Practice Listening English Exercises for A2 – The Return

street = park

future = past

Alice = Mary

tenth = twentieth

classroom = laboratory

wallet = notebook

Audioscript

      The professor woke up in the park near Dr Applebaum’s house. He still didn’t know where he was or what year it was. He heard a fire alarm and saw a fire engine drive past him. The streets and the cars looked familiar. He was back in London. “Could I finally be home?” he asked himself.

      He walked towards Dr Applebaum’s house, but his excitement soon turned to fear. The fire brigade was outside the house, and there was a huge blazing fire burning inside. Dr Applebaum was being taken out on a stretcher. The doctor was barely conscious but he was able to ask if James had brought anything back with him from the past. James suddenly remembered the charm given to him by Ula. He took it out of his pocket and showed it to the doctor, who smiled weakly and then lost consciousness. The ambulance took him away, leaving James standing alone, holding the charm.

      As he stood watching the doctor’s house burn, James’ wife, Mary, came running down the street. She threw her arms around him and told him how worried she had been about him when he hadn’t come home after his lecture. Then she had thought he might be at Dr Applebaum’s house, which was on fire. She was afraid something had happened to him.

      As Mary stood back, she saw the charm in her husband’s hand and smiled. James glanced at it and said that a lot had happened to him that day. He thought of telling her the whole story but then decided that it would be better to wait until they got home. Mary put her arms round his shoulders, kissed him and said, “Happy anniversary, darling.” James’ face reddened; he had forgotten that it was the day of their twentieth wedding anniversary.

      As they walked home, Mary told him that she had found the charm in an antique shop. The saleswoman there had told her it was an authentic Viking artifact, and, as she knew how much her husband loved the history of the Vikings, she had bought it. She explained that she had put it in his pocket hoping that he would find it during the day. James smiled and told her it was the perfect anniversary present, but quietly he wondered, “What about Ula?”

      Dr Applebaum died. His house and his laboratory had been destroyed in the fire, so James never found out exactly how he had travelled through time, or if, in fact, he had. He began to think that it had all been just a dream. The places, he thought he had visited, were all places whose history he had studied. Perhaps it was all in his mind.

      But now had he got to the park? Why had the doctor asked him if he’d brought anything back? Suddenly, he remembered his notebook. He looked for it in his coat pocket, but it was gone.

Audioscript

Friend:   Hello, Mary! Happy anniversary! Is everything ready for this evening?

Mary:   I think so. I’ve had the house cleaned and I’ve had the floors polished by Mrs Higgins.

Friend:   So, what else is ready for tonight?

Mary:   Let me see. The cake is ready. I made it myself and it looks great. And I collected James’ suit from the drycleaner’s this morning. I had it cleaned so that he can wear it tonight.

Friend:   It sounds as if you’ve thought of everything.

Mary:   Well, there are a couple of things I still have to do. I have to put flowers in all the vases and I have to set the table in the dining room.

Friend:   What about the food? Don’t tell me you’ve been cooking for 50 people!

Mary:   Ha, ha. Oh, no! Not me. I’ve had all the food prepared by Pierre’s, you know, the French restaurant.

Friend:   I’m sure we’ll all have a wonderful time. Do you want me to bring my video camera?

Mary:   Thanks, but I’ll have the party filmed by Anthony, who’s a professional. He’s my cousin. I think you’ve met him before.

Friend:   Ah, yes! Does James know anything yet?

Mary:   No, he hasn’t got a clue. I can’t wait to see his face when he walks through the door!

1 1609   2 moon   3 telephone   4 1876   5 150,000

6 1879   7 phonograph   8 1885   9 three   10 15

11 120   12 12

Audioscript

Presenter:   Welcome to our quiz show. Our first category is “Inventors and their inventions”. Ready players?

Players:   Yes!

Presenter:   When did Galileo build his first telescope? (ding)

P 1:   1609?

Presenter:   Correct! He used it to study the moon and Mars. OK. What did Alexander Graham Bell invent? (ding)

P 3:   The telephone!

Presenter:   You’re right – next question: When did Bell invent the telephone? (ding)

P 2:   In 1780?

Presenter:   Oh, sorry, that is incorrect. (ding)

P 1:   In 1876!

Presenter:   Yes! And by 1887, there were more than 150,000 phones in the US! OK! Now, when did Edison and Swan invent the light bulb? (ding)

P 3:   1879

Presenter:   That’s correct – did you know that Edison also invented the phonograph? Alright – what did Karl Benz invent in 1885? (ding)

P 2:   The automobile!

Presenter:   Yes – and can you believe that this first automobile only had three wheels, and went 15kph? Now – what did the famous Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, invent in 1903? (ding)

P 1:   The aeroplane!

Presenter:   That’s right – their first plane flew 120 feet in 12 seconds!

(ding, ding, ding)

– That’s the end of round one, players … now … (fade out)