Practice English Listening A2 Exercises – Play

A

1 both   2 steel drums, piano

B

The piano, but not the steel drum.

She couldn’t travel with it.

INTERVIEWER   Erm, Natalie, did you have a lot of experience of music when you were little?

NATALIE   I think I was very lucky, in that I came from Trinidad and Tobago, so when I was younger there was a lot of music around me all the time. Lots of different types of music. We did have music from the rest of the world but our local music is very special.

I   Was that in your home, or just generally in the streets and …?

N   It’s everywhere. You cannot get away from music in Trinidad. We have … we’ve created our own instrument called the steel drum. And you put … you take an oil drum and you hammer it and you get notes out of it. And they make huge orchestras … and I learned how to play the steel drum when I was a little girl.

I   Do you have one?

N   I have one in Trinidad, but they’re very difficult to travel with.

I   How, how big is it?

N   Erm, I would say it’s about – what’s this? – half a metre wide, maybe, and probably a metre high.

I   Right.

N   And you play it with sticks, so I couldn’t really travel with it. But Trinidad definitely has a lot of variety. We have a local music called calypso, which is similar to music from Latin America, er, sort of a merengue beat. And we have a lot of reggae, which probably you would have heard of, from Jamaica.

I   What’s your personal favourite?

N   Erm, well I play classical piano. I was brought up to play classical piano, but nowadays I play more Cuban music on piano. Son, salsa, things like that, rumba.

I   And do you still play the steel drum?

N   I have forgotten some. I would love to be able to play it again because I think it’s very original and it has a lovely sound, but unfortunately I don’t have it with me.

A

They talk about: Cesaria Evora, Mista Savona, The Terem Quartet.

They both want to see: Cesaria Evora, The Terem Quartet.

B

1 go   2 have a book   3 into   4 good

5 see; ideas   6 get

JOHN   So, have you got any plans for the weekend?

CAMERON   No, not really. You?

J   Well, I was thinking about going to the festival, you know?

C   WOMADelaide?

J   Yeah, it starts on Friday. Do you want to go?

C   Sure, if we can get tickets for a day or a night. I couldn’t do the whole weekend.

J   Me neither, it’s too expensive. So when’s best for you?

C   Sunday probably. It doesn’t really matter – it depends what’s on.

J   Yeah, and if there are any tickets left. Why don’t we have a look online?

C   OK, hang on a minute. Right. Sunday. Ah, Cesaria Evora’s playing. She’s amazing.

J   Yeah, I’d love to see her. Or Mista Savona looks interesting.

C   Hm, I’m not really into reggae.

J   OK, well … er, erm … What do you think about this? The Terem Quartet?

C   The folk? Yeah, that sounds good.

J   Well, there’s plenty of good stuff on Sunday. Do you want me to see if there are any tickets?

C   Good idea. And do you want to ask anyone else? Maybe Jen?

J   Yes, and Sally would probably like to come too. Maybe we could get a group together.

C   Yeah, it would be a good laugh.

A

In the countryside, on empty roads.

B

1   Her father had a motorbike; her first boyfriend had a motorbike.

2   She wrote a book about a mother who rode a motorbike; she wanted to learn something new.

3   She saved up money for them; it was harder than she expected; she passed her test a few months ago.

4   She feels free; she can go wherever she wants; she can smell trees, flowers, rain.

INTERVIEWER   So, how did you get into biking?

LI   Well, it started when I was a kid. Er, my dad had a motorbike and I thought it looked like fun. Then I really got into motorbikes when I was a teenager. My first boyfriend also had a really nice bike, so we went riding in the countryside a lot and, yeah, it was great, er, but really I wanted to ride the bike, not sit on the back!

I   OK, and what about now?

L   Well, last year I wrote a book for children. Er, it was about a mother who rode a motorbike, a Harley-Davidson in face, so I just had this motorbike idea in my head. Then I decided that I really wanted to learn something new. It didn’t really matter what but I wanted to learn a new skill, you know, and the great thing about it is, it doesn’t take very long to learn. So I saved up some money and I started having lessons.

I   And how did that go?

L   Well, it was a fascinating experience. It was very difficult at first, er, much harder than I expected, but I enjoyed it too. At times it was quite frightening – terrifying in fact! Er, I passed my test a few months ago and I’m much more relaxed now, but I still need to get a lot more experience.

I   So, what is it that you like about being on a bike? Do you like going fast?

L   No. I’m not interested in going fast. I love it because I feel free. I can go wherever I want to go, any time. So, no, for me, speed isn’t important.

I   Do you use your bike for getting around, getting to work …?

L   No, it’s too dangerous. I’ve been into the town centre on my bike one or two times and there are so many cars, people, it’s terrible. I really like riding in the countryside on big, empty roads where there are no cars. And as you ride along you can smell things – not, you know, cars, but the trees, flowers, the rain. That’s what I really like about it.