LISTENING PRACTICE

Part 1: For questions 1-5, listen to a piece of news about which country has the best healthcare
and decide whether the following statements are True (T), False (F) or Not Given (NG).
1. In June 2017, the United States Senate rejected a first attempt under President Donald Trump to repeal
the Affordable Care Act.
2. Spain ranked first among the top three ranking countries which countries get the most out of their
healthcare in 2016
3. In Singapore, care is provided free as this country in order to avoid
wasteful use of the system.
4. Hong Kong is the country with the best and most efficient healthcare system.
5. As a country with a population of over 320 million, the US finds it difficult to implement centralized
or single payer healthcare without serious complications.

Part 2: For questions 6-10, listen to the recording about the History of Chocolate and give short
answers to the questions.
1. Who might be able to imagine life without chocolate?
- ______________________________________________
2. Who thought a god gifted human beings cacao?
- ______________________________________________
3. What was considered a must-have in every aristocratic home?
- ______________________________________________
4. Why do many major chocolate companies partner with African nations?
- ______________________________________________
5. What can chocolate be described as today?
- ______________________________________________

Part 3: For questions 11-15, listen to a talk by Doctor Jane Clark, who is one of the most respected
authorities on the technologies of ancient civilisations in the Mediterranean basin and write the
letter A, B, C, or D in the numbered boxes provided to indicate the correct answer to each of the
following questions according to what you hear.
11. What does Dr. Clark think when he compares our civilisation to that of Ancient Greece?
A. There's very little similarity because we have advanced technology.
B. Our system of knowledge and thinking is derived from the Greeks.
C. The Greeks were concerned with new things but we tend to like old ones.
D. Our civilisation could have come into existence without Ancient Greece.
12. What does Dr. Clark tell the story of the complicated bronze object for?
A. To prove that Ancient Greece was in the Bronze Age
B. To reveal that shipping was hazardous
C. To determine that important finds have been made at sea
D. To demonstrate that the technology in Ancient Greece was advanced
13. What did the strange object work by?
A. Atomic power B. Clockwork C. Solar energy D. Water pressure
14. Which of the following is TRUE about the experts at the time of the 1950s?
A. They could not believe that anyone could publish a conclusion about the fragments
B. They assumed that the device was from the Middle Ages
C. They could not believe that the ancients were capable of constructing such a device
D. They ridiculed the British physicist
15. What does Dr. Clark say we should do with the knowledge that the ancients were advanced?
A. We should use it to our advantage.
B. We should try to emulate the Ancient Greeks.
C. We should learn a lot more about ancient civilisations.
D. We should study the implications of our earlier beliefs.

Part 4: For questions 16-25, listen to a conversation and complete the following summary. Write
NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the recording for each blank.
Australia possesses a(n) 16.________________ as it hasn’t had a recession in nearly three
decades. But the deadly wildfires raging through large parts of the country are 17.________________
of the country’s economy.
The 18.________________ run by Fiona Austin is usually full in January, but tourists were
ordered to evacuate, and only a few people remain.
Things are becoming so volatile and people are still unsure as to whether they could
19.________________ again.
Australia calls itself the 20.________________, a nation so fortunate in geography and natural
resources that the economy has been growing steadily since 1991.
The wildfires have destroyed both residences and 21.________________. Besides, ferry service
in the city’s world-famous harbor has sometimes been canceled because of 22.________________.
The Australian Open and the Tour Down Under 23.________________ are mentioned as major
events that may be 24.________________.
Housing prices, which have been 25.________________ in recent years, have fallen to a deep low.
SUGGESTED ANSWERS AND TRANSCRIPT
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmL1jxQDuFk
1. F
2. NG
3. F
4. T
5. T
Tapescript
In June 2017, the United States Senate rejected a third attempt under President Donald Trump to repeal
the Affordable Care Act.
This failure was the latest development in the US’s slow move towards socialized healthcare.
But in fact, the United States has long had one of the worst balances between what healthcare costs each
citizen, and what benefit they get out of it.
Spain
In the rest of the world, citizens pay much less, or nothing, and often receive higher
quality care, with higher life expectancy and lower rates of disease.
So, we wanted to know, which countries get the most out of their healthcare?
Well, since 2012, the Bloomberg Health-Care Efficiency Index has measured exactly this
balance.
As of 2016 one of the top three ranking countries was Spain.
Spain is an above average representation of healthcare in OECD countries, and spends roughly twenty-
six hundred dollars per person with an average life expectancy of nearly 84 years.
About ten percent of the country’s GDP goes towards healthcare costs, which are largely
subsidized by the government.
This system of socialized medicine is globally known as “single-payer”, and most citizens
see no out-of-pocket expenses when they visit public hospitals.
In fact, the right to healthcare is guaranteed in Spain’s constitution.
However, this system also leads to complaints about delays in seeing doctors beyond primary care, or
getting specialized surgeries.
Singapore
Ranking Second on the Efficiency-Index is another country with universal healthcare,
Singapore.
Unlike Spain, Singapore requires that care is NEVER provided for free, in order to avoid
wasteful use of the system.
Instead, healthcare costs are kept artificially low through government subsidies, which compared to
Spain, only use 1.6% of Singapore’s GDP.
In addition to implementing price controls on medical care and medication, the country
uses a system known as Medisave.
This is a medical savings account, where up to 9 percent of employee salaries are required
to be deducted and set aside, and can be used for personal or family care.
This combination means that costs are low, while the quality of care is one of the highest
in the world.
Hong Kong
But overall, the best, and most efficient healthcare system is reportedly in the autonomous
territory of Hong Kong.
Interestingly, the territory uses a combination of private and public care, with one of the
highest life expectancies in the world, costing just $2000 dollars per citizen, and comprising just 3% of
the GDP.
However, Hong Kong’s high ranking healthcare may not be exactly what it seems at first
glance.
First of all, while public healthcare plans can be purchased at low costs, the wait to
see specialists or to get certain surgeries can be excessive, with some sources claiming
5 year wait lists.
On the other hand, private hospitals are reportedly speedy but very expensive.
This combination of low-cost care for routine visits and medication, with high priced elective or
specialized care makes Hong Kong’s system incredibly efficient, and difficult to overburden, thereby
avoiding raising costs for everyone.
While these three countries get the most bang for their buck, with very high standards of
care and life expectancy, they are also difficult to apply broadly around the world.
Singapore and Hong Kong have populations of under ten million people, meaning that most health
factors are uniform throughout the region and population.
United States
By comparison, the United States is enormous, with a population of over 320 million, making
centralized, or single payer healthcare more difficult to implement without serious complications.
Nonetheless, US healthcare costs are astronomical, with medical bills being the number one cause of
bankruptcy for Americans.
So why is US health care so incredibly expensive?
Check out this video to the right to find out.
Thanks for watching Now this World, don’t forget to like and subscribe for more videos
every week!

Part 2: Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibjUpk9Iagk&t=2s

Answers:
1. Those born before the 16th century.
2. The Mesoamericans
3. Dedicated chocolate ware
4. To reduce child and indentured labor practices
5. Sensual, decadent, and forbidden
Transcript
If you can’t imagine life without chocolate, you’re lucky you weren’t born before the 16th century. Until
then, chocolate only existed in Mesoamerica in a form quite different from what we know.
As far back as 1900 BCE, the people of that region had learned to prepare the beans of the native cacao
tree. The earliest records tell us the beans were ground and mixed with cornmeal and chili peppers to
create a drink – not a relaxing cup of hot cocoa, but a bitter, invigorating concoction frothing with foam.
And if you thought we make a big deal about chocolate today, the Mesoamericans had us beat. They
believed that cacao was a heavenly food gifted to humans by a feathered serpent god. Aztecs used cacao
beans as currency and drank chocolate at royal feasts, gave it to soldiers as a reward for success in battle,
and used it in rituals.
The first transatlantic chocolate encounter occurred in 1519, when Hernán Cortés visited the court of
Moctezuma at Tenochtitlan. When the colonists returned with shipments of the strange new bean,
missionaries’ salacious accounts of native customs gave it a reputation as an aphrodisiac.
At first, its bitter taste made it suitable as a medicine for ailments, like upset stomachs, but sweetening
it with honey, sugar, or vanilla quickly made chocolate a popular delicacy in the Spanish court.
And soon, no aristocratic home was complete without dedicated chocolate ware. The world of chocolate
would change forever in 1828 with the introduction of the cocoa press by Coenraad van Houten of
Amsterdam. Van Houten’s invention could separate the cocoa’s natural fat, or cocoa butter. This left a
powder that could be mixed into a drinkable solution or recombined with the cocoa butter to create the
solid chocolate we know today.
By the 20th century, chocolate was no longer an elite luxury but had become a treat for the public.
Meeting the massive demand required more cultivation of cocoa, which can only grow near the equator.
Yet along with the growth of the industry, there have been horrific abuses of human rights. Many of the
plantations throughout West Africa, which supply Western companies, use slave and child labor, with
an estimation of more than 2 million children affected. This is a complex problem that persists despite
efforts from major chocolate companies to partner with African nations to reduce child and indentured
labor practices.
Today, chocolate has established itself in the rituals of our modern culture. Due to its colonial association
with native cultures, combined with the power of advertising, chocolate retains an aura of something
sensual, decadent, and forbidden. Yet knowing more about its fascinating and often cruel history, as well
as its production today, tells us where these associations originate and what they hide.

Part 3:
11. B
12. D
13. B
14. C
15. A
Transcript
You will hear a talk by Doctor Jane Clark, who is one of the most respected authorities on the
technologies of ancient civilisations in the Mediterranean basin. The talk is part of the series "Have
we been here before?". Choose the answer which best fits what you hear.
You now have one minute in which to look at Part Three.
TONE
Interviewer: Dr Clark, perhaps you could briefly outline the thrust of your argument.
Dr Clark: Certainly. I'd like to discuss whether or not, in the realm of ideas, we are really all that
different from our predecessors, and then if we are really all that different in the realm of fact or artifact.
Interviewer: So, as I understand it, you believe that we are closer to the people of ancient civilisations
than we might believe?
Dr Clark: Yes, that's right. My question is, what can the modern world learn from one of the oldest
civilisations? And are we similar or completely different from them? We believe that this is an age in
which everything must be new. New economies, new politics, new technologies..... new, new, new.
Interviewer: Yes, I think that's a fair assessment, but this must have happened in other times, surely?
Well, yes, it has. The people of Ancient Greece, from the 7th to the 4th century BC, instigated a series
of extraordinary innovations which laid the basis for 2,000 years of Western thought and achievement.
(QUESTION 11). All philosophy, they say, stems from Plato - although I agree that this is debatable -
but it was their restless energy, the desire to conquer the new, driven the obsession with novelty, that
make the two ages so similar.
Interviewer: I suppose we are still attempting to conquer space and colonise Mars, so, yes, I accept the
analogy. But what about our amazing technological advances?
Dr Clark: Mmm. You could argue that our technology is vastly more sophisticated than anything
in ancient times, but that's only in a strictly limited sense. It's true that technology has become more
complex, but the intellectual roots to build the technology stem from Ancient Greece. If we think about
the Parthenon (and the fact that it's still partially intact) then we must admire their technological ability.
Interviewer: Are there any other less obvious examples of their ability in this area?
Dr Clark: I'm glad you asked me that! There is a lesser-known example which is a hobby-horse of
mine. At some time around 80 BC, a heavily laden merchant ship sank off the southern coast of Greece.
It contained many things, including an immensely complicated bronze scientific instrument. It was
initially thought to be an astrolabe - a type of navigational instrument.(QUESTION 12).
Interviewer: But surely they weren't used until the Middle Ages?
Dr Clark: So we always believed, but the story continues. In 1951, a British physicist visited the
Athens Museum to make his own analysis of the fragments taken from the wreck. The complexities of
the device and the astronomical inscriptions on the surface led to eight years of research. In 1959 he
published his own conclusion: that the fragments represented some form of intricate
clockwork.(QUESTION 13). Such an idea was unthinkable to experts of the time. (QUESTION 14).
Finally, with the assistance of the Greek Atomic Energy Commission, photographic plates were
produced which allowed him to reconstruct the device and ascertain its date of construction.
Interviewer: Fascinating. So what was its purpose?
Dr Clark: Ah, well, we're still not absolutely certain. We can see from its construction that the mechanism
was an arrangement of calibrated differential gears inscribed and configured to produce solar and lunar
positions in synchronisation with the calendar year. By rotating a shaft, its owner could read on its front
and back dials a prediction of the movement of heavenly bodies. It might have been used to amuse a
child; or to navigate a ship.
Interviewer: Surely the latter would seem more acceptable?
Dr Clark: I suppose so! However, it serves as an example which should lead us away from the belief
that the ancients were technologically inept. They were, in fact, quite advanced, and we should study the
implications of this knowledge and look for deeper meanings in what we have glory difficulty in
understanding. Clearly, we could learn a lot more if we put our minds to it. (QUESTION 15).
Interviewer: Well put! Tell me, when did we first succeed in making accurate clocks?
Dr Clark: After what I've just said, that's a moot point, isn't it?
Interviewer: Touché!

Part 4: Source: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/795235653

Answers:
16. enviable economic record
enviable: causing envy
Collocation: enviable reputation/position/record/ability
Ex: Wellington College is one of the world’s leading co-educational boarding and day schools and has
an enviable reputation for excellence and innovation.
Japan is in the enviable position of having a budget surplus.
Matt Haig is a writer of admirable versatility (children's books, nonfiction, adult novels) and an enviable
ability to produce bestsellers.
Edinburgh boast the enviable record of being the only unbeaten team in Europe after five rounds of the
Heineken Cup.
17. threatening key parts
18. campground
19. flare up : suddenly start again (disaster, disease, fire and anger)
The bushfire emergency in central Queensland flared up on Sunday evening with residents in the path
of the massive Deepwater blaze told to leave immediately.
20. lucky country
21. prime farmland
22. poor visibility
23. bike race
24. rescheduled
25. skyrocketing: to rise quickly to a very high level (prices, bills, costs and wages)
The industry's development costs will skyrocket. The time of cheap energy resources, cheap gas is
surely coming to an end.

Transcript
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:
Australia has gone nearly three decades without a recession. It’s an enviable economic record. But as
NPR’s Jim Zarroli reports, the Australian wildfires are threatening key parts of the country’s economy.
JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE: Normally, the campground run by Fiona Austin near the Australian city of
Shoalhaven is full in January, but tourists have been ordered to evacuate the area. And with the fires still
raging, she doesn’t expect them to be back anytime soon.
FIONA AUSTIN: There is a lot of fear because they’re being so changing and volatile. You know,
people are still unsure as to whether they could flare up again.
ZARROLI: As planes carrying water to the wildfires buzz overhead, Austin tells NPR her campground
is empty right now except for a few permanent residents.
AUSTIN: We’re on 15 acres so – yeah. To only have a couple of tents here – here comes another plane
– is very unusual for us.
ZARROLI: Australians call themselves the lucky country. The economy has been growing steadily
since 1991, a remarkable run. Economist Justin Wolfers of the University of Michigan says that’s partly
because the population has grown a lot. But, he says, the country’s been fortunate in some other ways,
too.
JUSTIN WOLFERS: Not only did we start the last few decades a relatively rich country and in the club
of the first-world industrialized countries; we’re also parked right next to Asia, which is where much of
the world’s growth has come from over the past few years.
ZARROLI: As China has grown, it's been hungry for the kinds of commodities Australia has a lot of,
like coal, natural gas, wheat and wool. China sends more tourists to Australia than any other country.
But the rampaging fires are dealing a blow to the economy.
Martin North heads the research firm Digital Finance Analytics.
MARTIN NORTH: Just the area of Australia that's now impacted is unheard of. So we are in uncertain
territory.
ZARROLI: The fires have destroyed more than 1,800 homes, as well as enormous amounts of prime
farmland. Even in places far from the fires, work life is being disrupted. People with respiratory
problems are staying home. Hospital visits are up. And construction crews can’t work. In Sydney, ferries
aren’t running because of poor visibility in the harbor, says Katrina Ell of Moody’s Analytics.
KATRINA ELL: There was a few days late December when fire alarms were actually going off in very
large buildings within the city center just because of the poor air quality.
ZARROLI: As word of these conditions spreads around the world, tourism is taking a big hit. There’s
even been talk of rescheduling some of the big events that draw in millions of visitors each year, like the
Australian Open and the Tour Down Under bike race. Martin North says this is happening at a time
when the Australian economy was already softening a bit.
NORTH: We were already looking, I think, pretty shaky. And that was before all the bushfires.
ZARROLI: China’s economy has slowed lately, and Australia has felt some pain. Unemployment ticked
up last year. House prices, which have been skyrocketing for a long time, have taken a hit. Katrina Ell
of Moody’s Analytics doesn’t think Australia is headed for a recession, but it’s hard to know for sure.
ELL: What’s really concerning to us is that this is still relatively early in our typical bushfire season. So
there’s concern about how much longer this bushfire season will run for.
ZARROLI: The longer the fires last, the more damage they will do. And that means that after almost 30
years of steady growth, the lucky country could finally see its luck run out.
Jim Zarroli, NPR News.
 LESSON PLAN
PRACTICE LISTENING SKILLS
I. OBJECTIVES
1. Language focus
- To learn more vocabularies, collocation and structures.
2. Skills
- To help learners practise listening skills
3. Attitudes:
- To help students improve groupwork skills
- To provide Ss with some motivation to learn English
II. PREPARATION
1. Teacher: materials, lesson plan
2. Students: search for referent knowledge
III. PROCEDURE
Activities Content
Activity 1 * Purpose: This activity focuses Ss on practising listening skills for specific
20 minutes information.
* Instruction: For questions 1-5, listen to a piece of news about which country
has the best healthcare and decide whether the following statements are True
(T), False (F) or Not Given (NG).
* Activities:
- Teachers asks students to read the statements and then listen carefully to decide
whether the statements are True or False or Not Given.
- Students work in groups to discuss their answers.
- Teacher tells students to present in open class.
- Teacher gives feedback.
* Suggested answers:
1. F
(In June 2017, the United States Senate rejected a third attempt under President
Donald Trump to repeal the Affordable Care Act).
2. NG
(As of 2016 one of the top three ranking countries was Spain).
3. F
(Unlike Spain, Singapore requires that care is NEVER provided for free, in order
to avoid wasteful use of the system.)
4. T
(But overall, the best, and most efficient healthcare system is reportedly in the
autonomous territory of Hong Kong).
5. T
(By comparison, the United States is enormous, with a population of over 320
million, making centralized, or single payer healthcare more difficult to
implement without serious complications).

Activity 2 * Purpose: This activity aims at providing students with words and phrases
20 minutes related to the topic.
 * Instruction: For questions 6-10, listen to the recording about the History of
Chocolate and give short answers to the questions.
* Activities:
- Teacher instructs students to read the vocabulary.
- Students work in groups to practise reading vocabularies.
- Teacher tells students to present in open class
- Teacher gives answers and feedback.
Answers:
1. Those born before the 16th century.
2. The Mesoamericans
3. Dedicated chocolate ware
4. To reduce child and indentured labor practices
5. Sensual, decadent, and forbidden

Activity 3 * Purpose: This activity provides students with a practice of listening skills for
20 minutes comprehension.
* Instruction: For questions 11-15, listen to a talk by Doctor Jane Clark, who
is one of the most respected authorities on the technologies of ancient
civilisations in the Mediterranean basin and write the letter A, B, C, or D in
the numbered boxes provided to indicate the correct answer to each of the
following questions according to what you hear.

* Activities:
- Teachers asks students to read the statements and then underline keywords in
each question and option. Try to guess the topic of the listening text.
- Students listen to the recording and take some notes and then decide their
answers
- Students work in groups to discuss their answers.
- Teacher tells students to present in open class
- Teacher gives feedback.
* Suggested answers:
11. B
The people of Ancient Greece, from the 7th to the 4th century BC, instigated a
series of extraordinary innovations which laid the basis for 2,000 years of Western
thought and achievement.
12. D
It's true that technology has become more complex, but the intellectual roots to
build the technology stem from Ancient Greece.
There is a lesser-known example which is a hobby-horse of mine. At some time
around 80 BC, a heavily laden merchant ship sank off the southern coast of
Greece. It contained many things, including an immensely complicated bronze
scientific instrument. It was initially thought to be an astrolabe - a type of
navigational instrument.
13. B
 The complexities of the device and the astronomical inscriptions on the surface
led to eight years of research. In 1959, he published his own conclusion: that the
fragments represented some form of intricate clockwork.
14. C
Such an idea was unthinkable to experts of the time.
15. A
They were, in fact, quite advanced, and we should study the implications of this
knowledge and look for deeper meanings in what we have glory difficulty in
understanding. Clearly, we could learn a lot more if we put our minds to it.

Activity 4 * Purpose: This activity focuses students on practising listening skills for
20 minutes comprehension.
* Instruction: For questions 16-25, listen to a conversation and complete the
following summary. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from
the recording for each blank.
* Activities:
- Teacher asks students to read through the passage and guess the information to
fill missing words into each gap.
- Students work in groups to discuss their answers.
- Teacher tells students to present in open class
- Teacher gives feedback.
* Suggested answers with explanation:
16. enviable economic record
enviable: causing envy
Collocation: enviable reputation/position/record/ability
Eg: Wellington College is one of the world’s leading co-educational boarding and
day schools and has an enviable reputation for excellence and innovation.
Japan is in the enviable position of having a budget surplus.
Matt Haig is a writer of admirable versatility (children's books, nonfiction, adult
novels) and an enviable ability to produce bestsellers.
Edinburgh boast the enviable record of being the only unbeaten team in Europe
after five rounds of the Heineken Cup.
17. threatening key parts
18. campground
19. flare up : suddenly start again (disaster, disease, fire and anger)
The bushfire emergency in central Queensland flared up on Sunday evening with
residents in the path of the massive Deepwater blaze told to leave immediately.
20. lucky country
21. prime farmland
22. poor visibility
23. bike race
24. rescheduled
25. skyrocketing: to rise quickly to a very high level (prices, bills, costs and
wages)
The industry's development costs will skyrocket. The time of cheap energy
resources, cheap gas is surely coming to an end.
Consolidation - T summarizes the key points of the lesson.
10 minute
Homework - Revise learned knowledge.
- Prepare for the next lesson

IV. TEACHER’S REFLECTION

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