Practice English Listening B1 Exercises – How did you meet your partner?

A

They met in a school hall, and it wasn’t romantic.

B

1 T

2 F (She was a student at the school, but not in his classes.)

3 F (She wasn’t usually very punctual.)

4 T

5 T

6 F (She ran off, laughing.)

7 T

8 F (They’ve been married for 12 years.)

Well, I used to be a teacher, and I taught English to adults in Indonesia for a few years, and I met my wife there, um, in the school that I was working in. She was a student at the school – ah, not in my class, I should point out – just a student at the school, and one day in the corridor I was walking to class, and she was running through the corridor because she was late for her class – she didn’t use to be very punctual in those days. And she crashed into me, and I was on my way to class, so I was carrying a whole load of things and I dropped all my books, all my papers, all my pens…they went all over the floor. And did she help me to pick them up? Nope! She just ran off, laughing; she thought it was very funny. So…you could say it wasn’t love at first sight. But we became friends after that, and we sometimes used to have tea or a beer together. And after being friends for, I think, three years, we got together – became boyfriend and girlfriend – and then a few years later, we got engaged, then we got married – and now we’ve been married for twelve years.

A

1 Animals   2 social media   3 productive   4 Love   5 health

B

1   Chimpanzees, horses, elephants, dolphins, and bats can form friendships.

2   Because with Facebook, it’s easier to stay in touch with friends.

3   Because if you have friends at work, you’re happier, and that makes you work better; the exception is your boss (it’s better not to be friends with him / her).

4   Because when you’re in love, you have less time to see your friends.

5   Because you’re less stressed, and so you live longer; you are 50% more likely to have a long life.

R = Rickie, J = Joanna, C = caller

R   You’re listening to The Morning Show and I’m Rickie Hammond.

J    And I’m Joanna Keys.

R   Now, I wonder how many of you know what today is. Well, it’s Friendship Day! All over the world today, people are celebrating those wonderful people called friends. We’ve been doing some research this morning about friends, and we’ve discovered five fascinating facts about friends for you. Just listen to these. Joanna?

J    Friends fact number one:

Animals have friends, too! Yes, apparently, we humans aren’t the only ones who have friends. There’s strong evidence that animals, like chimpanzees, horses, elephants, dolphins, and even bats can form friendships for life. And they even make friends with animals that aren’t from their species!

R   Friends fact number two:

We have more real friends thanks to social media! You may find this hard to believe, but since the invention of the internet, and especially since social media came on the scene, we actually have more real-world friends than before. People always say we’re so busy with all our online friends that we don’t have time for our real friends. But in fact the opposite is true. A doctor in Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University has done some research that shows that the internet actually helps us to keep up friendships. And why is that? Because with social media, it’s easier to stay in touch. In the past we used to lose touch with friends because of distance or lack of time. So now you know…

J    Friends fact number three:

Having friends at work makes you more productive. Now, you probably think that if you have lots of friends at work, you waste a lot of time gossiping with them. Well, listen to this. According to various studies, having friends at work makes you more productive and more creative. And I can believe that, because you know, if you have friends at work, you’re going to be happier, which in turn probably makes you work better. Just one thing, though – don’t be friends with your boss! That might make your colleagues trust you less, and they might think you got your job because of your friendship.

R   Friends fact number four:

Love can make you lose two friends. Yes, it’s a sad fact that you can lose two friends when you fall in love. According to the anthropologist Robin Dunbar, who’s studied the effect that love has on friendship, when a new person comes into your life, he – or she, of course – displaces two other people in your circle of friends. He says that when you’re in love, you spend less time with your friends, and this means that friendships deteriorate. And you know something, from my experience that’s true.

J    Friends fact number five:

So this is the last one, and it’s good news! Friendship is good for your health. It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman. People who have a lot of friends are less stressed and live longer. Research shows that you are 50% more likely to have a long life if you have a good social network.

So now we’re asking you to choose a song for a special friend. Call us or text us at 800-555-9176. The lines are open now, and our first caller is Mandy from Portland.

C   Hi, Joanna! Can you play I’ll Be There for You for my best friend? Her name’s Annie and I love her to pieces…