Intermediate Listening Power

Activity 1.

Listen to the file.

Christmas is Coming

Activity 2.

Listening Comprehension. Answer the following questions.

1. What does the little boy NOT ask for Christmas?
A. a toy train
B. a play car
C. hand-held radio receiver-transmitters

2. What does the girl want for Christmas?
A. dolls
B. Barbie playhouse
C. marbles

3. What are some of the foods the children want to prepare for Santa's reindeer?
A. cookies, apples, and carrots
B. hot chocolate, oranges, and corn
C. apples, oranges, and cookies

4. What time do they plan to go to bed?
A. 7:00 p.m.
B. 8:00 p.m.
C. 9:00 p.m.

5. How is Santa going to enter the house?
A. through the back door
B. down the chimney
C. through a basement window

Activity 3.

Listening to Details. Listen to the file for the last time and fill in the blanks with the correct answer.

Man: Well, Christmas is almost here. So, what do you want from Santa this year?

Micky: A ⁽¹⁾ car and walkie-talkies.

Man: Really? Well, and what about you, Emily? What do you want for Christmas?

Emily: If I can't have a Barbie ⁽²⁾, um, I would have some fragile dolls. And if I can't have some fragile dolls, it doesn't really matter what I get.

Man: Wow. Well, I'm ⁽³⁾, and Santa is coming. And how is Santa going to get inside the house, Micky?

Micky: Um, go down the chimney . . .

Man: Okay, so he's going to go down the chimney, and should we ⁽⁴⁾anything for Santa?

Micky: Yeah!

Man: What are we going to prepare for him, Emily?

Emily: Um. We could prepare some cookies for him and some hot chocolate, and, um, we could give Rudolph some, um, hot chocolate in a bowl and a cookie. And we could give some of the ⁽⁵⁾ some cookies and some hot chocolate in a bowl.

Man: Well, what do you think? They, Um, reindeer probably don't eat cookies, but what else could we give them, Micky?

Micky: Um, ⁽⁶⁾.

Man: Ah, that's good. And, uh . . .

Emily: Oranges and ⁽⁷⁾.

Man: Okay and what ⁽⁸⁾ do you think we ⁽⁹⁾ go to bed?

Emily: Um, seven.

Man: About seven o'clock. Well, that's exciting. I'm ⁽¹⁰⁾ happy that Christmas is coming.

Activity 4

Vocabulary. Read and study the following words.

• walkie-talkies (noun): small portable radio receiver-transmitters used for communicating with others 
  - We always take walkie-talkies when we go hiking in case of emergencies.

• barbie (noun): the name of a brand doll 
  - My daughter wants a barbie doll house for Christmas.

• fragile (adjective): easily broken or damaged, delicate 
  - Handle this vase with care. It's very fragile.

• chimney (noun): the place in a house where smoke from a fire goes up and out of the roof 
  - You should clean out the chimney before we use it this winter.

• Rudolph (pronoun): the name of Santa's reindeer with the shiny red nose 
  - According to the story, Santa needed Rudolph to guide his sleigh on one stormy, Christmas Eve.

Activity 5.

Discussion. Answer the following questions related to the conversation.

• Christmas is a time when children hope to receive presents from their parents, other family, and friends. Imagine that you are one of the children in this conversation (a three-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl). What Christmas gifts would you like to receive?
  
• Is Christmas celebrated in your country? If so, in what ways?