Practice English Listening B1 Exercises – Listening to explanations

Tyler locked himself out of his house. He walked to the gas station and called a locksmith.

Transcripts

Ava:   Look! There’s Tyler coming down the street.

Chris:   Hey, Tyler, what happened?

Tyler:   You won’t believe how stupid I was. I came outside to take the trash to the garbage can, and I locked myself out. And worst of all, my cell phone was locked inside.

Chris:   So that’s why you didn’t answer my call.

Tyler:   Yeah, and I couldn’t call you because I didn’t remember your number.

Chris:   That’s the trouble with smartphones! Nobody remembers anyone’s number anymore. So, what did you do?

Tyler:   I walked to the gas station and called a locksmith. He said he would arrive in about half an hour. He must be on his way. I’m sorry for all this. You guys must be starved.

Ava:   Well, I brought some dessert. . . . Would anyone care for a piece of pie?

1   They woke up late, missed their flight, and had to catch the next plane. They arrived just as dinner started.

2   His dog Sheba escaped because someone left the back gate open. The neighbor saw the dog on the street, rescued her, and took her back home.

Transcripts

1

Woman:   Last Saturday was a long day! We were going to my grandparents’ 50th anniversary party, and we had to catch a plane at 7 a.m. We planned to get there early to spend time with my family. But during the night we lost power, so our alarm clock never woke us up. We got up two hours late, missed our flight, and had to catch the next plane. We even changed into our clothes for the party at the airport to save time! It was a close call, but we arrived just when everyone was sitting down to dinner. I’m so glad we made it, but what a stressful trip!

2

Man:   You wouldn’t guess it from her size, but our little dog Sheba is really adventurous. She loves to play in our backyard and chase birds, but when we come home, she is always waiting for us by the door. But yesterday when my daughter and I got home, we couldn’t find Sheba anywhere. My poor daughter was so upset she couldn’t stop crying! Someone must’ve left the back gate open, and she must’ve escaped. Luckily, my neighbor saw her running down the street and was able to pick her up. Ten minutes after we got home, she knocked on the door with Sheba in her arms. What a relief!

1

Simon:   Hey, what’s this? Wow! A gold ring!

Woman:   Simon found a gold ring on a busy sidewalk. It looked like an expensive ring. He wanted to give it back to the owner, but he thought the person who lost it might return to look for it. So he left the ring on the sidewalk.

2

Jana:   No one is ever going to want to hire me.

Man:   Jana got fired from her last job because she was rude to a customer. She just applied for a new job, but she lied and said she had quit her last job. The manager called her old boss and found out what really happened.

3

Martin:   I trusted my boss.

Woman:   Martin discovered that $1,000 was missing from the company account, so he asked his boss about it. His boss admitted he borrowed the money without permission, but he promised to return it next week. Three days later, Martin’s boss disappeared, and now more money is missing from the company account.