English Listening Exercises for B1 – Our environment

1. Listen to a description of how plastic bottles are recycled. Complete the sentences with these past participles.

melted      used      chopped      dried      cut up

washed      separated      sold      taken

collected      put      cooled      heated

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1) Plastic bottles are ___ collected__ from homes.

2) They are __________ to a recycling centre.

3) The bottles are ________

4) The clean bottles are __________ into small pieces.

5) The pieces are __________ into a large tank of water, where they are __________ into different kinds of plastic.

6) The pieces of plastic are __________ and __________ into a liquid.

7) The liquid is __________ into long strings.

8) The string are __________ and then they are __________ into small pellets.

9) The pellets are __________ to factories.

10) They are __________ to make new products.

Show answers

2) taken    7) cooled

3) washed    8) dried, chopped

4) cut up    9 sold

5) put, separated    10) used

6) heated, melted

Transcript

We all try to recycle things like glass bottles, drinks cans and plastic bottles. But what happens after you put the things in a recycling box? This is what happens to plastic bottles.

First, plastic bottles are collected from homes.

They are taken to a recycling centre by lorries.

At the centre, the bottles are washed.

Then the clean bottles are cut up into small pieces.

There are lots of different types of plastic, so now the pieces are put into a large tank of water, where they are separated into different kinds of plastic.

The pieces of plastic are heated and melted into a liquid.

The liquid is cooled into long strings.

The strings are dried and then they are chopped into small pellets.

The pellets are sold to factories.

There they are used to make new plastic products.

2. Listen to an awards ceremony. Choose the correct answers.

1) The ceremony is to present


a The Friends of the Environment Awards.

b The Eco-Awards.

2) The first award was won by


a Picardy School.

b East York School.

3) It was for helping to save


a an African rainforest.

b a thousand-year-old tree.

4) The award was collected by


a the head teacher.

b four students.

5) The winners of the second award were


a Tom and Ellie Mason.

b Maddie and Bill West.

6) It was for helping to protect


a frogs.      b bats.  

7) The next award will be presented to


a Professor Jane Briggs.

b Doctor Marcus Teal.

8) It was for work on protecting.


a sharks.      b dolphins.

Show answers

1) b  2) a  3) a  4) b  5) b  6)7) b  8) b

Transcript

Good evening and welcome back to this year’s Eco-Awards ceremony for people and groups who have helped the environment in this year.

So far this evening, two awards have been presented. The first award was for schools, and it was won by Picardy School. They collected a lot of money to save part of an African rainforest. The award was presented to four students from the school.

Our second award this evening was for individual young people who have helped their local environment. It was won by Maddie and Bill West. They helped to protect the frogs in a local lake. And now we come to our next award. This is for people who have helped to protect the marine environment – the seas and oceans that are so important for us. The award will be presented by last year’s winner, Professor Jane Briggs. And the award this year has been won by Doctor Marcus Teal for his work on protecting dolphins.

5. a   Listen to some teenagers talking about the environment. What does each person talk about? Choose from these topics and write them in column B.

electricity      transport      recycling

heating      packaging      food waste

a

b

c

1) Jun

recycling

paper,

2) Delia

3) Henry

4) Olivia


b   Listen again. What examples do they give? Write two examples for each person in column C.

Show answers

a

2) electricity   3) transport   4) packaging

b

1) cans

2) turn lights off, don’t leave things on standby

3) walk everywhere, never travel by plane

4) use paper bags, use own bags

Transcript

1) I’m Jun. How do we help the environment? Well, we recycle lots of things. We recycle paper – newspapers, magazines, cardboard boxes and things like that. And we recycle cans, too. I think that’s important, because a lot of energy is used to make aluminium. But a lot less is used to recycle it.

2) Hello. name’s Delia. In our house we try to save electricity. I always turn lights off when I leave a room. Sometimes I forget and then Mum or Dad will say: ‘Lights!’ And I don’t leave things on standby. That wastes a lot of electricity. So I always turn the TV or the computer off at night.

3) Henry here. How do we help the environment? I suppose transport is the most important thing, because we haven’t got a car. We don’t really need one. We live in the centre of town, so I can walk to the shops and to school. And another thing is that when we go on holiday we never go by plane. We always take the train. That’s supposed to be better for the environment, but I don’t really like it, because it means that we can’t go to places like Florida and Thailand.

4) Hello. I’m Olivia. Yes, we try to help the environment. A lot of the rubbish that is thrown away is packaging, so we try to cut down on that. We don’t usually buy things like fruit, vegetables and meat at the supermarket, because everything there is in plastic boxes and bags. We buy those things at the market instead. There they put things in paper bags, which can be recycled. And when we go shopping, we always take our own bags, so we don’t need to use plastic bags.

4. a   Listen. Match the names in column A to the situations and worries in columns B and C. There are some situations and worries that are not needed.

A   Name

B   Situation

C   What if ___

1) Eric

2) Martha

3) Brett

4) Lucy

5) Joe

6) Carrie

an important match

fly to Spain

cook the dinner

the school play

France

horse-riding

a date

a piano exam

I can’t understand people?

people don’t like it?

I don’t like the food?

I fall off?

I forget lines?

I can’t do it?

I play really badly?

I can’t remember anything?

people laugh at French?

I get everything wrong?


b   What can you say to reassure the people?

1) Don’t worry, Eric. You won’t forget your lines.

2) _____

3) _____

4) _____

5) _____

6) _____

Show answers

a

1) the school play, I forget lines?

2) France, people laugh at French?

3) an important match, I play really badly?

4) a piano exam, I can’t remember anything?

5) horse-riding, I fall off?

6) cook the dinner, people don’t like it?

b

2) Don’t worry, Martha. People won’t laugh at your French.

3) Don’t worry, Brett. You won’t play really badly.

4) Don’t worry, Lucy. You won’t forget anything. / You will remember everything.

5) Don’t worry, Joe. You won’t fall off.

6) Don’t worry, Carrie. People will like your dinner.

Transcript

1)

Girl What’s wrong, Eric?

Eric I’m really nervous about the school play tomorrow. What if I forget lines?

2)

Boy Hi, Martha. How are you?

Martha I’m OK, but I’m going to stay with Internet friend in France next week.

Boy Oh, that sounds great.

Martha Yes, but what if people laugh at French?

3)

Boy Hello, Brett. Are you playing football tomorrow?

Brett Yes, and we’ve got a really important match.

Boy Well, good luck.

Brett Thanks, but I’m a bit worried about it. What if I play really badly?

4)

Girl Hi, Lucy. Where are you going?

Lucy I’ve got a piano exam, and I’m really nervous about it.

Girl Why?

Lucy What if I can’t remember anything?

5)

Boy Hello, Joe. Do you want to come to place on Saturday?

Joe No, I can’t. I’m going horse-riding.

Boy Cool!

Joe Yes, but I’ve never done it before. What if I fall off?

6)

Girl Hi, Carrie. What’s in the bags?

Carrie Some things from the supermarket. I’m going to cook the dinner tonight.

Girl Oh, right.

Carrie But I’m a bit nervous. What if people don’t like it?

5. Listen to a news bulletin. Choose the correct words.

1) The northeastsouth coast was hit by a big storm.

2) A call was received by the emergency services at 4.306.308.30 this evening.

3) It was from a fishing boatan oil tankera ferry .

4)lifeboathelicopterhovercraft was sent to help.

5  ThreeFortyNine people have been taken off the boat.

6  TwoFiveEighteen more people have been rescued from the water.

7) They will be taken to the local policestationhospitalairport .

8) Here they will be checkedarrestedreleased .

9) The whole story will be shown in the late nightten o’clockmidnight news .

Show answers

2) 6.30   3) a fishing boat   4) helicopter   5) Three

6) Two   7) hospital   8) checked   9) ten o’clock

Transcript

We’re just receiving news of an incident near the south coast. Earlier today the south coast was hit by a big storm. At 6.30 this evening, a call was received by the emergency services. It was from a small fishing boat that was in trouble in the stor seas. A search and rescue helicopter was sent to help. We’ve just heard that three people have been taken off the boat. And two more have been rescued from the water. They will be taken to the local hospital, where they will be checked. But at this point it looks as if everyone is fine. We’ll have the whole story for you in the ten o’clock news.

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