Nick: Every Day is a School Day

1. Listen to the conversation and do the test.

Quiz

Прослушайте диалог и ответьте на вопросы.
Galina www.english-study-cafe.ru

Show all questions

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1. Where is Nick now?
   1.   ?    in England
   2.   ?    in the USA
   3.   ?    in India
2. How long has he been there?
   1.   ?    more than a month
   2.   ?    less than a month
   3.   ?    two weeks
3. What was Nick's job?
   1.   ?    He was a landscape painter.
   2.   ?    He was a teacher.
   3.   ?    He was a gardener.
4. What are Nick's impressions of his new life?
   1.   ?    Everything is different.
   2.   ?    He hasn't got used to it.
   3.   ?    Nothing has really changed.

 OK 

2. Now open the script and listen again.

open the script

Mark: So Nick you are from Manchester?
Nick: Yeah.
Mark: How long is it since you left there?
Nick: About three weeks we have been in India now. Yeah.
Mark: Right. You came straight from England to India?
Nick: Yeah. Straight into Delhi. Yeah. It was a bit of a culture shock but we have got used to it now. It is great.
Mark: Oh good. What were you doing in Manchester before you came here?
Nick: In Manchester I was a landscape gardener.
Mark: Oh yeah.
Nick: Yeah.
Mark: That is a nice job working outside.
Nick: Yeah definitely. I enjoyed it. It is ah I definitely enjoyed it. It is totally different being away out here though. It is a totally different environment. (laughs)
Mark: Yeah yeah. India is a great teacher, isn’t it, isn’t she?
Nick: Yeah, definitely. It has definitely opened my eyes to the world a lot more. It is ah.. I would not say “narrow-minded” but a lot is closed off to the rest of the world I would have thought a lot in England so being out here has opened my eyes massively.
Mark: Oh good.
Nick: Yeah it is a really good experience.
Mark: Yeah me too.
Nick: Like we say every day is a school day.
Kath: (laughs)

credit: englishconversations.org

Mr Buster Martin

1. Прослушайте текст и выполните тест.

2. Откройте текст и прослушайте еще раз.
Проверьте, насколько хорошо вы поняли содержание рассказа.

3. Потренируйтесь, если есть желание, в чтении вслух вслед за диктором.

Quiz

Выберите один правильный ответ к каждому вопросу.

Show all questions

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1. How old is Mr Buster Martin?
   1.   ?    90
   2.   ?    99
   3.   ?    100
2. What does he do?
   1.   ?    He works for a company.
   2.   ?    He is a pensioner.
   3.   ?    He serves in the army.
3. Where was he born?
   1.   ?    in England
   2.   ?    in Italy
   3.   ?    in France
4. How many children does he have?
   1.   ?    7
   2.   ?    17
   3.   ?    1
5. What happened to Mr Buster Martin not long ago?
   1.   ?    He was beaten by muggers.
   2.   ?    He had a heart attack.
   3.   ?    He stayed in hospital for a week.
6. What helps him to stay fit (at least he thinks so)?
   1.   ?    He exercises every day.
   2.   ?    He drinks beer every day
   3.   ?    both

 OK 

открыть текст

Recently, Mr Buster Martin had a birthday. He went to work as normal, and his colleagues at work organised a party for him. There was a birthday cake, and candles, and everyone sang “Happy Birthday to you”. It was a special occasion. Buster Martin was 100 years old. He is the oldest person still in employment in Britain. He works for a company in south London. He cleans their vans for them for 20 hours each week. In fact, he started working for the company only three years ago, when he was 97. He applied for the job because he was getting bored at home. If you dont keep moving, he says, your joints seize up and you end up in a wheelchair.
Buster Martin has had a remarkable life. He was born in France, but was brought up in an orphanage in Cornwall in south-west England. Then he came to London to work in the markets. For thirty-five years he served in the armed forces – the army and the navy – mainly as a physical education instructor. He says that he has never had a day off work through illness. His wife died many years ago, but he has 17 children, and has lost count of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He thinks there are about 70 of them. They come to see me when they want money, he jokes.
Recently he was attacked by muggers as he was leaving a pub. They knocked him to the ground, but he got up again and kicked one of them hard in …well, somewhere where it really hurts. His attackers ran away. Buster had scratches and bruises from the attack and was taken to hospital. He walked out of the hospital next day and went to work. So how does Buster Martin manage it? How does he stay so fit and active? He says that he does press-ups every morning and drinks several pints of beer every evening. I am not sure about the press-ups but the beer sounds like a good idea.

credit: listen-to-english.com

A couch potato

Listen to the conversation and answer the questions. Then do the test below.

1. What is a couch?
2. Who is called a couch potato?
3. What are the British known for?
4. What do they do more often now: watch TV or search the internet?

Gap-fill exercise

Прочитайте текст аудиозаписи. Выберите подходящие по смыслу слова из выпадающего меню. Проверьте себя, нажав на кнопку CHECK. Если есть ошибки, прослушайте аудиозапись еще раз.
Galina www.english-study-cafe.ru

A couch is a sofa, such as people have in their sitting-rooms, often 5 hours a daya surveyastonishingcouch-and-computer potatoesgetting fatin front of the televisionnationthe internet search engineto accesswatching television. Some people spend a lot of time sitting on the couch 5 hours a daya surveyastonishingcouch-and-computer potatoesgetting fatin front of the televisionnationthe internet search engineto accesswatching television, and probably 5 hours a daya surveyastonishingcouch-and-computer potatoesgetting fatin front of the televisionnationthe internet search engineto accesswatching television for want of exercise. We have a name for such people in English – couch potatoes. And, as British people are well known for watching TV a lot, perhaps we are a 5 hours a daya surveyastonishingcouch-and-computer potatoesgetting fatin front of the televisionnationthe internet search engineto accesswatching television of couch potatoes.
Google, the company that runs 5 hours a daya surveyastonishingcouch-and-computer potatoesgetting fatin front of the televisionnationthe internet search engineto accesswatching television, has just published 5 hours a daya surveyastonishingcouch-and-computer potatoesgetting fatin front of the televisionnationthe internet search engineto accesswatching television which claims that British people now spend more time on the internet than they do watching television – 164 minutes a day on average on the internet, 148 minutes watching television.
It was only about 10 years ago that people first started 5 hours a daya surveyastonishingcouch-and-computer potatoesgetting fatin front of the televisionnationthe internet search engineto accesswatching television the internet from home computers. Now, according to Google, everyone in Britain spends the equivalent of 41 days a year surfing the net. Of course, this figure includes net access at work as well as at home. Still, if true, it is 5 hours a daya surveyastonishingcouch-and-computer potatoesgetting fatin front of the televisionnationthe internet search engineto accesswatching television. Moreover, the time that Google says we spend watching TV and the time we spend on the net, added together, comes to over 5 hours a daya surveyastonishingcouch-and-computer potatoesgetting fatin front of the televisionnationthe internet search engineto accesswatching television. Can this really be true? Are we British now a nation of 5 hours a daya surveyastonishingcouch-and-computer potatoesgetting fatin front of the televisionnationthe internet search engineto accesswatching television? If I search the web, can I find a website with more information about this?

credit: listen-to-english.com

 Check 

 OK 

An English Village in Spain

1. Listen to the conversation and do the test.

Quiz

Прослушайте аудиозапись беседы. Ответьте на вопросы.

Galina www.english-study-cafe.ru

Show all questions

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1. What is the weather like in this place?
   1.   ?    foggy
   2.   ?    cloudy
   3.   ?    sunny
2. People in Gibraltar want to be
   1.   ?    independent
   2.   ?    British
   3.   ?    Spanish
3. What language do people there speak?
   1.   ?    Spanish
   2.   ?    English with Spanish accent
   3.   ?    both English and Spanish
4. How many people live in the village?
   1.   ?    less than a thousand
   2.   ?    more than a thousand
   3.   ?    a few hundred

 OK 

2. Now open the script and listen again.

open the script

Luis: So It is like you see it and it is like on a stage. Something is not working here. I mean an English village should be cloudy, should be foggy, should be… not this starkly blue sky.
Mark: This is Gibraltar?
Luis: This is Gibraltar.
Mark: What is the situation there?
Luis: It is a British colony in south Spain.. It is a British colony in Europe. It is a colony of a European country in another European country.
Mark: And the people in Gibraltar; they don’t want to be Spanish and they don’t want to be British? They want to be independent?
Luis: They want to be independent.
Mark: Right. And they speak English?
Luis: They speak English with a very strong Andalucian accent. A very strong south Spanish accent and the slang they use is Spanish.
Mark: How many people?
Luis: A few thousand.
Mark: A few thousand. Wow! What an interesting place.
Luis: A weird place. Kind of surrealistic actually.
Mark: Right. An English village with the wrong-coloured sky.
Luis: (laughs) To me this is the most surrealistic part of the place because one doesn’t match the other. It is not working. You are missing the clouds, the fog, the…

credit: englishconversations.org