Listening: B1

Chatting about a series

 Listen to two friends chatting about a television series to practise and improve your listening skills.

 Before listening

Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.

Preparation task

Match the explanations (a–h) with the vocabulary (1–8).

Vocabulary                                                                                                  Explanations

1. …… predictable                                                       a. like a chapter in a book, but for a television series
2. …… an episode                                                        b. easy to guess what will happen
3. …… key                                                                      c. things that will happen in life and you can’t change them
4. …… to reckon                                                         d. very important
5. …… special effects                                                e. to survive
6. …… revenge                                                            f. to think; to have an opinion about
7. …… destiny                                                             g. hurting someone because they hurt you
8. …… to make it             h. computer graphics or other ways of making amazing scenes for   film and television

Tasks

Task 1

Match the characters (1–5) with what the speakers say about them (a–e).

Characters                                                                            What the speakers say about them

1. …… The dragon                                                        a. did something that wasn’t very surprising.
2. …… Jaime                                                                    b. looked impressive.
3. …… Bronn                                                                   c. is not the woman’s favourite character any more.
4. …… Tyrion                                                                  d. never does anything we expect.
5. …… Cersei                                                                    e. almost died.

Task 2

Circle the best answer.

1. How often does the woman watch the show?
   1.  always
   2. sometimes
   3. We don’t know.

2. How has the woman’s opinion of the show changed over time?
   1. It’s become more positive.
   2. It’s become less positive.
   3. It hasn’t changed.

3. What does the man think of the story?
   1. It’s very well written.
   2. Too many characters died.
   3. He can’t remember much about it.

4. What is the one negative thing about the show for the man?
   1. They spent too much money on the special effects.
   2. The episodes were too short.
   3. There weren’t enough episodes.

5. Why does the man think the writers have fewer ideas for stories now?
6. Because they’re saving their ideas to make a Hollywood film.
7. Because they aren’t copying the books.
8. Because they’re copying the books.

6. Why does the woman like Cersei?
   1. The character does unpredictable things.
   2. The character learns from her mistakes.
   3. She’s a very intelligent character.

 Discussion

What series do you think this chat is about? What’s your favourite TV show and why?