Practice Listening English Exercises for A2 – Plans

Give money to someone, have a party, move home, have a holiday, learn to ­ y, buy a new car

Audioscript

I = Interviewer   J = Jean   M = Martin

I:   Jean and Martin, the luckiest couple in Australia today, welcome.

J/M:   Thank you.

I:   So Jean, when did you find out?

J:   Martin called me at work. I didn’t believe him at first.

M:   She said, “You’re lying!” I said I didn’t believe it myself.

J:   Yeah.

I:   And is it true that you’re not going to stop working?

J:   That’s right. We enjoy our jobs.

M:   Yes. People think gardening work is hard and boring, but it isn’t. I work outdoors and I enjoy it. So yes, I’m going to stay at my job.

I:   So what are you going to do with the money?

M:   First thing, we plan to give some money to Jean’s parents in America.

J:   They’re retired, and they need a little help.

I:   Oh, that’s nice. And how about for yourselves? Any plans?

M:   Well, we got married last year but we didn’t have a big party. So we’re going to have a party and invite all our friends and family.

I:   Nice.

J:   And we’d like to move. At the moment we’re living in a small apartment. So we’re going to look for a house near the beach.

M:   Yes, maybe near the beach, or …

I:   And are you going to take a break? Travel around the world?

J:   Not a big break, just a short trip – to Thailand.

M:   I’m not sure about Thailand.

I:   Oh, what would you like to do, Martin?

M:   I’d like to go to Greece.

I:   Fabulous! And do you want to buy anything else? Maybe a new computer or …

M:   Well, I want to buy a plane. Just a small one, a small plane.

I:   Oh. Do you fly?

M:   No, I …

J:   He doesn’t fly. The plane is a kind of dream.

M:   Well, I’d like to learn to fly.

I:   Sounds wonderful! Thanks very much for talking to us today. Oh, just one last question: you get the money tomorrow, right? What’s the first thing you’re going to do?

J:   He’s going to buy a new car, of course! The old car didn’t survive that tree.

The museum meditation in the afternoon and the playback theater at night.

Audioscript

M = Man   W = Woman

W:   Hey, let’s do something new this weekend.

M:   That’s a good idea. Uh, what do you mean “new”?

W:   I mean something we don’t usually do. Something different. OK … AlternativeCity. Hey, look at this.

W:   Silent disco? What’s that? Dancing with no music?

M:   No, it’s … You get headphones, wireless headphones, and you can hear the music and you dance.

W:   I don’t understand. Why?

M:   Well, there’s different music and you can choose. So you dance to your favorite music, with headphones. Do you want to try it?

W:   No. I don’t feel like doing that. What’s this one?

M:   Blind date movie. That’s … Oh, we book a movie ticket, but they don’t tell us the movie.

W:   That doesn’t sound very good. Cool, if it’s a good movie, but if it’s a bad movie?

M:   No, it’s OK. If we don’t like the movie, at the end they give us our money back.

W:   Mmm, no. It’s not for me.

M:   OK, so how about going to the theater?

W:   That’s not new.

M:   No, playback theater. It’s a very small theater. And people in the audience tell stories about their lives. The actors act out the stories.

W:   Oh. Do I have to tell a story?

M:   No, you can just watch. It says it can be very funny or more serious.

W:   OK. That sounds interesting.

M:   I’d like to go. Let’s do that.

W:   Cool!

M:   OK, that’s tomorrow evening at seven. And why don’t we go to the museum in the afternoon?

W:   For … museum meditation? What’s that?

M:   Listen to this. You go with a small group into one of the rooms and meditate for an hour.

W:   Meditate? Do you look at the paintings or statues?

M:   Mmm, I don’t know. Maybe you close your eyes.

W:   Oh, then you look at the paintings.

M:   Mmm, yes, and then talk about them.

W:   Great! So do you want to go to the theater at night and the museum in the afternoon?

M:   Sounds great. And for dinner?

W:   Let me see. Oh, dinner in the dark?

1   about five years ago in the summer

2   in Pisa, Italy

3   She worked there as a teacher.

4   It was hot. It got hotter and it was very dry.

5   She felt tired. Everyone was tired. She was glad when it was over.

Audioscript

I can remember the sirocco very well. I was in Pisa, in Italy, about five years ago. I worked there as a teacher for two years. I love hot, sunny weather, and the summers were wonderful. I remember my first summer. It was very hot, but then one day the weather changed. It got hotter. I woke up one morning, and everywhere was white. T here was white sand over all the cars and the streets. And everything was dry – your eyes, your mouth. Everything. The car was like an oven; the metal of the car door was really hot. It was difficult to breathe. People told me it was the sirocco. The sirocco is a strong wind from Africa, from the desert. At work, everyone got very tired. Me, too.

I was glad when it was over.

A

Speaker 1: d

Speaker 2: c

Speaker 3: b

Speaker 4: a

B

1 a   2 a   3 c   4 b   5 b   6 a   7 c   8 b

Audioscript

1   Well, the most difficult thing was that there was so much water, but I was so thirsty. Food wasn’t a big problem because I caught fish and ate them. Of course, I got sunburned after the first day because I had nothing to put on my head. And I was afraid of sharks. Once I saw one, but it just swam around the raft for a few minutes, and then it went away.

2   I felt very small and very tired. I walked all night, very slowly because of the sand, and I tried to stay cool in the daytime, but it was so hot. On the second day, I found some water – that was very lucky – but then I wanted to walk more, not just stay by the water. I wanted to try to find my way back to the town. I had food with me, so I didn’t get hungry – just very thirsty. Once I saw a snake, and I was afraid that one might go into my shoe, so I never took my shoes off.

3   There was snow everywhere. Everything was white, and that’s why I got lost – I didn’t see the path. I was up there only one night, but it was the longest night of my life. The most important thing was staying warm. I didn’t have enough clothes with me, so I got terribly cold. I wanted to make a fire, but everything was wet. I slept on the ground and got colder. I didn’t think about food – I wasn’t really hungry, but just so thirsty! It was difficult, very difficult.

4   There was water, so I didn’t get thirsty. And I didn’t get too hungry because I knew what kind of plants to eat. Of course, I got very lost – I walked day and night – but you know, you can never, ever get bored there. There are so many different types of plants and animals and insects – it was beautiful. So yes, I felt tired and lost, but not bored.