1. Label the pictures. Use the words below.
crowd farm field hill lake office block
shopping centre street traffic valley village wood
1 …………………………..
2 …………………………..
3 …………………………..
4 …………………………..
5 …………………………..
6 …………………………..
7 …………………………..
8 …………………………..
9 …………………………..
10 …………………………..
11 …………………………..
12 …………………………..
Answer
1 village 2 valley 3 hill 4 wood 5 field 6 farm
7 lake 8 traffic 9 office block 10 shopping centre
11 crowd 12 street
Listening Strategy
Sometimes it isn’t necessary to understand all of the details when you listen, as long as you understand the main ideas. In these cases, focus on what you need to know and do not worry if you do not understand every word.
2. Read the Listening Strategy. Then listen to three people. What are they talking about? Match them with the correct topic (a-c).
1 Jonnie ◻
a buses
b traffic
c shops
2 Ian ◻
a a town
b a library
c a cinema
3 Milla ◻
a a hotel
b an office block
c a shopping centre
Answer
1 b 2 c 3 c
Transcript
1 Jonnie The noise starts at 7.30 outside my window. I can see everyone going to work in the centre of town. It’s very busy for two hours, then it gets quieter. At five o’clock the noise gets louder again with all the cars and buses with people going home.
2 Ian We go there every weekend, and we usually go in a big group. We like to watch action films or comedies. We sometimes buy sweets and fizzy drinks to eat and drink during the film.
3 Milla It’s always busy, especially at the weekends. I like it like that. There’s always something to see or do. My friends and I go there by bus as often as possible in our free time. But it’s easy to spend too much money on shopping and pizza!
3. Listen and match speakers (1-4) with the sentences (a-e). There is one extra sentence. Remember not to worry if you don’t understand everything.
Which speaker …
a is showing visitors his/her new house in the country?
b explains what there is to do where he/she lives?
c is giving a tour of a town?
d would like to live in the country?
e wants to go on holiday to a city?
Answer
A 3 B – C 2 D 4 E 1
4. Listen again and answer the questions.
1 Which country would speaker 1 like to visit?
…………………………….
2 Which buildings does speaker 2 mention?
…………………………….
3 Which does speaker 3 prefer, her old home or her new home?
…………………………….
4 Why does speaker 4 dislike the place where he lives now?
…………………………….
Answer
1 Spain 2 town hall, library 3 her new home
4 Because it’s busy, noisy and dirty.
Transcript
Speaker 1 I love museums and art galleries. I like history and beautiful buildings. I’ve got a few days off work, and my plan is to go to Barcelona with a friend. I can also speak the language and I especially love the food, so I can’t wait!
Speaker 2 Look out of the window on your right and you can see a large lake between the trees and flowers of our beautiful park. In a moment on your left you can see the main street with the town hall at the end. Now, we’re going to the centre where you can see the famous library. It’s one of the oldest buildings here.
Speaker 3 Come in and through here into the garden. It’s really pretty, don’t you think? Now go through this door. Do you like it? It’s smaller than my last home, but it’s more comfortable and so much nicer. Look out of the window and you can see trees and fields. It’s a wonderful view!
Speaker 4 I really don’t like it here. It’s busy, noisy and dirty. I’d prefer to live somewhere more beautiful and more peaceful. I’d like to see open spaces and green everywhere. I’d like to see hills, woods and fields. That’s my ideal place to live.
Extra exercises
Strategy
Most of the questions in a multiple-choice task ask you to find specific information in a recording. Sometimes a question asks you about the gist which is the main idea or general meaning of a whole recording.
1. Read the Strategy. Then look at questions 1-5 in exercise 2. Which question asks about gist? ……..
Answer
5
2. Listen to a radio programme about the best city to live in. Choose the correct answer, A, B or C.
1 According to the study by The Economist, the best cities to live in are all
A capital cities.
B cities where only a few people live.
C medium-sized cities.
2 In this particular list,
A Helsinki is in a higher position than Zurich.
B Zurich and Helsinki are in the same position.
C Helsinki is lower then Zurich.
3 The country with the most cities in the top ten is
A Australian.
B Canada.
C New Zealand.
4 Melbourne gets full marks in
A health and environment.
B transport and health.
C health and education.
5 The aim of the radio programme is to
A describe the best cities that people live in.
B inform listeners about the best cities to live in.
C encourage listeners to vote on the best cities to live in.
Answer
1 C 2 B 3 A 4 C 5 B
Transcript
Presenter Every year, The Economist magazine makes a list of the best cities in the world to live in. Gloria Cooke is with us today to tell us about the latest list. Gloria, what kind of cities are at the top?
Gloria Well, they’re all cities that are more or less the same size: not very big, but not very small, either. Quite a lot of people live there, but they aren’t very crowded. There are only two capital cities at the top, for example.
P Which ones?
G Vienna, capital of Austria, and the capital of Finland: Helsinki.
P Are there any other European cities in the top ten, Gloria?
G Yes, there’s one more: Zurich in Switzerland. Zurich has the same number of points as Helsinki, so they’re both tenth. That means we’re talking about the top eleven cities here, not the top ten.
P Right. So, where are the other cities in the top eleven?
G We’ve got Auckland in New Zealand at number nine, and then the rest are either in Australia or Canada. Australia has four in the top eleven and Canada has three.
P How interesting! So, Gloria, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: which is the best city to live in?
G According to The Economist, it’s Melbourne, Australia. The study says that Melbourne has fantastic schools and excellent medical care – the city got 100 out of 100 in these two categories.
P Melbourne! Nice! Gloria Cooke, thanks for joining us.
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