Practice English Listening B1+ Exercises – How was your trip?

A

Leti tells Marcos about her trip.

B

1 F   2 T   3 F

A B

Marcos:   Hey, Leti. How are you? How was your trip?

Leti:   It was amazing. Really—so incredible. The people there, the animals, the light… I got the best pictures!

Marcos:   Cool! What country were you in again?

Leti:   Botswana.

Marcos:   Interesting. Was it hot?

Leti:   Oh man, it was so hot. We were out in the sun all day on a safari, taking pictures of animals. A couple of the people in my group got sick from the heat.

Marcos:   They did?

Leti:   Yeah, I was lucky. I got a little sunburned, but that’s it.

Marcos:   Was it humid?

Leti:   No, it was super dry, except for the one day when we were all out with our cameras and suddenly it started pouring!

Marcos:   Oh no! It did? Did your camera get damaged?

Leti:   No, luckily. I just wrapped it up in my jacket and I ran back to the truck as fast as I could! I got soaked. Completely soaked. But—I saved my camera!

Marcos:   Wow. I guess that kind of ruined your photo shoot for the day, though.

Leti:   Not at all! The downpour only lasted fifteen minutes. We just waited it out in the truck.

Marcos:   Oh, good.

Leti:   Then the sun came out and pretty soon it was boiling hot again! But the grass was so green and the sky was crystal clear— everything was even more beautiful after the rain.

Marcos:   Hmm, I don’t know, Leti—people getting sick from the heat and getting caught in the rain…. Are you sure you had fun?

Leti:   It was more than fun, Marcos. It was a dream come true! You should try it sometime. 

C

Leti:   A couple of the people in my group got sick from the heat.

Marcos:   They did?

Leti:   Yeah, I was lucky. I got a little sunburned, but that’s it.

Marcos:   Was it humid?

Leti:   No, it was super dry.

A

elephants, lions, hippos, spiders

B

1 elephants   2 lions   3 hippos

4 baboon spiders

A B

Marcos:   Wow, it sounds like you had a great trip. I can’t wait to see the pictures.

Leti:   I’ve got a bunch here on my computer if you want to look at them.

Marcos:   Definitely!

Leti:   Well, here’s the first elephant I saw.

Marcos:   Wow, he’s enormous!

Leti:   He’s a she, actually. This is her baby.

Marcos:   Aw, he’s so cute!

Leti:   He’s adorable. And so intelligent and playful.

Marcos:   Yeah, they’re really social, aren’t they?

Leti:   Incredibly social. Seriously, they’re such amazing animals. It’s just so obvious that they really care for each other. I love elephants. And here’s a–

Marcos:   A lion?

Leti:   Very good!

Marcos:   And I even know that’s a male lion.

Leti:   Yes, it’s pretty easy to tell with adult lions. Isn’t he gorgeous? He looks so calm, but he’s so fierce. I love lions.

Marcos:   Are there any animals you don’t love?

Leti:   Not really. But I do stay away from hippos!

Marcos:   Hippos? Really?

Leti:   They’re such dangerous animals. You have no idea. They’re very aggressive and believe it or not, they can run almost four times faster than humans.

Marcos:   Hmm.

Leti:   And I’m proud of this one. This was such a difficult picture to get.

Marcos:   Ugh! A tarantula?

Leti:   Actually, that’s a baboon spider. They’re a kind of tarantula. They’re such fascinating creatures! This spider can kill a small snake! Or a bird! You don’t like spiders, huh?

Marcos:   I don’t even like small spiders! If any spider bigger than this comes into my house, I ask my wife to kill it.

Leti:   You shouldn’t kill spiders! They eat insects. It’s good to have spiders around!

Marcos:   That’s what my wife says. She always takes them outside.

Leti:   Good for her!

Marcos:   I guess. As long as it’s not one of those baboon spiders!

C

Leti:   Well, here’s the first elephant I saw.

Marcos:   Wow, he’s enormous!

Leti:   He’s a she, actually. This is her baby.

Marcos:   Aw, he’s so cute!

Leti:   He’s adorable. And so intelligent and playful.

B

Answers will vary.

1   eat all the hillside plants

2   No

3   they’re not enough

C

What happens when the wolves disappear?

Okay. I’m going to tell you a story. Try to imagine what happens next. You’re a farmer, and wolves are stealing your chickens! So, you set traps and all the wolves die off. Problem solved.

But have you created a new problem?

With no wolves around, deer invade the nearby hills. And the deer eat all the hillside plants. So? Who cares? Well, you do. With no plants to hold it, the soil becomes very loose and no longer holds the rain. Instead, storm water races down and floods your field and wipes away your crops. Even though you thought you were a smart farmer, was it worth saving your chickens if it meant losing your whole farm?

So, why share this story? What’s the point?

Well, what this story shows us is how every animal is part of a complicated system. If we allow whole species to disappear, no one can predict the result. And although we can’t predict the long-term effects of allowing different animals to die off, we do know that our planet is stronger when there are many different species of animals and plants. And right now, there are more than 3,000–that’s right, 3,000–endangered species.

I know what you’re thinking. One way to save endangered animals is to make sure people don’t kill them. Most countries have laws that limit hunting and fishing. Isn’t that enough?

No. Though hunting laws are great, they’re not enough. You see, hunting isn’t the only danger that animals face.

Here are a few other dangers–and some creative solutions.

Indonesians are putting tracking collars on elephants. Why do that? Well, when elephants move out of the jungle and into areas where they can cause problems and get hurt, the collars allow people to track them and guide them to a safer place. Clever, right?

Here’s another smart idea: a magnetic fish hook. Why magnetic? Surprisingly, it protects sharks. Sharks keep oceans healthy. When people fish, sharks caught by mistake are just thrown away. But, it turns out that sharks hate magnets! So they stay away from magnetic hooks. But what about other fish? It’s okay. The hooks don’t bother the fish people want for food. So, everyone wins. Well, except for the fish, of course.

Here’s another problem and another idea. Imagine the Costa Rican jungle. Countless monkeys live there. One day, zoom, a new highway cuts through the jungle and, suddenly, the monkeys are getting hit by cars. What should we do? Here’s a solution that I love: monkey bridges. Overhead ropes hang over the road so happy monkeys can swing safely across. Brilliant!

You want to hear another idea? Let’s start with the problem. In Japan, turtles were getting stuck crossing the railroad tracks. Now, turtle tunnels let them go under the rails. Cool, huh?

Okay, smart collars, magnetic hooks, monkey bridges, turtle tunnels. What do you think a bee highway is? This is incredible. In Oslo, the capital of Norway, too many tall buildings meant bees were disappearing in the city. So they started creating a bee highway, made up of rooftop flower gardens and shelters that help bees survive as they travel across the city. Genius.

So, it’s clear that with a little bit of effort and creativity, we can protect wildlife, but we need to do a lot more of it. Not all of the animals we need to save are big and beautiful like wolves and elephants. Some are tiny, or ugly, and some are even dangerous. But every animal is part of a complicated system. If we allow whole species to disappear, no one can predict the results.

A

b

B

1 b   2 b   3 a

A Place to Get Better

On the southern border of Costa Rica is a very special place where sick and injured wild animals are safe and cared for. It is the Jaguar Rescue Center.

The center never turns away any wild animal brought to its door. I interviewed a volunteer, Kathleen, to find out more about this amazing place.

1   So, Kathleen, tell me more about the center. What kinds of animals does it help?

All kinds. Sloths, howler monkeys, porcupines, and more—any sick, injured, or orphaned animal. People in town, or sometimes the local police, see the animals in the road or while they’re out hiking and bring them to the center.

2   So what kinds of tasks do you do at the center?

I do a lot of feeding and cleaning up. It’s similar to having your own pets. We feed some of the baby animals with goat milk in bottles, and we help out in the kitchen to make food for the older animals.

3   Do you have a favorite kind of animal at the center?

My favorite are the howler monkeys. They are so fascinating! Did you know that they are the loudest land animal? Their vocalizations can be heard clearly for five kilometers.

4   Where do the howlers live in the center? I know that monkeys like to climb…

They eat and sleep in a very large enclosure, which we clean twice a day. The enclosure was created as an environment that closely mimics their natural habitat as much as possible, so there’s plenty of space to climb, jump, swing, and play.

5   Do the animals return to the jungle when they’re healthy again?

Yes! The goal is to return the animals to their natural habitat. Every afternoon, we take the healthy howlers into the jungle. If they don’t come back, it means they are beginning a new life in the wild with a new family.

6   It must be difficult to say good-bye to the howlers when they find their new home.

Yes, but sometimes they come back to say hello. One of the howlers who had been successfully released back into the jungle returned one day with a surprise—a new baby! It’s like she wanted to say “thank you” to the people who cared for her.

A

Answers will vary. Possible answer: It’s about the gray whale.

B

One of my favorite endangered species is the gray whale. I admire their unusual combination of power and peacefulness. They’re extremely strong, but they don’t attack other animals like some whales do.

I’m especially impressed by the size of these gentle giants. They’re about 15 meters—or about 50 feet—long. That’s as long as a bus. They can weigh up to 40 tons, which is as much as eight elephants. But don’t be afraid. Even though they’re enormous, they’re not aggressive at all. They’re actually playful and they’re so friendly that they sometimes swim up to people on boats and let them touch their heads.

Gray whales live in the Pacific Ocean. The population of gray whales has increased in some areas, but they’re endangered in others. For example, a large population used to exist near Japan and Russia, but now that part of the ocean has less than 100 of them left.

One of the most common dangers to gray whales is whalers, who hunt and kill whales. Other threats are large ships and fishing boats that injure them, and dangerous chemicals that get put into the ocean and make them sick.

Fortunately, several organizations are working to make the ocean safer for gray whales. They’re trying to make whale hunting illegal in more countries, and they’re trying to pass laws to protect whales from chemicals. I hope that environmental groups and scientists will continue working to make it possible for these amazing animals to survive. Thank you.