Practice English Listening B1+ Exercises – Can you understand these people?

1 a   2 c   3 b   4 b   5 c

1

I = interviewer, T = Tilly

I   What’s your name?

T   My name’s Tilly.

I   Where does it come from?

T   Um, it’s actually short for Ottilie, which is spelled O-T-T-I-L-I-E, um, and I think it’s Hungarian.

I   Who chose your name?

T   My dad.

I    Would you like to change your name?

T   I’m happy with my name, yeah, I quite like it.

2

I = interviewer, T = Tory

I   What’s the colour scheme of your bedroom?

T   The colour scheme of my bedroom changes in dependence of my mood. Currently it’s purple and white.

I   Do you like it?

T   Um, I stopped liking it once it was all sorted.

I   Would you like to change it?

T   All the time. But once I change it, then I’ll want to change it again. It’s a never-ending cycle.

3

I = interviewer, C = Claudia

I   Are you good at packing when you go away?

C   When I go away, I’m really good at packing because I don’t pack a lot. I’m very efficient, I’ve moved a lot, I’ve travelled a lot, so I can pack lightly. It’s always a very small carry…I like to travel with a carry-on, if I can.

4

I = interviewer, M = Maria

I   Is there anything you only do when you’re on holiday that you wouldn’t do in everyday life?

C   Um, when I’m on holiday, I usually go for more walks. So for example, after dinner, I would always go for a walk on holiday, but at home, I’d never do that. I’m always too tired, it’s a bit cold in the UK, so, yeah, on holiday it’s usually warmer and I’ll go for walks after dinner.

I   What’s your favourite kind of holiday?

M   My favourite kind of holiday, um, is somewhere warm, and somewhere that’s, um, not too crowded and perhaps with some historical significance, a nice place to walk around. Um, I wouldn’t like to go somewhere too, um, quiet.

5

I = interviewer, D = Diarmuid

I   What sort of things do you buy online?

D   I buy almost everything online these days, er, so clothes, um, all gadgets and equipment. Um, I don’t buy food, but I know a lot of other people do.

1 a   2 b   3 c   4 c   5 b

1

I = interviewer, E= Erica

I   What kind of child were you?

E   What kind of child was I? I was a very inquisitive child. I was the ‘why’ child, so anything you told me, I always responded with, ‘Well, why?’ and ‘How come?’ and ‘Why is that?’ And it was very annoying.

I   Have you changed much?

E   Um, I’m still very inquisitive, but I kind of ask more of why, like, I want to know more about your intentions as opposed to just why is something the way that it is.

2

I = interviewer, K = Keith

I   Are you good at taking photos?

K   I’m OK at taking photos. I have this technique now where instead of taking a photo with my camera, I’ll take a video, um, and then I’ll take screen, screenshots from the video stills. For example, if my son’s playing football, whenever I try and take a photo, I’ll always miss really what I was trying to capture, but by taking a video I can get various stills of the exact shot that I want, so, so yeah, I’m OK.

I   What kind of photos do you take?

K   Um, I take a lot of photos of my children, um, I like a lot of action shots, so I’ll, I’ll take photos of them doing things. Um, I like taking photos of nice places when I go anywhere, so scenic photos, that kind of thing.

I   Do you have a camera, or do you use your phone?

K   I always use my phone. Um, I do have a camera, but I’ve probably not used it in about five years. It was quite a good one as well, really expensive, but no, just the convenience of using my phone, and to be honest, it probably takes better photos.

3

I = interviewer, S = Shreeya

I   How worried are you about plastic pollution?

S   Um, yes, I would say I’m quite concerned about plastic pollution, um, the effect it has on sea life, the environment in general, um, and I think it’s good that businesses are taking it more seriously, too.

I   Are you doing anything to try to use fewer plastic products?

S   I tend to not…while holding a plastic cup, um, can I put this down for that,… yes, if I’m shopping, I’ll try to bring, um, a bag of my own, um, and if I have packed lunches for example, I’ll reuse the same container and I have a water bottle as well, so I don’t get plastic water, I, um, tend to refill it.

4

I = interviewer, E = Emma

I   What did you study at university?

E   Yeah, I’m studying at university now.

I   What are you studying?

E   Osteopathy.

I   Why did you choose that subject?

E   Um, because I used to be a competitive swimmer and, um, we, I used to get recurrent injuries and I was seeing a physiotherapist and I wasn’t really getting anywhere, and then somebody suggested to me to see an osteopath. I went to see an osteopath and my injuries improved really quickly and it inspired me to be an osteopath.

5

I = interviewer, T = Thomas

I   Have you ever had a part-time job?

T   Yeah, I’ve, you know, when I was in graduate school I bartended, waited tables, um, you know, for, for part-time.

I   Did you enjoy them?

T   I loved them, I loved them, each, each one, um, had different things, but it’s part of my personality I would say. I’ve never had a job where I said I didn’t like it, you know, I always tried to find the good in it. And when you’re bartending and waitering, you meet a lot of interesting people, you have a lot of good conversations, and you, you find, um, you meet a lot of people who, you know, I would say you’d see some of the bad of humanity and how they treat others, probably more so as a waiter than a bartender, you know.

I   So people often complained, like about the bill?

T   Yeah, and the service, and if their food’s late, yeah. It’s interesting. It was a lot of fun though. I had a good time.

1 a   2 c   3 b   4 b   5 a

1

I = interviewer, R = Rafael

I   How much TV do you watch?

R   I watch a fair amount of television, maybe at least one, maybe two, three hours a day.

I   Do you think you watch too much TV?

R   Maybe, since I fall asleep in front of it.

I   What kind of shows do you watch most?

R   Some news, um, some entertainment, late night talk shows and then some French TV or some drama.

2

I = interviewer, M = Melanie

I   Would you like to live in a city or in the country?

M   I live in Brooklyn, New York, so I live in a different borough.

I   Would you like to move to the country?

M   I lived in a place that was more country than here, and while I found it really peaceful, I didn’t find it that stimulating, so I definitely would prefer to live in a city, at least, at least right now, you know, I’m twenty-five, I kind of want lots of things going on. You know.

3

I = interviewer, R = Royce

I   What is more important to you when you eat out, the food or the service?

R   The food is much more important when I go out to eat. If the service is bad, I can forgive that.

I   Is there anything that waiters do that really annoys you?

R   Um, mostly just when they’re, um, when you can’t get their attention and when they ask you how things are when you’ve just taken a big bite of food.

4

I = interviewer, J = Julia

I   Do you usually tip in restaurants and taxis?

C   Um yes, I usually tip in restaurants and taxis.

I   How much?

C   Um, I usually just do the standard, like the twenty per cent, yeah.

I   Are there any situations where you feel embarrassed to tip?

C   Um, sometimes I’m embarrassed to tip at hair salons, or if I’m getting my nails done, which I almost never do, but just cos I’m not sure how much.

5

I = interviewer, L = Lynn

I   Are you good at DIY?

L   Yes, I’m really good and I love renovating and refurbishing, and doing everything myself, and I mean really by myself because I don’t invite friends or anyone, I just do it alone and I love it.

I   What was the last thing you did?

L   The last thing was my bedroom. I renovated my bedroom. It was waiting for three years to be renovated. Yes, that’s the last thing I did.

1 b   2 b   3 a   4 b   5 c

1

I = interviewer, D = Diarmuid

I   Do you still go to the bank or do you do all your banking online?

D   I do almost all of my banking online. The only reason I’d go into a bank is to ask for advice, so maybe for big things, like a mortgage or a loan I would go in to have a face-to-face conversation, but other than that, it’s all online.

I   Have you ever had a problem with online banking?

D   Yes, I’ve had problems, um, just glitches in the system that mean you can’t access it when you need to, um, I’ve never had a huge problem though.

2

I = interviewer, V = Victoria

I   What’s the best live event you’ve been to recently?

V   Um, I would say the best live event I’ve been to recently is, last time I was in LA I went to a Dodgers game. Um, the Dodgers are my favourite baseball team and, um, now they’re in the World Series, so it was exciting to see them play this year.

I   Why did you enjoy it so much?

V   I enjoyed going to the Dodger game so much this year because I live in New York now and I don’t get to see them play in person that often, and they’re a really good team this year, um, so getting to see them play was really exciting.

3

I = interviewer, K = Keith

I   Do you ever play board games or other kinds of games with friends or family?

K   Yeah, I play, um, board games with my family, with my wife and with my children.

I   What’s your favourite game? Why?

K   Um, my favourite game. I would choose either Monopoly or Cluedo. Um, I play both of them a lot with my children, and with my family. I’d probably say Cluedo’s my favourite. My children love it and I’ve always loved it since I was a kid as well. It’s a detective game where you have to solve a crime and who’s committed it, what with and where they did it, and it’s a really good game.

4

I = interviewer, C = Carolina

I   How often do you go to the hairdresser’s?

C   Um, once a month, I think.

I   What do you usually have done?

C   I get my hair cut. That’s it.

I   Have you ever had a haircut you really didn’t like?

C   Many times. Once I remember that it I, it turned out to be super short and I was very disappointed. I almost cried.

5

I = interviewer, E = Erin

I   What’s the most interesting historical site you’ve ever visited?

E   I almost hate to say it because it sounds like a cliché, but the Colosseum in Rome. Just the, the architecture and the things that people were capable of with their brains before computers is just mind-blowing. But also the Museum of Science, the Galileo Museum in Florence is also very cool.

I   Why did you go there?

E   We went to Rome and the Colosseum specifically because my husband wanted to. I wasn’t very interested, but I was really surprised at how it, much I enjoyed it. And we went to the Galileo Museum because someone else had recommended it and it seemed like an interesting thing to do, sort of off the beaten tourist path. And it was amazing. I think my brain melted a little bit.

I   Would you recommend it to other people?

E   Absolutely. If you do the Colosseum, pay extra for the guided tour. You get through the line faster.

1 c   2 b   3 b   4 b   5 b

1

I = interviewer, V = Victoria

I   Do you have a good memory?

V   Um, I have a good memory for, for things that I can picture, like details in my head. So when I meet someone, I’m really good at remembering their name because I, I just kind of plant it in my head. Um, but I’m not as good at remembering, like if you ask me what I had for dinner three days ago, I wouldn’t remember that.

2

I = interviewer, J = Jan

I   When was the last time you went to a wedding?

J   It was approximately two and a half weeks ago. And it was my wedding.

I   Did you have a lovely time?

J   I did. I had a lovely wedding. And the wedding was a second time around for me. I was a widow for eight years, and I met my new husband online, which is quite avant-garde for someone my age.

3

I = interviewer, K = Keith

I   What’s the best influence that the USA has had on the world?

K   Um, I think the best influence that the US has had on the world is in TV and movies. I think a lot of countries, or most countries, um, that watch a lot of US TV, US drama, US movies. I watch a lot. I’ve been watching Breaking Bad and Ozark recently, which are two of my favourite shows, and I just think the, the influence that they’ve had on TV and drama is, is a really big influence.

I   And the worst influence?

K   The worst influence, I’d probably say, is the amount of commercialism. I think, you know, the American dream was always, you know, about making money, um, and being successful, and I think that’s had quite a negative impact on the world, that, um, so much now is driven by the need to be, er, er, making profits and I think all in all society’s, er, not really benefitted from that.

4

I = interviewer, R = Royce

I   Are there any American fast-food places near where you live?

R   Er, yeah, there are several fast-food places near where I live.

I   Do you ever go to any of them?

R   Um, I don’t, I try not to. I don’t particularly like it very much and it’s quite bad for you.

5

I = interviewer, D = Diana

I   How do you feel about taking exams?

D   Um, I feel all right, I like studying, so I am kind of all right at handling that situation. It’s always a little bit nervous, but it’s all right.

I   Have you ever had an exam disaster?

D   Um, well I remember in um, in an oral exam I went, er, blank for, like, twenty very long seconds, but then I was all right. I was just like, blank for a while.

I   Did you pass the exam?

D   Yes, I did.