Listening Practice
Listen to
that video and then answer the following activities:
Listen to the speakers describing their favourite things and do the exercises to practise and improve your listening skills.
1. Preparation: matching
Do this exercise before you listen. Match the verb with the correct noun and write a – g next to the numbers 1 – 7.
1...........take (e) a. a designer
2…….. listen to (g) b. your scooter
3…….. watch (d) c. a business
4…….. stroke (= move your hand gently over something) (f) d. films
5…….. park (b) e. photos
6…….. make it as (= be successful as) (a) f. the cat
7…….. set up (= start) (c) g. music
2. Check your understanding: matching
Match the speakers with their favourite things. Write a – e next to the numbers 1 – 5.
1……(A).. Speaker A a. a tablet
2……(E).. Speaker B b. a sewing machine
3…….(C). Speaker C c. a scooter
4…(B)….. Speaker D d. a set of knives
5……(D).. Speaker E e. a cat
3. Check your understanding: gap fill
Do this exercise while you listen. Write the word to fill the gaps.
A. My favourite thing has to be my new tablet. It’s really light and quite _small____________, so I take it with me everywhere. I’m always writing to friends and it’s big enough to do college work on it too. It takes really good __photos___________, and I play games and listen to ___music__________ on it as well, of course. I often download ______film_______ onto it, and watch them in _bed____________. My mum says I’m _____dicted_______, because I’m always on it. I even read things on it at breakfast time. I’m not allowed to at ______dinner _______ time, though. I have to be ___polite__________ and talk to people then. “Welcome back to real life,” my mum says.
B. My favourite thing? Does my ____a cat_________ count as a thing? She’s not really a thing, but anyway. She’s a really ____beautiful_________ little cat. I’ve had her since she was _____________ months old. You know how some cats are really _____independant________ and hardly talk to you? I know cats don’t really talk, but you know what I mean. Well, she’s not like that at all. She’s really ___affectional__________ and comes up to me as soon as I get home, purring away like mad. She makes a lot of ____noise_________ for a tiny thing. She loves being stroked and comes and curls up next to me when I’m on the _____sofa________. She’s great _____company________.
C. My new scooter! It’s quite small, but _____________, and just what I needed for getting around the _____________. I used to have quite a long walk to the _____________, then a longish walk at the other end to get to _____________. But now I can just whiz there on my _____________. And there’s no problem parking, there’s always _____________ for it. You have to be _____________ with the cars and _____________ – they don’t always see you – and when it rains the surface of the road is _____________, it gets really slippery. But in general it’s perfect for me, and I can fit a _____________ on the back too – I’ve got an extra _____________ for a friend. It’s great. Riding along makes me feel so free.
D. This might sound a bit old-fashioned, but my sewing _____________ is my favourite thing. I’m studying _____________ and love making things, as well as designing them. I also love _____________ myself and often buy second-hand clothes – everyone loves the “vintage” _____________ at the moment – and then I adapt them to my _____________. It’s much easier using a machine to do that than doing it by _____________. I do alterations for my mum and my sister too. If I don’t make it as a _____________, I suppose I can always set up my own alterations and customising _____________. Customising clothes, by taking things off and adding things on, is actually very _____________, so I wouldn’t mind that.
E. My set of Japanese knives. That sounds a bit sinister, doesn’t it, but I’m not a _____________ or anything. They’re chef’s knives and the best ones come from _____________. Cooking is my new hobby. I got into it when I started watching Masterchef on TV. Then I went to an evening _____________ for
beginners, and I haven’t looked back since. I try and have a _____________ for between four and eight_____________ every two or three _____________. That gives me something to work towards and I
always do new _____________ so they can try them out and give me feedback. It’s quite an_____________ hobby if you use good _____________, but now my friends help towards the_____________. They still get a good _____________ for a very low price.
4- What’s your favourite thing?
5- Why is it important to you?
6- Vocabulary Box: Write any new words you have learnt in this lesson and use it in a sentence of your own.
