Practice English Listening A2 Exercises – Topic: People

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1 are not   2 isolated from   3 daily   4 art   5 make

6 most   7 world

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1 e   2 a   3 h   4 d   5 f   6 g   7 c   8 b

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c

Trask artists

Narrator:   Kiwayu Island is located off the coast of Kenya in the Indian Ocean. There aren’t many tourists on these beautiful beaches. The people who live here seem very isolated from the rest of the world. But they are actually connected to the rest of the world in a surprising way. Plastic and other trash from around the India Ocean washes up onto the beach daily. So every day the women of Kiwayu go to the beach to pick up trash. Why? To earn a living. They collect flip-flops and bring them to their villages. There, artists and craftsmen turn the trash into colourful ornaments and souvenirs to sell. The people of Kiwayu make good money this way. They send most of their ornaments to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. These are then exported to stores around the world or sold on the internet.

Woman:   Some people here didn’t have houses before, but now they do. Some people didn’t have animals for food, but now they do. Now we can buy a lot of things. Some of us couldn’t send our children to school, but now we can. That’s the most important thing for me.

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a hand dryer, Sir James Dyson  

b wheelbarrow, Sir James Dyson

c iPhone, Sir Jonathan Ive

d Egg chair, Arne Jacobsen

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1 painting   2 simple   3 modern   4 purpose   5 Art

6 students   7 problems   8 inventing   9 creative

10 simple   11 awards

Student presenter:   Hello, everyone. So in this presentation I’d like to discuss the designer of some everyday objects: Arne Jacobsen, Sir James Dyson and Sir Jonathan Ive. These people designed simple things that have changed our lives and how we do everyday things. Today we are going to think about these inventors and designers, their achievements and how their inventions and designs have helped us.

I would like to start with Arne Jacobsen, who was born in Denmark in 1902. When he was a child, he loved to paint, but his father thought being an artist wasn’t a good career. So Jacobsen became a designer of many things, including buildings and furniture. For example, here is a chair he designed in 1958. It’s called the ‘Egg chair’. Have any of you seen this kind of chair before?

Razia:   I have. Did they call it the egg chair because if its shape? It’s an interesting design.

Student presenter:   Yes, you have a good point. I think it was called that because of the egg-like shape. Nowadays, we still see Jacobsen’s designs around us. When you look at the chair design, can you guess what Jacobsen was like as a person?

Razia:   His chair looks like a simple, neat design. So maybe he liked simple and neat things and not complicated things.

Student presenter:   Actually, that’s right. He did. For example, when he was growing up, he painted his room white because he didn’t like all the flowers on the wallpaper he had. And as an adult, he worked hard to make his designs perfect. In fact, he often kept his workers at work until late, trying to make things better. But even though he worked hard, Jacobsen liked to joke and do funny things. For instance, as a child he liked to play jokes on others and as an adult he once wore a melon for a hat when someone dared him to. He also liked working on his own projects in his free time and found painting to be relaxing. These days, Jacobsen is famous for his modern, simple designs. His work showed that he thought about the purpose that his designs would serve for people.

Next, I’d like to talk about an inventor, James Dyson. Can anyone think of something you often use that might have his last name, Dyson, on it?

Razia:   I know, a vacuum cleaner!

Ebru:   Or a hand dryer?

Student presenter:   Both of those things are correct. Dyson’s designs and inventions are made to solve problems. His ideas come because he sees things that could work better, like the vacuum cleaner and hand dryer. But how did he start? Well, Dyson was born in England in 1947. His father died when he was only nine. As a result, Dyson ended up becoming someone who never gave up. He studied Art and Design before he studied Engineering. When he saw something that didn’t work well, he got frustrated and worked to improve it. For example, his first invention was a wheelbarrow with a ball for a wheel. This made it easier to carry heavy things in the garden and over rough ground. It was an interesting new use for a ball. Also, even though he changed subjects, he was still interested in art as well as designing. Take a look at this photo. What do you see?

Ebru:   It looks like a waterfall made from glass and water, with the water running up instead of falling down. That’s surprising.

Student presenter:   That’s right. This was a piece of art that Dyson made in 2003, called Wrong Garden. It tricks the eye. This shows Dyson’s love of good designs as well as being an inventor. Dyson is still inventing new things. But he is also interested in supporting education for students, and gives money to schools to help students study so they might become inventors, too. He has even donated money to the University of Cambridge to support students and research there, with a focus on technology.

Now, I have one last picture to show you. It’s a phone with a special design. It’s called the iPhone. I think a lot of us know about this phone. It was designed by Sir Jonathan Ive for Apple. He is responsible for a lot of Apple’s product designs, which are simple, clean and slim. Ive has won a lot of awards for his Apple designs and you can see a lot of his work in museums, too. He is from London and he was made a Knight Commander of the British Empire in 2012 for his design work. He is known as being hard-working and creative. I think that his designs will continue to influence the way we live and work for a long time!

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Person 1

Name: Sima Najjar

Job: Entrepreneur, former head of a modelling company. Worked with clothing designers

Why remarkable: Famous for website showing people how to do things in Arabic.

Person 2

Name: Yoshiro Nakamatsu

Job: Inventor

Why remarkable: Created more than 3,000 inventions like shoes for jumping, glasses the shape of eyes and fake hair for safety. Still inventing at the age of 90.

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1 They have to prepare a presentation on a remarkable person.

2 Yasmin

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1 not that   2 all of it   3 not very good   4 a lot about

Yasmin:   Hello.

Luisa:   Hi, Yasmin. It’s Luisa.

Yasmin:   Hi, Luisa! How are you?

Luisa:   OK, I guess. Actually, I’m not that great.

Yasmin:   Oh, no! What’s up? Is something wrong?

Luisa:   It’s the presentation for our course. You know, the one on remarkable people who have done something really interesting or unusual. I’m having trouble doing it. Have you finished it yet?

Yasmin:   Yes, almost. I just have to write a conclusion.

Luisa:   Good for you. I bet it’s really good.

Yasmin:   Thanks, Luisa. I’m pretty happy with it, but the introduction’s not great. It needs a little more work. How much have you done?

Luisa:   Well … I haven’t done all of it …

Yasmin:   All? Or any of it?

Luisa:   I’m not very good at finding things to present. I’m having trouble thinking of ideas. Who did you do yours on?

Yasmin:   I chose Sima Najjar. She’s a remarkable woman.

Luisa:   Who’s she? Why are you interested in her?

Yasmin:   Well, she’s from Jordan. She was working in fashion. She used to be the head of a modelling company before and she worked with female Arab clothing designers. So, she has had a lot of success. But she is famous because she started a website with videos in Arabic showing people how to do things and, without even marketing the videos, they started getting one million views a month!

Luisa:   How did she do that?

Yasmin:   Well, the videos are based on what people are searching for the most online. They are often about fashion, food, health, parenting and art. Many of the people who view her videos are Saudi Arabian women. Another interesting thing is that she is a mother who is working full-time. Some of her videos help other mothers to have better health after they have their babies.

Luisa:   That’s great that she has become really successful. Is there anything else about her life or her company that’s amazing?

Yasmin:   When her company started, most of the videos were made by people in their 20s. Nowadays, she has three full-time workers making videos. She says that as her company gets bigger, she wants to start hiring others to make videos, too. This will help more people get jobs. That’s important because a lot of young people in her area don’t have enough work. So, she’s an entrepreneur, a company leader and a working mother.

Luisa:   That’s amazing! Wow … I need to find someone like that.

Yasmin:   Why don’t you do something on Yoshiro Nakamatsu? Do you know about him?

Luisa:   Umm … I don’t know a lot about Yoshiro … who …?

Yasmin:   Nakamatsu. Well, he was born in Japan. He is now over 90 years old and he is still an inventor.

Luisa:   Umm … his life doesn’t sound that extraordinary.

Yasmin:   He has created more than 3,000 inventions, including a chair that is supposed to help you think better. Some of his inventions are a bit odd, like a pair of shoes made for jumping, and glasses in the shape of eyes so that other people can’t see them. He even made fake hair that can help keep you safe from others. I think Nakamatsu’s situation is a little different from some inventors, because not everyone agrees that he has that many real inventions, but he does have a lot. Also, he didn’t retire even after he reached the age of 80. You might want to look up more information about him online.

Luisa:   OK … I’ll check him out.

Yasmin:   Do you know what the teacher wants us to present?

Luisa:   Well, I’m not sure I understand everything …