Practice Listening English Exercises for A2 – Families

1   1 Iris   2 Sue   3 Liz   4 Wiktor   5 Kasia   6 Rory   8 Jana

2    A Sue and Tony

      B Jana and Karolina

      C Liz, Wiktor and Kate

      D Rory, Phil and Helen

      E Iris

Audioscript

Kate:   My name’s Kate and this is my family tree. My mother’s English and my father’s Polish. His name’s Wiktor and all his family live in Poland, so I go there quite often. I know a bit of Polish but when people speak fast, I can’t understand them! I stay with my grandparents, my Uncle Marek, his wife Kasia and my two cousins, Jana and Karolina. They’re both slim and pretty and have fair hair. Jana plays the piano really well, and Karolina is good at tennis. She wins easily every time we play!

My mother’s name is Liz. She’s tall and she’s got blonde hair. Her sister, Helen, is married to Phil and they have two small children – a son called Rory and a daughter called Jessie. They’re very sweet but very noisy! My granny is called Sue and she grew up in South Africa. That’s where she met my grandpa, Tony. They were both very good-looking when they were young. They’ve both got grey hair now, but Granny’s was fair when she was young and Grandpa’s was dark.

Granny often tells me stories about her mother – my great-grandmother. She was called Iris, and she was born in 1910 on a small farm in South Africa. She was very musical and loved singing. Her family worked hard and sent her to England to study music. She got married and her husband was called Frank. She became a singer and sang in some of the most famous theatres in London. She had dark hair and she was very beautiful. Granny has a big box of old photographs of Iris. I love looking at them, but I have to hold them carefully because they’re very old. Granny’s trying to find out about Iris’s parents and grandparents now. I’m sure there are lots more interesting stories in my family history.

1   A Sally   B Sammy   C Harry

2   1 Sally   2 Harry   3 Sammy   4 Sally   5 Harry   6 Sammy

Audioscript

Sammy:   There are seven of us living in my family home. There’s me, my mum and dad, my brother Arvinder, his wife and baby, Ashia, and my sister, Deepa. She’s going to get married soon. I like living with so many people. There’s always something happening and someone to talk to. Ashia, my baby niece, likes it too. She never gets bored or unhappy, because there are so many people to play with her.

Sally:   I live with my parents in a three-bedroom house. I’m the only child in my family – I haven’t got any brothers or sisters, but my grandfather lives with us. He’s 78, and he’s got lots of interesting stories to tell. I’ve got four cousins and I love seeing them too. They’re a bit older than me, but I don’t see them very often because they live quite far away.

Harry:   I live with my mum and my two brothers. We live in a flat and I share a bedroom with my brother. My grandma, aunt and uncle live on our street as well, and we all spend a lot of time together. I’m really close to all my cousins. My dad and his second wife live 50 kilometres away, but my brothers and I also spend time with them.

1   Sunday

2   1 f   2 e   3 c   4 b   5 a   6 d

3   1 ✓   2 ✗   3 ✗   4 ✓   5 ✓   6 ✗

Audioscript

Teacher:   OK, so who’s next to tell the class about their family? Um, Mason. It’s your turn.

Mason:   Thanks, Miss Harris. Good morning, everyone. I’m going to talk about my family. I live with my parents, my grandmother and my two sisters. My mother’s called Sam. She’s forty-two years old. She’s a doctor. She works very hard during the week and sometimes on Saturdays, so I only see her in the evenings or on Sundays. My father’s called Matthew. He’s forty-one years old. He’s a writer. He writes books for children and he works at home. I often help him make the dinner and I love his stories. My older sister’s called Katie and my younger sister’s called Natalie. Natalie’s nine and Katie’s sixteen. Natalie loves dancing and sometimes we go to watch her in class on Friday evenings. Katie is very intelligent and studies very hard. She is always in her bedroom with her books. My grandmother’s called Anita. She’s sixty-three. She’s a wonderful person. She always teaches me lots of things. She’s interested in everything. We talk about music and physics, cooking and sport, and history. In the evenings, she often goes out with her friends, but she always makes a wonderful lunch for all the family on Sundays. Oh, and there’s one more member of our family: George, my uncle. He’s an actor and he’s forty years old. He often comes to stay with us for the weekend because he lives in the city but he likes coming to our village to relax.

1   b

2    1 school bell ringing / leaving school

      2 He had an argument with Alex.

      3 He sent a text message to Alex.

      4 They help each other when times get difficult.

      5 No, she tells him to wait. / No she doesn’t.

      6 tomorrow / the next day

3    1 d   2 a   3 b   4 c

Audioscript

Martha:   Time to go home. What’s up, Karl? You look upset.

Karl:   I feel sad today. Alex and I had a big argument and now we’re not talking. I don’t know what to do.

Martha:   Alex is a very good friend of yours, isn’t he? He always helps you study for your exams and you share interests. Why don’t you send him a message?

Karl:   I sent him a text message immediately after the argument, but there’s no reply from him yet. What should I do?

Martha:   You should be patient. Good friends help each other when times get difficult, like you and Alex.

Karl:   OK, you’re right. Do you think I should call him?

Martha:   I think it’s a good idea to wait. Give him time to think. You shouldn’t worry.

Karl:   Alex and I have fun together and our friendship makes me happy. When do you think I should contact him again?

Martha:   I think you should wait until tomorrow. Relax – this is not the end of the world!

Karl:   OK, OK. Thanks for listening, Martha.

Martha:   No problem Karl.

Karl:   It’s Alex!

Martha:   That’s great news! I have to get home to study, but good luck with Alex.

Karl:   Thanks, Martha! See you tomorrow. Bye! Hey Alex! I’m so happy to hear your voice …

A Max   B Rob   C Lily   D Grace   E Abby   F Nora   G Colin

H Liam   I Owen   J Ryan

Audioscript

Owen:   Hi. My name’s Owen. Here’s a picture of my family. We were all together in my house for my grandma’s 70th birthday party. You can see her here at the front with some flowers. Her name’s Nora. My grandpa’s standing next to her. His name’s Colin. My grandma and grandpa have three children. The oldest is my mum. She’s called Abby. She’s the one in the blue dress. Then there’s my aunt – her name’s Lily. She’s talking to my mum. And the youngest is my uncle. He’s called Rob. He’s got short dark hair, and he’s wearing jeans and a T-shirt. The other man in the picture is my Dad. He’s a bit older than Rob. His name’s Liam. I’ve got three cousins. Grace is the youngest. She’s Aunt Lily’s daughter and she’s only one. My other two cousins are boys. They’re Rob’s sons. Max is seven years old – he’s really interested in football! And Ryan is five years old. He loves playing with his cars. He’s under the table playing with them!