Practice Listening English Exercises for A2 - In the Land of the Pyramids

Answer & Audioscript

1 f 2 b 3 e 4 c 5 a 6 d

Audioscript

The pteranodon let go of James, but instead of falling through the air, he began to spin slowly, then quickly, as if he were being controlled by some supernatural force. Everything was black, but he didn’t remember closing his eyes. Suddenly, there were horns blowing and people cheering. He was sitting in the middle of a road, and an army of men riding horses were coming towards him, so he quickly got out of the way. As he was brushing the dust off his clothes, he saw that all the people around him were wearing strange robes, with sandals on their feet.

He looked around at the buildings and realised he was in Ancient Egypt. The army passed, and Antony and Cleopatra, riding in chariots, were led up to the steps of the palace. When the professor heard Antony call Cleopatra the “Queen of Kings”, he knew that the year must be 34 BC.

A crowd of people had gathered around James. They started touching the brown suit he was wearing, pointing at his shoes and looking at him in wonder. One man, who was short and fat with dark curly hair, asked him if he was a roman. When he said no, the man asked him what he thought of Antony and Cleopatra’s friendship. “Well, I happen to know that their relationship will end in disaster. Octavian will attack, Egypt will be defeated, and Antony and Cleopatra will commit suicide.”

“Traitor! Traitor!” the man shouted.

Guards who had been standing nearby came and grabbed him. He tried to explain that he was only telling them what he knew about history, but no one was listening. They rushed him off to the royal palace to explain before the Roman general and the queen why he had spoken out against them.

Cleopatra was sitting on her throne wearing a long golden dress, while Antony was sitting by her. He was wearing a silver and red Roman military uniform. James, who was being held by two guards, couldn’t believe he was actually standing before Antony and Cleopatra. The fat, curly-haired man was there explaining what the professor had said, and Antony was listening patiently.

“And why do you think such a disaster will come to Egypt?” Antony asked.

He tried to explain that he had travelled back in time from the future so he knew what would happen, but that only worked against him. Antony was sure the professor had lost his mind, and he asked Cleopatra what they could do with him.

“Feed him to the crocodiles,” she said casually.

And so it was done. The professor was marched out to a place by the River Nile where crocodiles waited for enemies of the throne to be thrown into the water. Hundreds of people were standing behind him screaming, “Trai-tor! Trai-tor! Trai-tor!” Antony and Cleopatra stood to the side of the crowd in a golden chariot. Two guards help the professor by his arms. He begged them to spare his life, but as soon as Antony gave the signal, James was thrown into the water.

2. Listen and fill in the gaps with one word.

Although Cleopatra VII was (1)……………… Queen of Egypt, she was actually Macedonian. She became well (2)……………… for her charm, intelligence and incredible ambition. Cleopatra first became queen (3)……………… her father died in 51 BC, leaving her and her brother, Ptolemy, in charge of the kingdom. Soon after this, she was accused (4)……………… trying to kill her brother. She then started a civil war. At the same time, Julius Caesar, the emperor of Rome, fell in love with her and helped her to take control of Egypt. Cleopatra stayed (5)……………… him in Rome until he (6)……………… murdered in 44 BC. Seven years (7)………………, the Roman general, Marcus Antonius, fell in love with her. Soon they married and had three sons. Together, they wanted to take over the Roman Empire. (8)……………… a result, in 31 BC, there was a huge battle between their armies and those of Octavian, Caesar’s son, at Actium. After closing the battle, the both returned to Alexandria, where they killed themselves.