English Listening Exercises for B1 – Our environment

2 taken    7 cooled

3 washed    8 dried, chopped

4 cut up    9 sold

5 put, separated    10 used

6 heated, melted

Transcript

We all try to recycle things like glass bottles, drinks cans and plastic bottles. But what happens after you put the things in a recycling box? This is what happens to plastic bottles.

First, plastic bottles are collected from homes.

They are taken to a recycling centre by lorries.

At the centre, the bottles are washed.

Then the clean bottles are cut up into small pieces.

There are lots of different types of plastic, so now the pieces are put into a large tank of water, where they are separated into different kinds of plastic.

The pieces of plastic are heated and melted into a liquid.

The liquid is cooled into long strings.

The strings are dried and then they are chopped into small pellets.

The pellets are sold to factories.

There they are used to make new plastic products.

1 b   2 a   3 a   4 b   5 b   6 a   7 b   8 b

Transcript

Good evening and welcome back to this year’s Eco-Awards ceremony for people and groups who have helped the environment in this year.

So far this evening, two awards have been presented. The first award was for schools, and it was won by Picardy School. They collected a lot of money to save part of an African rainforest. The award was presented to four students from the school.

Our second award this evening was for individual young people who have helped their local environment. It was won by Maddie and Bill West. They helped to protect the frogs in a local lake. And now we come to our next award. This is for people who have helped to protect the marine environment – the seas and oceans that are so important for us. The award will be presented by last year’s winner, Professor Jane Briggs. And the award this year has been won by Doctor Marcus Teal for his work on protecting dolphins.

a

2 electricity   3 transport   4 packaging

b

1   cans

2   turn lights off, don’t leave things on standby

3   walk everywhere, never travel by plane

4   use paper bags, use own bags

Transcript

1   I’m Jun. How do we help the environment? Well, we recycle lots of things. We recycle paper – newspapers, magazines, cardboard boxes and things like that. And we recycle cans, too. I think that’s important, because a lot of energy is used to make aluminium. But a lot less is used to recycle it.

2   Hello. My name’s Delia. In our house we try to save electricity. I always turn lights off when I leave a room. Sometimes I forget and then Mum or Dad will say: ‘Lights!’ And I don’t leave things on standby. That wastes a lot of electricity. So I always turn the TV or the computer off at night.

3   Henry here. How do we help the environment? I suppose transport is the most important thing, because we haven’t got a car. We don’t really need one. We live in the centre of town, so I can walk to the shops and to school. And another thing is that when we go on holiday we never go by plane. We always take the train. That’s supposed to be better for the environment, but I don’t really like it, because it means that we can’t go to places like Florida and Thailand.

4   Hello. I’m Olivia. Yes, we try to help the environment. A lot of the rubbish that is thrown away is packaging, so we try to cut down on that. We don’t usually buy things like fruit, vegetables and meat at the supermarket, because everything there is in plastic boxes and bags. We buy those things at the market instead. There they put things in paper bags, which can be recycled. And when we go shopping, we always take our own bags, so we don’t need to use plastic bags.

a

1   the school play, I forget my lines?

2   France, people laugh at my French?

3   an important match, I play really badly?

4   a piano exam, I can’t remember anything?

5   horse-riding, I fall off?

6   cook the dinner, people don’t like it?

b

2   Don’t worry, Martha. People won’t laugh at your French.

3   Don’t worry, Brett. You won’t play really badly.

4   Don’t worry, Lucy. You won’t forget anything. / You will remember everything.

5   Don’t worry, Joe. You won’t fall off.

6   Don’t worry, Carrie. People will like your dinner.

Transcript

1

Girl   What’s wrong, Eric?

Eric   I’m really nervous about the school play tomorrow. What if I forget my lines?

2

Boy   Hi, Martha. How are you?

Martha   I’m OK, but I’m going to stay with my Internet friend in France next week.

Boy   Oh, that sounds great.

Martha   Yes, but what if people laugh at my French?

3

Boy   Hello, Brett. Are you playing football tomorrow?

Brett   Yes, and we’ve got a really important match.

Boy   Well, good luck.

Brett   Thanks, but I’m a bit worried about it. What if I play really badly?

4

Girl   Hi, Lucy. Where are you going?

Lucy   I’ve got a piano exam, and I’m really nervous about it.

Girl   Why?

Lucy   What if I can’t remember anything?

5

Boy   Hello, Joe. Do you want to come to my place on Saturday?

Joe   No, I can’t. I’m going horse-riding.

Boy   Cool!

Joe   Yes, but I’ve never done it before. What if I fall off?

6

Girl   Hi, Carrie. What’s in the bags?

Carrie   Some things from the supermarket. I’m going to cook the dinner tonight.

Girl   Oh, right.

Carrie   But I’m a bit nervous. What if people don’t like it?

2 6.30   3 a fishing boat   4 helicopter   5 Three

6 Two   7 hospital   8 checked   9 ten o’clock

Transcript

We’re just receiving news of an incident near the south coast. Earlier today the south coast was hit by a big storm. At 6.30 this evening, a call was received by the emergency services. It was from a small fishing boat that was in trouble in the stormy seas. A search and rescue helicopter was sent to help. We’ve just heard that three people have been taken off the boat. And two more have been rescued from the water. They will be taken to the local hospital, where they will be checked. But at this point it looks as if everyone is fine. We’ll have the whole story for you in the ten o’clock news.