About The Archers

Archers fan Stephen Fry gives his instant introduction for new listeners. Learn about the people and places, the laughs and the scandals, so that you can get the most from The Archers. What do you learn about the following characters? You can find the answers as a comment.

1. David and Ruth Archer:___________________________________

2. Pat and Tony Archer: ____________________________________

3. Brian and Jennifer Aldridge: ______________________________

4. The Hebden Lloyds: _____________________________________

5. Emma and Ed Grundy: ___________________________________

TV Addicts

Most people can't imagine life without TV, yet it's only 75 years since regular broadcasting began. Listen to the programme and complete the sentences. You can find the answers as a comment.

1. How many hours a week on average does someone in the UK watch television? 

a) 20 hours

b) 30 hours

c) 40 hours

2. The BBC first public broadcast in the UK began in ___________.

3. Nick Higham explains other names that were considered for the television, such as photo  ___________ or electric ___________.

4. The television historian John Trenouth mentions the radio was called  ___________ in the past.

5. Some of the first things to be shown on TV were ___________, ___________ demonstrations and ___________ models.

6. Some British people didn't have a TV set back then because they weren't ___________ and they were ___________ of this mystical device.

7. Manufacturers put ___________ on the front of TV sets as people thought the TV set could see them and tried to put a ___________ over the screen!

8. Technology has developed so much that today you can even watch TV on your ___________ ___________, and the number of ___________ has expanded.

Source: BBC 6 minute English

16th January: Martin Luther King's Day

 

Answer the following questions:

1. What event took place on 18th August 1963?

2. Who was the most relevant speaker?

3. What had happened a few months earlier?

4. How did President Kennedy react to that?

5. Where did the demonstration start and finish?

6. Who did Martin Luther King mention at the beginning of his speech?

You can find the answers to the question in 'comments'.

Christmas Lights by Coldplay

Watch the video and fill the gaps. You'll find the answers in 'Comments' . 

Christmas night, another fight 
__________, we cried a flood
Got all kinds of poison in
Of poison in my __________

I took my __________ to Oxford Street
Trying to right a wrong
Just walk away, those __________ say
But I can't believe she's gone

When you're still waiting for the snow to __________
Doesn't really feel like Christmas at all

Up above, __________ on air flicker
Oh, they flicker and they float
And I'm up here holdin' on
To all those chandeliers of __________

Like some drunken Elvis singin'
I go singin' out of __________
Sayin' how I __________ loved you, darlin'
And I always will

Oh, when you're still waiting for the snow to __________
It doesn't really feel like Christmas at all
Still waiting for the snow to __________
It doesn't really feel like Christmas at all

Those Christmas lights light up the street
Down where the __________ and city meet
May all your __________ soon be gone
Oh, Christmas lights, keep shinin' on

Those Christmas lights light up the street
Maybe they'll __________ her back to me
And then all my __________ will be gone
Oh, Christmas lights, keep shinin' on

Oh, Christmas lights, light up the street
Light up the __________ in me
May all your __________ soon be gone
Those Christmas lights keep shinin' on

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

What's a University Education Worth?

Every year, it costs British students more and more to attend university. Students are graduating with larger and larger debts. So is a university degree really worth it?

Click here to download the worksheet with the listening activities. Don't read the transcript before you do the exercises!

Click here to download the audio track.

The global food waste scandal

Watch the video and answer the questions:

1. What did he notice when he was feeding his pigs and selling them to get some pocket money? 
2. What was his first act of freeganism?
3. What point is he trying to make by showing these graphs?
4. Why isn't this surplus of food supply a success for human civilization?
5. What do the nine biscuits he found in a supermarket bin represent? How many are we left with to feed on? 
6. Why is it necessary to sneak around the back of supermarkets to know where all the waste is going?
7. What examples are given to show that real waste is not in supermarkets' bins?
8. What does the national dish in Kashgar (Wester China) symbolize?
9. What is one of the possible solutions to stop food waste?
10. What event did he organize for the first time in 2009?

(You can check your answers in 'comments')