English Listening Exercises for B1 – Margaret Fuller

1 emphasis   2 contrast   3 result   4 example

1 Consequently,   2 For instance,   3 For that reason,

4 Indeed,   5 As a result,   6 in fact,

1 f   2 c   3 g   4 e   5 h   6 d

1 a   2 b   3 b   4 a   5 a   6 b

Students check answers.

Transcript

See exercise 6.

1 T   2 F   3 T   4 F   5 T   6 T

Transcript

Host   Last week, we heard about Nellie Bly, one of the first female journalists to become really famous. This week, we’re going to talk about Margaret Fuller. She was born before Nellie Bly, wasn’t she?

Guest   Yes, that’s right. Margaret Fuller was born near the start of the nineteenth century – in 1810.

H   In America?

G   Yes, in America. In Cambridge, which is a city on the East coast of the USA, near Boston. It’s the home of Harvard University, one of the most famous universities in the world.

H   And did Margaret have a good education?

G   Yes, she did. Up to the age of nine, her education was at home, with her father. Margaret was an excellent student. In fact, by the age of six, she was translating Latin poetry into English.

H   Was that unusual at the time?

G   Yes, it was – for a girl. Boys often learned Latin, but girls learned different things: for instance, how to behave in public. Boys were given great works of literature to read; girls were given romantic novels.

H   So did she receive all of her education at home?

G   No, she didn’t. By the age of ten, she was at school. And eventually, she qualified as a teacher. But even as an adult, her education continued. She taught herself several languages and read great literature from the around world. Indeed, many people considered her the best-educated person on the East Coast. And that’s male or female!

H   So, she had a hunger for education. What else was different about her? Why did she become so well known?

G   Well, she had very strong opinions about the role of women, and particularly about what jobs they could do. At that time, there were certain jobs which people thought of as suitable for women: for example, being a teacher. Margaret believed that a woman could do any job that a man could do.

H   And what job did she do?

G   Well, after teaching, she became a journalist. She worked for the New York Tribune and became its first female editor. She also wrote reviews for it, as she was well known for having strong opinions about literature. Some of the reviews she wrote were very negative. As a result, she was not always popular with novelists and poets of her time.

H   Did she only write about literature?

G   No, she was interested in many different topics. For example, she went into prisons and wrote about the conditions there. She wanted to make them better. She also wanted to change people’s attitudes to Native Americans and African Americans.

H   So, she fought a lot of good causes.

G   Yes, she did. She definitely tried to make the world a better place. Mind you, during her lifetime, she was actually best known for being bad-tempered!

H   Oh dear! Well, I suppose sometimes strong opinions can make you unpopular.

1 location / setting   2 opinion / feeling   3 subject

1 C   2 A   3 B   4 A   5 D

Transcript

1

A   So what do you think of the candidates for the job?

B   I have to say, not many of them have had the right kind of experience. I liked the last one, though – she showed a lot of intelligence, and she had plenty of self-confidence, too.

A   She probably was the best of the lot today. Still, we have another group to interview tomorrow, so we might find someone who’s perfect for the post.

2

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3

Girl   My parents are unbelievable! They told me I can’t go out in the evening for a whole month − just because I got home late on Saturday!

Boy   Well if you make a deal with your parents, you have to stick to it, right?

G   I suppose so. I mean, I know I shouldn’t have come home late – or at least I should have rung them and said when I’d get home. But still … I’ve never been late before, so it seems pretty extreme.

4

With us today we have a university professor who is as comfortable in front of a TV camera as in the classroom. She has written one of the most fascinating books I’ve come across this year. It talks about how the climate of a country influences its people and their personalities, and even the development of an entire culture. Professor Wilson, welcome to Talk Time on Radio 5. Now, your books suggests …

5

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