Listening Practice

Listening 1 - Airport 2 - (Task 1 & 2)

Listening 2 - (3 - Task 1)

Listening 3 (2 - Task 2) True or False

Listening 4 (Task 5)

Listening 5 (3 - Task 1)
 Reading Practice

1) Have you ever been on holiday without your parents?

Would you like to? Read this before you decide …

SAM
I come from a strange family. My parents have always believed that we should learn to look
after ourselves from an early age. That included holidays. I remember my poor brother went
on a canoeing trip on the River Thames with a cousin when they were both just twelve years
old. They had a miserable time and have never really recovered from the experience. When
I was fifteen, they decided I was old enough to go on holiday with just my best friend. ‘You’re
going to hitch-hike to the Lake District with a tent and a backpack; you’re going to camp, up
in the mountains, for a week; and then – if you’re still alive – you’re going to hitch-hike back
again. ‘So we hitch-hiked for hundreds of kilometres, we camped, we got cold and wet and
scared, and couldn’t afford to buy enough food. But, against the odds, we survived.

HARRIET
I’ve been on a number of holidays without my parents, but the first holiday was two years
ago, when I was sixteen. Six of us decided to go backpacking in Wales during the school
holidays. I booked cheap hotels before we left. The first two days were fine. But at the end of
the second day, we lost our way. It was pouring with rain and it was getting dark. We
eventually came to a farmhouse and knocked on the door. We were so dirty and wet that
they didn’t let us into the house. We had to wait in the garage! But they let us phone the
hotel. Anyway, the hotel manager kindly sent a car for us. But the next day it was still raining
so we decided to take the train home. I’ve learned why no one goes backpacking in Britain in
March – it rains non-stop and the fields are covered in deep mud. I’ve never had such a
miserable time! My holidays since then have been in warm places with dry weather!

1 When Sam’s brother was twelve, he and 3 Harriet…

his cousin
a went on holiday with six friends.
a did not enjoy their trip together. b has been on one holiday without her mum
b had a terrible holiday, but got over it quickly. and dad.
c went camping near the River Thames. c arranged accommodation before the
d went canoeing with his parents. holiday.
d had a miserable time from the start of the
2 On Sam’s first holiday without his holiday.
parents, he…
4 The holiday taught Harriet
a walked all the way to the Lake District.
b had to hitch-hike across some mountains. a that it’s best to take a map with you when
c kept warm, but couldn’t keep dry. you go backpacking.
d ate less food than he wanted to eat. b never to go backpacking in Britain.
c why backpacking in Britain in March isn’t
popular.
d to check the weather forecast before a
holiday.
2) Lucky discoveries

A) Scientist discovers how to cook food in seconds

Percy LeBaron Spencer, an engineer, was working on radar for the army. One day, he was
walking past a machine when the chocolate bar in his pocket melted. He was curious, so he
did a test. He put a small bowl of popcorn in front of the machine. As expected, a minute
later it started popping and jumping out of the bowl.
Spencer realised the microwaves from the radar were heating the food. Next, he made a
metal box and sent microwaves into it through a hole. When he put some food in the box, it
cooked. This was the first microwave oven – invented totally by chance.

B) 5,000-year-old body found in the Alps

In 1991, two German tourists, Helmut and Erika Simon, were hiking in the mountains in Italy,
near the border with Austria. They were coming back down the mountain when one of them
saw something in the ice. As they got closer, they realised that they were looking at a man’s
body. They reported the body and carried on hiking.

When the police arrived the next day, they tried to get the body out of the ice. Everyone
thought that it was the body of an unlucky mountain climber and they weren’t very careful.
They accidentally tore the clothes and also broke one arm. But when scientists studied the
body they were shocked. Amazingly, the body was 5,000 years old. He was quickly given the
name ‘Ötzi the Iceman’. Ötzi is one of the oldest, most complete human bodies ever found.

C) Farmers uncover ancient army in the fields

In 1974, local farmers were digging in Xi’an, a city in China. They were looking for water, but
instead they found a life-size soldier made out of terracotta. Fortunately, the farmers stopped
digging before they damaged anything and soon archaeologists arrived to look at the area.
Surprisingly, there was not just one, but thousands of clay soldiers. They were made around
2,200 years ago and they were buried on purpose – together with the body of the First
Emperor of China.
Archaeologists now believe that there are around 6,000 soldiers and their horses in the
Terracotta Army, but most of them are still buried underground. All of the soldiers look
different. Some are tall, some are short and they all have different clothes and faces.
Archaeologists think 700,000 people helped to make them.

Discovery A Discovery B Discovery C

1 Who made the

discovery?

2 What were they doing

when they made the
discovery?

3 What exactly was the

invention/discovery?
3) A BRIGHTER CITY!

The city of Łódź in Poland was another unremarkable industrial city until a few years ago. In
2009, an organisation called the Urban Forms Foundation was set up by a well-known art
historian and an actress. Their idea was to bring the tired urban landscape to life again.

The Foundation planned an art project that would change the city’s image and regenerate
the centre, and presented it to the city council. It wanted the council to ask street artists to
paint on walls around the city centre as a permanent outdoor exhibition. The mayor of the
city supported the idea and the Foundation was given permission to go ahead and raise the
money needed. Famous street artists from all over the world were invited by the Foundation
to come to Poland to work, including Os Gemeos from Brazil, Aryz from Spain and Remed
from France, as well as local talent like M-City and Etam Cru. In total, artists from eight
countries took part in the project over the next few years, and more than twenty huge murals
were created on the sides of buildings in public spaces.

Łódź is now the second city in the world for street art after New York, and people visit there
especially to see the amazing artworks. With a special map, tourists can walk round the city
and view them all in a couple of hours. Now, once a year, the Foundation organises an art
festival which attracts participants from all over the world. And in the future, the project will
be continued with other pieces of urban art – statues, sculptures and ‘street jewellery’. The
transformation goes on!

1 Two people started an organisation 3 Famous street artists…

in Łódź to…
a weren’t interested at first in the project.
a provide more industry in the city. b from abroad only were invited.
b rebuild the city centre. c were asked to take part in the project.
c hold more art exhibitions. d asked the Foundation for work.
d improve the look of the city.
4 Because of the Foundation’s work,
2 The Urban Forms Foundation…
a the city has become famous in the art
a asked the mayor to help. world.
b needed the city council to agree to the b the city now has more street art then
project. New York.
c asked the council for money for their c tourists are allowed to paint on the city
idea. walls.
d told the city council what to do. d there is no need for more artwork in the
city.

Read the text. Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)?
1 Łódź was famous before the work of the Urban Forms Foundation.
2 The Foundation’s art project didn’t cost anything.
3 The project is now completed.
 General Review of Structures and Vocabulary

1. https://test-english.com/use-of-english/a2/a2-english-test-1-text-multiple-choic
e-gaps/

2. https://test-english.com/use-of-english/a2/a2-english-test-3-text-with-multiple-c
hoice-gaps/

3. https://test-english.com/use-of-english/a2/a2-english-test-5-text-with-multiple-c
hoice-gaps/
Grammar Review

1. https://test-english.com/use-of-english/a2/a2-english-test-2-multiple-choice-qu
estions/

2. https://test-english.com/use-of-english/a2/a2-english-test-4-multiple-choice-qu
estions/

3. https://test-english.com/use-of-english/a2/a2-english-test-6-multiple-choice-qu
estions/

List of verbs in Past and Past Participle

● https://www.uv.mx/pozarica/caa-conta/files/2016/02/REGULAR-AND-IRREGULA
R-VERBS.pdf

Summary of Grammar Tenses

● https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/english_tenses.htm