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  Listening Comprehension Test for 11th Form Students

Body Art

   Tattooing can be found the world over, though its style and its meaning vary dramatically. Tattooing has long featured in the cultures of the Japanese, Polynesians and Native Americans. The practices of the Maoris of New Zealand provide a striking example of tattooing. They are well known for the elaborate patterns with which they traditionally decorated their faces. Integration with white settlers led to a decline in the custom, but it is now regaining popularity amongst young Maoris.

   Native American Indians are known to have pierced the lower lip, and today this practice is found in tribes across Africa and South America. A long cane is often pushed through the skin around the mouth or nose as decoration. The Sara tribe of central Africa, for example, traditionally pierce and then stretch their lips with saucer-like disks. Nose piercing is as common in India, South America and Africa, as is ear piercing. In some societies, a piercing though the ear lobe is gradually stretched to create a visible hole. This is more and more common in the West.

In non-Western cultures, tattooing and piercing have recently declined, as these societies try tp “catch up” with the West. On the contrary, in the West their popularity is ever increasing. Until recently, body art in our culture was mainly found on groups such as sailors and convicts, of those wanting to rebel against society, like the punks of the 1970s. Over the last decade body art has moved into the mainstream and it is increasingly socially acceptable.

Just about every part of the body can be pierced or tattooed. In the West, facial piercings are popular (especially through the eyebrow, lip and tongue), as are navel piercings. David Beckhem, the famous British footballer recently sparked craze for tattoos in foreign languages when he had his wife’s name, Victoria, tattooed on his forearm in Hindi. Polynesian- style tattoos of large swirling blocks of color are currently fashionable with men, while women still tend to favor smaller, less visible tattoos.

   People use body art for a range of reasons. In the past tattoos have been used as a mark of social status, to ward off demons and ill health. They have also been used as a means of identifying and punishing convicts, slaves and outcasts. However, these days mast people use body art simply as decoration.

   As tattooing and piercing become increasingly common however, some people are resorting to more extreme methods of body modification to stand out from the crowd. “Body branding”, for example, is a dramatic (and dangerous) practice which is gaining in popularity. It involves searing the skin with red-hot metal, in some shape or pattern, to leave a permanent scar.

   Implanting is another extreme way in which people alter their body’s appearance. Somewhat similar to body piercing, it involves the painful insertion of metal objects under the skin. One example of implanting is the insertion of horn shaped objects under the skin of the forehead, giving a “devil-like’ appearance.

   It seems unlikely that branding and implanting will ever become as popular as tattooing and piercing. But fifty years ago, who would have thought that businessmen would go to work hiding pierced nipples under their suits, or that kids would be asking their parents for tattoos for their sixteen birthdays. Whether branding or implanting will become popular or not, one thing is certain – body art, in one form or another, is here to stay.

Listening comprehension Test for 11th Form Students. Assignments

Task 1. On your answer sheet circle (+ ) if the statement is true, (-) if it is false.

1. People have been tattooing and piercing their bodies for thousands of years.

2. Nose and ear piercing are common in India, America and Africa.

3. Tattooing and piercing have declined in the West and are growing dramatically in non-Western cultures.

4. Sailors and convicts changed their appearance by piercing and tattooing in order not to be recognized.

5. Facial piercing is as popular in the West as in the South America and Africa.

6. No examples of colored tattoos are known.

7. Men prefer large tattoo pictures while women prefer small ones.

8. Piercing and tattooing are enjoyable and painless procedures.

9. Body art is used not only for decoration but also for identification and punishing people.

10. The practice of body modification is closely connected with the technological progress.

Task 2. Circle the right answer A, B, C, or D

11. Tattooing is…

A. a hobby

B. a paradox

C. love for nature

D. a tradition

12. Body art is…

A. a cultural tradition of many people in the world

B. is applicable for animals too.

C. is typical only of artists

D. is forbidden for civilized population.

13. Piercing and tattooing are found over the following parts of the body EXCEPT…

A. face.

B. navel.

C. tongue.

D. eye.

14. In earlier gays body art in Europe was popular with those who wanted…

A. to follow the tradition of tribes.

B. to oppose against something.

C. to look like a representative of tribal community.

D. to look ugly.

15. Nowadays for many westerners body art is…

A. condemned

B. socially acceptable.

C. laughed at.

D. forgotten.

16. A famous footballer stroke the audience by tattooing his wife’s name in …

A. Hindi.

B. Hungarian.

C. Spanish.

D. Japanese.

17. motivations for body art are…

A. different for a range of reasons.

B. the same for all people.

C. rarely important.

D. never changed.

18. The extreme methods of tattooing and piercing involve…

A. moving.

B. sewing.

C. branding.

D. infecting.

19. People always changed their body’s appearance by…

A. wrestling.

B. keeping fit.

C. becoming popular.

D. implanting.

20. Body art has been popular with the present day people for…

A. five years.

B. fifteen years.

C. fifty years.

D. fifty-five years.  

 

Listening Comprehension for 10th Form Students

Au-pair - іноземна дівчина, що вивчає мову та допомагає в господарстві.

The Au-Pair in Britain

   One of the ways open to a girl student of the English language to improve her linguistic knowledge is to come to Britain for a year as an au-pair girl. It certainly seems to be a very popular method, for every year sees more and more girls entering English homes as au-pair girls.

   Forty years ago it was generally understood in Britain that the term “au-pair’ was only to describe a girl who came here to perfect her linguistic or professional knowledge; who lived as a member of an English family and the family provided her with “pocket money”. She was not paid a salary.

   As a member of the family she helped with the housework and, if there were any, helped look after the children; but she was not asked to do more than would normally be expected of a teenage daughter of an average middle-class – particularly professional class – English family.

   Au-pair girls come mainly from Europe, although increasing numbers are arriving from Asia and South America. In the 1960s it was reckoned there were 9,000 au-pair girls in Britain; today an estimated number is 30,000 in London alone.

The concept of the relationship between an au-pair and the English family with whom she is staying still exists in the advisory booklet which the Home Office first published in the 1960s. But conditions for the girls vary greatly. They are treated as cheap labor, many of them placed by agencies with no interest in their future welfare.

   An article entitled “Law sought to protect au-pair girls’ interests” was published in one of the British newspapers recently. The author wrote: “Au- pair girls in Britain need a legally binding agreement to protect them against exploitation. Little notice is taken of Home Office recommendations; not more than five hours a day domestic work, at least one free day a week, sufficient pocket money (7.50 is considered right), time to study and meet people.

   A girl cannot go on strike; that sort of action goes against the spirit of the system, which is intended to be one of fellowship, hospitality and a good relationship between the girl and the family”.

   He emphasized the lack of real protection from families who overworked the girls or agencies who place them, collect a fee and forget about them.

Listening Comprehension for 10th Form Students Assignments “The Au-Pair in Britain”

Task 1. On your answer sheet circle (+ ) if the statement is true, (-) if it is false.

1. The British girls work as au-pairs.

2. An au-pair is a girl who lives with a family in return for doing hard work in the house.

3. The aim of an au-pair girl is to perfect her linguistic knowledge.

4. The au-pair girls get their professional knowledge through the communication with the average British families.

5. The concept of relationship between an au-pair and the English family has supposedly changed since 1960s.

6. Labor of the girls is estimated as not very expensive.

7. Home Office recommends the girls to work no less than five hours a day.

8. The au-pair girls are interested in staying mainly in London.

9. Due to hard housework the au-pair girls have no time to meet people.

10. English families where the au-pair girls stay are all the examples of hospitality.

Task 2. Circle the right answer A, B, C, or D

11. The number of au-pair girls …

A. increases gradually.

B. has increased greatly.

C does not change

D. changes occasionally.

12. A usual term of staying in Britain for a girl student as an au-pair is…

A. a month

B. half a year

C. a year

D. a year and a half.

13. The au-pair girls…

A. receive money from their parents

B. earn large sums of money

C. get salaries

D. get only pocket money from a family.

14. Duties of the au-pair girls include…

A. looking after the retired.

B. looking after the children.

C. looking after their friends.

D. looking for a job.

15. It is said that au-pair girls came from the following countries EXCEPT…

A. Europe

B Asia

C. Latin America

D. South Africa

16. The relationship between an au-pair and an English family …

A. is perfect.

B. lasts long.

C. is connected with the Home Office.

D. varies from family to family.

17. The agencies which place the girls to the families …

A. are interested in their future.

B. are not interested in their future.

C. are interested in their professional success.

D. are not interested in their staying with the families.

18. The interests of au-pair girls …

A. are not protected by Britain

B. are supported by law.

C. are discussed by the government.

D. are ignored by the government.

19. Being an au-pair is…

A. difficult

B. dangerous

C. prestigious

D. great

20. The way of studying English as au-pair is…

A. progressive

B. enjoyable

C. forbidden

D. legal.

 

Listening Comprehension for the 9th Form Students.

Text

Good evening and welcome to another lecture in our “Science in Simple Terms” series. This evening Dr. Edward Pickering will talk about a very popular topic – Dinosaurs.

Let me start by saying that there is still a lot to discover about dinosaurs. Everything we know is based on the fossils… let’s say the skeletons we have found. So, as new evidence is discovered our view of dinosaurs changes. We paleontologists do not even agree amongst ourselves… So, I will try to present what we generally agree on, without using complicated scientific terms.

First of all, we need to understand that not all animals which lived millions of years ago, were dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were only one of my species…. types of animals. For example, the pterodactyls and wooly mammoths were not dinosaurs.. So what were dinosaurs? Dinosaurs were reptiles. Examples of modern-day reptiles are snakes and lizards. Actually their name comes from Greek and means “terrible lizard”.

It is also important to understand that dinosaurs were not a single type of animal, but a whole family, which included hundreds of types of quite different sizes, shapes, colours and behaviors…. In the same way as the family of Mammals included humans, dogs, whales and bats.

Dinosaurs are divided into two large groups: “bird-hipped” and “lizard-hipped” according to the way the bones were connected to their hips, not because they looked like birds or lizards themselves.

Their sizes ranged quite a lot. The smallest was the size of a pigeon and weighed only a few grams. The biggest was about 26m long, twice as tall as the elephant and weighed about 20 times as much.

Let’s have a look now at their habits and behaviors. Well, despite a popular myth, dinosaurs were not all meat-eaters. Bird-hipped dinosaurs were herbivores, that is they ate only plants, and lizard-hipped dinosaurs were either meat or plant eaters. Plant eating dinosaurs were larger than meat eaters. Some of the smaller meat-eaters probably hunted in groups.

Listening Comprehension for the 9th Form Students Assignments

Task 1. On your answer sheet circle (+ ) if the statement is true, (-) if it is false.

1. The text is most probably taken from a university course.

2. Scientists do not seem to have much information on the topic.

3. The scientific ideas can vary from time to time.

4. Different researches usually have the same ideas.

5. Dinosaurs were not the only group of animals in the past.

6. There are no more animals like dinosaurs nowadays.

7. Dinosaurs looked like either birds or lizards.

8. Some of the dinosaurs could be compared to elephants.

9. Most dinosaurs fed themselves on meat.

10. Giant dinosaurs were likely to prefer being alone.

Task 2. Circle the right answer A, B, C, or D

11. We can make a conclusion that…

A. The lecture is the only one

B. There were some lectures before

C. There must be some lectures after.

D. There will be no lectures

12. There seems to be … data about dinosaurs.

A. enough

B. much

C. little

D. no

13. The scientific knowledge on dinosaurs is mostly based upon…

A. studying bones

B. studying documents

C. making experiments

D. studying reptiles

14. The speaker is going to speak on something that most of scientists find…

A. controversial

B. doubtful

C. unbelievable

D. probable

15. Most people probably think that dinosaurs …

A. never existed

B. were the only animals in the past

C. could fly

D. still live on the Earth

16. Dinosaurs were most likely to be…

A. cold-blooded

B. wet-painted

C. hard to feed

D. easy to kill

17. The name “dinosaur” comes from one of the ancient languages of…

A. Asia

B. Africa

C. America

D. Europe

18. The speaker states that dinosaurs …

A. were all alike

B. were part of another big family

C. varied greatly

D. resembled whales and bats.

19. Dinosaurs are classified according to…

A. the way they resembled birds

B the way they resembled mammals.

C. the way they resembled lizards.

D. none of the previous

20. The text makes us think that most of books and movies about dinosaurs were…

A. based on real facts.

B. quite close to truth

C. made in the real – time mode

D. a reflection of people’s beliefs

 

1. Listening Comprehension for 8th Form Students Mother Teresa

Task 1. 1 T; 2 T; 3 T; 4 F; 5 F; 6 T; 7 T: 8 T; 9 F; 10 T

Task 2. 11 D; 12 C; 13 C; 14 A; 15 B; 16 B; 17 D; 18 C; 19 C; 20 C

 

2. Listening Comprehension for 9th Form Students Dinosaurs

Task 1. 1 F; 2 T; 3 T; 4 F; 5 T; 6 F; 7 F; 8 T; 9 F; 10 T

Task 2. 11 B; 12 C; 13 A; 14 D; 15 B; 16 A; 17 D; 18 C; 19 D; 20 D

 

3. Listening Comprehension for 10th Form Students The Au-Pair in Britain

Task 1. 1 F; 2 F; 3 T; 4 T; 5 T; 6 T; 7 F; 8 F; 9 F; 10 F

Task 2. 11 B; 12 C; 13 D; 14 B; 15 C; 16 D; 17 B; 18 A; 19 A; 20 D

 

4. Listening Comprehension for 11th Form Students Body Art

Task 1. 1 T; 2 T; 3 F; 4 F; 5 T; 6 F; 7 T; 8 F; 9 T; 10 F

Task 2. 11 D; 12 A; 13 D; 14 B; 15 B; 16 A; 17 A; 18 C; 19 D; 20 C