Theme 8

Theme 8 - Sports 

Watch the video to learn some useful vocabulary and phrases to talk about sports

Listening 1

Interviewer: Hello! I’m Mike Stone, from

the magazine Teen Life. We’re conducting a

survey about extreme sports this week. Do you

have a few moments? Can you answer my

questions?

Claire: Yes, of course.

Interviewer: What’s your name?

Claire: I’m Claire.

Interviewer: OK, Claire. Here’s the

first question. Are you interested in extreme

sports?

Claire: Yes. I’m fond of extreme sports

because I think they’re exciting.

Interviewer: What extreme sports have

you tried so far?

Claire: Well, I’ve tried surfing, paragliding

and snowboarding.

Interviewer: What’s your favorite extreme

sport?

Claire: I love paragliding. It’s fascinating.

When I go paragliding, I’m in seventh heaven.

I feel really overjoyed.

Interviewer: When did you try it for the

first time?

Claire: I went to Türkiye on holiday 2

years ago. I was in Fethiye, a town on the

south-west coast. While I was on the beach in

Ölüdeniz, I saw lots of paragliders in the sky.

They looked so attractive that I decided to try

paragliding. Next, I went to Babadağ Mountain

and jumped down. While I was flying like a

bird over the beautiful beach, I felt extremely

happy.

Interviewer: What extreme sports would

you like to try in the future?

Claire: I’d like to try hang-gliding and

rafting.

Interviewer: OK, Claire. Thank you for

your time.

Claire: You’re welcome.

Listening 2

Interviewer: And now, it’s your turn. Is it

okay if I ask you some questions?

Dylon: Sure. Go ahead.

Interviewer: All right. What’s your name?

Dylon: Dylon.

Interviewer: Dylon, are you interested in

extreme sports?

Dylon: Yes. I like them a lot.

Interviewer: Why do you like extreme

sports?

Dylon: Because they’re challenging.

When you do extreme sports, you feel a sense

of achievement. I think that’s great.

Interviewer: What extreme sports have

you tried so far?

Dylon: I’ve tried wrestling, windsurfing

and mountain biking.

Interviewer: What’s your favorite extreme

sport?

Dylon: It’s wrestling. I’m crazy about it.

Actually, I’m in the school team. My coach

says that I’m gifted in it.

Interviewer: When did you try it for the

first time?

Dylon: When I was 14, my cousin Andy

suggested going to a wrestling tournament. I

accepted, and then I got really fascinated while

I was watching it. When I came back, I talked

to the coach. Next, he wanted me to wrestle

with a boy. Although it was my first game, the

coach told me that I had lots of natural talent,

and he let me join the team at the drop of a

hat.

Interviewer: That’s great.

Dylon: Yes.

Interviewer: What extreme sports would

you like to try in the future?

Dylon: I’d like to try weightlifting and

scuba diving.

Interviewer: That’s all, Dylon. Thank you

very much.

Dylon: Don’t mention it.

Listening 3

Listening 4

Listening 5

Have you ever heard of Yasemin Dalkılıç?

She is a famous Turkish sportsperson who has

broken many world records. She was born in

Ankara in 1979. She says she was very keen

on swimming when she was only 3 years old.

When she was 10, she became a licensed

swimmer. When she was 14, she was selected

for the Turkish National Swimming Team

and became a diver there. She represented

Türkiye successfully in many tournaments

around the world.

When she was a student at Middle East

Technical University in Ankara, she joined the

freediving club. With that team, she competed

so well in the World Freediving Championship

in Italy in 1998 that she was regarded as the

most successful female freediver there.

Her first world record was in 1999,

when she dived for 68 meters and remained

underwater for 2 minutes 27 seconds while

she had no breathing equipment.

Yasemin Dalkılıç was very talented at

freediving, so she managed to break many

world records in different categories. One of

them was in the year 2000, when she dived for

120 meters, and as a result, she became the

best female freediver of the world to dive the

deepest.

Yasemin Dalkılıç is interested in various

extreme sports as well. She says one of her

favorite extreme sports is skiing.

Listening 6

Theme 8 - Digital Era

Listening 1

Brian : I love technology. I love bright shiny gadgets. You know webcams, tablets, digital cameras,

smarthphones, USB flash drives, etc. I’d rather try every technological device, Ruth.

Ruth : I prefer to buy gadgets which are really useful and necessary, Brian. I think smartphones are

necessary.

Brian : Internet is the most important invention of our age because you can do a lot of things on

the internet these days – banking, shopping …

Ruth : My aunt, who is a fashion designer, works from home.

Brian : We can connect to my brother who lives in the USA every evening. It is great, isn’t it? My

father prefers to use internet banking and my mother prefers to use internet shopping, so

they save a lot of time.

Ruth : I believe technology changed social life in a bad way. I miss the days when people really

talked to each other. Now, when we go out, we prefer places where there is wi-fi and we

spend half the time looking at our phones or tablets. I’d rather share ideas or problems with

them.

Brian : You are right there. On the other hand, I suppose social media will be more important in

the future. Therefore, everyone should have basic computer skills.

Ruth : Yeah, my cousin Carl, who is only 14 years old, can design his own tablet applications.

Brian : I think he should teach it to us.

Listening 2

Joe : Hellooo! You’re listening to Animal Life Radio dot com. Here we are again with unbelieveable

true animal stories. My name is Joe Salt. Today we have a guest host, Brian Bat, who is a

fisherman. He is going to tell us a true story.

Brian : Hi, there! I’m Brian Bat.

Joe : I believe you’ll like today’s program very much. Brian is telling about dolphins which saved

four lifeguards and a woman.

Brian : Four lifeguards and a woman were training at sea and they were not aware of a great white

shark swimming around them. When it came very close to them, fortunately, a small pod

of dolphins swam over and began to make a lot of noise. They were also beating the water

repeatedly with their tails. Therefore, the shark gave up and swam off. The lifeguards and the

woman were very lucky because the dolphins saved them from possible death.

Joe : Thank you Brian.

Joe : Good morning everyone! This is Animal Life radio and are you ready for another animal

story? Here it comes!

This is a story of a cat which saved a little boy from a dog attack. I think it’s unbelievable. It

happened in California where we live. Jim Kays who is a five-year-old boy with autism was sitting at the

playground next to his home when the neighbour’s dog attacked him for no reason. The dog grabbed

Jim, but Jim’s cat Tommy jumped up on to the dog and slammed him. The cat scared the dog badly,

so the dog ran away. When the boy was taken to the hospital for the dog bite wounds, Tommy, the cat,

was with him, too. Tommy was Jim’s hero because he behaved very bravely. The family gave a lot of

hugs and kisses to Tommy. They think they were so lucky to adopt Tommy six years ago.

Thanks for listening to us!

Listening 3

Listening 4

A blog is a website or web page which is run by an individual or a small group. A blogger is a person

who writes for a blog. A blog is written in an informal or a conversational style. It can have pictures or

videos. Blogging is a fun way for self-expression. It is like writing a diary. People who enjoy reading

diaries or personal experiences prefer reading blogs, too.

Blogs have become very popular recently because they create social connections. If you are a blogger

and have a lot of followers, you can show advertisements on your blog to make money. Advertisers are

willing to pay bloggers because they can address potential customers directly. If you have 10,000 email

subscribers, you can make about $10,000 per month. But, if you have too many advertisements, it is

difficult to hold your readers’ attention. In other words, you must work hard to make your readers stay

on your site. Most blog readers would rather visit a blog without advertisements.