Practice Listening English Exercises for A1 – Life

A

2 students   3 cars   4 friends

B

1 houses   2 evenings   3 drive   4 the same

Audioscript

A:   Excuse me. Do you have a moment?

B:   Yes?

A:   You aren’t American?

B:   No, no, I’m from Japan. I’m on vacation here.

A:   OK. So, my question is: what’s different for you about life here?

B:   Erm … well, here people live in houses … they live in big houses. I’m from Tokyo, and we live in apartments, small apartments. So that’s very different.

A:   … and so for you, what’s different about life here?

C:   Erm … well, I study at college here. And it’s very different from my country because here, in the United States, the students have jobs. They work in the evenings, maybe ten hours a week.

A:   And you? Do you work?

C:   Me? No, I don’t. I don’t have time. And in my country students don’t work, they only study.

D:   What’s different here? Erm … oh yeah, people drive everywhere. I mean, they drive six hundred fifty feet to the store.

A:   Do you have a car?

D:   Yes, I do, but I don’t drive to the stores. Not six hundred fifty feet! I walk.

A:   And where are you from?

D:   I’m from England.

E:   I think it’s not so different. I’m from Italy and my American friends are not so different from me. Er … we like sports … we like clothes … We, er … we go to the movies, restaurants, have a coffee …

A:   So you like the same things?

E:   Yeah, the same … not different.

A

2 a festival   3 a party   4 a play   5 a game

B

	Saturday	Sunday
afternoon	Susie’s party	baseball game
evening	The Shakes concert, Madison Square Garden	Hamlet, the New Amsterdam Theater

C

1 six   2 six   3 three, o’clock   4 past   5 twelve

Audioscript

Conversation 1

A:   Hi, Pete.

B:   Hi, Mia. New York tomorrow!

A:   Yeah! Great! I just want to check the times.

B:   OK.

A:   Erm. What time’s the concert?

B:   Let me check. It’s at half past six. Yes. The Shakes … concert at the Madison Square Garden … half past six.

A:   Half past six. So do you want to go at six?

B:   Erm … Let’s go at quarter to six. And erm, Mia, the food festival is in the afternoon. The international food festival.

A:   But the afternoon is the party. Susie’s party.

B:   Oh, yes. Erm … maybe you …

A:  No, the invitation is for Mia and Pete. For me and you.

B:   OK. What time’s the party?

A:   From three o’clock to six o’clock. So that’s only two hours at the party because of the concert.

B:   So the party in the afternoon and the concert in the evening.

A:   Yes.

B:   OK. See you tomorrow at the station. What time …?

Conversation 2

B:   Good concert!

A:   Yes, great!

B:   Hey, Mia. You like Shakespeare, yes?

A:   Yes. Why?

B:   I have tickets for Hamlet. At the New Amsterdam Theater, tomorrow.

A:   Really! My favorite play! Afternoon or evening?

B:   In the evening.

A:   What time in the evening?

B:   Half past seven. Seven-thirty.

A:   Seven-thirty. That’s good.

B:   And in the afternoon … the food festival?

A:   Ah, but tomorrow is the baseball game. It’s the final.

B:   Oh yes. I want to watch that. What time is the game?

A:   It’s at a quarter past two.

B:   Sorry, What time?

A:   Quarter past two.

B:   Quarter past two. OK. Let’s watch the game and go to the theater after that.

A:   OK. I’m tired. What time is it?

B:   It’s quarter past twelve. Let’s get a taxi …

They talk about a), e) and f).

One person says a) (no computer or TV) is a good thing.

One person says e) and f) are a good thing.

Audioscript

S = Sam   I = Isabelle   M = Milan

S:   I’ll go first. My question is about a), the computer and TV. The Amish family doesn’t have these things. Do you think that’s a good thing? Isabelle?

I:    Well, for me it isn’t a good thing.

S:   Why not?

I:    A computer is important for information, from the Internet.

S:   How about you, Milan?

M:   I think it is a good thing. I have a computer, but I think I use it too much.

S:   And TV?

M:   I don’t have a TV.

I:    I do, but I don’t watch it. How about you, Sam?

S:   I have both a computer and a TV and they’re important for me. So for me, the Amish lifestyle with no computer or TV is a bad thing.

I:   OK, my turn. My question is about e), the woman does the housework and f), the man has a job. A good thing or bad thing? Milan?

M:   In my family, this is normal. I think it’s OK.

S:   Really? I think it’s a problem. Maybe the woman wants to work.

M:   Well, in this family I think they’re all happy. Miriam is happy at home.

S:   We don’t know that. Isabelle, what do you think?

I:    I think you’re right, Sam. But … I think housework is a job. It’s a very big job.

M:   Hmm … Well, it’s hard but it’s not a job …

A

1 people   2 places   3 clothes   4 websites   5 cafés   6 movies

B

Cafés–1   Clothes–1   Movies–2   Places–3   Websites–1

Audioscript

A:   So if I press this …

B:   Beth, who’s that?

A:   These are my favorite people.

B:   That woman. She’s beautiful.

A:   William! That’s my sister, Alicia. Watch it!

B:   Your sister? Oh … who’s that then?

A:   That’s Keith. He’s a good friend from college.

B:   Do you meet a lot now?

A:   No, but we email each other every day.

B:   And this?

A:   Monique, from work.

B:   Are you friends?

A:   Not really. But I like her a lot.

B:   And if I press this … Oh, look!

A:   Yeah, Paris …

B:   … Cairo … and the Great Wall of China. Big traveler!

A:   Yeah, then here …

B:   Hey, nice dress.

A:   You know that dress. My black party dress.

B:   Yeah, I like that dress. Oh, you like the BBC.

A:   Yeah, the website’s great for the news.

B:   Let’s look at … What’s this? Ice cream?

A:   Yeah, from the Gelatino Café. I love it. But I don’t go there a lot.

B:   And what’s this?

A:   Johnny Depp.

B:   Is he one of your favorite people?

A:   No, but Pirates of the Caribbean is one of my favorite movies.

B:   And here’s another movie. Pirates of the Caribbean II. Johnny Depp again and here’s …

A:   OK, that’s enough …

A

b

B

1 T   2 T   3 F   4 T   5 F   6 F

C

2 36   3 2   4 4   5 17   6 6

Audioscript

I = Interviewer   A = Angela   M = Matt

I:   Today’s programme is about ‘double lives’ and we have in the studio a sister and brother, Angela…

A:   Hi.

I:   … and Matt.

M:   Hello.

I:   Angela and Matt are from Ohio, U.S. They’re twins, they’re thirty-six years old. And … well let me ask you some questions. Angela, you and Matt have a taxi company, yes?

A:   That’s right. Twin Taxi Company.

I:   So twin brother and sister, twin taxis – two taxis – good name for the company!

A:   We don’t have two taxis. We have one taxi.

I:   Oh? So who drives?

M:   Well, it’s a twenty-four-hour taxi service. Well, actually twenty-two hours. I drive eleven hours, and Angela drives eleven hours.

I:   In the same taxi, day and night.

A:   I drive in the morning and in the afternoon.

M:   And I drive in the evening, and at night.

A:   And we love it. It’s great!

I:   Eleven hours a day. That’s a lot of work.

M:   Yes, well we both have children.

A:   Yeah, and they always want something new – a new phone, new computer …

M:   … new clothes, new shoes.

I:   How many children do you have, Matt?

M:   I have two children.

I:   Twins?

M:   No! A son and a daughter. He’s three and she’s four years old.

I:   And you Angela?

A:   One girl, Diana. She’s seventeen.

I:   OK. You both work a lot. When do you two see each other?

A:   We have coffee together every morning at six.

M:   Yeah, I stop work then …

A:   … and I start work.

I:   And what do you two usually talk about?

M:   The usual, really – family, children, my wife …

A:   … my husband, money.

I:   The taxi?

A/M:   Yes, the taxi!