The adaptation of authentic listening materials for promoting listening skill in classroom and the provincial contest for gifted students

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................................1
1. Rationale of the study...........................................................................................3
2. Aims of the study....................................................................................................4
3. Participants of the study........................................................................................4
4. The scope of the study............................................................................................4
PART B. CONTENTS..................................................................................................5
I. Theoreotical background.......................................................................................5
1. What are authentic materials?..............................................................................5
2. Why should we use authentic listening materials?..............................................5
3. Benefits of using authentic listening materials....................................................6
II. Ways of using different types of authentic materials...........................................7
1. Radio....................................................................................................................7
2. Video clips:..........................................................................................................9
3. The Internet..........................................................................................................9
III. Designing listenimg tasks using authentic listening materials for students
partaking in the Provincial English Contests.........................................................11
1. Exercise 1:..........................................................................................................11
2. Exercise 2:..........................................................................................................13
3. Exercise 3:..........................................................................................................14
4. Exercise 4:..........................................................................................................15
5. Exercise 5:..........................................................................................................16
6. Exercise 6:..........................................................................................................17


7. Exercise 7:..........................................................................................................17
8. Exercise 8:..........................................................................................................18
9. Exercise 9...........................................................................................................19
10. Exercise 10.......................................................................................................20
11. Exercise 11.......................................................................................................21
12. Exercise 12.......................................................................................................22

13. Exercise 13.......................................................................................................23
14. Exercise 14.......................................................................................................23
15. Exercise 15.......................................................................................................23
16. Tapescripts........................................................................................................24
IV. Performance results...........................................................................................43
V. Implications for teachers when applying authentic listening materials into
language classroom.................................................................................................44
1. Learner’s language proficiency level:................................................................44
2. Learners’ interest of the topic:...........................................................................44
3. Cultural appropriateness....................................................................................44
4. Preparation.........................................................................................................45
5. Staging the lesson...............................................................................................45
6. Exploiting the listening text...............................................................................45
PART C: CONCLUSION..........................................................................................45

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PART A. INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
Listening, the most frequently used form of language skill, plays a significant
role in daily communication and educational process. In spite of its importance,
listening ability development has received only slight emphasis in language
instruction. Nevertheless, English classrooms, where comprehensive listening serves
as a primary channel for learning, require that students function effectively as
listeners. It is therefore important for English teachers to prepare students for
successful by implementing authentic listening materials in the classes.
The question of how to help learners develop effective listening skills brings
attention to the methods we use and the type of materials we introduce our learners to.
The aim of all listening lessons should be to allow learners a greater degree of

independence when confronted with listening to the foreign language in a real world
context, and that means using authentic texts. Authentic texts are any spoken texts
which have not been specially prepared for language learners, and they are often
delivered via technologies like radio, television/video, and the Internet or CD-ROM.
In the age of globalization today, preparing students for real life situations is of
great concern for many English language teachers and for students and their parents
as well. For a motivating high level course for English major students at high school,
using authentic materials is one of the mainstays which can help meet the
expectations. In addition, authentic materials will bring students closer to the target
language culture, and therefore will make the learning process overall an even more
enjoyable and thus, motivating. Moreover, the use of authentic listening materials in
the test paper of the Provincial Contest for Gifted Students in recent years can both
challenging and be rewarding for high school teachers and students.
In the teaching context of our High School for Gifted Students, English major
students here can get access to a variety of listening materials. However, most of these
materials are specifically designed for testing purpose and may help students enhance
their scores in listening exams like IELTS or TOEFL but not prepare them for the real
life communication challenges. To solve this problem, one effective way is to apply
real listening materials in the classroom.
With the growing availability of the Internet, TV programs both teachers and
students have easy access to a broad range of authentic listening materials. However,
many teachers feel that such recordings are too difficult to be exploited for listening
activities in the classroom. Therefore, in this paper, I would like to suggest some ways
to devise activities which will help English language learners achieve an

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understanding of authentic listening texts. These activities are particularly helpful for
English major students.

2. Aims of the study
The study aims at:
- Giving an overview of authentic materials and sources to obtain them.
- Suggesting some ways to design exercises from the authentic materials so as
to help English language learners develop their listening skills.
- Introducing some websites and programs for teachers and students to exploit
authentic materials.
3. Participants of the study
This study is based mainly on my teaching experience when applying authentic
listening materials into my teaching at our High School for Gifted Students during
school years from 2016 to 2021. I use these materials in the morning lessons for 11 th
form students majoring in English. I mainly use authentic listening materials as a kind
of listening practice for excellent students who take part in the Provincial Contest for
Gifted Students.
4. The scope of the study
As the main aims of this study is to suggest some ways to adapt authentic
listening materials into the teaching curriculum, it will be helpful to acquaint high
school students with real-life communicative situations. Accordingly, their language
competence will certainly improve.
The study would like to suggest several sources from which materials can be
adapted. Thus, it may serve as a useful guideline for teachers who wish to explore the
use of authentic materials in their everyday teaching.
The study also gives some suggestions for teachers to design some forms of
exercises so as they can use in their every day lessons.
The topic is:
The adaptation of authentic listening materials for promoting listening skill
in classroom and the provincial contest for gifted students

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PART B. CONTENTS
I. Theoreotical background.
1. What are authentic materials?
Authentic materials are print, video, and audio materials students encounter in
their daily lives, such as change-of address forms, job applications, menus, voice mail
messages, radio programs, and videos. Authentic materials are not created specifically
to be used in the classroom, but they make excellent learning tools for students
precisely because they are authentic. There are two main categories of authentic
materials—print and auditory. English as a second language (ESL), adult secondary
education (ASE), and adult basic education (ABE) students all can benefit from using
authentic print materials. ESL students often use authentic auditory materials,
although ABE and ASE students also may find them useful.
2. Why should we use authentic listening materials?
In the age of globalization today, students need to be exposed not only to varieties
(not just one) of English such as British, American, Australian, Japanese or
Singaporean English but also to the ‘real language’ in order to be able to cope with
different versions and real challenges awaiting them in the outside world.
There are several reasons why teachers should use authentic materials, especially
for higher-level English major students at high school. First, authentic materials texts
will have a number of features that cannot be found in textbooks. In fact, there is a
considerable gap between authentic language and textbook language. Gilmore (2007)
claims that the language presented to students in textbooks is ‘a poor representation of
the real thing’. The textbook language is modified from authentic language sources to
encourage learning and accomplishment for the student. Also, designed materials lack
several elements present in authentic spoken English such as realistic intonation,
natural rate of speech, or background noise, etc. Therefore, students become better
prepared for the real world when authentic listening materials are used in classrooms
as textbook supplements.
Another important reason is the students' motivation and interest. Authentic

language helps students get closer to its speakers, and understand them better. It
seems exotic and exciting with its flavour of everyday life. Authentic materials are
also specially relevant for English major students many of whom have the aim of
studying overseas. So for students to actually be able to communicate and interact
socially in the target language environment, the use of authentic materials seems an
essential preparation.

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3. Benefits of using authentic listening materials
Many teachers and students realize the role of authentic materials in language
teaching and learning. They believe that authentic materials scaffold students' learning
of a target language more sufficiently (Guariento & Morley, 2001; Wilcox & Oaks,
1999; Weyers, 1999 cited in Al Azri & Al-Rashdi, 2014). Authentic resources offer
great advantage over materials created for the purpose of language teaching and
learning, both linguistic and non-linguistic.
3. 1. Linguistic Advantages
Studies concerning the use of authentic materials have shown that they have
a positive effect on learners' achievement. Otte (2006, cited in Al Azri & Al-Rashdi,
2014) found that authentic materials successfully help develop students’ listening
skills and also their motivation. Following are some benefits of authentic materials
discussed in various research papers and studies. Authentic materials:
•

guide learners toward the language they need for their particular
context;

•

provide exposure to real language.

•

relate more closely to learners ' needs.

•

help learners to produce better language.

•

help learners to acquire the language faster.

•

motivate learners to communicate, because they help make
communication ‘real’.

•

provide words and constructions that students probably never see in nonauthentic formal materials.

•

encourage teachers to adopt creative teaching approach.

3.2 Non-linguistic Advantages
In addition to the linguistic advantages, authentic materials also have some nonlinguistic benefits. They make a positive contribution in the field of language teaching
and learning in that they:

•

have a positive effect on learner motivation and encourage them to learn
better.

•

makes learners more confident to deal with real life situations

•

Help prepare learners for the ‘real’ world of communication;

•

boost their confidence
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•

improve the learners' cultural awareness.

Students will learn better and benefit greatly from the use of authentic materials.
Teachers can adapt their use of authentic materials to suit the language proficiency
level of the students.
4. Drawbacks of using authentic listening materials
Although the use of authentic materials is beneficial to students and their
learning of a foreign language, there are many difficulties that teachers face in making
use of such materials. Even when they see it as desirable, many teachers are

discouraged from using authentic materials due to the practical difficulties they
encounter. Finding appropriate authentic texts or audio recordings and designing tasks
for them can be an extremely time-consuming process. It takes time to look for an
appropriate text or audio recording in terms of relevant knowledge, language or
interest, etc. Authentic materials may contain difficult structures and lexical items that
students have not been exposed to before or some cultural references uninteresting or
irrelevant to students (Jennie, 2015).
What’s more, using authentic materials in developing listening skills is even more
difficult and time-consuming when the teacher need to listen to the recordings and
check the transcripts (if any) or even worse, when there is no transcript available, they
need to listen again and again (if necessary) to make sure they can catch the content,
the important details and the language used before actually designing tasks.
Many teachers just avoid using material from an authentic source because they
lack knowledge of how to select an appropriate recording or how to exploit the
material. All these pitfalls discourage teachers and make them stick to the safer and
less time-consuming course book.
From the literature and overview, it is obvious that the advantages of using
authentic materials outweigh the disadvantages. Therefore, we teachers should
consider them seriously as a successful aid in teaching a foreign language.
II. Ways of using different types of authentic materials
1. Radio
Using real-time radio in class is one of the more easily accessible forms of
authentic listening practice we can give our learners. The airwaves are filled with
programs twenty-four hours per day, and the low cost of radios means that most
language teachers can obtain a radio and take it to class. Radio stations such as BBC
World Service (BBC) and Voice of America (VOA) are constantly on-air. Meanwhile,
many non-English speaking countries also broadcast some programs, or even have
dedicated stations, in English. Although radios are easy to access, they are perhaps the
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most difficult of aural text for language learners to listen to. The reason for this is that
all non-verbal information is missing, information which can aid in helping
understand the message, and the learner has to focus on the skill which is most
difficult for him or her listening. In order to use radio programs with learners, teachers
need to select a program at a suitable time for their class and decide on some global
listening tasks for the learners. For instance, with an intermediate group of learners
about to listen to a radio program on travel we might adopt the following procedure:
* Stage 1: Pre-Listening
Today we are going to listen to a program on the radio for ten minutes about Harvest
festival. Before we listen answer my question:
- What can you see from the picture? What are people doing with those festivals?
When is it held?
The radio guide tells us in that this program is about Havest Festival around the
world.
* Stage 2: While-Listening
Activity 1: Fill in the blank with words or phrases: Teacher gets students to listen and
do the tasks designed.
Somewhere in the world a farmer plants many ____________(1) into a field. The
farmer waters the fields. Soon, after sun, water, and time, the seeds grow into
_______________(2). They are fruits, or vegetables or grain. The plants are full and
ready to be used. It is time to take the fruit or vegetable or _____________(3) from
the plant. It is time for the______________(4).
Activity 2: Decide whether the following statements are True or False:
1. People have been celebrating the harvest for millions of years.
2. During the festival, people celebrate and drink
3. They wish to have better crop next year.
* Stage 3: Post-Listening
Groups of three have a short discussion about what you heard from the
program. Then each group make a presentation on what they have taken notes of the

listening. Why or why not? In using the radio in the way suggested here we allow
learners access to native speaker models, something which might be missing from
their normal classroom experiences. Also, we place the focus on extensive listening
for pleasure and take the emphasis off testing what the learners hear (that is why we
ask the learners not to write while they listen).

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2. Video clips:
Using video clips in the classroom allows the learners access to more
information when listening. That is, the learners can now see what is happening as
well as listen to the text and learners can develop their listening skills in a richer
language context.
For example in the lesson Unit 8: Celebrations ( English 11), I show a video of
about 2 minutes about The Story of Thanksgiving day by SteelehouseMedia.com
what they think about those people in the video. This listening activity is used as a
post step in a lesson.
3. The Internet
There has been a rapid increase in the development of Internet facilities. This
has been prompted, partly, by the more powerful computers we have these days and
has been partly driven by the users' demands for more interesting and innovative
applications of the technology. We are able to direct our learners to sites on the
Internet where they can practice their listening as long as they have access to the
appropriate computer software. Below are some websites that can be used for the
teachers tocreate listening tasks as well as for students to study themselves.
3.1. BBC (Online): />The news broadcasting site offers a lot news articles and reports. Both teachers
and students may take full advantage of the BBC’s World News TV service, with
hundreds of short videos and programs to watch. The video page has one-minute
world news reports, plus plenty of other short videos on business, science and

entertainment. I often download the One Minute World News for my advanced
students as the speed of the listening is often a challenge for them. Moreover, this is
the lastest news all over the world so students are so motivated and enthusiastic when
listening to it.
3.2. BBC (Radio): />BBC Radio is a separate service that allows users to listen to radio programs
online. There are countless radio programs to choose from, but I recommend starting
with the categories page. There students will be able to choose from news, sports,
entertainment or documentary programs to listen to.
3.3. CNN: />Like its British counterpart, CNN provides an excellent video channel, on
which teachers and students are able to catch the latest news. CNN also offers
a podcasting service with shows for a wide variety of interests. CNN

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offers transcripts for some of these shows, giving students an additional resource to
improve listening skills with.
3.4. Earthwatch Radio: />Earthwatch Radio was produced at the University of Wisconsin-Madison by
staff and students at the Sea Grant Institute and the Gaylord Nelson Institute for
Environmental Studies. The stories covered a wide range of subjects concerning
science and the environment, with special attention to global climate change, the
Great Lakes, and the oceans. Recordings from this websites are effective in both
developing listening skills and providing students with a wide range of scientific
terms. Regarding educational purpose, the extracts also help students become aware
of protecting the environment.
3.5. Repeat After Us: />Repeat After Us was created by a high school student with a true love of
literature. Here, students will find a variety of recorded texts, classified into three
categories: beginner, intermediate and advanced. There is a lot of original material in
this site, so for listening practice, students should go to recorded texts, and from there
choose poetry, drama, prose or even children’s short stories if the previous categories

prove to be too difficult.
3.6. CBC Podcasts: />The Canadian broadcasting company has an astounding variety of news, sports,
and entertainment programs – and a whole lot more. Teachers and students may
download the MP3 file or subscribe via iTunes so they won’t miss any of their
favorites.
3.7. NPR: />Provincial Public Radio offers 24-hour Program Stream or Hourly News
summaries
which
may
be
suitable
for
students. Additionally,
it
offers podcasts on topics that range from animals to world news.
3.8. The British Council: />There are some great podcasts that can be downloaded from the British
Council’s website. All of which feature native speakers and come with a script that
can be exploited by both teachers and students.
3.9. Newsy: />Of all of the websites that offer news reports on video, Newsy is my favorite
because they offer the transcript directly below the video, a big plus for ESL

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students. Still, students may choose to display the transcript or keep it hidden for
more challenging listening practice.
3.10. The Weather Channel: />The Weather Channel provides a lot more than just the weather forecast on
video. The clips are short and the audio that is difficult to hear due to weather
conditions is subtitled.
3.11. Breaking News:

This is suitable for Intermediate to Advanced Students with News stories with
vocabulary and comprehension exercises. Recent stories have audio and are added
weekly. You can choose stories from the theme (topic) list near the bottom of the
page.
4. English movies/ TV programs
In fact, many language learners watch English TV programs, or movies outside
of class time, but few of them consider this as an opportunity to develop their
listening skills. Teachers, however, in the language classroom, can give some
recommendations about the English movies/ TV programs that students should watch
to develop their listening skills.
In the lesson of Entertainment I ask students to watch a TV programs as
homework: "This weekend you are going to watch a TV game show on TV
( preferably in English channel).Then next week you have to report what you have
seen to the whole class." Students have to make a report basing on the following
questions:
- What is the name of the game show?
- Who are the participants?
- What are the rules of the show?
- What is the award?
- Why do you like it? Why not?
When the next lesson comes, I collect students' ideas on the task. "Who
watched game show last weekend? What can you tell us about it?" then the whole
class can have a discussion or a presentation on the show they have seen.
III. Designing listenimg tasks using authentic listening materials for students
partaking in the Provincial English Contests.
1. Exercise 1:
Questions 1 -3
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Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE words for each answer.
• Vital function of muscles (1) _______________________
• Growth of muscles needs (2) ______________________
• Bigger challenge leads to the brain’s (3) _________________
Question 4-8
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
What THREE factors does the speaker mention to repair damaged muscle fiber?
4. __________________
5. __________________
6. __________________
Which TWO elements affect the role of the repair mechanism?
7. _______________
8. ________________
Question 9 and 10
Choose TWO letters A-E
Which aspects of meaningly muscular growth are mentioned?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

The movement
The challenge
The repair
The growth
The stress

KEYS

1. helps us move
2. constant attention
3. signal growth
4. proper nutrition
5. hormones
6. rest
7. gender
8. age
9. B
10. E
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2. Exercise 2:
Question 1-5
Complete the flow – chart below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
CRITERIA FOR A HEALTHY CITY
equal priority for all inhabitants
provide a (1) _________________ environment
satisfy (2) ___________
________ (3) are available and easily accessible
Local government ensures every (4) _______ rights and the involvement of (5) ____
Question 6 -10
Complete the table below
Write NO MORE THAN ONE words for each answer.
Places

Problem

Sri Lanka

lacking (6) ______________

Mali

low sanitation

Cairo

girls with no (7) _______________ and job

Where

How

poorest section

construct infrastructure

old central (8) _____________

set up (9) a ____________

poor area

show how to sew and _________(10)

KEYS
1. clean and safe

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2. basic needs
3. healthy services
4. inhabitant’s
5. the whole community
6. infrustructure
7. educaion
8. quarter(s)
9. a co-operative
10.weave
3. Exercise 3:
Question 1-5
You are going to hear a talk about plastic pollution. Listen carefully and fill in
the missing information with NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS
Plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental issues our planet faces
today. Although some plastics can be ____________ (1), it doesn’t mean that
everyone can leave wrappers, ________________(2) pieces of packaging and
everything else to _______________(3) ecosystems. Around eight million tons of
plastic winds up in the ocean every year and this number is estimated to
______________(4) in the next decade. By 2050, there could be more plastic in the
water than fish, so marine life would be at stake when _____________ (5) either
mistake plastic for food or get trapped in casually discarded human trash.
Question 6-10
Indicate whether the following statements are true or not by writing T (True) or
F ( False)
6. There are so much plastic in the ocean that five huge garbage islands have been
made up around the world.
7. The great Pacific Garbage Patch floats from California to Hawaii.

8. Poisonous chemicals from plastics can affect our drinking water supply.
9. Incinerating plastic is a feasible solution to tackle the problem.
10. We can not prevent the plastic pollution from stretching and getting worse.
KEYS:
1.
2.
3.
4.

recycled
water bottles
clog up
triple
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5. aquatic creatures
6. F
7. F
8. T
9. F
10.F
4. Exercise 4:
Question 1-4
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D
1. What is part of his game day routine?

A. He wears his kit.
B. He says a prayer.
C. He goes to the café for drinks.

D. He sits in the different spot.
2. What does he say about the songs they sing?

A. They often insult the other team.
B. There is a designated leader for the songs.
C. The songs are the same for every game.
D. The songs often reflect former events.
3. What do they discuss about the derby game?
A. Who wins the game
B. How do the player play
C. How it is pronounced
D. Where it comes from
4. What does he say about the away game he went to?
A. They won the game.
B. It took 7 hours to get there.
C. He was not satisfied by the result.
D. The opposition was a strong team.
Question
5-10
Complete the sentences with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS
5. There is no ______________ (5) leader on this team, but a few of us have kind

of taken charge.
6. He acts very ___________________ (6) and you never know what he is going
to do next.

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7. Now is the time when the team members need their fans to

get ____________________(7) them and motivate them to win.
8. When our team plays them, there is always a lot of_______________________

(8) between the supporters.
9. It takes about ___________________________(9) to drive to my office from

here.
10. The team doesn’t _______________________ (10) any of the songs.

KEYS:
1. A
2. A
3. C
4. D
5. designated
6. spontaneously
7. behind
8. banter
9. half-an-hour
10.come up with
5. Exercise 5:
Listen to the news and answer the following questions
1. What fraction of all living things on Earth do humans represent?
2. What percentage of wild mammals have humans destroyed?
3. What did researchers find out for every class of creature on Earth?
4. What was a professor shocked not to find and estimate on?
5. What did a professor say plays a very dominant role on Earth?
6. What percentage of all living things on Earth are humans?
7. What do we share the same biomass percentage as?

8. What percentage of the world's birds is raised on farms?
9. What two animals form most of the world's livestock?
10.What does a professor hope we eat less of?
KEYS :
1. A tiny fraction
2. 83%
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3. Its biomass
4. Components of biomass
5. Humanity
6. 0.01%
7. Termites
8. 70%
9. Cattle and pigs
10.Meat
6. Exercise 6:
Listen to the recording and decide if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).
1. Facebook's CEO has unveiled full details of a new crypto-currency.
2. A blue paper will outline more details of the crypto-currency.
3. The new crypto-currency will be called Virgo.
4. The new crypto-currency will have very low fees.
5. The article says the new crypto-currency has no similarities with Bitcoin.
6. The new crypto-currency will be backed by the dollar, euro and yen.
7. A finance company said the crypto-currency could really help Facebook.
8. The company said Facebook could create new ways of making money.
KEYS:
1. F

2.F

3.F

4.T

5. F

6. T

7. T

8.T

7. Exercise 7:
Listen to the recording and write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS in each
space.
1. A lawsuit has been filed to challenge the _____________ in the state of Alabama.
2. The American Civil Liberties Union threatened _____________ if
constitutional right to reproductive system was attacked.

their

3. The “Human Life Protection Act” bans all abortions in the state, except when it is
needed to prevent a _____________ to the mother.

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4. Doctors performing an abortion could be sentenced up to _____________ in

prison.
5. One of the biggest points of contention with the bill is that there is no exceptions
for _____________
6. President Donald Trump was not in favour of the ban because it lacked
_____________.
7. According to the two groups pushing the law to be reversed the ban was a
“manmade _____________”
KEYS:
1. near-total abortion
2. to sue
3. serious health risk
4. 99 years
5. incest and rape
6. exception
7. public health emergency
8. Exercise 8:
Listen to the recording and choose the correct answer
1. In what country might it become illegal to raise children on a vegan diet?
a) Peru
b) England
c) Belgium
d) Australia
2. What did doctors say raising children on a vegan diet was?
a) unethical
b) healthy
c) ideal
d) worrying
3. Who is Georges Casimir?
a) a vegan
b) a professor

c) a chef
d) an activist
4. How long could a prison sentence be for raising children on a vegan diet?
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a) three years
b) 12 months
c) two months
d) up to two years
5. What essential things did the doctors say must be from animal products?
a) carbohydrates
b) vitamin C
c) fatty acids
d) saturated fats
6. How did the animal rights group PETA react to the doctors' ruling?
a) politely
b) angrily
c) online
d) with venom
7) Who is Dawn Carr?
a) a professor
b) a doctor
c) a chef
d) a PETA spokeswoman
8. What did the article say hardened arteries could lead to?
a) headaches
b) strokes
c) obesity
d) an inability to taste

9. What did a vegan say her children thrived on?
a) cabbage
b) a balanced vegan diet
c) three meals a day
d) restaurant food
10. Whose responsibility did a vegan say it was that children got nutrients?
a) parents
b) the government
c) children
d) schools
KEYS:
1.

c

2.

a

3.

b

4.

d

5.

c

6.

b

7.

d

8.

b

9.

b

10. a

9. Exercise 9
Listen to the recording if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).
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1. Nuclear fuel rods are being removed from Fukushima's No. 3 plant.
2. The removal of the fuel rods is five years behind schedule.
3. There were problems with the devices that were made for the removal.
4. One reason for the delay is high levels of radiation in the area.
5. There are more than 1,500 rods at Fukushima's nuclear power plant.
6. Work on removing the fuel rods will finish at the end of 2020.

7. A power company worker said the company is in a hurry to finish.
8. Japan's Prime Minister said the area would not be rebuilt.
KEYS:
1. F

2. T

3.T

4.T

5. T

6. F

7.F

8.F

10. Exercise 10
Listen to the recording and write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS in each space.
1. A bill has been introduced to recognize the country’s ethnic Ainu
_______________ as an “indigenous” people.
2. Ainu people are recognized after decades of their _______________.
3. The Ainu originate in Japan’s northern islands of Hokkaido, north-eastern Honshu,
and
islands
between
_______________.
4. It is estimated that there are about _______________ people in the ethnic Ainu

minority group.
5. According to Japan’s government, it is important to protect the _______________
of the Ainu people.
KEYS:
1. minority group
2. lobbying and campaigning
3. Japan and Russia
4. 200,000
5. honor and dignity

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11. Exercise 11
For questions 1-10, listen to Theresa May resignation’s speech and supply the
blanks with the missing information. WRITE NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS in
each space provided.
1. In 2016, the British people _____________________ the European Union.
2. According to Theresa May, when you give people a choice, you
_____________________ what they decide. And she has tried her best to do that.
3. She tried to negotiate the term of exit and a new relationship with their neighbors,
but she failed to convince MPs to ___________________ for three times.
4. She took perseverance for granted, but then she realized that it’s time for a new
Prime Minister to lead that effort for the _____________________.
5. She announces that she will resign as a leader of __________________________
on Friday 7 June.
6. The ________________ is not only a call to leave EU, but also a call to make the
United Kingdom a country that truly works for everyone.
7. She believed that the deficit is almost eliminated, our national debt is falling and
we are __________________________.

8. Three values that guided her throughout her career were:
______________________.
9. The unique privilege of this office is to use this platform to give a voice to the
voiceless, to ______________________ that still scar our society.
10. She will resign with no ill-will, but ___________________________ to have had
the opportunity to serve the country I love.
KEYS:
1. voted to leave
2. have a duty to implement
3. back that deal
4. interests of the country
5. Conservative and Unionist Party
6. referendum
7. bringing an end to austerity
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8. Security; freedom; opportunity.
9. fight the burning injustices
10. with enormous and enduring gratitude
12. Exercise 12
From 1-7, listen to a talk on the history of dogs and fill in the missing information.
WRITE NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS in each space provided.
1. Dogs, human’s best friends, evolved from __________________, one of our oldest
rivals.
2. Wolves, one of the main rivals at the top of the food chain nearly 100,000 years
ago, could exert over 300 lbs. of pressure in ________________ and sniff out prey
more than a mile away.
3. Over time humans found various uses for some docile wolves that show less
aggression to them. These animals helped to __________________, and might guard

camps and warn of approaching enemies.
4. Proto-Dogs or Wolf-Dogs seem to have appeared around 33,000 years ago and
were mainly different by their smaller size and a shorter snout full of
__________________.
5. As the product of artificial selection, many of their aesthetic characteristics come
with inborn health problems, such as breathing difficultly or being
_________________.
6. Generations of selection for domestication have favored more
_____________________ that were pleasing to humans.
7. The diversity of breeds of wolves today is the result of a relationship that
_______________, agriculture, and even the disappearance of our Neanderthal
cousins.
KEYS:
1. Canis lupus / the gray wolf
2. one bone – crushing bite
3. track and hunt prey
4. comparatively smaller teeth
5. prone to spinal injuries
6. juvenile and submissive traits
7. precedes cities
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13. Exercise 13
From 1-6, listen to a piece of news about new transparency with healthcare prices
and decide whether if the following statements are true (T) or false (F).
1. The public is quite satisfied with the contemporary surprise medical bills.
2. Andrew Haymann found it insane to pay the medical bill of $5,000 for a plastic
surgery by a surgeon who’s not in the network.
3. Donald Trump has a clear explanation for the problem.

4. Elisabeth Rosenthal supports the transparency so that you can make consumer
decisions in elective surgeries, elective admissions.
5. If one person is charging less, and they see that the company next door is charging
twice as much, they will raise the price to that sticky ceiling. It's called sticky pricing.
6. Now doctors are employed by hospitals, so they can control what we charge.
KEYS:
Keys:
1. F

2.T

3. F

4. T

5. T

6.F

14. Exercise 14
From 1-5, listen to a piece of sports new about the latest developments in the future
of Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba and decide whether if the following
statements are true (T) or false (F).
1. Manchester United intends to sell Pogba next season.
2. Manchester United released him to Juventus with 89 million pounds.
3. Paris Saint German is one of the clubs that are interested in Pogba.
4. Manchester has developed a different approach in their transfer strategy this
summer: building a younger and hungrier team.
5. Manchester United intends to buy Daniel James, one of the young and preferably
homegrown players.

KEYS:
1. F

2. F

3. T

4. T

5. T

15. Exercise 15
From 1-10, listen to a lecture about how to form a habit and fill in the missing
information. WRITE NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS in each space provided.

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1. The right amount of time to add a new habit or _____________ -- like watching the
news -- from your life is 30 days.
2. Before he began his ______________, he would never have been so adventurous to
hike up Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.
3. He tried to write ________________ a day for a month to finish to novel.
4. There's nothing wrong with big, crazy challenges but a ______________.
5. He advises us to think about something we have always wanted to try and
___________ for the next 30 days.
KEYS:
1. subtract a habit
2. 30-day challenges
3. 1,667 words

4. ton of fun
5. give it a shot
16. Tapescripts
Exercise1:

WHAT MAKES MUSCLES GROW?

Muscles - We have over 600 hundred of them. They make up between 1/3 or 1/2 of
our body weight and along with the connected tissue; they bind us together, hold us
up and help us move. And whether or not bodybuilding is your body, muscles need
your constant attention because the way you treat them on a daily basis determine
whether they will wither or grow. Say you’re standing in front of the door, ready to
pull it open. Your brain and muscles are perfectly poised to help you achieve this goal.
First, your brain sends a signal to motor neurons inside your arm. When they receive
this message, they fire, causing muscles to contract and relax, which pull on the bones
in your arm and generate the needed movement. The bigger the challenge becomes,
the bigger the brain’s signal grows, and the more motor units it rallies to help you
achieve your task. But what if the door is made of solid iron? At this point, your arm
muscles alone won’t be able to generate enough tension to pull it open, so your brain
appeals to other muscles for help. You plant your feet, tighten your belly, and tense
your back, generating enough force to yank it open. Your nervous system has just
leveraged the resources you already have, other muscles, to meet the demand. While
all this is happening, your muscle fibers undergo another kind of cellular change. As
you expose them to stress, they experience microscopic damage, which, in this
Page | 24


context, is a good thing. In response, the injured cells release inflammatory molecules
called cytokines that activate the immune system to repair the injury. This is when the
muscle – building magic happens. The greater the damage to the muscle tissue, the

more your body will need to repair itself. The resulting cycle of damage and repair
eventually makes muscles bigger and stronger as they adapt to progressively greater
demands. Since our bodies have already adapted to most everyday activities, those
generally don’t produce enough stress to stimulate new muscle growth. So, to build
new muscle, a process called hypertrophy, our cells need to be exposed to higher
workloads than they are used to. In fact, if you don’t continuously expose your
muscles to some resistance, they will shrink, a process known as muscular atrophy. In
contrast, exposing the muscle to high – degree of tension, especially while the muscle
is lengthening, also called an eccentric contraction, generates effective conditions for
new growth. However, muscles rely on more than just activity to grow. Without
proper nutrition, hormones and rest, your body would never be able to repair damaged
muscle fibers. Protein in your diet preserves muscle mass by providing the building
blocks for new tissue in the form of amino acids. Adequate protein intake, along with
naturally occurring hormones, like insulin –like growth factor and testosterone, help
shift the body into a state where tissue is repaired and grown. This vital repair process
mainly occurs when we’re resting, especially at night while sleeping. Gender and age
affect this repair mechanism, which is why young men with more testosterone have a
leg up in the muscle building game. Genetic factors also play a role in one’s ability to
grow muscle. Some people have more robust immune reactions to muscle damage,
and are better able to repair and replace damaged muscle fibers, increasing their
muscle – building potential. The body responds to the demands you place on it. If you
tear your muscles up, eat right, rest and repeat, you’ll create the conditions to make
your muscles as big and strong as possible. It is with muscles as it is with life :
meaningful growth requires challenge and stress.
( source : />Exercise 2:
CRITERIA FOR A HEALTHY CITY
Well, Adam’s just been talking about some of the problems that have resulted from
the rapid growth of cities in the last hundred years things like housing, sanitation,
crime, and so on. For my presentation I’d like to look at some examples of what cities
are doing to try to solve some of these problems. As part of its healthy city

programme, the World Health Organization the WHO has come up with a set of
criteria for a healthy city. The WHO says, that amongst other things, a healthy city
must provide a clean environment which is also safe; it mustn’t be dirty or dangerous
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