Practice English Listening B2 Exercises – It’s a mystery

A walk in the forest

I’m going to describe a situation and ask you some questions.

Answer quickly without thinking about it too much – the first thing that comes into your head. Are you ready?

Imagine that you’re walking through a beautiful forest. The sun is out; there’s a light breeze. It’s a really beautiful day. You’re walking with one other person.

Question 1: Who are you walking with?

***

As you walk through the forest, you come across an animal.

Question 2: What kind of animal is it? A big animal or a small one?

How do you interact with the animal?

***

Now you’re walking deeper into the forest, and you come to a clearing, where there are no trees. There’s a house in the middle of the clearing.

Question 3: How big is the house? Does it have a fence around it or not?

***

You walk up to the door of the house and it’s open. You go in, and you see a table.

Question 4: What is there on the table? Are there any people sitting around it?

***

You finish looking around the house and you leave out of the back door. There’s a huge yard behind the house. You go into the yard, and in the middle you find a cup.

Question 5: What is the cup made of? Is it a ceramic cup? Metal? Plastic? Paper?

***

As you walk to the end of the yard, you come to some water. You must cross this water in order to get home.

Question 6: What kind of water is it? A lake? A river? A small pond?

How do you cross it? How wet do you get?

1   the person = an important person in your life

2   the animal = problems in your life

      how you interact with it = how you deal with your problems

3   the house = your ambitions

      no fence = you are open to new ideas

      a fence = you often think you are right

4   the table = how you are feeling right now

5   the cup = how strong your relationship is with the person you

      are walking with

6   the water = your friends

      how wet you get = how important your friends are to you

      (very wet = very important)

What you have just done is a psychological test that analyzes how you interact with other people. Now I’m going to tell you what your answers mean.

The person you were walking with is an important person in your life.

The animal represents problems in your life. The bigger the animal, the more problems you have.

How you interact with the animal represents how you deal with your problems. If you were aggressive or decisive, that means you confront your problems, try to solve them. If the interaction was peaceful, then you’re a more passive person and often wait for problems to go away.

The house represents your ambitions. The bigger the house, the more ambitious you are. If there was no fence around the house, it means you’re very open-minded, and welcome new ideas. If it had a fence, then you’re more convinced that you’re right, and tend to surround yourself by people who agree with you.

The table represents how you’re feeling right now. If there was food or there were flowers on the table, and people sitting a round it, this suggests that you’re feeling happy in your relationships. No food, flowers, or people suggests that someone in your family, or a friend, is making you unhappy.

The cup represents how strong your relationship is with the person you’re walking with, and how long the relationship will last. The harder and more resistant the material of the cup is, the stronger your relationship is.

The water represents your friends. If you saw a large river or lake, you have a big social circle and like to be surrounded by people. If you got very wet when you crossed it, your friends are very important for you. If you hardly got wet at all, it means that you depend less on your friends and are more self-sufficient.