Practice Listening English Exercises for B1 – Going away

1  

A baggage hall   B baggage   C security check

D check-in desk   E boarding pass   F passport control

G passport   H queue   I departure   J customs   K sign

2

The order is:

1   top right – You go to the check-in desk and get your boarding pass.

2   top centre – You go through the security check.

3   bottom left – You go to the departure gate.

4   middle left – You arrive and go through passport control.

5   top left – You go to the baggage hall and collect your baggage.

6   bottom middle – You go through customs.

7   bottom right – You walk out into Arrivals.

3

1   passport

2   queue

3   signs, boarding pass / passport, passport / boarding pass

4   baggage

Audioscript

Man:   And for those of you that are new to international travel, click here to watch our introduction to getting through the airport …

Woman:   You start by checking in at the check-in desk. They check your passport and tickets, and they weigh and label your baggage. Then you get your boarding pass.

Next, you go through the security check. There are often quite long queues these days at the security checks at international airports. Security officers look at what passengers are taking onto the plane, just in case someone tries to take something dangerous.

After that, you have to wait for your flight in the departure lounge. There are restaurants and you can go shopping for local products! Half an hour before the flight, you follow the signs to the departure gate. There, your boarding pass and passport are checked again before you board the plane.

After your plane lands, you have to go through passport control. Then you collect your baggage in the baggage hall and go through customs. There are lots of rules about things you mustn’t take to other countries. Customs officers look inside some people’s bags and check. Finally, you walk out into Arrivals.

1 Canada   2 weeks   3 (the) culture

4 1,500   5 February   6 email address

Audioscript

Teacher:   OK class – listen carefully! I want to tell you about a fantastic travel writing competition I’ve heard about. The company holding the competition is called ‘World Explorer’ and they are offering some amazing prizes. They’re well known for running expeditions for young people to places like Cambodia, Peru and South Africa, but the winner of this competition is going to join an expedition to Canada!

The expedition is going to take place next year and is going to last for two weeks. You’re going to spend two days in the town of Churchill and then trek out to a research centre on skis or snow shoes, where you’re going to study local plants and wildlife with a group of scientist.

It really is an amazing opportunity!

To enter, you need to write an article about a place you have travelled to. You must include information about the people you met, the culture and the local environment. Make it as interesting and entertaining as you can!

Based on how popular the competition was last year, the judges are expecting around 3,000 entries, so that gives you an idea of how good your article must be! You should write around 1,000 words, and definitely no more than 1,500. The judges won’t even read it if it’s longer than that, so be careful.

Today’s date is the 19th of January, so you’ve got a few weeks left to write your article. It must arrive by the 19th of February, and the results are going to be sent out on the 19th of April.

One last thing – as long as you are under 16, the competition is free to enter. You must include your email address, as this is how they’re going to contact winners. Photographs will only be needed if your article wins, so no need to send those yet. Good luck everyone!

They decide to visit the National Football Museum.

Audioscript

Girl:   What shall we do on Saturday?

Boy:   What about going ice skating?

Girl:   Mmm, the problem with that is the tickets are quite expensive and I don’t have much money at the moment. Why don’t we go for a bike ride around Hollingworth Lake?

Boy:   I’m not sure. I don’t think the weather’s going to be very good at the weekend. Cycling isn’t fun in the rain! How about visiting the National Football Museum?

Girl:   That’s a good idea. It’s free and it’s only 15 minutes on the train into Manchester. And we could see if Ahmed and Oliver want to come, too.

Boy:   That sounds great! Yes, let’s do that.

1   Michael is upset with Amy because she is late, and she is often late.

2   Yes, they use some of the suggestions. They both make an effort to calm down. Michael is honest about his feelings. They try to laugh about it and they make suggestions for how to improve the situation in the future, and they go for a walk.

2

1   half past five

2   her sister

3   thirty minutes ago / five o’clock

4   She listens to music or chats on her phone and forgets about the time.

5   Michael suggests sending Amy a text to remind her, and she offers to set an alarm on her phone and to call Michael if she is going to be late.

6   He wants to go for a walk and go to a comic shop.

Audioscript

Michael:   Aggh! It’s half past five. Where are you, Amy?

Amy:   Michael! Michael!

Michael:   Amy! You’re late … again! And where’s your bike?

Amy:   That’s the problem! I couldn’t use my bike. My sister took it, so I had to walk here.

Michael:   Of course! You’ve always got an excuse. Every time we meet, you’re late or you forget, or something happens. I’m getting tired of this!

Amy:   Hey! Relax! I told you what happened. Why are you so angry?

Michael:   I’m not angry. I’m annoyed because you’re 30 minutes late! And I always have to wait for you. Do you care about my feelings? I mean … it’s not very nice!

Amy:   Hey, hey, wait a second … Look, I know I’m late, and I’m sorry about that. Really! But this time it wasn’t my fault!

Michael:   I know that. But you have to admit, you’re usually late for everything!

Amy:   Well … maybe … I’m always late for school … but I need to try harder.

Michael:   Yes, you do! But honestly, what’s your problem?

Amy:   Well, I usually forget about the time. I listen to music or I chat on my phone … and I don’t check the time.

Michael:   Well, I’ve got an idea. When we make plans, I can send you a text message before I leave home.

Amy:   OK … or maybe I can set an alarm on my phone, so it rings to remind me.

Michael:   That’s a good idea. And you can call me when you’re going to be late. Please?

Amy:   OK! That’s a deal! Now what can we do? I haven’t got my bike, so we can’t go cycling.

Michael:   Let’s go for a walk. And we can stop at the comic shop on Queen Street. OK?

Amy:   The comic shop? Are you crazy?

Michael:   Come on! You were late so you have to be extra nice to me …

Amy:   Oh, no … here we go again.

1   1 ✓   2 ✓   3 ✗   4 ✓   5 ✗   6 ✗   7 ✓   8 ✓

2   1 7 / seven   2 magazines   3 (aero) plane   4 song

     5 deserts   6 first part

Audioscript

I started writing about travelling fourteen years ago when I was a student. Then, for five years, I worked as a teacher, and I wrote about my holiday trips. I decided to give up teaching and just travel and write seven years ago.

At first, I mainly wrote parts of guidebooks, but after a while I started to do articles for some websites, and also newspapers from time to time. The majority of work I do, though, is for magazines. Luckily, there are plenty that have sections about travel.

In the past, my trips were fairly short – just one or two weeks – and I flew a lot to save time. These days, though, I go away for longer – sometimes three months – and if I can, I go to bus or by train rather than aeroplane. I prefer to travel slowly.

What I like best is getting to know people in the places I visit. On each trip, I ask someone to teach me a local song – it gives me a feeling for the culture. I’d love to learn a new language whenever I travel, but that’s not realistic. I try other things, though. In Naples, I learned a recipe for real Italian pizza.

I love cities and I’ve always written about them, but recently I’ve focused on other things. I’ve done several articles on rainforests around the world, and in the next couple of years there are some deserts I’d like to go to and write about.

I have an amazing job, but not all of it’s easy. The most challenging thing for me is making the first part of an article interesting. If it doesn’t catch the readers’ attention, they probably won’t read the middle part, and certainly not the end.

If any of you would like to try travel writing, my advice would be to …