Listening comprehension

Tекст для аудіювання № 1

(Listening comprehension)

1. Pre – Listening

T): – Are there periods in your life when everything goes wrong?

– Are there other periods when you can move the mountains?

– How can you explain it?

T): Some people believe that there are cycles in our lives. Something we feel good, sometimes – bad without definite reason. These cycles are called biorhythms.

Before listening to the text about biorhythms pay your attention at the following lexical units:

 

– a biorhythm                    – irritable

– a cycle: emotional  – moody

intellectual        – confident

physical            – to lose one’s

– a phase: negative               temper

positive

 

1. while – listening

T): Listen to the text attentively & be ready to do the tasks.

 

“Biorhythms”

Biorhythms are the rhythms, which control our lives. There are three biorhythms cycles: the physical cycle, which has 23 days, the emotional cycle, which has 28 day sand the intellectual cycle, which has 33 days. Each cycle has a positive & negative phase. When you are in positive physical phase you’ll feel very healthy & fit, full of energy, and you are less likely to become ill. When you are in negative physical phase, you will fill lazy, you’ll get tired easily & you are more likely to become ill.

The positive emotional phase is a good time for romance. You will feel happy & cheerful, friendly & optimistic, in the negative emotional phase you’ll feel irritable & moody; you’ll get depressed easily & you are more likely to loose your temper or to cry.

 

The intellectual phase is very important for school. In the positive phase you will be able to learn things easily, you can think clearly & you will feel confident. This is a good time for exams & tests. The negative intellectual phase is the worst time for exams, in the phase you will feel confused, you’ll not able to concentrate easily & you are more likely to make mistakes.

 

Tasks

• Complete the sentences & fill in the table using the words from the word bank.

fill healthy & fit, full of energy, less likely to become ill, feel lazy, get tired easily, more likely to become ill.

fill happy & cheerful, friendly  & optimistic, feel irritable & moody, get depressed easily, loose your temper or to cry, can learn things easily, can think clearly, feel confident, a good time for exams, tests, worst time for tests, feel confused, cannot concentrate easily, can make mistakes.

 

Cycle Phase	Positive	Negative
1) Physical
2) Emotional
3) Intellectual

Biorhythms are…

 

• Discussing:

 

T):         1. What are biorhythms & how they influence us?

2. How do you feel when you are:
3. a) in the positive physical phase?
4. b) in the negative physical phase?
5. c) in the positive emotional phase?
6. d) in the negative emotional phase?
7. e) in the positive intellectual phase?
8. f) in the negative intellectual phase?

• What mood are you in today?

Tекст для аудіювання №2

 

“Christmas Traditions”

Christmas season is the most festive time of the year in Britain and the United States. Students at schools and colleges usually have 2 weeks’ vacation, beginning before Christmas and ending soon after New Year. There are a lot of parties to celebrate the birth of Christ and the arrival of the New Year.

Although no one knows exactly when Jesus was born, Christians everywhere in the world celebrate his birthday on December 25. This day was a festival long before Christianity because ancient people believed this was the time when the sun god started his journey back to earth and it was a custom to give presents to each other.

Now children are told that Santa Claus or Father Christmas in a red suit, red hat and a long white beard puts presents for them into their stockings by the fireplace.

The winter traditions of decorating homes with evergreens began in ancient times too. Branches of fir were thought to bring good luck and guarantee the return of spring. The Germans were the first to use the Christmas tree in their celebrations.

In the 19th century the decorated fir tree became popular in Europe and the USA. Carol singers begin to go from house to house in groups singing traditional Christmas songs and asking for charity.

Today many people also send Christmas cards to each other.

The most popular wishes in these holiday cards are:

Merry Christmas. Peace on Earth.

 

Твердження до тексту

• Christmas is the most widely celebrated festival in Britain.
• The 25th of December was celebrated after Christmas.
• Students have a month’s winter vacation.
• Ancient people gave each other presents at this time.
• Father Christmas puts children’s presents into stockings by the fireplace.
• It is a modern tradition to decorate the house with a fir tree.
• Branches of fir were thought to bring good luck.
• Traditional Christmas songs are sung only at home.
• Greeting cards are not sent at Christmas. ‘
• On this holiday people wish each other Peace on Earth.

 

Tекст для аудіювання №3

 

“New Year Celebrations”

The last day of December and of the year is called New Year’s Eve, and with it comes the celebration of all kinds and all-night parties, especially in Scotland, where it is of more importance than Christmas Day. It was and it often is a night of feasting, singing, dancing until midnight when bells ring and people greet each other with the New Year. The celebration is the same in England, Ireland and Wales. Children go singing from door to door, and are given sweets and presents.

Those who see the New Year in, join hands at midnight and sing the Scottish song of “Auld Lang Syne” as soon as the clock finishes striking twelve. This song is sung in England to nowadays, but it is not one of the Old English customs. Even in Scotland, singing it is not so very old, for the words were only written in the 18th century by Robert Berns.

At home or in restaurants most people spend the final hours of the old year and the first hours of the new year dining with friends. Champagne – the drink that traditionally symbolizes a celebration – is often served for the midnight toast on New Year’s Eve.

Following a long New Year’s Eve, people usually spend a quiet New Year’s Day. In most homes everyone sleeps late, then enjoys lunch and TV with the family and friends. New Year’s Day is the time for starting new life programs and giving up bad habits, for making New Year resolutions. But this winter Festive season is expensive. To earn extra money for presents and celebrations a lot of young people do part-time work in December.

Ringing out the old year, ringing in the new; is a custom followed in most countries and one which will continue for many centuries more.

Твердження до тексту

• In Scotland New Year Eve is not as important as Christmas.
• There is dancing and singing everywhere only till midnight.
• Children are given presents at New Year.
• On New Year Eve a Scottish song is sung in England.
• The words of this song were written by a modern writer.
• There is no traditional drink on New Year Eve.
• People usually spend a quiet Now Year Day with their family.
• During the winter festive season young people do not have to do any extra work.
• New Year’s Day is the wrong time to give up bad habits.
• New Year resolutions have become a tradition.

 

 

Tекст для аудіювання №4

 

“Edinburgh Festival”

The post war years have seen a great growth in the number of art festivals in Britain and other European countries. Among them the Edinburgh International Festival is one of the best known events of its kind in the world. This is not surprising because everything in the arts, if it is the first class, becomes an Edinburgh Festival attraction. On most evenings during the festival there are as many as six events to choose from on the official programme: symphony concerts, ballets, plays, recitals all given by the finest artists of the world.

The idea of the festival originated in first post-war years. Many towns lay in ruins. The founders of the festival had a lot of difficulties to face, one of them being the fact that this was something that Scotland and its capital Edinburgh had never previously known. This festival started in 1947, it was a great success and has been held annually ever since. The festival is quite international in its character giving as a rule a varied representation of artistic production from a number of countries and over the past few years it has had a definite theme, that is the work of one or two composers was studied in depth. In 1962 the theme of the festival was the music of the famous composer Dmitri Shostakovitch. A great number of this works ranging from symphonies and operatic excerpts to string quartets, song and piano pieces were performed by leading artists.

In recent years about 90 thousand people visited Edinburgh every year during the 3 weeks at the end of August and early September. One of the reasons of the festival success is that it is easy for the visitors to make their arrangements since festival programs are published as early as March, and the booking opens soon afterwards, at the beginning of April. The festival has done a great deal in the development of arts in Scotland. In addition to establishing the Scottish Festival Chorus, it helped to develop the Scottish National Orchestra.

 

 

Твердження до тексту

• Edinburgh is the capital of Northern Ireland.
• The festival started before the Second World War
• The Festival takes place in early spring.
• The festival lasts three weeks.
• Only British artists take part in the Festival.
• The Festival has always been very successful.
• At one of the Festivals music by D. Shostakovich was the theme.
• Mainly symphonies are performed at the Festival.
• Every year about 90.000 people visit Edinburgh during the Festival.
• The Festival has done much in the development of National art.

 

Tекст для аудіювання №5

“A Story”

One day some Americans were having dinner at a hotel in London, when fish was put on the table one of them, a young man, said: “Let’s examine the fish carefully, perhaps we’ll find a diamond in it.” Everybody began to laugh, but an old man said quietly: “Yes, I’m sure we have all heard stories like that. Let me tell you what happened to me once.”

“When I was a young man,’ he began, “I worked for a big company in New York; and I was sent to England to do some work there. I was in love with a beautiful girl, and before I left for England, we decided that we would get married when I returned home.

I stayed in England for two months. I sent letters and postcards to the girl almost every day, but after the first two weeks I didn’t receive any answers. But I didn’t think anything was the matter, and before I left for home, I bought a beautiful diamond ring for her.

On the ship one morning, a telegram was brought to me. It was from a friend in New York, who told me that the girl had changed her mind and was going to get married to another man. I was so angry that I threw the diamond ring into the sea.

My friend came to the port to meet me, and he invited me to dinner. While we were sitting down at the table and I was eating fish, I suddenly felt something hard in my mouth. What do you think it was?”

“The diamond!” all the Americans cried.

“No”, the old man answered, “It was the fish bone.”

Запитання до тексту

31) Where were the Americans having dinner one day?

1. on board a ship
2. at the hotel
3. at a party
4. in a café

 

32)  What did the young man hope to find in the fish?

1. a watch
2. a ring
3. some money
4. Diamond

 

33)  Where was the young man sent to work?

1. to England
2. to London
3. to New York
4. to Canada

 

34)  When had the young people decided to marry?

1. when he returned home
2. During the journey
3. Before he left home
4. On the way back home

 

35)  What did the young man buy for his girl?

1. A beautiful dress
2. A fur coat
3. A gold watch
4. A diamond ring

36)  Why didn’t the girl answer his letters?

1. She was very ill
2. She wanted to join him
3. She wanted to marry another man
4. She was angry with him

37)  How did the young man react to his friend’s news?

1. He was very happy
2. He was very lonely
3. He was very angry
4. He was very unhappy

 

38)  What did the young man do with the present?

1. He gave it to another girl
2. He threw it into the sea
3. He sold it
4. He lost it in the street

 

39)  What did the friends have for dinner when they met again?

1. They had soup
2. They had pudding
3. They had meat
4. They had fish

 

40)  What did the young man feel hard in his mouth?

1. A fruit stone
2. A fish bone
3. An egg shell
4. A diamond ring

 

Tекст для аудіювання №6

 

“Florence Nightingale”

The Nightingales were wealthy and could live wherever they wanted. When William Nightingale married he and his beautiful bride toured Europe and visited many cities. On May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy, their first child was born and they called their daughter Florence. Later the family lived most of the time in London, England. During her childhood and youth Florence was chiefly interested in taking care of poor people in hospitals; her dream was to become a nurse. At the age of seventeen she was presented to Queen Victoria; with her sister she toured Italy, Germany and France where she learned the languages of those nations. In Germany Florence entered the nurse institute for a three-month training course. When she was 34 Florence became the Head of the hospital for governesses in London. She organized the work of medical nurses very well there. The Sponsors of the hospital were very pleased with her.

During the war in the Crimea, Florence and her nurses took care of the wounded and dying. They brought order and cleanliness into the army hospitals. In England she was asked to organize an army hospital reform. She returned to her native land to popularize nurses’ uniforms and the nursing institutes.

The fame of F. Nightingale spread and throughout the world she was known as the “Lady of the Lamp”. Today all Nurse Training centers exist due to Florence Nightingale’s first institute. She also wrote a practical book entitled Notes on Nursing.

She had much to do with bringing the Red Cross into army medical activities. Florance Nightingale lived to be very old and on August 13, 1910 at the age of ninety she died.

 

Запитання до тексту

41) Florence Nightingale was born in

1. a poor family
2. a rich family
3. a very rich family
4. a middle class family

42) She was named after

1. her grandmother
2. an actress
3. a queen
4. her birthplace

43)    Florence    had    always    wanted    to    become

1. a nurse
2. a teacher
3. a doctor
4. an artist

44)      She      received      her      nurse’s      training

1. in England
2. in Italy
3. in France
4. in Germany

45) At     the     age     of     34     Florence     became

1. the Headmaster of a school
2. the Head of a hospital
3. a famous doctor
4. a well-known musician

 

 

 

 

46) Florence Nightingale and her nurses worked in army hospitals during

1. a war in England
2. a war in the Crimea
3. a war in France
4. a war in the Balkans

47) For her work Florence became well-known throughout

1. Europe
2. England
3. the world
4. America

48) When  Florence  returned  to  England  she wanted

1. to continue her noble work
2. to have a good rest
3. to marry a rich man
4. to study languages

49) Florence   Nightingale  did   much  to  popularize

1. grammar school
2. popular art
3. national theatres
4. nursing institutes

50) Thanks to Florence Nightingale’s work army medical

activities were continued in

1. the Red Cross
2. the War Department
3. the United Nations
4. the British Parliament

 

Tекст для аудіювання №7

 

“American Meals”

Americans do not like to prepare meals at home. They prefer to eat at cafes or restaurants. Usu­ally they have three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. American breakfast as a rule consists of butter, jam, bread or a roll. Usually people also eat cereal with milk, some cheese, soft-boiled eggs and drink orange juice, tea or coffee. Most of Americans do not come back home to lunch, they have it at Fast Food Restaurants. The most common menu consists of apple-pie, hamburger, cheeseburger, sandwiches. There are a lot of “fast food” shops to buy something to eat quickly. They are situated on many street corners. These sell hamburgers, hot dogs and drinks like Coca-Cola. For dinner they have meat, fried or baked potatoes with ketchup, corn, peas and macaroni. In general many drinks are drunk with ice, even tea.

Виконання вправи для перевірки розуміння прослуханого тексту (Вправа на магнітній дошці)

Finish the sentences:

1. Americans_______.
2. Usually they have_______.
3. The menu consists of______.
4. The “fast food” shops________.
5. These sell______.
6. The main meal of______.
7. For dinner they have_______.
8. In general many drinks are_____.

Усне мовлення. Робота в групах. Рольова гра

• Do you eat at regular hours?
• Do you take much sugar in tea and coffee?
• How many sweets do you eat per week?
• How often do you drink fizzy drinks, like Cola, Fanta or Sprite?
• How often do you eat fresh fruit?
• What do you eat during the breaks?
• Is most of the fresh food you eat steamed boiled or fried?
• Do you eat fatty, spicy and salty food?

Потім вони повертаються до своїх груп, разом обробляють дані соціологічного опитування й оформлюють висновок, який представляє капітан команди.

Учні дають поради один одному, яку їжу слід уживати.

You should You shouldn’t

eat well, but not to much of the same food drink a lot of water because it will keep your body healthy eat lots of fruit and vegetables because they have a lot of vitamins which are important for your skip, bones and hair. eat too much junk food as hamburgers or pizzas, because they are bad for your health. drink too much tea or coffee, because they will keep you awake at night. eat too many biscuits or chocolates, because they are full of sugar and are bad for teeth.

 

Tекст для аудіювання №8

 

“All About Potatoes”

A lot of potatoes are eaten in many parts of the world, particularly in Northern Europe and North America. The potato had been cultivated in America before it became important food in Europe, Africa and Asia. It was introduced to England in the time of Queen Elizabeth I in the

16th century. Nowadays it is such an important part of the English man’s diet that it is difficult to imagine how he used to manage without it.

Potatoes can be cooked in many different ways. The four main methods used in England are boiling, roasting, baking and frying. When pota­toes are boiled, they are cut up and put in a saucepan with water and a little salt. When po­tatoes are baked, they are put in an oven for half an hour. They usually are not peeled. Baked po­tatoes with their skins on are called “potatoes in their jackets”. Roasting is like baking because it is usually done in an oven. The main difference between baking and roasting is in the usage of fat. Fat is used while you are roasting, but it is not while you are baking. Frying is like roasting because fat or oil is used. There are two main ways of frying potatoes. They can be cut into slices and fried in a special shallow pan called frying pan. For this way of frying English people use animal or vegetable fat which is sold in pack­ets or tins. The other way is called deep frying. The slices of potatoes are put into a deep pan or metal box full of oil.

In Britain fried potatoes are called “chips”. We must be careful not to get confused about the meaning of the word “chips”. In America fried potatoes are mostly called “French fries” and the word “chips” is used in America and now also in Britain for potato crisps. Potato crisps are very thin slices of potato fried by a special fac­tory method and sold in a plastic bag. It is this second and newer meaning of the word “chips”, which has been borrowed by some other lan­guages.

One of the most popular dishes in Britain is fish and chips. Before the fish is fried it is dipped in a mixture of flour and water called batter. Both fish and chips are deep fried. In every town in Britain there are fish and chips shops where one can go and buy chips and fish for the whole fa­mily.

 

Виконання завдань за текстом. Робота в групах

 

Група 1 – відповісти на запитання.

 

1. In what ways can potatoes be cooked?
2. How do you bake potatoes?
3. What potatoes are called “potatoes in their jackets”?
4. Why is roasting similar to baking?
5. How many ways of frying do you know? What are they?

Група 2 – з’єднати правильні відповіді із запитаннями.

Match the correct answer in B to the question in A.

A	B
1. Are potatoes eaten in your country?	a) Baked potatoes with their jackets on.
2. Do you know what is called batter?	b) In the century.
3. When was it introduced to England?	c) Yes, they are. It’s an important part of Ukrainian diet.
4. Had the potato been first grown in England?	d) No, it had not. The potato was first grown in America before it became world-spread.
5. What potatoes are called “potatoes in their jackets”&	e) Yes, of course. It’s a mixture of flour and water.

 

Keys: 1 c; 2 e; 3 b; 4 d; 5 a.

Група 3 – поставити запитання до речень.Write questions to the sentences.

1. A lot of potatoes are eaten in Europe and North America.

What______?

2. The potato was introduced to England in the time of Queen Elizabeth I.

When______?

3. Four main methods of cooking potatoes are used in England.

How many_____?

4. The second meaning of the word “chips” is newer, that is why it has been borrowed by some other languages.

Why______?

5. Fish and chips are taken home wrapped in a greaseproof paper. How ______?