Practice English Listening B1+ Exercises – Do I need to install something?

A

b

B

1   He gets to be creative.

2   It takes a lot of practice.

3   If she wants to learn more, she should study online.

A B

Paula:   Wow, Ahmet, that’s such a beautiful illustration. The colors are incredible! It looks like an island paradise from a Rousseau painting. And that monkey is so cute.

Ahmet:   Thanks. I’m almost done with it.

Paula:   Is that for a client?

Ahmet:   It is, yeah… I love that I get to be so creative on this job.

Paula:   I bet! It’s impressive. Was it hard to learn to use all that design software?

Ahmet:   Well, it did take a lot of practice! And I never stop learning. Each new version gives you more tools. Check this out.

Paula:   Wow, it’s like the monkey was never there!

Ahmet:   Yep. It’s amazing, really. There was nothing like this when I got started, but the technology changes so fast and you have to keep up with it.

Paula:   That’s true. I wish I had learned more about computers when I was in school. I don’t know anything, except for, you know, basic office programs.

Ahmet:   Really?

Paula:   Yeah. A lot of my friends were into technology, but I was never really interested. Now they’re all working as programmers at tech companies and making a lot of money. And I think to myself, if only I had learned to code!

Ahmet:   Well, it’s never too late!

Paula:   I suppose so, but it’s hard to take classes. I travel so much.

Ahmet:   I’m sure there are apps or online classes that can teach you some basic coding. You have no excuse!

Paula:   Yeah, you’re right, Ahmet. Thanks. A little less “I wish I had” and a little more “I will!” right?

Ahmet:   Exactly!

C

Paula:   I wish I had learned more about computers when I was in school. I don’t know anything, except for, you know, basic office programs.

Ahmet:   Really?

Paula:   Yeah. A lot of my friends were into technology, but I was never really interested. Now they’re all working as programmers at tech companies and making a lot of money. And I think to myself, if only I had learned to code!

A

Paula

B

1   upload a report for Carla

2   restart her browser

3   He’s a market research guy.

Paula:   Aargh!

Marcos:   What’s up?

Paula:   It’s this terrible new file management system. Carla asked me to upload this report, but I can’t figure out how to put it in the right place. You know, I was just talking to Ahmet about how I wish I knew more about computers.

Marcos:   It’s probably not you. The system still has problems.

Paula:   Well, that’s annoying.

Marcos:   Yeah, but they’ll update it pretty soon and fix everything. In the meantime, we’re stuck with it. Maybe I can help you?

Paula:   That would be great. Thanks!

Marcos:   My pleasure! Huh. This looks different from mine for some reason.

Paula:   Do I need to install something?

Marcos:   No, it’s on the network. But maybe restart your browser to make sure it updated.

Paula:   I hope this works! I don’t have the time for this! Oh! That changed it.

Marcos:   Yeah, now it’s updated. So, click here.

Paula:   Yeah, I think that’s what I did last time.

Marcos:   Now open this for the list of folders, and scroll down to Carla’s name.

Paula:   Yeah, I got that. But when I try to add the file, nothing happens.

Marcos:   Oh. Huh. That should work.

Paula:   Wait a second, what’s this icon? Oh! I get it. In order to put the file in her folder, I need to click here and then choose “upload file” from the drop-down menu.

Marcos:   Oh, you’re right! You figured it out!

Paula:   I did! I thought you were the techie.

Marcos:   Hey! I’m a market research guy. What do I know about file-management systems?

C

Marcos:   Now open this for the list of folders and scroll down to Carla’s name.

Paula:   Yeah, I got that. But when I try to add the file, nothing happens.

Marcos:   Oh. Huh. That should work.

Paula:   Wait a second, what’s this icon? Oh! I get it. In order to put the file in her folder, I need to click here and then choose “upload file” from the drop-down menu.

A

c

B

1   According to Dunbar

2   Studies have also shown

C

1 close, good   2 casual   3 deeper

4 shared   5 damaged

Is Social Media Ruining Your Friendships?

Recently, my friend Anita unfriended 200 people on social media. She just deleted them from her contacts list, posting a message, “Please don’t be offended. I need to spend less time online and focus on people in my real life. Want to stay in touch? Send me a message! But right now, I’m way over my Dunbar Number.”

What was she talking about? And why would anyone want fewer friends? Well, it turns out that your Dunbar Number comes from Robin Dunbar, an anthropologist and psychologist who, in the 1980s, figured out that people usually have between 100 and 200 friendships. So your Dunbar number is the number of meaningful friendships you can manage—about 150. Since then, researchers have broken that number down further. The smallest group—around 15 people— those are your close friends, the ones you might call when you’re having a problem. The next group, your good friends, is around 50 people.

They’re the ones you would invite if you had a big party. The outer group—around 100 people or so—those are casual friends. You don’t talk to them very often, or possibly don’t even talk to them at all, but you still consider them friends. Before social media, people would lose touch with that big outer circle of friends, but not anymore. We keep casual friendships alive with occasional online comments and congratulations. We keep our old friends even as we grow apart. And why not? Friends are important to our happiness. So, Anita probably made a mistake by cutting off so many social media connections. Right?

Well, maybe yes and maybe no. Although social media is great for keeping in touch with casual friends, your number of close friends remains the same–no matter how many friends you have online. And keeping in touch on social media tends not to deepen your close relationships. People who spend face-to-face time with their friends share experiences. They go places together and they do things together. And they touch each other. According to Dunbar, we don’t realize how important human touch is to us. Your friend patting you on the back when you’re down can comfort you in a way that no on-screen conversation can.

In addition, too much time spent online can actually damage real world relationships. If you’re focusing on maintaining casual online friendships, you may not pay enough attention to your real-life friends. You may not even spend enough time with your partner. Too much time on social media is associated with higher divorce rates. Studies have also shown that people who spend a lot of time online are lonelier than people who spend less time online.

So, is my friend Anita happier now that she’s not on social media as much? I don’t know! She hasn’t posted any updates about it! But, in the end, I’m just a casual friend of Anita’s. It’s really not so important for me to get her daily news.

A

c

B

1   CITtech

2   If more space is needed, it will be easy to add another room.

3   When a large group of people gathers at a bus stop, additional buses can be added. And when the traffic sensors detect heavy traffic, the city’s driverless cars will automatically take a different route.

City of Tomorrow

Greenville is not a place you want to walk at night. Few people live there, nobody shops there, and it’s full of empty apartment buildings and factories. But if technology giant CITtech gets its way, all of that will be changing very soon.

The first part of CITtech’s plan is to replace most of the existing structures with new housing, commercial buildings, and streets, and to build a revolutionary new transportation system.

As you would expect, all of the new buildings will be high tech and energy efficient. They will also be modular. That means that each building will be constructed from pre-made sections, similar to building blocks. This revolutionary approach means that if more space is needed, it will be easy to add another room.

The city’s residents will share a large group of self-driving vehicles, so fewer people will have to own their own cars. And, as a cheaper alternative to the cars, driverless buses will run on all of the main streets. There will also be a large network of tunnels beneath the city used by robots to remove and sort trash and deliver mail and packages. This will keep service and delivery vehicles off the city streets, making traffic lighter. CITtech believes that the efficient traffic system will allow the streets to be narrower and the sidewalks wider, making the city better for pedestrians.

Creating an efficient city requires more than buildings and roads. The real key to Greenville’s success will be the sensors built into every structure. These sensors will gather data that can be used to improve services. For example, sensors will monitor how much waste people are producing, and how much water and electricity they use, which means that the city will always know when and where more service is needed. For example, the trash collectors won’t waste time picking up empty bins and will go where the most trash is found. For residents, this will mean no waiting for services.

The streets and sidewalks will also have sensors and cameras that will monitor car and pedestrian traffic. Imagine that a large group of people gathers at a bus stop. That information will be gathered by the system so additional buses can be added. And when the traffic sensors detect heavy traffic, the city’s driverless cars will automatically take a different route.

A lot of cities are employing smart technologies these days, but Greenville will be unique because of its efficient traffic system and the large amount of data about the residents. This plan is designed for growth, and there’s no doubt that CITtech will come up with more exciting ideas for improving the lives of residents. Keep your eye on Greenville—you may want to move there pretty soon.

A

two of the presenter’s favorite apps

B

1

      App 1: Todoist

      App 2: Forest

2

      App 1: to-do list, send reminders

      App 2: helps people focus and not use their phones

According to one study, most of us have downloaded about 90 apps on our phones, and each day, we spend two and a half hours, or about 10% of our time using them. That’s a lot of time on apps! Because we have so many different apps to choose from, sometimes it can be difficult to know which ones are worth installing. I’d like to tell you about two of the apps that I’ve found that help me to stay organized and get things done.

My favorite app is ToDoist. It’s like a to-do list on paper, but it’s easier to put things in order. ToDoist makes it simple to set up reminders for things that you need to do weekly or monthly, like studying for quizzes or paying bills. You can even have the app remind you of your friends’ birthdays every year. If you have this app, you’ll never forget anything again.

Another app that I wish I had heard about sooner is called Forest, where the goal is to grow as many trees as you can to create a forest. As I said, most people spend a large part of their day using apps, and this app can help you when you want to focus on something besides your phone.

Here’s how it works. When you want to concentrate, you open the app and start its timer. For example, before you start studying, you could set the timer for 30 minutes. Next, you click the start button to make a tree start growing. Then, if you don’t use your phone during the 30 minutes, your tree gets larger and it will be added to your forest. On the other hand, if you decide to unlock your phone during that time, the app destroys your tree on the screen, and it won’t become a part of your forest. Even though the tree isn’t real, helping it stay alive motivates me to stay focused on my work instead of being distracted by other apps on my phone.

Thank you for listening. I hope that you’ll find the ToDoist and Forest apps helpful too.