. What do people actually believe about these crop circles?

Robert:   Well, of course, lots of people have ideas about crop circles. Some people even believe the circles are the work of aliens who are trying to communicate with humans, or maybe with each other. I’m a scientist, so I’d prefer to wait until we have some more solid, scientific evidence to explain this fascinating phenomenon.

Host:   Dr. Robert White, thank you so much for joining us today. Best of luck to you in solving this great mystery of the universe!

1 Visitors from Outer Space

2 The Psychic Photo

3 The Haunted Woods

4 The Phantom Under the Stairs

5 Creature in the Fields

Audioscripts in B below

1 3,1,2   2 3,2,1   3 2,3,1   4 3,1,2   5 3,2,1

Audioscripts

1

Man:   The movie starts out in the home of the Taylor family. After dinner, the kids go to their rooms, and the parents go into the living room to watch TV. Suddenly, the TV screen shows a picture of a UFO. Then these creatures step out of the TV. They’re aliens from another planet. The parents sit there frozen with shock. Then the creatures start walking upstairs, where the kids are sleeping.

2

Woman:   This movie is about a seventeen-year-old boy named Tony. He’s a good kid, but one day, his personality changes. Tony stops going to school. His grades start to go down. Then Tony’s mother finds a picture of her son playing basketball. Suddenly, the picture changes: It shows Tony sitting in a dark movie theater. When Tony’s mother asks him about his day, he lies. The next day, Tony’s mother looks at the strange picture again. It shows her son playing video games at the mall. Only the picture knows the truth.

3

Man:   This movie is about a place called Pine Forest where many people have reported hearing and seeing strange things. Some people have gone into the forest, but none of them have returned. The first scene in the movie shows two boys playing near the forest. They see a large black shape. Then they hear these really scary screams.

4

Woman:   In this movie, a family moves into an old house in the country. The first night in the house, the family goes to bed early. David, one of the sons, can’t sleep. He walks downstairs. The house is very quiet. Then suddenly, David hears a voice coming from under the stairs saying: “Welcome! I hope you’ll love this house as much as I did.” He turns on all the lights and looks everywhere, but there’s no one in the house.

5

Man:   This movie is about a farming in the U.K. One day they wake up and see strange patterns in their fields – crop circles. The circles are the work of a strange creature that lives under the ground in the fields. The creature is trying to communicate with the family through the circles. Unfortunately for the farmers, this is not a friendly creature.