Practice Listening Business English Exercises for A2 – Describing products and services

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1   Tablet computer: high-tech, high-definition, high-speed, super fast, popular, fantastic

2   Clothes shop: high-quality, original

3   Bank: safe, reliable, guaranteed, user-friendly, (easy)

4   Online travel agency: fantastic, great, amazing, good value, helpful

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1 totally   2 really   3 quite   4 extremely

5 very   6 pretty

Audioscript

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You loved the Okai Traveller 2. You’ll really adore the Okai Traveller 3. There are even more high-tech features: we’ve added a totally new high-definition camera for perfect photos every time, and a high-speak G7 processor for super fast navigation. And that’s not all: the Okai Traveller 3 now comes in a choice of six popular colours, from Sunset Red to Lagoon Blue. Visit our website to discover all the fantastic features that really makes the Okai 3 stand out from the Okai 2 and 1.

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A   Hey, you look great. Where did you get that outfit?

B   At Priscilla’s, just round the corner.

A   Oh really? I love the material. It’s really high quality.

B   Yes, it always is. And you won’t find this in the department stores.

A   Mmm.

B   Well, you know me – I like designs that are original.

A   Yes, your things are always quite … original.

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A   So if you want a safe investment, I can recommend this savings account. It’s an extremely reliable product.

B   Sorry. What do you mean, reliable?

A   Well, you earn a guaranteed 3% a year and you can close the account whenever you want.

B   And can I check the account online?

A   Yes, you can. And it’s a very user-friendly site. If you have a moment, I can show you how easy it is.

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A   So how was Spain?

B   Fantastic! Great place and amazing food. The accommodation was pretty good value, too. I’m glad we booked with Go South.

A   So you’d recommend them?

B   Yes, I would. They even pay you £10 if you write a review of your holiday. So you get a lot of helpful advice from people who used Go South before.

Twitter: Jack Dorsey – 2006

Mobile phone: Martin Cooper – 1973

World Wide Web: Tim Berners-Lee – 1991

Smart cards: Roland Moreno – 1974

Audioscript

Welcome to our new series of Business Foundation, where we look at the entrepreneurs who have made our lives so different today. People like Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, who launched his popular social networking service in 2006. Or Tim Berners-Lee, who started the World Wide Web in 1991. Many people didn’t know him before 2012, when the London Olympics celebrated his work.

Here’s a question for you: when did mobile communications begin? That was is 1973, when Martin Cooper made the first mobile phone call using his new invention, the Dyna-TAC phone. And who was Roland Moreno? He invented the smart chip technology used in credit cards, passports and SIM cards just one year later, in 1974.

More on these people later in the series, but today we focus on Twitter, and its creator Jack Dorsey. We have Internet expert Neil Harris in the studio to tell us all about it. Neil, how did it all start?

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Audioscript

Presenter   Neil, how did it all start?

Neil   Well, Jack Dorsey became interested in digital communications at a very early age. He was particularly interested in the communication problems of taxi drivers and delivery trucks. In fact, all companies with vehicles that needed to stay in contact in real time. When he was 15, he produced some communication software that is still used by some taxicab companies today.

Presenter   That’s interesting. So he started very young. Did he go to university?

Neil   Yes, he did. First he studied at the University of Science and Technology in Missouri, then he went to New York University. But he didn’t finish his degree, like many other high-tech entrepreneurs before him – Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg. The list is very long. Instead, he moved to Oakland, California.

Presenter   And is that when he started Twitter?

Neil   No, not immediately. In fact, he started a company to sell his communication software and he sold it online. But then he had an idea for a different type of communication service – one where you could exchange short messages with all your friends in real time. He found two partners who were interested, and started a new company with them. And then, immediately after, he created a simple, user-friendly website where users could post short messages of 140 characters or less. It took him just two weeks!

Presenter   Oh really? So this was the beginning of Twitter as we know it?

Neil   Yes, that’s right. And Jack Dorsey posted the first Twitter message, or ‘Tweet’, on the 21st March 2006.

Presenter   So what was the message? Something original and memorable, I hope?

Neil   No, I’m afraid not. The first tweet was the words ‘Just setting up my twttr.’

Presenter   So not so original! And was Twitter an immediate success?

Neil   No, not at first. A lot of people didn’t see why the world needed another messaging service. And there were technical problems with the site in the early days – it wasn’t very reliable. But in 2008, Barack Obama and John McCain used Twitter for the first time to communicate to voters in their Presidential campaigns. Today, everybody uses it: not only politicians, but also pop stars, sports personalities … and of course, you and me.

Presenter   Neil Harris – thank you. We’ll hear more about recent developments at Twitter … just after the break.

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1 f   2 h   3 b   4 j   5 e   6 c   7 a   8 g   9 i   10 d

Audioscript

I’m here to report on our experiment with podpads at the Summerhouse festival last month. The purpose of our research was to find the best accommodation for visitors during outdoor festivals. We wanted to find out if people would pay to rent a podpad. We did this by interviewing 50 visitors to the Summerhouse festival. First, we offered a free night in a podpad to the 50 people in our research. Then we interviewed them about their experience. Finally, we spoke to the farmers who allowed us to use their land. We asked them for their opinion of the podpads and also of the company that installed them.

We found that podpads were popular with visitors and farmers. The visitors were very happy with their accommodation and 75% of visitors said that they would pay to use them. The farmers also had no complaints. They commented that the podpads look attractive and they thought that the team who installed them were very quick and efficient.

So our research showed that the podpads were a big success. Our conclusion is that they are a great choice of accommodation for outdoor festivals and we recommend using them at our next festival.

Product 1 – an e-reader. Bought to make travelling easier, and not to have to take lots of books on holiday. Advantage(s): easy to transport; includes hundreds of books.

Product 2 – a SatNav. Bought because the person was not good at map-reading. Advantage(s): all the information is there; it’s reliable; it finds another solution if you take the wrong route; it tells you when you will arrive.

Product 3 – a microwave. Bought because she forgot to drink her drinks while they were hot. Advantage(s): everyone in the family can use it; it’s safer for young children than using a gas cooker.

Product 4 – a watch. Bought because it’s user-friendly and simple.

Audioscript

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I decided to buy this about three years ago, and now I use it all the time. I had so many books and no space in the house to put them. And when I went on holiday, I never knew which books to take with me. Now I can take my library everywhere with me. It’s easy to transport, and I have about 300 titles to choose from. So I save space in my suitcase, and I also save money because e-books are generally cheaper.

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I was never very good with maps. I could never remember the route, and stopped the car every 15 minutes to check the map again. But now the information is always there in front of me, so I save a lot of time. And it’s reliable – if you take the wrong road, it will find another solution for you. And it always tells you what time you will arrive so I’m rarely late for meetings now. No, I can’t live without it.

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I bought my first one about 15 years ago because I had a problem with hot drinks! I often made myself a coffee and then forgot to drink it. So it was perfect for re-heating cold coffee! And now I have children, everyone in the family can use it. My children often make their own dinner in the evening if they’re home early. It’s easy to use, and it’s safe – you don’t want your seven-year-old daughter using a gas cooker!

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My son didn’t understand why I bought this. He said: ‘Why don’t you just look at your mobile phone or computer? Why buy a product that only does one thing? It doesn’t play music, you can’t contact your friends with it. It just tells you the time.’ But that’s what I like about it. I told him it was very user-friendly – you just look at it and you have the information in less than a second. Quicker than his phone!