Practice Listening English Exercises for B1 – Extreme weather

1   Speaker 1 C   Speaker 2 A   Speaker 3 B   Speaker 4 D

2   1 snowstorm   2 blew   3 lightning   4 tornado   5 flood   6 rose

     7 poured   8 flowed   9 earthquake   10 shook   11 fell down

Audioscript

Speaker 1:   I’d heard the weather forecast the previous evening – they predicted some snow. But no one expected the amount we got. Imagine, the centre of New York stopped in its tracks by a snowstorm! The city had a power cut too – you know, no electricity for a while. I don’t know whether this was because the wind blew so hard or if it was the type of snow that fell.

Speaker 2:   My family used to live just outside the Australian city of Canberra. On that day, there was a storm. It was so hot and dry. Then we had a lightning storm and that’s what started the fire, and with it, a fire tornado. Awesome to watch, but really scary too. I’ll never forget it.

Speaker 3:   I live in a fishing village in Cornwall, which is in the southwest of Britain. We’ve had plenty of bad weather, so we all know what to do in case of a flood. Last week, so much rain fell that the river rose two metres above normal. It poured for hours. We watched the dirty water flow along our street as it flooded our village.

Speaker 4:   There was a big earthquake a few years ago. The earth shook and then the roads opened up, and lots of buildings fell down. Since then we have had smaller ones, and lots of them. It can be pretty scary but now everyone knows what they have to do.

1 B   2 A   3 C   4 B   5 A   6 C

Audioscript

You will hear an interview with a teenage boy called Jake.

Interviewer:   Here with me today is Jake, who had a big adventure one New Year’s Eve when he got lost on a freezing mountain in Oregon. Jake, what happened?

Jake:   I was skiing with my parents in the afternoon, when I lost a ski. It disappeared in deep snow. So there was no way I could catch up with them. I took off the other ski, put it down and started to walk.

Interviewer:   But it began to get dark?

Jake:   Yeah, so I stopped. There were stars everywhere! I knew I couldn’t get the whole way back, so to stay alive I had to think of something else. I used to love watching Bear Grylls’ TV shows about living in the wild and thought, I can use his techniques to help me.

Interviewer:   So you built a snow cave?

Jake:   Right. I had to protect myself – it was freezing cold by then and it started snowing hard. I dug a kind of cave, which went up a hill, so the wind blew over it and didn’t hit me. I was wearing gloves and they froze on my hands! I couldn’t get them off.

Interviewer:   Amazing! And were people out looking for you by this time?

Jake:   My parents reported me missing at five-thirty and stayed inside waiting for news. I heard helicopters but they couldn’t see me in my snow cave and never came back, unfortunately. But there were several rescue teams walking over the mountain.

Interviewer:   And Bear Grylls came to your help again?

Jake:   Yeah. The storm passed and I started walking again. On one programme, he explained what to do if you get lost in woods – search for tracks and follow them – so that’s what I did. I found some ski tracks, and when they disappeared I got down on my hands and knees to look more closely at the ground and find them. And then I saw lights I could aim at. I met up with the folks who were out to rescue me soon after.

Interviewer:   How did your mother feel when she had you back safely?

Jake:   It was great. While I was missing, my mum said that although she couldn’t use her mobile phone, she kept sending me warm thoughts and tried to let me know that people were coming for me. I don’t think that helped me but it made her feel good, I guess! I just felt so thankful to Bear Grylls for his expert knowledge. It can save lives, you know?

Interviewer:   Absolutely. Jake, an incredible story. Thank you.

1   She uses used to and the past simple.

2   1 loved playing   2 used to build   3 used to stay

     4 (often) swam   5 used to pick

Audioscript

Interviewer:   Where do you come from, Mariann?

Mariann:   I’m from Hungary. I used to live in the mountains, quite close to Romania, actually.

Interviewer:   And what was your favourite outdoor activity as a child?

Mariann:   Do you mean as a small kid?

Interviewer:   Yes.

Mariann:   Well … I loved playing in the snow. Every winter I used to build a snowman with my friends. That was fun!

Interviewer:   How much time did you spend outdoors when you were younger?

Mariann:   A lot! I didn’t mind getting cold, I just wanted to be outside. And, er, every summer, I used to stay with my grandparents. They had a farm, so I played outside all the time.

Interviewer:   Tell us about the things you did during good weather.

Mariann:   Let me think. Um, I often swam in the river. And I used to pick flowers in the fields, that kind of thing.

Interviewer:   Thank you.

1   first aid

2   1 exercise and staying fit   2 positive

     3 to give them more information

     4 extreme sports   5 first aid

Audioscript

David:   [on phone] What? Oh, I don’t know! Ask Kevin what he thinks. OK, Bye.

Mum:   What’s wrong, David?

David:   Oh, hi Mum. I’m just stressed about my project for PE class. We have to do a team presentation, and we can’t decide on the topic! I hate team projects.

Mum:   Calm down. What ideas have you got?

David:   Well, Anna wants to do a presentation about exercise and staying fit. You know, the typical thing. Everyone is going to do that, I’m sure.

Mum:   Well, maybe not. You need to stay positive and listen to your friends’ ideas – they might surprise you!

David:   Well, Kevin thinks we can talk about good eating habits, you know, like ‘don’t eat too much junk food’, or ‘eat lots of fruit and vegetables’ …

Mum:   OK, well that sounds interesting …

David:   Really? I mean, I told Kevin it was OK, but it’s the same problem. Lots of people are going to do food and nutrition as a topic …

Mum:   Well, it is PE class! Why don’t you ask your teacher to give you more information about the project? It sounds like maybe the goal of the project isn’t very clear.

David:   Yes, I did ask and she said it can be anything about PE that we’re interested in. I thought maybe extreme sports, you know, like rock-climbing or bungee-jumping … but Anna and Kevin don’t agree with me. They say it’s too unusual.

Mum:   Alright … and those are the only ideas? What about … taking care of yourself, wearing safety equipment when you do sports …

David:   Hey … that could be a good idea … or we could do first aid! You know, what people have to do when there’s an emergency, if someone has an accident and breaks a leg, or something.

Mum:   First aid? Well, you took that course last year at the community centre.

David:   Yes, and I really liked it, too. That’s a great idea, Mum. I’m going to call Anna and Kevin.

Mum:   OK, but see what they think. They might not like the topic …

David:   Oh, don’t worry. Anna will like it … and then Kevin will listen to us. Thanks, Mum!

Mum:   You’re welcome.

David:   [on phone] … Anna! I’ve just had an idea …

1 C   2 C   3 A   4 B   5 C   6 B

Audioscript

Interviewer:   Here with us is Lacey Anderson, who writes a blog about the weather. Lacey, why did you decide to blog?

Lacey:   We have extreme weather in this region – storms, tornados, floods – and though there are articles and photos of events online – including some of mine! – there was a lack of useful information. That’s what made my mind up about it. I had to share facts. I used to think being a TV weather forecaster would be great – I’m not as interested in TV reporting now, though.

Interviewer:   Your blog has lots of followers.

Lacey:   Yeah! The social media sites are linked to it, so it’s easy for people to access. There’s a page where they can contact me to find out about what’s going to happen and whether they’ll be affected. I always reply and I know they find that helpful.

Interviewer:   So, what does your blog contain and what do readers say about it?

Lacey:   Basic information about what to do and what not to do in extreme weather conditions. I didn’t expect so many people to follow the recommendations! I’d like to do other things on my blog, like get people to leave comments about how they dealt with recent weather events to help other readers in similar situations.

Interviewer:   Isn’t your local weather centre helping you?

Lacey:   Yes, they provide their own forecasts to me for free, which I use for my blog. Previously I found out what was happening from the radio, TV or forecast sites and included details on my blog, but it used to take ages! I’ve always liked finding and uploading pictures and maps, so I don’t need theirs, but I’m grateful for their help.

Interviewer:   Your parents help with your blog. Why?

Lacey:   They’re volunteer firefighters, who help out when there are bush fires. One big one started recently because it had been so hot in the area and the grass was dry – and someone had a barbecue in the woods, which started it. My parents knew then that they wanted to help, so they wrote a post for me about how to prevent this kind of thing happening when the weather gets hot in summer.

Interviewer:   Have local organisations been helpful?

Lacey:   Yes, our local newspaper publishes great stuff about the blog. It sells lots of copies, so people get to know about my work. A local outdoor shop pays to advertise on my site – they sell equipment and clothing for extreme conditions. My school supports what I do, but I can’t update the blog during classes, so I do it during breaks.

Interviewer:   Thanks, Lacey!