Listening Comprehension Recordings

Downloadable files are found at the bottom of the page. A selection of cloze exercises & keys in PDF can be found in the section Lesson Plans, but if you purchase QualityTime-ESL: The Digital Resource Book 2.0, you will get all the accompanying documents for each recording in DOC, which is a considerable advantage.

Below you have five recorded narratives associated with the following timeless themes:

• Moral values today, in particular, honesty in government affairs, in the media, and in our personal or professional lives

• The problem of water especially drinking water worldwide and the idea of carrying out a project

• The gullibility of the public who will believe almost anything conveyed by the media

• Renewable energies such as solar power

• The act of accomplishing a feat, i.e. something seemingly impossible.

• Honesty is the Best Policy tells a story that makes us reflect on the values of our modern society.

• When the Iceberg Arrives is an excellent introduction to topics such as presenting a project , the protection of natural resources or the consequences of global warming .

• The End of the World is Near deals with Orson Welles’ hoax in 1938 when he made the US public believe Martians had invaded the country.

• The Little Car That Could is a good introduction to solar power through a presentation of the first solar-powered car.

• Lindbergh tells the story of this aviator’s historic solo flight across the Atlantic and opens up the debate about accomplishing feats.

• Honesty is the Best Policy is written in the simple present and simple past tenses.

• When the Iceberg Arrives demonstrates present and future tenses and the use of the verb "to have to".

• The End of the World is Near is full of examples of the simple and continuous past tenses plus the pluperfect tense.

• The Little Car That Could provides work with numbers, comparisons, and prepositions.

• Lindbergh gives many examples of the use of the gerund.

In fact, if students memorize these five narratives, they will have learned more than 150 important language structures that will help them when conversing with others, going for a job interview, or when taking exams.

We have rewritten and re-recorded this text. It is part of the "Your English" podcast series on iTunes. To get the recordings and the exercises in PDF free of charge go to Lesson Plan for "Honesty".

• We recommend that students work on the QualityTime-ESL podcasts with oral drills at the same time.
• You can download these podcasts free of charge on this website or iTunes. In that case, type "Marianne Raynaud" in the search box, and you will be able to listen to or subscribe to all four series.

To download the recordings below, which are in mp3, click on the right button of the mouse and choose: "Save to hard drive."

"When the Iceberg Arrives" Continuous recording

When the Iceberg Continuous MP3

"When the Iceberg Arrives" Listen & Repeat recording

When the Iceberg Arrives Listen&Repeat MP3

"The End of the World Part 1" Continuous recording

The End of the World Pt1 MP3

"The End of the World Part 1" Listen & Repeat recording

The End of the World Pt1 Listen & Repeat MP3

"The End of the World Part 2" Continuous recording

The End of the World Pt2 MP3

"The End of the World Part 2" Listen & Repeat recording

The End of the World Pt2 Listen & Repeat MP3

"The Little Car That Could" Continuous recording

The Little Car That Could MP3

"The Little Car That Could" Listen & Repeat recording

The Little Car That Could- Listen&Repeat MP3

"Lindbergh" Part 1 Continuous recording

Lindbergh Pt 1 - Continuous MP3

"Lindbergh" Part 1 Listen & Repeat recording

Lindbergh Pt 1 - Listen&Repeat MP3

"Lindbergh" Part 2 Continuous recording

Lindbergh Pt 2 - Continuous MP3

"Lindbergh" Part 2 Listen & Repeat recording

Lindbergh Pt 2 - Listen&Repeat MP3

And we suggest you visit our song pages. The first one is called subtitled videos of songs with cloze exercises. There are several other pages with subtitled songs for listening comprehension and sing along in class. One is devoted to the Beatles and another to ABBA.

Accompanying written materials (exercises and keys) of these recordings are part of the more than 1,500 files. It is available as a download of three Zip files. Files are in MS Word, MP3, and PDF and can be customized to suit your needs.

To purchase The Qualitytime-ESL Digital Resource Book 2.0 go directly to our store.