How to use
3 simple steps:
- Start: Do the warm-up and words first.
- Listen: Each listening has one audio. Play it twice. Answer only that audio.
- Read: Each reading has one text. Fill gaps only for that text.
Tap Check - green is correct, red is try again.
Then tap Mark complete.
Warm-up - When do you block out the world
PresentationDONEThink about you.
Write 2 short sentences.
Vocabulary
Presentation - VocabularyDONELearn 10 key words.
Match the word to the meaning.
Predict - Three listens, three reads
Presentation - PredictDONEGuess before you listen and read.
Write one guess for listening and one for reading.
Listening Extract 1 - Gymnast - Selective hearing
Practice Listening - Extract 1 onlyDONEListen to Extract 1. Choose A, B or C.
Audio: Extract 1. Script below after you check.
Questions for Extract 1 only.
Script - Extract 1 - Full transcript
For me, I feel like whenever I compete, I have selective hearing, so I can hear my parents, I can definitely hear Marta and my teammates, but other than that, like I feel like I could hear a penny drop in the arena because I am so focused in on my routines. So you do kind of get into your own head and you go into a different world and you kind of block out every other sound. And of course you can hear like the camera clickings, so it is kind of like nobody is there but you at the time until you finish.
Paraphrase: hear a penny drop = extremely discriminating, block out = eliminate from reality.
Listening Extract 2 - Diving - Nil visibility
Practice Listening - Extract 2 onlyDONEListen to Extract 2. Choose A, B or C.
Audio: Extract 2. Script below after you check.
Questions for Extract 2 only.
Script - Extract 2 - Full transcript
I was working in Argentina actually on an English ship that was lost in 1770 and it was truly nil visibility. If you put your hand on your diving mask, you could not see it. So we were doing all of our hand signals by squeezing and staying really close to the person next to us. He was very new to the site, was a little bit nervous, so was going through air quite quickly, had not been paying attention to how much air he had left in his cylinder. When he realised that there was very little, he absolutely panicked and was climbing over me to try and get out of the site. And so by bolting for the surface, he was putting his life in danger. And it was a wooden vessel that was relatively intact and he was stuck on structure and I was trying to get him unstuck and he just was not having a bar of it. And in the end, in order to get him free, we had to go deeper into the vessel and of course when you are that panicked and you do not want to be there and you think you are going to die, the last thing you want to do is to go deeper. It is something that we are trained to be aware of and if it gets to that point where you are at risk, you have to then unfortunately look after yourself. And thankfully in this situation, it did not get to that. They got him out of the water, gave him oxygen, calmed him down, ultimately he was fine.
Vocabulary: nil visibility = no visibility, panicked = very frightened.
Listening Extract 3 - Activist - Disillusioned
Practice Listening - Extract 3 onlyDONEListen to Extract 3. Choose A, B or C.
Audio: Extract 3. Script below after you check.
Questions for Extract 3 only.
Script - Extract 3 - Full transcript
What I have realised, and I think we have all seen this at the beginning of this year with the women's march, that there is a huge movement of women and men who believe in equality, and who are willing to stand up for women's rights. But what I have also realised is that we need to focus on creating a positive discourse of hope rather than being against something, because that creates such a negative downward spiral where you literally can get to a point where I think people feel so disillusioned and so disempowered that they feel like, you know, what am I going to do? I mean, what am I going to do about the war in Syria? But if you can find a way to talk about these issues, showing how individual action can make a difference, then I think you can inspire people. And Women for Women International. Our key ask is always to sponsor one woman for a year to go through our program. And it just becomes the change that you are helping to achieve becomes really real. And I think we really need that because it sometimes can be extremely disheartening.
Vocabulary: disillusioned = disappointed, disempowered = without power, discourse = conversation.
Reading Text 1 - Bristleworms - 6 gaps
Practice Reading - Text 1 onlyDONERead Text 1. Fill the gaps.
Reading Text 1 - Bristleworms - Full passage
Historically, Bristleworms have had a bad reputation among saltwater aquarium aficionados. These marine worms usually enter the hobbyist's aquarium by hitching a ride on a piece of coral. Once established, they become part of the tank's ecosystem. Bristleworms range greatly in size. The smallest ones are about an inch long, and the large ones can grow to over 20 inches, although, being segmented, their bodies are often retracted and so not usually seen at their greatest extent. Literature has frequently contended that bristleworms are harmful, asserting that they eat clams, anemones and even coral fish. However, most enthusiasts now conclude that small bristleworms pose no threat, and are merely scavengers, clearing the tank from detritus and carcasses of animals that are already dead. However, larger worms, particularly those of the species known as fireworms, are voracious eaters and can do irreparable damage. These worms are better removed, although this is a challenge in itself, as the worms are nocturnal, sensitive to light and will go into hiding at the slightest disturbance.
Fill gaps 1 to 6. Text 1 only.
Fill each gap in the sentence. Type the missing word.
Reading Text 2 - Wild Food - 6 gaps
Practice Reading - Text 2 onlyDONERead Text 2. Fill the gaps.
Reading Text 2 - Wild Food - Full passage
While searching for news online, I stumble upon some photos of men tramping in the park. Their intention, it appears, is to find whatever wild treasures are growing among the hedgerows with which they can garnish their dinner plates. There was a hairy one and a Danish one, and it turns out they're swapping tips. The Danish one spies some slimy mushrooms on a tree trunk and waxes lyrical about their pickling potential. The hairy one holds a droopy weed aloft and praises its clove-like flavour. "Take care though," he warns. "It looks very like a poisonous species". The same words of caution were ascribed to a clump of berries, which were apparently to be used more like vegetables than fruit. Well, pardon me for being boring, but I've no intention of spending my pre-prandial hours traipsing round in the woods, only to keel over later on. So thanks but no thanks, hairy guy and Danish guy. I'll leave the foraging to you.
Fill gaps 7 to 12. Text 2 only.
Fill each gap in the sentence. Type the missing word.
Reading Text 3 - War Photography - Discussion
Production - Text 3 onlyDONERead Text 3. Speak about it.
Reading Text 3 - War Photography - Full passage
The exhibition of Don McCullin's war photography which is currently on display at the Merlin Gallery is not for the faint-hearted. The collection includes candid photography of war victims and soldiers captured in a single moment of fear, anguish, desperation and torment. There are no holds barred. McCullin has no qualms about snapping plundered corpses, grieving mothers or starving children whose paper-thin flesh drapes over their skeleton. This is disquieting stuff indeed. The visitor cannot fail to wonder what compelled McCullin to fly out to wherever a conflict or ecological disaster had reduced a population to desperation and ruin. Is it ethical to capture a grieving woman or a man in his death throes? McCullin argues that it is in the public's interest to know what is going on in such conflicts, and in that respect McCullin has certainly fulfilled his duty. Suffice to say, the photographs from this collection will stay in visitors' minds for many years to come. The collection will be displayed at the Merlin Gallery until 4th February.
Choose A or B. Speak for 60 seconds.
Record your voice:
Tap Record, speak, tap Stop, then Play to listen. Mark complete when you are happy.
Reflection - Keep extracts and texts separate
Production - ReflectDONEWhat was hard? What next?
Answer with numbers.
- Hardest listening: Gymnast, Diving, or Activist? Why?
- Hardest reading: Bristleworms, Wild Food, or War Photography? Why?
Lesson Complete - All extracts and texts kept separate
You kept each audio and each reading separate, as CPE requires.