DAY-TRIP WITH A DIFFERENCE

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1630_144_6min_backu
p/page20.shtml
LISTENING ACTIVITIES
Student: Francisco Tafur Date: April 2022

LISTEN TO THE FOLLOWING CONVERSATION AND DO THE TASKS.

1. LISTEN TO THE FIRST PART AND HIGHLIGHT THE WORD YOU HEAR.

Callum: Hello, I’m Callum Robertson, welcome to Six Minute English. With me today is Neil
Edgeller. Hello Neil.
Neil: Hi Callum.
Callum: Now in today’s programme we’re going to be looking / booking at day-trips, but not
your average kind of day-trip. First Neil, could / can you explain what we mean by a
day-trip.
Neil: Sure, a day-trip is like a short holiday. You go somewhere and come / go back on the
same day.
Callum: Yes, when I was a kid / child I remember we used to go on day-trips to the beach or
day-trips to the forest. What about you Neil, did you or do you go on day-trips?
Neil: When I was a kid I lived in Canada and we often / always had visitors and we took /
look them to local places of interest on day-trips, for example Niagra Falls.
Callum: Wow, that’s a big / great place for a day trip. Our topic today is all about a day-trip that
is literally out of this world. The day-trips I’m walking / talking about are into space. If
you’ve ever dreamt of being an astronaut, now you can make that dream / dreaming
come true. Provided you can afford it!
Before we hear more about this, let’s have this week’s question.
Now we’re talking about space, so it’s a space related question for you Neil, which
planet is generally, is mostly the closest / closer to Earth, is it: a: Mars, b: Venus or c:
Jupiter
Neil: Er, it’s Mars isn’t it?
Callum: OK, Well we’ll find out if you’re right at the end of the programme. Now a company is
selling tickets for day-trips to space. They’re building special craft to do this and one of
these was revealed to the public earlier this year. We’re going to listen to BBC reporter
Rajesh Mirchandani with some more details but before we do here’s some of the
vocabulary you’ll hear. First ‘glimpse’, ‘glimpse’, tell us about this word Neil.
2. LISTEN TO THE SECOND PART OF THE CONVERSATION AND ANSWER THE
FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

a) What does “Glimpse” mean?

It is a word which means to see something, but to see it only for a short time or not completely.

It can be a verb or a noum.

b) What does “under-wraps” mean?

It means it is a secret, it has not been shown to the public.

3. LISTEN TO THE THIRD PART AND FILL IN THE GAPS:

Rajesh Mirchandani
After four years secret development in California’s Mojave Desert, now the first public glimpse
of White Knight 2, the hardware designed to take paying passengers into space.
But this isn’t the spaceship, that’s still unfinished and under wraps. This is the launch aircraft
that will carry the spaceship to 50,000 feet from where it fires its own rockets and climbs to 62
miles above the Earth.

4. LISTEN TO THE LAST PART OF THE DIALOGUE AND HIGHLIGHT T (TRUE) OR

F (FALSE)

a) The spaceship will travel 62 miles above the Earth, which is about 1000 km. T F

b) The spaceship is still “under-wraps” which means it´s still a secret. T F

c) You can book a ticket for this space trip for only $ 2000,000! T F
 DAY-TRIP WITH A DIFFERENCE - VOCABULARY ACTIVITIES

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/
1630_144_6min_backup/page20.shtml
Student: Francisco Tafur Date: April 2022

1. Match the words/expressions on the left to the definitions on the right. Use letters.

a) Stunning (e)Something that seems to have no weight, especially when it is

floating in space or water.

b) Fancy (c ) A quick look at someone or something that does not allow you to

see them clearly.

c) Glimpse (d)To keep something secret:

d) Under-wraps (b)To like or want something, or want to do something

e) Weightlessness (a) Extremely attractive or beautiful

2. Complete the senteces with the words from the box

astronauts company programme holiday day-trip

1. You spend a lot of time watching TV. What's your favourite TV programme?

2. I´m so happy. The school holiday starts tomorrow.

3. My grandparents took me on a day trip to Chulucanas.

4. If you’ve seen films of astronauts in spaceships they just float around of course because there

is no gravity.

5. The company is hoping to expand their operations abroad.