CARD 1

Work in pairs. Read the following conversation aloud

A: It’s my pleasure to introduce Dr. Mary Sperling, a psychologist, and she’s writing a
book on the subject of birth order and personality. Dr. Sperling, welcome.
B: Thank you very much.
A: To begin with, what is birth order?
B: That means your place of position in the family – if you are the oldest child, the
youngest, or in the middle.
A: I see. Why is birth order important?
B: Well, research shows that our position in our family often has a big effect on our
personality. There are certain characteristics that are common for first-born children,
middle children, and so on.
A: That’s is interesting. Can you give us some examples?
B: Ok, let’s begin with the first-born children. They are usually serious, responsible, and
organized. They are natural leaders.
A: Why is that? Can you give me more explanation?
B: Well, in many families, the oldest child helps to take care of the younger ones.
A: That’s interesting. So what are the characteristics of a middle child?
B: Well, very often the middle child tries to be the family peacemaker.

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 CARD 2
Work in pairs. Read the following conversation aloud
A: It’s really hard to decide which type of accommodation to live in.
B: I agree. Which one do you like?
A: I’m interested in Nelson Hall because it’s safer and near the library. That’s better for
me because I want to concentrate on my studies.
B: Yes, I think so too. But Nelson Hall is a traditional dorm, with small rooms that you
share with a roommate. I’m definitely not keen on sharing a room.
A: I agree. And the facilities aren’t great. And in my opinion, the cafeteria has the worst
food on campus.
B: I disagree. I think it has the tastiest food on campus. And it’s the cheapest
accommodation – only $ 775 a month.
A: You’re right, that is pretty cheap. Which accommodation are you interested in?
B: I like Ivy Suites.
A: Oh, is that the one near the mall?
B: No it’s not. It’s near the gym. It’s a more modern building than Nelson Hall, and it has
apartments, with 4 students in each apartment.
A: How about the food and facilities at Ivy Suites?
B: Well, each apartment had a kitchen, which means I can cook my own meals. Also,
there’s a TV room on each floor, and the building has a convenience store on the first
floor.

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 CARD 3

Work in pairs. Read the following conversation aloud

A: So, tell me about some amazing animal facts you discovered.
B: Ok well, here’s one about lyrebirds, which are found in Australia. The male lyrebird
tries to get the attention of females by singing.
A: So that falls into the category of communication. How about other categories, like
speed?
B: Ok, well most people think that the cheetah is the fastest animal, but it’s not true.
A: Really? What’s faster?
B: Well, one of the fastest creatures is the sailfish. It can swim 100 meters in 4.8 seconds,
which is 110 kilometres per hour.
A: That’s pretty impressive. I wonder how they can swim so fast.
B: Wow! Ok how about strength? Let me guess… elephants, right?
A: An insect? I don’t believe it.
B: It’s true. An ant can lift and carry a leaf that is 50 times heavier than the ant’s body
weight.
A: That’s pretty extreme!
B: It is! Ok, the last category is size. Here’s a question for you: which animal has the
largest brain?

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 CARD 4
Work in pairs. Read the following conversation aloud
A: Hi, what are you working on?
B: It’s a report on city trends for my Urban Studies class. We have to choose one city and
explain an important change that is happening there.
A: What city did you choose?
B: Los Angeles. It’s my dream to go there and study for a master’s degree, so I decided to
learn more about it.
A: What changes did you learn about?
B: Well, one big trend is about public transportation ...
A: Oh, I heard transportation is terrible in L.A.! Everybody drives their own car!
B: Actually, that’s not so true anymore. In fact, public transportation is getting better and
better. The city is building a new metro rail system. Six lines are already running. There
are two subway lines and four light rail lines above the ground. Now you can take a train
all the way from downtown to the beach!
A: Wow. I didn’t know that. So ... what other trends are happening in L.A.?
B: More mixed-use buildings, especially in the downtown area.

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 CARD 5

Work in pairs. Read the following conversation aloud

A: Good afternoon, class. As you know, I’m Marcus and I’d like to introduce my
colleague Yasmin, who’s going to tell us about ... hamburgers!
B: Did you bring any?
A: Sorry, I didn’t. Not regular hamburgers anyway. I want to talk about hamburgers that
are grown in a laboratory.
B: Ew. Really? Why would anyone want to do that?
A: I know it sounds incredible and maybe a little strange, but as you’ll see, it’s actually an
amazing scientific development.
B: I think so too. OK, I’ll start by giving you some background. As you know the world’s
population is growing very fast. By the year 2050 there will be nine billion people on the
planet. We have to find a way to feed all those people.
A: That’s true, but what’s wrong with eating regular hamburgers?
B: Well, actually there are three reasons why we can’t continue to eat natural beef from
cows. Because cows need a huge amount of space and water to grow, and those things are
disappearing.

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 CARD 6
Work in pairs. Read the following conversation aloud
A. Hello everyone, and welcome to, Our world, our senses. This week we focus on our
sense of sight. So what do we need to know about eyes, Dr. Henry?
B. Well, first of all, except for our brain, your eyes are the most complex organs you have.
Each eye has more than two million parts. That means our eyes can focus on 50 things per
second.
A. Wow, that’s pretty amazing. And the muscles that move our eyes are the most active
muscles in the human body. Is that right?
B. Yes it is. They allow us to blink, on average, 15 times every minute that we’re awake –
that’s 10,000 blinks a day!
A. OK, I have a question… what’s the maximum distance a human can see? It’s said that
an adult can see straight ahead up to 4.6 km on a clear day.
B. That’s right. However, you can see stars that are millions of kilometers away. That’s
because they give off so much light.
A. Wow, so we can see farther than we think. But there are animals that have even better
vision than humans, right?
B. Yes. Some birds such as eagles and hawks can see up to 8 times more clearly than the
human eye.
A. Incredible! Well, I’m afraid that’s all the time we have. Thank you for joining us today.
B. My pleasure

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 CARD 7
Work in pairs. Read the following conversation aloud
A. So what do you think about our new online course, Anna?
B. It’s great! I’ve never taken a series of online lectures before but, to be honest, there
isn’t much difference between an online classroom and a traditional classroom.
A. Yes. We still attend lectures, and write assignments but now we’re able to share files
and discuss topics via the online discussion forum at any time during the day.
B. That’s a really good feature. I remember in the past, we only used to discuss issues
during the lectures and we didn’t have time to ask questions.
A. Right. Now we can ask questions and read lecture notes any time we like. It’s really
convenient. However, is there any problem with learning online?
B. Yes, there is. The only problem is you have to be really organized. You need a lot of
self-discipline.
A. Yeah, for me, it’s easier to look at my phone, go online or even watch TV when taking
an online lecture.
B. And if we spend too much time looking at the screen, our eyes are badly affected. What
do you think about it?
A. Right. That means we need to have a nice balance between paper and online course
material.
B. I totally agree with you.

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 CARD 8
Work in pairs. Read the following conversation aloud
A. Hello everyone, and welcome to our weekly podcast on dream jobs. Alexandra, could
you tell us what exactly a chocolate consultant does?
B. Well, as a chocolate consultant, I do much more than just eat chocolate. I study the art
of making chocolate and write reviews for food magazines…
A. You give chocolate makers advice on how to improve their products, don’t you?
B. Yes, of course. That’s not all. I also deal with restaurants and retail stores to help them
to find the best chocolate to sell?
A. Interesting! What do you enjoy about your job?
B. Oh, there are lots of things I enjoy about my job! First of all, I’m really interested in
chocolate! This comes from my childhood. Another thing I enjoy is that I often take part
in chocolate tasting events.
A. You can meet new people and discover new types of chocolate at these events, right?
B. Yeah. And most of all, I love working with chocolate makers to help them develop the
best chocolate possible.
A. Very interesting. Thank you for joining us today.
B. My pleasure.