Listening Exercises A1 - Small Talk - English Practice Online

Exercise 1

Listen to the conversations. Is each person greeting someone or ending a conversation? Check the correct answer.

Listen

	Greeting someone	Ending a conversation
1.	◻	◻
2.	◻	◻
3.	◻	◻
4.	◻	◻
5.	◻	◻
6.	◻	◻
7.	◻	◻
8.	◻	◻

Answer & Transcript

1.

Oh, hello, Bob. I haven’t seen you in ages. How is everything with you these days?

2.

It’s been great seeing you again. Gee, look at the time. I’ve got to run. Talk to you later.

3.

How are you, anyway? It’s so nice to see you. What have you been doing lately?

4.

It’s been really nice talking to you. Let’s get together again soon, okay?

5.

Oh, hi. I’ve been thinking about you. I haven’t seen you in such a long time. How’s everything?

6.

Where have you been? It’s been ages. How’s it going with you?

7.

Listen. I hope to see you again soon. Let’s have lunch sometime, okay?

8.

How have you been? And how’s your family? It’s so nice to see you again.

Exercise 2

Listen

Task 1

Some guests are talking at a party. What are they talking about? Listen and circle the correct answer.

1. a. the guests

b. the music

c. friends

2. a. a guest

b. the music

c. Jim

3. a. the music

b. a guest

c. an old friend

4. a. school

b. the man’s health

c. work

5. a. a guest

b. the party

c. the food

6. a. a job

b. a vacation

c. friends

7. a. the guests

b. her new job

c. family

8. a. family

b. the food

c. the guests

Task 2

Listen again. Which statement is true? Circle the correct answer.

1. a. The woman is having a good time.

b. The woman is not enjoying herself.

c. The guests are unfriendly.

2. a. Jim does not recognize the singer.

b. Jim does not like the singer.

c. Jim likes the singer.

3. a. The man knows the guests.

b. The man has not met the guest yet.

c. The man does not want to meet the guest.

4. a. The man does not work now.

b. The man is not busy now.

c. The man is very busy now.

5. a. The man is hungry.

b. The man does not want anything to eat.

c. The man wants to drink.

6. a. The man took a train across the U.S.

b. The man never travels.

c. The man recently took a trip.

7. a. The woman’s mother is not working now.

b. The woman has a job now.

c. The woman’s mother has a new job.

8. a. The man knows a lot of people at the party

b. The man does not know a lot of people at the party.

c. The man knows everyone at the party.

Answer & Transcript

1.

A: Hey, how’s it going? Are you enjoying the party?

B: Yes, I am. The people here are really nice.

A: Really. Everyone is so friendly.

2.

A: Hi, Jim. How’s everything?

B: Everything’s fine, thanks.

A: Hey, hear that? That’s Whitney Hudson. Isn’t she great?

B: Yes, she’s really good.

3.

A: Who’s that over there? Have you met her?

B: No, I haven’t met her before. But I think I will now. Nice talking to you.

4.

A: So, how are you, anyway?

B: Okay. Not too bad.

A: How’s everything at work?

B: Fine, but I’m very busy. I have to work late nearly every night.

5.

A: I think I’ll get something to eat. The food looks good. Can I get you something?

B: No, I’m not hungry right now, thanks.

A: Okay, talk to you later.

6.

A: Hey, hi. I’ve been thinking about you. I haven’t seen you in ages. Did you have a good trip?

B: Yeah, it was great. I took a train across Canada. Then I drove to Disneyland.

A: Wow! That’s great.

7.

A: Hey, great to see you. How have you been?

B: Fine, thanks.

A: How are your parents?

B: Oh, Mom and Dad are fine, thanks. Mom’s just started a new job.

A: Oh, really?

8.

A: Hi. How have you been?

B: Oh, fine, thanks.

A: Do you know everyone here?

B: Yeah, almost everyone.

Exercise 3

Listen

Task 1

Two people are talking. Does the second speaker know the information or is it new information? Listen and check the correct answer.

	Known information	New information
1.	◻	◻
2.	◻	◻
3.	◻	◻
4.	◻	◻
5.	◻	◻
6.	◻	◻

Task 2

Listen again. What is each invitation for? Circle the correct answer.

1. a. Cindy has a new job.

b. Cindy is going to change jobs.

c. Cindy has just received a big raise.

2. a. The rock concert is next month.

b. All the tickets have been sold.

c. They don’t like rock music.

3. a. The puppy was a birthday present.

b. She had a dog before.

c. She hasn’t decided what to call the puppy yet.

4. a. Terry will be arriving later.

b. Terry hasn’t been sick this year.

c. Terry has the flu.

5. a. He has acted in some movies.

b. The guy lives in Canada.

c. Both of them have already seen his movies.

6. a. The exhibition starts next month.

b. The exhibition is about Walt Disney.

c. They are not interested in cartoons.

Answer & Transcript

1.

A: Hey, I was just talking to Cindy. Did you know she’s had a really good job in a computer company for a long time?

B: Really?

A: Yeah, but she’s decided to change jobs. She wants to become an elementary school teacher.

B: Wow. That’s a surprise.

2.

A: I’m really excited about the rock concert next week. I’m glad I got my tickets early, because I heard that all the tickets had been sold.

B: I heard that, too. I’m looking forward to the concert. It should be great!

3.

A: I got a really cool present for my birthday.

B: Oh, yeah? What is it?

A: My parents gave me a dog—a little puppy. She’s so cute. I’ve always wanted a dog.

B: That’s awesome. So what are you going to call her?

A: Spot.

4.

A: Terry’s not here tonight. I hear she’s sick.

B: Yeah. I spoke to her dad this morning, and he said she has a really bad case of the flu. She’s had it for about a week.

A: Sometimes it takes a long time to get over the flu. Terry has been sick a couple of times this year.

B: I know. It’s too bad.

5.

A: That guy over there has just moved here from Canada. I was talking to him a while ago. He’s really interesting. He’s an actor and he’s already appeared in a couple of movies.

B: Yeah, so he was telling me. He mentioned the names of his movies, but I haven’t seen any of them.

A: Maybe one day he’ll be a big star.

6.

A: There’s a really interesting exhibition at the museum this month. It’s all about Walt Disney and the story of how he started making cartoons.

B: Is that right? I haven’t been to the museum for a long time.

A: You should go and take a look at it. I’m sure you’ll find it really interesting.

B: I think I will. Thanks for letting me know.

Exercise 4

People are greeting someone or ending a conversation. Are these statements true or false? Listen and check the correct answer.

Listen

	True	False
1. Stewart is greeting Bob.	◻	◻
2. Susan is ending a conversation.	◻	◻
3. Julie is ending a conversation.	◻	◻
4. Deborah is greeting someone.	◻	◻
5. Ron is ending a conversation.	◻	◻

Answer & Transcript

1 True 2 True 3 True 4 False 5 False

Transcript

1. Hey, Bob, how’s it going?

2. It’s been nice talking to you.

3. See you later!

4. It’s been great seeing you again.

5. I haven’t seen you for a long time

Exercise 5

People are talking at a party. What is each person talking about? Listen and circle the correct answer.

Listen

1. a. vacation

b. work

c. health

2. a. work

b. sports

c. vacation

3. a. friends

b. vacation

c. movie

4. a. music

b. dancing

c. video

5. a. sports

b. friends

c. family

Answer & Transcript

1 b 2 c 3 a 4 a 5 c

Transcript

1. It’s not going very well. My boss is always angry and I have to work overtime almost every day.

2. We went to Hawaii. The weather was so beautiful and we were having so much fun that we didn’t want to come back home.

3. I heard from Vicki that Laura is moving to Chicago. She’s marrying Ben. Can you believe it?

4. I hare hard rock. I wish they’d turn it down – or play something else.

5. My son just started high school. He wants to be on the football team this year. My daughter is still in junior high school. She’s taking piano lessons.

Restaurants

Vacations