Personal Info – A1 English Listening Exercise
Listening 1
Listen to a student introducing himself to the class. Choose the correct answer (A, B, or C) for each question.
1 How do you spell the student’s name?
(A) P-E-D-E-R
(B) P-I-E-T-E-R
(C) P-E-T-E-R
2 How old is the student?
(A) 15
(B) 19
(C) 90
3 What are his hobbies?
(A) Soccer and cooking
(B) Soccer and music
(C) Cooking and reading
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (C) P-E-T-E-R
- Explanation: The speaker spells his name clearly: “P-E-T-E-R.” Option (A) “Peder” and (B) “Pieter” are common phonetic traps for A1 learners who might confuse ‘T’ with ‘D’ or ‘E’ with ‘I’.
2 (B) 19
- Explanation: The speaker says “nineteen” and repeats it as “one-nine” to clarify. Option (C) “90” is a classic distractor for the “-teen” vs “-ty” sounds. Option (A) “15” is not mentioned but starts with the same sound “f” as “fourteen” or “fifty”, testing basic number recognition.
3 (A) Soccer and cooking
- Explanation: The speaker mentions “soccer” and “cooking.” Options (B) and (C) include “music” and “reading,” which are common hobby words but were not mentioned in this script.
AUDIO SCRIPT
Student: “Hello everyone! Um… my name is Peter. That’s P-E-T-E-R. Well, I am nineteen years old. Yes, one-nine. I am from Canada. My hobbies? I like soccer… and I really love cooking. Nice to meet you!”
Listening 2
Listen to the voicemail message. Choose the correct answer (A, B, or C) for each question.
1 How do you spell the speaker’s name?
(A) S-A-R-A
(B) S-A-R-A-H
(C) C-A-R-A-H
2 What is Sarah’s phone number?
(A) 555-8241
(B) 555-8214
(C) 555-8441
3 What does Sarah want the caller to do?
(A) Call back later.
(B) Send a text message.
(C) Leave a message.
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (B) S-A-R-A-H
- Explanation: The speaker clearly spells her name letter by letter as “S-A-R-A-H”. Option (A) is missing the final “H”. Option (C) starts with a “C”, which sounds similar to “S” but is incorrect.
2 (A) 555-8241
- Explanation: Sarah says her number is “555-8241” and repeats it to make it clear. Option (B) is a trap that switches the last two numbers (14 instead of 41). Option (C) repeats the number 4, which is not what Sarah says.
3 (C) Leave a message.
- Explanation: At the end of the recording, she says, “Please leave a message after the beep.” Options (A) and (B) are things people often do when they hear a voicemail, but Sarah does not mention them.
AUDIO SCRIPT
Speaker: “Hi! You have reached Sarah. That is S-A-R-A-H. I am sorry, I cannot answer the phone right now. You are calling 555-8241. I repeat, 555-8241. Please leave a message after the beep. Thank you!”
Listening 3
Listen to a man talking on his dating app profile video. Choose the correct answer (A, B, or C) for each question.
1 What does Alex look like?
(A) He is short with brown hair.
(B) He is tall with brown hair.
(C) He is tall with blonde hair.
2 What is true about Alex’s personality?
(A) He is happy and friendly.
(B) He is very shy.
(C) He is quiet.
3 What does Alex love?
(A) Cats and coffee.
(B) Dogs and tea.
(C) Dogs and coffee.
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (B) He is tall with brown hair.
- Explanation: Alex clearly states, “I am tall, and I have short, brown hair.” Option (A) is a trap because it mentions “brown hair” but the wrong height (“short”). Option (C) is plausible but he does not have “blonde hair.”
2 (A) He is happy and friendly.
- Explanation: Alex says, “I am a very happy and friendly person.” Option (B) “He is very shy” is the trap; he mentions the word “shy” but rejects it by saying “I am not shy!” Option (C) “quiet” is a common personality word but is not mentioned in the audio.
3 (C) Dogs and coffee.
- Explanation: At the end of the video, Alex says, “I love dogs and coffee.” Options (A) and (B) are traps because they mix one correct word (coffee or dogs) with an incorrect but plausible word (cats or tea).
AUDIO SCRIPT
Alex: “Hi! My name is Alex. I am twenty-five years old. I am tall, and I have short, brown hair. I do not wear glasses. I am a very happy and friendly person. I am not shy! I love dogs and coffee. Message me!”
Listening 4
Listen to a radio host talking about a new friend. Choose the correct answer (A, B, or C) for each question.
1 How do you spell the boy’s name?
(A) T-O-M-E-Y
(B) T-O-N-N-Y
(C) T-O-M-M-Y
2 How old is Tommy?
(A) 13
(B) 30
(C) 33
3 What does Tommy love doing?
(A) Playing baseball and reading books.
(B) Playing basketball and reading books.
(C) Playing basketball and writing books.
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (C) T-O-M-M-Y
- Explanation: The radio host spells the name very clearly: “T-O-M-M-Y”. Option (B) “T-O-N-N-Y” is a trap because the sound of ‘M’ and ‘N’ can be very similar over the radio. Option (A) has the wrong spelling.
2 (A) 13
- Explanation: The host says Tommy is “thirteen” and repeats it as “one-three” to be clear. Option (B) “30” (thirty) is a classic trap because “-teen” and “-ty” sound similar. Option (C) “33” is not mentioned.
3 (B) Playing basketball and reading books.
- Explanation: The host clearly states he loves “playing basketball and reading books.” Option (A) is a trap using “baseball” which sounds similar to “basketball”. Option (C) uses “writing” instead of “reading”.
AUDIO SCRIPT
Radio Host: “Welcome back to our show! Today, we have a letter from a new friend. His name is Tommy. Let me spell that for you: T-O-M-M-Y. Tommy is thirteen years old. Yes, one-three. He loves playing basketball and reading books. Call us if you want to be his friend!”
Listening 5
Listen to the automated phone message. Choose the correct answer (A, B, or C) for each question.
1 Which button do you press to update your phone number?
(A) 4
(B) 14
(C) 8
2 What do you do if you press 8?
(A) Update your phone number.
(B) Change your home address.
(C) Change your email.
3 Which button do you press to update your name?
(A) 9
(B) 5
(C) 0
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (A) 4
- Explanation: The voice clearly says, “To update your phone number, please press four.” It also repeats the number. Option (B) “14” is a phonetic trap because “four” and “fourteen” sound similar. Option (C) “8” is the number for a different action (home address).
2 (B) Change your home address.
- Explanation: The system says, “To change your home address, press eight.” Option (A) is the trap for button 4. Option (C) “Change your email” is a plausible personal info update, but it is never mentioned in the audio.
3 (A) 9
- Explanation: The instruction is, “To update your name, press nine.” Option (C) “0” is a trap because it is mentioned in the audio, but it is for “help,” not for the name. Option (B) “5” is not mentioned at all.
AUDIO SCRIPT
Automated Voice: “Welcome to Global Bank. To update your phone number, please press four. I repeat, press four. To change your home address, press eight. To update your name, press nine. For help, please press zero.”