Practice English Listening B1 Exercises – Can You Understand These People?

1 a   2 c   3 a   4 b   5 c

1

A   So then I spoke to the manager… Hey, my computer’s not working.

B   The electricity’s just gone off. It’ll come back on in a minute.

A   Oh no. I don’t know if I’ve saved the article I was writing.

B   Doesn’t it save automatically?

A   Yes, but only every half hour. Oh – it’s back on again. Now we’ll see. Yes, thank goodness, it’s all there. If I hadn’t saved it, I would have had to look up all that information again.

B   You were lucky. So tell me what the manager said…

2

A   Why do you always wear that yellow T-shirt when you play?

B   It’s my lucky shirt. I put it on under my football shirt.

A   Do you really believe it brings you luck?

B   Well, I suppose it’s just superstition really. But the one time I wasn’t wearing it we lost.

A   Why weren’t you wearing it?

B   Because I’d left it out the night before on my chair, but my wife thought it looked dirty and put it in the washing machine.

3

A   What are you reading?

B   The Minotaur by Barbara Vine.

A   She’s a detective writer, isn’t she?

B   Yes, she’s brilliant.

A   You’re always reading detective novels. Don’t you ever read anything else?

B   Of course I do. I read lots of classics, and science fiction too. It’s just that when I’m on a train or a bus I need something light. And anything’s better than reading the sports papers like you do. Anyway, shut up now and let me read. I’m just about to find out who the murderer is.

4

A   OK, now I’m going to ask you a few questions. And just so that you know, this interview will be recorded. This is detective inspector David Hawkins interviewing Gerald Carter on Thursday May the 20th. OK, let’s start with what you were doing last night?

B   I was at home.

A   Any witnesses?

B   My mum. She was there. You can ask her if you like.

A   So you didn’t go out at all?

B   No, I stayed in and watched TV. Well, I went to the corner shop to get some milk. But that was just five minutes.

A   Did you watch anything in particular? On TV?

B   Yeah, the football. England and Denmark. Rubbish match.

A   So you weren’t anywhere near the pub? The Kings Head?

B   The pub? Me? No way.

A   So you’d be surprised to hear that three people saw you there.

B   They’re lying. And I’m not going to answer any more questions without a lawyer.

5

A   Could you turn the TV off, please?

B   But Mum, it hasn’t finished yet.

A   What hasn’t finished?

C   The film. It’s Star Wars. The Return of the Jedi.

A   But you’ve seen it before. I know you have.

B   Yes, but it’s so good. And it’s nearly finished, I promise. Just five more minutes.

A   I don’t care. It’s 10 o’clock and it’s time to go to bed. It’s already half an hour past your normal bedtime.

C   But yesterday you said we could watch it if we’d finished our homework.

A   Yes, but I didn’t know it was on so late. Bedtime and that’s that.

1 spiders   2 Detective   3 9.15

4 BBC 1   5 Happy Days

And finally, tonight’s TV – a word about what’s on television this evening. At 8.00 p.m. on BBC 2 you can see Eight-legged Wonders, a documentary about those fascinating insects – well, arachnids I should say – spiders. It’s a must for anyone who’s interested in nature and wildlife.

However, if you suffer from arachnophobia, you’d be better off watching ITV, as at the same time as Eight-legged Wonders, there’s the first episode of a new crime series called The Silent Detective, starring Amanda Hobbs.

Then after that on ITV, at 9.15 there’s this week’s edition of Who wants to be a millionaire? Note that the time has changed for this quiz show as it used to be on at 9.30. On BBC1 a bit later, at 10.05 the film in the All-time Greats series is the wonderful Ingmar Bergman film Fanny and Alexander, so if you’re a fan of European cinema, don’t miss it.

And finally, a change of programme on ITV. Instead of tonight’s episode of Hospital Life, at 10.30, as a tribute to the late John Miller, ITV will be screening his Oscar winning film, Happy Days. So if you’re waiting to find out what’s going to happen to Doctor Hammond and Nurse Marshall, you’ll have to wait till next week. And now…