Exercise 1
A. Listen to the padcast. Choose the correct answer.
1 Pocketability is about:
a the size of phones and tablets.
b how phones and tablets feel when you use them.
2 Eatability is about:
a using phones and tablets in restaurants.
b using phones and tablets when you’re eating.
Answer & Audioscript
1 a 2 b
Audioscript
All the time people ask me ‘What’s the best thing to buy – a phone or a tablet?’ There’s no easy answer to that question because different people need different things.
And they can more or less do the same things – surf the Web, check emails, make calls. However, there are some different ways of helping you decide. And you can be sure these things are not talked about in advertisements and online information. To start with, there’s ‘pocketability’. ‘Pocket-a-what?’ I hear you ask. ‘Pocketability’. Let me explain. ‘Pocket … ability’.
This means how easy it is to get the phone or tablet into different pockets in your jacket, your jeans – that kind of thing. And another really important thing to think about: ‘eatability’. No, it doesn’t mean you eat your phone. ‘Eatability’ is all about how easy it is to use the phone or tablet and eat at the same time. You know, sometimes you want to have lunch and read something. So you see? Two new and very important ways of thinking about phones and tablets: pocketability and eatability. You decide!
Exercise 2
A. Listen to Professor Ryan Hunter talking about languages on the radio. Tick (✓) the languages below that he talks about.
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Greek – Italian – English – French – Arabic – Basque Japanese – Mandarin – Chinese – Russian – Spanish |
B. Match sentences 1–4 with the languages Professor Hunter talks about. Listen and check your answers.
1 He thinks it’s a very beautiful language.
2 It’s a difficult language for English speakers, but not for Mandarin Chinese speakers.
3 Many people think it’s very easy.
4 Over 900 million people speak it.
C. Listen again and answer the questions.
1 What was the first language Professor Hunter learned?
2 How many languages can he speak?
3 Where do people speak Basque?
4 How much of the world’s population speak Mandarin Chinese?
Answer & Audioscript
A
Italian ✓, English ✓, Japanese ✓, Mandarin Chinese ✓, Basque ✓, Spanish ✓
B
1 Italian 2 Japanese 3 Spanish 4 Mandarin Chinese
C
1 Italian 2 more than 20
3 in parts of Spain and France 4 14%
Audioscript
RADIO PRESENTER Good evening and welcome to the programme. Today, we’re talking to Professor Ryan Hunter. The professor is well known for his love of languages and has a new book in the shops tomorrow. Professor, welcome!
PROFESSOR Thank you. It’s great to be here!
RP So let’s start with my first question. Professor, in your opinion, what’s the most beautiful language in the world?
P That’s a very good question. Of course, there is no right or wrong answer here. I’m sure we all have our favourites. But for me the answer is easy: Italian. It was the first language I learned. I still remember my teacher, Signora Monti. Signora Monti was the best teacher at my school and she started my love of languages. Now I can speak more than 20 languages well, but Italian is the most musical language I know. It’s the language of opera and love.
RP OK, next question. What’s the most difficult language in the world?
P Hmm. That’s an interesting question too. It partly depends on your first language. For example, for a speaker of English, Japanese is very difficult, but for a speaker of Mandarin Chinese it’s much easier. However, a few years ago, we did a project at my university and decided that the hardest language to learn is Basque, a language from parts of Spain and France. Last year we did another project on the Internet to find the easiest language to learn. More than 3,000 people answered the question and the most popular answer was Spanish. So perhaps Spanish is the easiest language to learn. That’s probably because it’s not very different from many other European languages.
RP And one final question, what’s the most useful language to speak?
P That’s easy – the language of the country where you live. But if you want to learn the most popular language in the world, then take lessons in Mandarin Chinese. More than 900 million people speak it. That’s not a surprise as China has the biggest population in the world. So with Mandarin Chinese you can speak to about 14% of all the people in the world. That’s pretty useful.
RP That’s very useful, indeed! Well, Professor Hunter, thanks for talking with us today. I’m sure our listeners enjoyed hearing your thoughts on language!
Exercise 3
A. Listen and complete the sentences with the words in the box.
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best – easiest – musical – biggest – hardest |
1 Signora Monti was the …………. teacher at my school.
2 Italian is the most …………. language I know.
3 The …………. language to learn is Basque.
4 Spanish is the …………. language to learn.
5 China has the …………. population in the world.
Answer & Audioscript
1 best 2 musical 3 hardest 4 easiest 5 biggest
Exercise 4
A. Annie needs help with her tablet. Listen to Part 1 and answer the questions.
1 Who does Annie want to help her at first?
2 Who can help her in the end?
B. Listen to Part 1 again and answer the questions.
1 Why can’t Dan help Annie?
2 What do Annie and Leo decide to do?
Answer & Audioscript
A
1 Dan 2 Leo
B
1 He’s in a meeting.
2 They decide to have lunch and Leo can help her with her tablet.
Audioscript
ANNIE Hi, Leo.
LEO Hi, Annie.
A Where is he?
L Sorry, Annie. I mean, Dan says sorry. He had to go to a meeting.
A What about our lunch?!
L He didn’t know about the meeting. Someone called him about ten minutes ago.
A I wanted help with this.
L Oh? Right.
A Leo, could you help me?
L Erm …
A There’s something I don’t know how to do. Do you mind showing me?
L No, not at all – if I can.
A Great, thanks.
L Well, it is lunchtime. Would you like to have some lunch and …?
A … and you could help me with my tablet.
L Yes.
A That would be lovely.
C. Annie and Leo have lunch together. Listen to Part 2 and answer the questions.
1 What is Annie having problems with on her tablet?
2 Does Leo help her with the problem?
D. Listen to Part 2 again. Leo tells Annie to do these things. Put them in the correct order.
a Open a new screen.
b Touch this button.
c Get into the email.
d Touch the ‘Yes’ box.
Answer & Audioscript
C
1 She can’t get into her email.
2 Yes, he does.
D
1 b 2 a 3 d 4 c
Audioscript
LEO So … you wanted some help.
ANNIE Oh yes – I almost forgot. … Everything is fine – it’s great. But I don’t know how to get into my email. Can you have a look?
L Sure. OK – that’s easy. You just need to change one small thing. … OK. So what you do is … touch this button here.
A OK.
L And a new screen opens.
A Oh yes.
L And now you just touch here where it says ‘Yes’.
A Oh, that’s easy. OK. So first I touch this button?
L That’s right.
A And it takes me to a new screen – like this?
L Correct.
A And I touch ‘Yes’. Is that right?
L Yeah. Now you can check your email.
A Great. Thanks, Leo. Thank you so much.
L You’re welcome.
A Well, now I have to buy you another coffee.
L Mm, I think I have to get back to work. I’ve got a meeting with Dan in ten minutes.
A Dan? Oh, don’t worry about him. Let’s have another coffee!
L Well … OK!
Exercise 5
A. Listen to three people talking about text messages. Which of texts a–d do you think they sent?
a
Take off not till 7:30, so home later than I thought. Maybe around 10. I’ll text again when we land. xx
b
Here’s a pic of our first meal in Italy!
c
Hungry! Anything for dinner? Train gets in 6:35. See you in a bit 😉
d
Where are you? We’re by the fountain. Can’t see you.
B. Listen again and complete the table.
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Sends texts to |
Prefers to |
Why? |
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Speaker 1 |
|
|
|
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Speaker 2 |
|
|
|
|
Speaker 3 |
|
|
|
Answer & Audioscript
A
Speaker 1 c
Speaker 2 a
Speaker 3 d
B
|
|
Sends texts to |
Prefers to |
Why? |
|
Speaker 1 |
parents |
chat online |
easier and cheaper |
|
Speaker 2 |
family |
talk on the phone |
easier and you can say more on the phone |
|
Speaker 3 |
friends |
talk on the phone |
friendlier |
Audioscript
1 I sometimes send text messages, usually to my parents to say when I’m coming home, but I usually chat on social networking sites. It’s easier if you’re online anyway – and it’s cheaper! I always have my phone with me, so I can see what my friends are doing. It’s really good to know what people are doing. I chat to everybody all the time and we send each other pictures.
2 I only really send text messages when I’m travelling. I text my family to tell them when I arrive somewhere new or tell them when I’ll be back. It’s useful because I’m often away on business trips and of course it’s cheaper than phoning. But usually I don’t send text messages. I prefer to talk to people on the phone. It’s easier and you can say more.
3 I don’t really like texting much. I think it’s better to talk on the phone. It’s friendlier. I sometimes send a text if I’m meeting a friend, but that’s about all.
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