Practice English Listening B2 Exercises – Can You Understand These People?

1 b   2 c   3 c   4 a   5 b

1

A   So what did you get in the end?

B   Well, I tried on loads of things but they were either the wrong size of the wrong colour. There was this divine bright blue leather jacket and it was really reduced, but I could only find a small and I very nearly got a black cashmere sweater, but then I thought, actually I’ve got one just like it already, so I left it and in the end I went back to where the jackets were and I found the blue one in a medium so I got it. But now I’m not sure if I’ll ever wear it.

2

Well, I’ve been here for about six months and I can tell you that the English are a lot stricter about being punctual than we are in Australia. Some English friends of mine asked me to dinner and I said what time and they said about eight o’clock. Well, I didn’t want to come too early because in Australia that’s not good manners. So I arrived at about eight twenty-five and when my friend opened the door she said ‘At last! Here you are! We thought you’d got lost.’ I mean she made it pretty clear that I was late! Apparently it’s OK to come about 15 minutes later than the time people say but not more… strange huh? Back home people wouldn’t mind at all, would they?

3

A   So, what did you think, John?

B   Well, I have to say that I didn’t really enjoy it – in fact, I didn’t like it at all. Of course I know some people lover her style. And I quite enjoyed the last one – what was it? – The Station master’s daughter but that had a good plot and this one was just all over the place. And it’s not that the characters weren’t interesting – they were, but as soon as I started to get interested in one of them they would suddenly disappear and new ones would appear. In the end, I just couldn’t work out what was happening.

4

Air Brittania announces a change of gate for Flight AB 578 flight to Budapest. This flight will now be departing from gate B 50.

5

A   Excuse me?

B   Yes?

A   Do you know if the flight from Santiago has arrived yet?

B   Er yes, it arrived about half an hour ago.

A   The Iberia one that came via Madrid?

B   That’s right. But it arrived in Terminal 2. This is Terminal 3.

A   Oh no. Then I’ve been waiting in the wrong place. Do you think all the passengers will have come out by now?

B   It’s hard to say. It all depends how long it takes for them to get their luggage and come through customs.

A   Is there any way you could put a message out in Terminal 2 so that I can let them know I’m coming? Otherwise they might think I’m not here to meet them.

B   Yes, I can. What are their names?

1   Cold, reserved, often depressed, and maybe suicidal.

2   Quite a lot, except for the suicide rate.

3   Because it hasn’t fought in a war for 200 years.

4   They are very patriotic, passionate about protecting the environment, and very good at recycling.

5   They are very good in the house.

A lot of people think of us as cold and reserved, and often depressed, maybe even suicidal, but I don’t think this is a good description of us. I suppose it’s true that we have a tendency to be rather melancholic, maybe because of our long dark winters, but I don’t think our suicide rate is especially high at all.

I think the Swedes do take life very seriously. And we are very self-conscious, especially in social situations, so maybe we do sometimes appear to be quite shy and cold when you first meet us. But, when you get to know a Swede, I think you will find us to be very friendly and hospitable. Even, may I say, warm.

I think another very common characteristic of Swedish people is a wish to avoid conflict. It’s not a coincidence that the Swedish army has not fought in a war for 200 years. But even in our day-to-day life we always try to reach agreement with each other, we don’t like fighting or arguing. Personally, I think that’s a very positive feature of the Swedish personality.

I think as a nation we are very patriotic – maybe because we are such a small country. If you go to Sweden, you will see the Swedish flag everywhere you go: on houses, on the tables in restaurants, even on birthday cakes. We are great nature lovers – we love being in the countryside. In the winter we ski and in the summer we walk and have picnics. We are also very ecologically minded. We also believe very passionately in protecting the environment – we are very good at recycling and at using cleaner and greener technologies.

Oh, and Swedish men are very good in the house – that’s something people always think of us and it’s true. It is not uncommon in Sweden for the women to go out to work and for the man to stay at home looking after the house and after a young baby. I think I can say that Swedish men are very good at changing nappies.