Self-access exercises - Listening Comprehension

Listening comprehension exercises

Black Friday in the States

Read the following text and say if the following statements are true or false.

1. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.
2. Black Friday is an official holiday.
3. Many employees have the day off so that they more people can go shopping.
4. Some larger retailers remain open for 24 hours.
5. A doorbuster is a very low-priced item designed to draw people into a sale. (The price can even be so low that the product is sold at a loss)
6. Black Friday is considered the first day of the Christmas shopping.
7. The term “Black Friday” refers nowadays to the period in which retailers go from being in the black to being in the red.

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. The term dates back to at least 1966, although its usage was primarily on the East coast. The term has become more common in other parts of the country since 2000. Because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday occurs between the 23rd and the 29th of November.

Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employees have the day off as part of the Thanksgiving holiday (with the exceptions of those employed in retailing, health care, and banking), which increases the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas and holiday season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open extremely early, with most of the retailers typically opening at 5AM or even earlier. Some of the larger retailers (depending on the location) such as Sears, Best Buy, Macy's, Toys "R" Us, and Walmart have been reported to open as early as midnight on the start of Black Friday in localized areas and remain open for 24 hours throughout the day until midnight the following Saturday. Upon opening, retailers offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. Although Black Friday, as the first shopping day after Thanksgiving, has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season at least since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the term "Black Friday" has been traced back only to the 1960s.
The term "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day (see Origin of the name "Black Friday" below). More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit).

Making healthy turkey and turkey gravy

Watch how to make healthy turkey.

Barack Obama pardons Thanksgiving turkey

Watch the one-minute news

US President Barack Obama has pardoned a turkey at the White House as part of an annual presidential tradition held in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving day

Thanksgiving in 2010 is on Thursday, the 25th of November.
In the United States, Thanksgiving is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. While perhaps religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.

Listen to an ESL podcast about Thanksgiving

Click here to read about traditional Thanksgiving dishes.

Speaking Unit 1 Discussion

Click here to find some speaking activities.

Intermediate Entry Grammar Checker Key

Click here to see the answers

Are Asian family values the future?

Read the article

Reflexive pronouns

When to use a reflexive pronoun. Click here to learn about this grammar point and do some exercises

Click here to learn how to use -selves and each other.

Now try a quizz

Test your family knowledge

Families quiz

Watch this video title: How UK families are changing.

Growing up in a big family

Click here to listen to two girls talking about what it is like to grow up in a big family.

Note down the advantages and disadvantages of growing in a big family.

We are family. Sister Sledge

We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up ev'rybody and sing

Ev'ryone can see we're together
As we walk on by
(FLY!) and we fly just like birds of a feather
I won't tell no lie
(ALL!) all of the people around us they say
Can they be that close
Just let me state for the record
We're giving love in a family dose

(CHORUS x2)

Living life is fun and we've just begun
To get our share of the world's delights
(HIGH!) high hopes we have for the future
And our goal's in sight
(WE!) no we don't get depressed
Here's what we call our golden rule
Have faith in you and the things you do
You won't go wrong
This is our family Jewel

Talk about your family

Click here to listen to Shuan talking about his family.

So / Such

:
Such and so can be used for emphasis. For example, 'You're such a goose!' means 'You're very much like a goose!' or 'It's so quiet' means 'It's very quiet'.
Click here to find the grammar explanation

Practice with suffixes

Click here to do some exercises

Noun suffixes

Noun suffixes
Click here to learn some suffixes to make nouns
-ness (nouns from adjectives)
 -ity (nouns from adjectives)

-tion / -sion (nouns from verbs)
-ment (nouns from verbs and adjectives)
-ment is another suffix that is used to make nouns from verbs and occasionally from adjectives
-ance / -ence (nouns from adjectives and verbs)
-ship (abstract nouns denoting different kinds of relationships)
- hood (abstract nouns denoting different kinds of 'families')

Suffixes 2

-er, -or, -ian, -ent, -ant: a person who does something

-ist: a person who specialises in an activity or area of study, or who is a member of a group with particular beliefs

-ee: a person who has something done to him or her

-hood: a state that is closely associated with a period of time

-ology: a subject (often academic) of study

-ion: a state or activity

-age: a state or process

-ce   important - importance,   patient - patience ,violent - violence
-y difficult - difficulty ,modest - modesty ,honest - honesty

Admirable Athletes

Listen as a group of people talk about which professional athletes they admire most.

Halloween

After listening to this British Council podcast about Halloween

for each of the questions decide if they are true or false.

1. Halloween is liked by many people.

2. The Celts celebrated Samhain at the end of the autumn.

3. The Church thought pagan feasts were holy days.

4. Only poor people play "treat or trick".

5. Witches are a modern invention.

6. Jack O'Lantern was another name for the devil.

7. Animals that live at night are popular symbols.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-podcasts-themes-halloween.htm

Guy Fawkes' Night

November 5th is Guy Fawkes' Night and it will be celebrated by people across the UK.
Guy Fawke's failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament, King James I and the entire English government. Luckily, the plot failed but why do we continue to celebrate such a violent event 400 years after the actual attempt?
Click here and find out.

Obesity epidemic

Click here to read and listen to the article