Practice Listening English Exercises for A1 – A World of Wonders

1   F (… in southern Poland …)

2   F (A princess called …)

3   T

4   F (… in 1697 …)

5   T

Audioscript

A Hidden World of Wonders

Near Cracow, in southern Poland, is the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Not much can be seen above the surface, but visitors are taken down into a hidden world of natural and man-made wonders.

According to a 700-year-old legend, a princess called the Blessed Kinga threw her ring into a salt mine at Marmaros in Hungary. While travelling from Marmaros to Cracow, she stopped at Wieliczka and her servants were told to dig a well. Instead of water, salt was discovered – and in the first lump of salt which was taken out, Kinga’s ring was found!

The legend is just a story – but it is true that for over seven centuries salt has been mined from the rock below the town of Wieliczka. The salt used to be dug out by hand, and until 1620 it was carried up to the surface by the miners. After that date, horses were used to carry the salt out, but the work was still very dangerous and many miners were killed or injured. The constant danger made the miners deeply religious and chapels were constructed underground where church services were held. After a chapel was destroyed by fire in 1697, miners were not allowed to take wooden statues into the mine, so they began to carve sculptures from rock salt.

Nowadays visitors are shown how salt was mined long ago, and can see the enormous chambers which have been dug out of the solid rock. They can also see pretty green lakes, and chapels with beautiful carvings. There are also 250 kilometres of tunnels and underground caves with huge salt crystals in strange shapes. A special attraction is the Chapel of the Blessed Kinga, which was made by the miners themselves in a chamber 100 metres underground. The walls and floor of the chapel, as well as the lovely statues it contains, have been carved from rock salt.

You will be amazed by these unforgettable sights, which should definitely not be missed by any visitor to the Cracow area.

1 a   2 b   3 b   4 a   5 b   6 b

Audioscript

Teacher:   Well, class, I hope you haven’t forgotten you’re having a History quiz today. Let’s see if you’ve studied for it! Close your books, please. First question: who was America discovered by?

S1:   Christopher Columbus?

Teacher:   Correct! Can you also tell me when he discovered it?

S1:   Yes, sir. In, er, 1492?

Teacher:   Very good! OK … who was the telephone invented by?

S2:   It was invented by Alexander Graham Bell, sir, in 1876.

Teacher:   That’s correct! What about the Mona Lisa? Who painted it?

S3:   I think it was … Michelangelo, sir?

Teacher:   Sorry, no. It was painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1506. And now an easy question: who built the Parthenon?

S4:   I’m sure it was the Ancient Greeks, sir, but I don’t know when it was built.

Teacher:   Yes, it was built by the Ancient Greeks, in the 5th century BC. Next question: who wrote Romeo and Juliet?

S5:   It was written by William Shakespeare, sir. In … in 1695, I think.

Teacher:   Not quite – it was written in 1595. Final question: does anyone know who The Blue Danube was composed by?

S6:   The Blue Danube was composed in 1867 by Johann Strauss.

Teacher:   Correct! I see most of you have studied hard. Well done, class!

1 b   2 a   3 b   4 a   5 b   6 a

Audioscript

Members of the public are invited to the opening of Shelby Museum’s new Whittaker Gallery next Wednesday, 18th March, at 6 pm. The gallery, on the top floor of the museum, was completed in February, and will be opened by the Mayor of Shelby.

The gallery was built to display the Oriental Collection, which was given to Shelby Museum by Mrs Whittaker in 1998. The collection has been reorganised, and many paintings and statues have not been shown to the public before.

Opening hours at the museum are from 9 am to 6 pm daily. Admission is £2.50 for adults and £1.00 for children. Mumbers of the Shelby Museum Society are admitted free of charge. Please note that cameras are not allowed inside the museum.

light/torch

crown/hat

steel/iron

Finns/French

June/July

weeks/months

balconies/windows

Audioscript

Narrator:   The Statue of Liberty in New York is a huge statue of a woman holding a tablet in her left hand and a torch in her right. The seven points of her crown represent the seven oceans and continents of the world.

The Statue of Liberty was designed by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi. It was started in 1876 and was finished in 1884. It is made of copper with steel supports. It was a gift to the Americans from the French, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence.

The statue was made in sections. In June 1885 it was put into 214 boxes and shipped to New York. It was reassembled in four months. The statue was declared a national monument in 1924.

Nowadays, people can climb all 354 steps to reach the crown. They can admire the view from 25 windows and visit the Statue of Liberty exhibit, which includes museum objects, photographs, prints and videos.

You will be amazed by this beautiful statue, which should not be missed by any visitor to the New York area.