Practice Listening English Exercises for B1 – TV

1 the daughter

2 the son

3 the father

4 the mother

5 the grandmother

Audioscripts in B below

1 reality show

2 game show

3 the news

4 talk show

5 documentary

Audioscripts

1

Daniel:   All right, hand me the remote control, son. Let’s see what we have here. Oh no, she’s terrible. Where do they get these kids, anyway? I’m going to change the channel.

Maddie:   No, wait! That’s Teen Star. I love this show! It’s the new one, where high school kids from around the world get to join a real rock band and go on a concert tour!

Daniel:   That’s crazy, Maddie. I can’t believe any parents would let their kids go on tour with a real rock band. Sorry, honey, I don’t want you to get any ideas.

Maddie:   Dad!

2

Tyler:   Hey! What’s this show?

Grandma:   Oh, Tyler! It’s that show where they have to answer questions about the biggest natural wonders. Last week this guy won a trip to Egypt to visit the pyramids.

Tyler:   Whoa! The pyramids? We studied those in school. Let’s watch and see where they get to go this week.

Grandma:   Oh, wait a minute, Tyler. That’s the same guy – it’s the same show as last week. I don’t want to see the same thing again.

Tyler:   Oh, come on, Grandma. Just for a minute! I haven’t seen it. Please!

3

Daniel:   OK. How about this?

Mom:   Ugh, I just can’t watch this anymore, Daniel. There are never any happy stories; they just report bad things.

Daniel:   Well, they’re saying something good now.

Mom:   Finally! What?

Daniel:   They say it’s going to be sunny all weekend.

Mom:   Well, that is good. But quick – change the channel before they report something bad.

Daniel:   Wait a minute – I want to see the sports. Maybe there’s something good about my baseball team!

4

Maddie:   Dad, let me have the remote control. I’ll find us something to watch.

Mom:   Yes, you try Maddie. Maybe you’ll have better luck.

Maddie:   What’s this one? Hmm, it’s called Let’s Chat. It looks like they’re interviewing Johnny Depp. I don’t really like him.

Mom:   Did you say Johnny Depp? Oh, he’s so handsome! Let’s just watch for a little while.

Daniel:   Oh, boy.

5

Grandma:   Oh, this reminds me of old times. You know that’s just the kind of car we had when your grandfather and I first got married.

Tyler:   Ugh. The History of the Car, Grandma? I can’t think of anything more boring to watch on TV.

Grandma:   Yes, he used to take me on beautiful drives through the country every weekend. Now this is the kind of TV show you children can learn something from.

Maddie/Tyler:   [collective groan]

(top row) 4, X

(middle row) 2

(bottom row) 1, 3

Audioscripts in B below

1 true   2 false   3 true   4 true

Audioscripts

1

Woman:   These days just about anything can be the topic of a reality show. People get married, live with strangers on an island, eat strange foods, and do some very dangerous things – all for the chance to win money or become famous. One of the most successful reality shows is Pop Idol. This television series began in England in two thousand two. Since then, Pop Idol has been imitated with versions in over thirty countries. Each week, contestants sing a short song in front of several judges. Then TV viewers at home vote to choose their favorite singers.

2

Woman:   Another reality TV hit is the show Big Brother. A group of nine volunteers, all strangers, moved into a house together and were filmed twenty-four hours a day for a hundred days. The nine people lived together, ate together, and shared bedrooms, while people at home watched it all on TV. The show started in the Netherlands in nineteen ninety-nine. Soon, other countries started their own version of Big Brother, and the show became internationally popular.

3

Woman:   Japanese reality TV shows are some of the most unique and famous in the world. On the Iron Chef, which began in Japan in nineteen ninety-three, world-famous chefs challenged each other to cook several international dishes in one hour. The chefs prepared a menu with the theme food, and judges tasted the dishes and decided on the best chef. Now, the Japanese show is popular in the U.S., and Canada, and the U.S. even has its own Iron Chef America series.

4

Woman:   Another popular reality show is called Survivor. The idea came from a TV show made in Sweden in nineteen ninety-seven. The show leaves a group of ordinary people in a faraway place, like an island or the desert. The people have to find their own food, make fire to keep warm, build their own places to sleep, and participate in difficult challenges each week. Each week, the contestants choose one person to leave the show. The last person left is the winner and wins one million dollars. Today, people in over twenty countries around the world watch to see who will be the survivor!

1 a   2 c   3 b   4 c   5 a

Audioscripts

Man:   For some lucky families in the United States, there is a reality TV show that can make a dream come true. This reality show, called Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, started in the U.S. in two thousand four. The TV show chooses an average family and remodels, or rebuilds, the family’s home. On the show, a team of designers and builders surprises the family with the wood news and sends the family on a one-week vacation. Then, in just seven days, they build the family’s dream house. They rebuild each room in the house and fix the outside of the house – projects that would normally take four months or longer to finish. At the end of the program, they bring the family back and show them their amazing new home.

1 b   2 c   3 a   4 a   5 c

Audioscripts in B below

1 woman   2 both   3 woman

4 man   5 man

Audioscripts

1

Man:   What are you watching?

Woman:   Down Under. It’s about Australia.

Man:   Is it a documentary?

Woman:   Um, no. It’s not.

Man:   Wait. This is one of your soap operas, isn’t it? Well, call me when it’s over. I don’t want to watch a bunch of people crying over their love lives.

Woman:   Hey! This is a very interesting show.

2

Woman:   Oh, good. You’re watching channel nine. What’s happening in the world?

Man:   Not much. It’s mostly bad news.

Woman:   Have they given the weather report yet?

Man:   No, not yet. I think it’s coming up next.

Woman:   Great! I want to see if it’s going to rain this weekend. Could you move over so I can sit down?

3

Woman:   This is a great show. This actor is really funny.

Man:   Do you think so? I think he’s terrible. I can’t believe the paper said this was one of the best new sitcoms this fall.

Woman:   Then why don’t you go upstairs and watch something else on the other TV?

Man:   Good idea. I’ll see you later.

4

Man:   Let’s watch this. It’s called Shooting Hoops with the Stars.

Woman:   What kind of show is it?

Man:   Well, they get some real basketball players, and then they put some celebrities on their teams, and they play a basketball game!

Woman:   Uh… I’m not really interested in reality shows.

Man:   Come on! There’s a lot of basketball on the show, too.

Woman:   I don’t like sports either. But you go ahead and watch it.

5

Woman:   What time does this end?

Man:   At eleven-thirty. Why?

Woman:   It’s kind of boring, isn’t it?

Man:   Boring? How can you say that?

Woman:   All they do is talk.

Man:   Well, it is a talk show. The next guest is Katie Springer, the actress. You like her, don’t you?

Woman:   Well, I like her movies, but I don’t want to hear her talk about her movies. I think I’ll go to bed.

Man:   OK. Good night.