B1 Listening worksheet 2 (standard)

Cities on a Bike

1 Complete the sentences with the words from the box.

bike lane bike path crossroads neighbourhood suburbs waterfront

1 An area of a city where people live can be called a .

2 The are parts of the city that are not in the centre.
3 A is a part of the road that should be used only by cyclists.
4 A is a kind of small road made especially for cyclists.
5 A is where two streets meet and cross each other.
6 A part of a town next to a river or the sea is called the .

2 Is your town or city a good place for cyclists? Talk to a partner. Say whether these sentences are
true or false for the place where you live.
●● The traffic isn’t too heavy.
●● It’s mostly flat.
●● There are a lot of bike lanes/bike paths.
●● The weather is usually good for cycling.
●● There isn’t much air pollution.

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B1 Listening worksheet 2 (standard)
Cities on a Bike
3 You will hear three friends talking about cycling in three different cities. Read sentences 1–6.
Then listen to the conversation and tick (✓) the city that each sentence describes.
Berlin Mexico City Lisbon
1 There is very heavy traffic most days but Sundays are
good for cyclists.
2 It’s flat and has lots of bike lanes so it’s easy to cycle
there.
3 Some parts of the city are too hilly but cycling by the
water can be fun.
4 The weather isn’t always good for cycling.
5 The oldest and most famous parts of the city are the
worst for cycling.
6 The traffic causes air pollution but the government is
trying to improve it.

4 Listen again and complete the sentences with one word.

1 It rained in Berlin but Lucas didn’t .
2 Ines thinks cycling in Mexico City sounds .
3 Ruby enjoyed being on the streets with other .
4 When there is heavy traffic it’s bad for the quality.
5 Ruby says the hills in Lisbon are steep and the streets are .
6 Tourists in Lisbon usually go to the older .

5 Work in small groups. How do tourists explore your city or country? What do you think of the way
they explore? Tell the group.

In our city we see groups of tourists exploring on scooters. It looks

like fun but sometimes the groups block the footpaths …

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B1 Listening worksheet 2 (standard)
Teacher’s notes
1 Warmer 03

Show the students the photos of the three Ruby: Hi Lucas! How was your week in Berlin?
cities and ask if anybody knows what cities
Lucas: Hi Ruby, Hi Ines. Oh it was so cool! We rented
they are. Tell them what cities are shown
bikes and toured the whole city that way. I
(from left to right: Mexico, Berlin, Lisbon)
loved it!
and explain that they will be listening to a
conversation about cycling in those cities. Ines: Wasn’t that a bit scary? On a bike in a big
city … with all the traffic, I mean?
2 Exercise 1 Lucas: No, not really. They have a lot of bike lanes
Hand out the worksheet and ask the students and the roads are quite wide, anyway. They
to complete the sentences in pairs. Check the have traffic lights specially for cyclists at big
answers with the whole class. crossroads. Plus, there are hardly any hills. The
city is really flat. The only problem is, it can be
Answers
quite windy and rainy. At least, it was when we
1 neighbourhood were there. We got wet a few times, but I didn’t
2 suburbs mind. It must be really hard to cycle there in
3 bike lane the winter with the snow and ice, though.
4 bike path Ines: Yeah. Hey, didn’t you and your family ride
5 crossroads bikes in Mexico City once, Ruby? Now that
6 waterfront sounds stressful to me!
Ruby: No, it wasn’t because we only rode bikes on a
3 Exercise 2 Sunday, and they close a lot of streets to other
Ask the students to read through the traffic on Sundays. It’s really fun being out
sentences and then talk to each other about and about with so many other cyclists. I don’t
their towns/cities in pairs. If you have students know about cycling on other days. It might be
from different places, ask them to form a pair stressful, but they do have some cycle lanes.
The air isn’t great, though, when all the cars
with someone who is not from the same city.
are on the streets. But one of the reasons the
4 Exercise 3 government wants people to cycle is to help
Ask the students to read through the reduce the air pollution.
sentences. Then play the conversation once Lucas: So, Ines, it sounds like you’re not a cycling
and ask students to tick the correct cities as fan, then?
they listen. Run through the correct answers Ines: Well, not in cities. Though now that you
with the whole class. mention it, I did borrow a bike and cycle in
Lisbon with my cousins once and that was fun!
Answers
1 Mexico City Ruby: Wait … stop … Lisbon? I’ve been there. It’s all
steep hills and really narrow streets. It can’t be
2 Berlin
a good place to ride a bike!
3 Lisbon
Ines: OK, some neighbourhoods are very hilly
4 Berlin
but you can cycle along the waterfront for
5 Lisbon miles. It’s flat and there’s a bike path and
6 Mexico City it’s so beautiful! Also, my cousins live in the
suburbs, where cycling is easier than in the
old town. But I agree that if you’re on holiday
in Lisbon and you want to see the famous
old neighbourhoods on the hills, a bike is
probably not the best way to do it.

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B1 Listening worksheet 2 (standard)
Teacher’s notes
Lucas: It’s the best way to see Berlin, though. And if
you don’t want to cycle around alone, you can
take a guided bike tour.
Ruby: Most cities have guided bike tours these days,
I think. They’re a really good idea …

5 Exercise 4
Play the conversation again and ask
students to complete the sentences with one
word they have heard. Check the answers
with the whole class.
Answers
1 mind
2 stressful
3 cyclists
4 air
5 narrow
6 neighourhoods

6 Exercise 5
Ask the students to discuss the questions in
groups. If they don’t have many ideas, suggest
some ways that tourists explore: on walking
tours, on scooters or Segways, on private tour
buses, on open-top hop-on-hop-off buses,
etc. Again, if you have students from various
places, make sure the groups are mixed.

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