Practice Listening English Exercises for A2 – Earth 3,000

1 glass   2 hurt   3 skin   4 world   5 ice

6 build   7 hole   8 inside

Audioscript

      The professor’s head felt heavy and his neck hurt. He looked around and saw he was sitting on something like a white rubber carpet. A bubble-car floating on air several inches above the carpet pulled up beside him. He saw that all the buildings around him were made of mirrors and glass. “This must be the future,” he thought.

      A woman wearing a white plastic suit and strange shoes got out of the car and asked him if he was all right. Her name was Glynis, and she was a doctor. James didn’t know what year it was, and when he heard it was the year 3,000, he could hardly believe it. He told Glynis he was from the 21st century. She thought perhaps he had hurt himself, and asked him to come to her office for an examination.

      Glynis found nothing wrong with him. As she was examining James he noticed that her skin and hair were completely different to his. Hers was so shiny and perfect that it didn’t look real.

      James explained what had happened to him, and he asked if any sort of time machine had been developed so that he could get home. Glynis said there wasn’t one, but she suggested they look up his name on the computer to see what information it might have on him. They found that the computer only had information on him up to the day he had begun travelling through time. Next to that day it said “presumed dead”.

      He couldn’t understand it. Did that mean he never made it back to the present? Would he always be travelling through time? He asked Glynis if she could take him to his home town. Perhaps he could find where Dr Applebaum used to live. Maybe there was a secret passage under his house. Glynis looked at him sadly.

      “That’s impossible,” she said. “The world as you knew it has been destroyed.”

      Glynis drove him to a place where he could view the old world. During the drive, she told him what had happened. The sun had melted most of the ice in the earth’s polar areas, causing worldwide flooding. The earth’s temperature had risen, and thousands of people had died. Finally, in 2,300, the world government had helped build glass shields around the highest areas of the earth to protect people from the sun and the water.

      “Perhaps that’s why our hair and skin are so different,” Glynis said. “We no longer have natural sunlight or air.”

      She took him to the edge of the glass shield where he could see miles and miles of water. There were video screens set up along a walkway which showed the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, Big ben and the Acropolis, all underwater.

      There was a large circular hole full of water nearby. There were pipes taking water out of it to a nearby factory. Every few minutes, the water was sucked out, then refilled from below. Glynis explained that this was how they got water from outside and changed it into clean, usable water. James went close to the edge to look down into it.

      “Professor! Don’t!” Glynis screamed.

      But it was too late. The water was sucked out, and the force of the air around it pulled him inside. When the bottom opened, he was pulled from the future world, underwater, to the old world where he used to live.

1 T   2 F   3 F   4 T   5 T   6 T

7 T   8 F   9 T   10 F   11 T   12 F

Audioscript

Grandson:   Grandad, what was life like when you were my age?

Grandad:   Oh, it was much different than it is today.

Grandson:   How do you mean?

Grandad:   Well, to start with, families used to spend more time with each other. Nowadays, people are busier and more stressed than they were in my day, and they don’t have much time for one another, which is sad.

Grandson:   What else was different?

Grandad:   Life was much safer. The crime rate was lower than it is today, so people felt more secure. In fact, we never used to lock our doors. Also, there were fewer cars, so it was much quieter. Nowadays, with all the noise from traffic, you can’t have a moment’s peace.

Grandson:   Gosh, I can’t imagine life without traffic. Was food different?

Grandad:   We didn’t have fast food restaurants, if that’s what you mean. We used to grow most of our own fruit and vegetables and they were the freshest I had ever tasted.

Grandson:   Did you have a television?

Grandad:   Ha, ha. No! And it’s a good thing, too. We used to spend our time doing more interesting things than watching TV. We used to read books, listen to the radio and have wonderful conversations.

Grandson:   I don’t know if I could live without a TV. I’d be so bored.

Grandad:   You’d be surprised, my boy. I never used to be bored when I was your age.

1 B   2 A   3 A   4 B   5 A   6 C

Audioscript

Man:   Good afternoon, madam.

Woman:   Oh, hello. Could you tell me what kind of car this is? I don’t think I’ve seen one quite like it before!

Man:   That’s hardly surprising, madam. You see, it’s a model of what our company hopes to be making in about twenty years!

Woman:   Oh, I see. It looks very, um, different!

Man:   Oh, yes it is – well it will be! It will run on batteries or hydrogen power, so it will definitely be more environmentally friendly than today’s cars.

Woman:   That’s good. What’s that in there?

Man:   It’s a computer screen. It will be able to show the driver exactly where he is on a road map, so he can’t get lost. It will also be able to show him how to reach his destination.

Woman:   Wow – I could have used one of those this morning!

Man:   That’s not all either. The computer will even be able to tell the driver where there are traffic jams, so he can avoid them.

Woman:   Amazing! I don’t suppose parking will be any easier though.

Man:   Well actually it will. The computer will be able to show the driver exactly how much space there is. Let me show you something else … look at the headlights.

Woman:   Oh, they’re a funny colour.

Man:   That’s because they’re ultra violet. These headlights will improve visibility by 50 per cent at night.

Woman:   That sounds much safer.

Man:   And speaking of safety, there are special sensors under the car which will be able to warn the driver if there is any ice or oil on the road.

Woman:   That really is amazing. I don’t suppose this one is for sale.

Man:   No, madam, not just yet.