Practice Listening English Exercises for A2 - Memories

Exercise 1

1 Listen to people talking about three “firsts” and write the events which are referred to in your notebook.

1 first date

2 …………………….

3 …………………….

2 Listen again and note the feelings mentioned.

1 ………………………

2 ………………………

3 ………………………

Answer & Audioscript

2 first vacation without parents

3 first day at school

1 thrilled, excited, heartbroken

2 excited, sad

3 excited, nervous, proud, happy

Oh, gosh, yes, I definitely remember the first time I went out with a guy named Peter Young. I really liked him and told my friend, who told his friend, you know, so he called me. I knew of course, because his friend told my friend! I was so thrilled! When he called, we talked for an hour! We went to the movies the next day. I was really excited because I had been ready for this date for a long time. Unfortunately, it didn’t last. I think we went out just twice and then he went back to his old girlfriend. Can you believe it? I was heartbroken.

Let me think. Oh, yes. That was in 2002. I was 20. My parents wanted to go to the mountains because we usually did that, but my sister and I wanted to go to the beach with our friends. So we decided to have a separate vacation for the first time – it just happened. We were really excited about going on vacation with our friends, without our parents. But I remember getting on the bus and saying goodbye to my mom and suddenly I felt very sad, because, you know, it was the end of a stage of our lives. We weren’t little kids anymore. Yes, I think we all felt that.

I was very excited, yes, excited and a tiny bit nervous. I was six years old. I had been there many times with my brother and sisters, so I knew the place and was really ready for it. I loved my new uniform and felt very proud. In some ways I guess it was harder for my mom than for me – I was her last child at home. Apparently she cried, and I just ran into the classroom. I already knew a lot of the other kids, and I was happy to see them. Aaah. Well I …

Exercise 2

Listen to a conversation about a strange event. Match the beginnings and endings of the sentences.

1 I was getting ready for bed

2 When I was lying in bed

3 I was looking outside into the yard

4 I was shaking with fear

5 I was just falling asleep

6 We were laughing about it

a because I felt really scared.

b when suddenly my mom said she felt really cold.

c when I heard a sound outside the window.

d I heard it again.

e when suddenly a face appeared.

f when I felt a cold wind in the room.

Answer & Audioscript

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

A Hey Sally, how are you?

B Fine, except that something strange happened last night.

A Really? What?

B Well I went to bed around 11 o’clock. I brushed my teeth, combed my hair, and set the alarm clock as usual. I was getting ready for bed when I heard a sound outside the window. When I was lying in bed, I heard it again. So I got up and walked over to the window. I was looking outside into the yard when suddenly a face appeared. I screamed really loudly and shut my eyes. I was shaking with fear because I felt really scared! Anyway, after a few minutes I opened my eyes and looked outside the window again. There wasn’t anything there, so I decided to go back to bed. I was just falling asleep when I felt a cold wind in the room. I pulled the blankets up around me and put my head under them to keep warm. But it was no good … the room felt icy. Eventually, I fell asleep.

A What happened?

B I told my mom and she told me not to worry. We were laughing about it, when suddenly my mom said she felt really cold.

A Wow, that’s strange …