Ministério da Educação - Programa Idiomas sem Fronteiras 1

Compreensão Oral : Palestras e Aulas A2– 16h

Listening for details and specific information

1- Listen to an excerpt from a lecture. Complete the chart with the missing information.

Lecture: International Advertising

Main Idea Details

International companies ● Numbers can be good in one culture,

___________________________________ but _____________________________
● In some languages in Asia, the word
___________________________________
4
___________________________________ _____________________________
● Ex: company put 4
___________________________________ __________________________, but
_____________________________.

2- Listen to another excerpt from a lecture. Take notes in the chart. Then compare notes with
a partner.

Main Ideas Details

3- Complete the sentences about the lecture with information from the box. Use your notes to
help you.

colors money

advertising mistakes

customs name

1. International companies sometimes make cultural ___________________________

in advertising.
2. Language differences can be a problem in international
__________________________.
3. A product ___________________________ may have a funny meaning in another
language.
4. Some _________________________ are not good to use in advertisements.
5. Companies sometimes lose _________________________ because of advertising
mistakes.
6. To avoid problems, companies should learn about the ________________________
of other countries.

4- Circle the answer that best completes each statement. Use information from the listening
and your own ideas.

1. Today there are more ________ than in the past.

a. advertising companies
b. colors in advertising
c. international companies

2. It is important for companies to learn about other countries’ cultures ______.

a. because they may be the same
b. before they advertise there
c. when they buy their products

3. When international companies understand other cultures, they ______.

a. probably lose less money
b. may have problems in the future
c. don’t advertise internationally

5- Read the statements. In pairs, write T (true) or F (false). Correct any false statements.
_____ 1. The computer company did not change the product name.

___________________________________________________________________________

_____ 2. The color red usually has a positive meaning.

___________________________________________________________________________

_____ 3. Companies should avoid the color blue in advertising.

___________________________________________________________________________

_____ 4. The colors black and green can both mean death.

___________________________________________________________________________

6- Listen to excerpts from the audio. Complete the student’s notes below with the missing
information.

Great Wall of China

Runs _____________________ kilometers
across north
Some parts are over ________________
years old
About _______________ tourists/day
(______________ visitors/year)

Galapagos Islands
_______________ main islands - home to
thousands of plants and animals
About _______________ tourists/year

Antarctica
First tourists arrived in ______________
Only about _______________ visitors/year
then
Today, close to ______________

7- Listen and complete the quiz:

1. Mount Everest is ____ meters high.
a. 850
b. 8,850
c. 9,580

2. The Eiffel Tower in Paris was built in ____.

a. 1599
b. 1702
c. 1889

3. Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, is ____ meters tall.
a. 828
b. 880
c. 8,018

4. The population of New York City is about ____.

a. 83,000
b. 8,300,000
c. 63,000,000

5. There are ____ islands in the Philippines.

a. 717
b. 7,107
c. 71,000

6. Angel Falls in Venezuela is the world’s tallest waterfall. It’s ____ meters tall.
a. 979
b. 1,065
c. 2,500

Now discuss your answer with a partner. Follow the example:

A: I think Mount Everest is 8,850 meters high. What do you think?
B: I’m not sure. Maybe it’s nine thousand...

8- Read the question. Then listen to the audio and complete the statements below according
to what you heard.

1. Charles Dickens is the author of _________________

2. Dickens was born in ___________________
 3. In 1870 his family moved to __________________
4. His favorite hobby was__________________
5. Dickens had to stop school at the age of __________________
6. Dickens’ first professional writing job was writing for the London Monthly
________________

9- Listen to the information about Charles Dickens. Write the missing information.

Unlike some authors who only have one or two hits, all of Dickens’s 15 books
became very famous. One of his most (1) _________________ works is David Copperfield.
David Copperfield was Dickens’s 8th novel, which he wrote in 1849. In the book, the main
character, (2)_________________ , tells the story of his own life. Like Dickens, David has a
difficult life when he is (3) ___________________. His parents die when he is a boy, and he
must go to work in a (4)________________ . Many parts of the story are sad. But as always,
the way Dickens describes his characters makes readers (5) __________________. In the
end, David becomes a successful (6) _________________ , and lives a happy life. Late in his
career, Dickens said that David Copperfield was his favorite of all the characters in his books.

References:
SCANLON, Jamie. Skills for Success: Listening and Speaking. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2015.
BAKER, Lida and GERSHON, Steven. Skillful: Listening and Speaking Student’s Book 1.
Macmillan Education, 2012.