LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Exercise 1. You will hear five people talking about problems they are having with their houses. Listen and match the problems (A–F) to the speakers (1–5).

Exercise 2. You will hear a women talking about home safety. Which of these words do you expect to hear and in what context? Listen and check.

headache falling burning drowning choking toothache poisoning

scalding cutting electrocution indigestion

e.g. I would expect to hear a word “falling”. Falling down the stairs is a common household accident.

Listen again and mark the sentences true or false.

1.Martha Ward is a writer and a parent.____

2.1,000 children in Britain have accidents at home each year.____

3.Young children have more accidents than younger children.____

4.The bathroom is the most dangerous room in the house.____

Exercise 3. Listen to an estate agent talking to a client on the phone and complete the form, then talk about the house.

Main Requirement: big garden

Type of house: 1 ____________________________________

Price: 2 ____________________________________________

When built: 1930s

Parking: large double 3 ________________________________

Number of bedrooms: 4 ________________________________

Number of bathrooms: 5 _______________________________

Extra features: 6 ______________________________________

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Exercise 4. Listen to the dialogue. Where does it take place?

Complete the dialogue, then use the prompts to act out similar dialogues.

A:How do you 1) _____ it, then?

B:Well, it’s nicely decorated and the garden is lovely, but the kitchen is very 2) _____ .

A:That’s true. But it is 3) _____ equipped.

B:And there are only two bedrooms.

A:Mmm, yes. But we can use the 4) _____ as another bedroom.

B:I think it will suit our needs. And it’s not so expensive either.

A:Okay, then. Let’s tell the estate agent that we are definitely 5) _____ .

nice area (+) four-bedroomed (+) a long way from the shops (–)

a bus stop nearby (+) no central heating (–) log fire (+)

well maintained (+) garden (+) no garage (–)

park on the street (+) no fence (–) modern security system (+)

(Unit 1. Upstream B2, pp.14–15 ex. 32, 34, 36, 38)

Exercise 5. Listen to a TV presenter describe a room in a famous person’s house.

Study the picture for a few moments. There are six differences between the description of the room and the picture. Find the differences.

Listen again and number the following adjectives in the order you hear them and note what each adjective describes.

Work in pairs. Take turns to describe your favourite room and draw what you hear. Listening Extra 4.2

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Exercise 6. Work in pairs and discuss what the job of interior designer involves. Listen to a conversation between an interior designer and a couple who want to change their lounge.

Study the pictures and identify which picture is the designer’s representation of the ‘ideal’ lounge they decide on.

Listening Extra 4.3

Listen again and complete interior designer’s notes.

Work in pairs. Pictures 2, 3, and 4 are each different in two ways from picture 1. Find the differences.

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Exercise 7. Work in pairs and discuss what you know about Feng Shui. Listen to the radio programme about it and answer the questions. Speaking Extra 4.2

Where is Feng Shui from?

What is chi?

What are three benefits of Feng Shui?

What is clutter?

What should we do with it?

Why?

What do you think of Feng Shui so far?

Work in pairs and read more information about Feng Shui. Is it sensible and useful? Comment on each other’s ideas.

Work in pairs. Look at the rooms in the picture and discuss how Feng Shui could be applied to these rooms. Which room has the biggest problem and why?

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