Practice Listening English Exercises for A2 – Citizens 2050

1 Internet   2 computers   3 Mars   4 cars   5 healthier

Audioscript

      Can you imagine what our lives will be like in the year 2050? Perhaps you will be flying off for a holiday on the moon, or maybe you will be taking your dog for a walk in virtual reality. We recently carried out a survey of 1,000 people from different countries to find out what they think like will be like in the future. The results clearly demonstrate both our hopes and fears.

      The survey suggests that friendship – one of the most important human relationships – will have changed dramatically. People will make friends through the Internet. What is more, a large number of people will even come across their future husbands or wives in this way! Computers will have become absolutely essential by 2050. Even now, some people describe them as their best friend! Others, however, say that we will become much more isolated from each other because we will have little real human contact.

      Education will have changed a lot too. As more and more children will be using computers in schools, certain abilities, such as mental arithmetic, won’t be necessary since there will be computer programs for most calculations. Even writing by hand will have become a thing of the past.

      According to the survey, home life will be better. Most people believe that by 2050 robots will be doing the house-work and we will be eating ready-made food. A lot of people think that we might only cook for fun in the future.

      Space exploration will become increasingly popular. Fifty per cent of the people we talked to believe that man will regularly visit Mars. They also believe that travel on our own planet will probably change. Almost everyone thinks that there will be no cars in the city centres. Some even think that environmentally-friendly electric or solar-powered cars will have replaced the cars we use nowadays.

      Pollution is something that seems to worry many people. Some fear that it will continue to get worse, and that our planet will become impossible to live on. Others even foresee that one day we’ll have to pay for clean air just like we do now for clean water.

      On the other hand, people seem to be quite optimistic about the benefits of genetic engineering, as they think scientists will use it to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS. If scientists manage to find a cure for these, we’ll have a much healthier society.

      Some people worry about the future, while others are full of hope and enthusiasm. No matter how dark or bright it may seem, it is up to us to look after our planet and try to make it a better place to live.

1 T   2 F   3 T   4 F   5 T   6 T

Audioscript

Radio Presenter:   With us this evening, we have best-selling novelist, Robert D Ellis. Welcome Robert.

Robert:   Thanks, Anne.

Radio Presenter:   Your latest novel has been at the top of the best seller list for weeks now. But what about the future? What do you think you’ll be doing in ten years’ time?

Robert:   Oh, I’ll definitely still be writing novels. I can’t imagine myself doing anything different.

Radio Presenter:   I know you write very quickly. How many books do you think you’ll have written in ten years?

Robert:   I usually manage to complete one book a year, so I suppose I’ll have written ten.

Radio Presenter:   Most successful writers spend a lot of time appearing in public. Do you think you’ll be doing that?

Robert:   Oh definitely. I’ll be travelling all round the world speaking to my readers.

Radio Presenter:   You got married last month. Are you planning to start a family?

Robert:   Oh yes! Not in the next two years, though, but I’m sure I’ll have started a family in ten years’ time.

Radio Presenter:   Do you think you’ll have moved house in ten years?

Robert:   No, no. I’ll be living in the same house. It’s very large, so there’ll be no problem with the children.

Radio Presenter:   Are there any changes you’d like to have made in ten years?

Robert:   I love sailing but I haven’t got a yacht. I hope I’ll have bought one by then.

Radio Presenter:   Well, Robert, I’m sure you have an exciting and successful ten years ahead of you, and I wish you all the best.

Robert:   Thanks very much, Anne.

1 horse   2 train   3 cars   4 fifty   5 seventy-five

6 work   7 school   8 smaller   9 bigger   10 blocks

11 writing   12 telephone   13 fax

Audioscript

Teacher:   Now, the last century has been one of many changes, and it’s always interesting to see what some of those changes have been. Can anyone tell the class about some of the changes that have taken place over the last hundred years? Yes, Lucy?

Lucy:   Transportation has changed a lot. In those days, people travelled by horse and carriage or by train, but now we use cars and aeroplanes.

Teacher:   That’s right, Lucy. Anyone else? Yes, David.

David:   Well, I know that a hundred years ago most people died before they were fifty years old. Nowadays, however, the average lifespan is about seventy-five years.

Teacher:   Yes, medical science has done a lot to help people live longer. What else has changed then? Susan?

Susan:   A hundred years ago many children had to work, but now all children go to school.

Teacher:   Yes, that’s true. Lucy?

Lucy:   The places where people live have changed a lot. Cities were smaller, and a lot more people lived in the countryside. Now, the cities are much bigger, and they’re full of huge blocks of flats.

Teacher:   Yes, that’s true. Any more ideas? Stephen?

Stephen:   A century ago, most people who were far apart communicated by writing to each other, but now we communicate by telephone, fax and e-mail, so it’s a lot faster.

Teacher:   That is a very major change. Now, what changes do you think will have taken place one hundred years in the future? Any ideas?