LISTENING A1- A2

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Domestic Violence ( TEMA 1 - 2 ) (before 2003)

Read the story. Click the LISTEN" button at the bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click the "NEXT" button.

Laura was married for 6 months. Her husband was using drugs. She didn't want her son or her unborn baby to live that way, but she was afraid to ask her husband to leave. She left him a note instead. After reading the note, Laura's husband waited for her to come home and then beat her and her son.

He smashed dishes, pictures and toys and left the house in a terrible mess. He said it was all her fault. After Laura cleaned up the mess she went to the hospital. She was badly bruised all over her body, but the baby was fine.

Laura had little education and she never had a good paying job. She was ashamed to ask for help from the police, courts or women's shelters. Laura wanted her marriage and family to work. Sometimes her husband was very nice to her. She decided to try harder so her children could have a home and a father. Laura joined a church and told a priest about her problem.

But her husband kept using drugs and hurting the family. Finally, she told her husband she loved him, but they should live apart for a while. He beat her again. The priest had called and could tell Laura was in trouble. He came over to talk to her. He asked the husband to go out for a while. Laura packed up her kids and left. The next day she lost the baby. Her husband went to jail.

Laura got a lot of help from groups that help women who have been beaten. Now she is in college, has her own apartment and works on special projects at a women's shelter. "We got out, and it changed life for me and my children. You can do it. You can break the cycle," Laura said.

EXERCISE

1 .PICK OUT THE VERBS , NOUNS,ADJECTIVES,AND THE ADVERBS IN THE FOLLOWING STORY.
2. WRITE A COMPOSITIONS OF 200 WORDS ABOUT IT.
3. PREPARE 6 QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT CLASS

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Threatened at School ( TEMA 3 - 4 ) (before 2003)

Read the story. Click the "LISTEN" button at the bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click the "NEXT" button.

A man's son is leaving California to stay safe. The boy was threatened at school. A group of kids said they were going to hurt him.

The group of boys said they were going to shoot him. They wanted him dead because of his race. The boy said he was very scared.

The boy and his father told people at the school about the threats. The father said that they did not do anything about it. The father called the police and filed a report.

The father and son are very upset. They think the school should have taken care of the problem. They decided that the boy should leave the state in order to stay safe.

People from the school say that they take all threats seriously. They are looking into the threats. They also say that it takes time to find out exactly what happened.

EXERCISE

1 .PICK OUT THE VERBS , NOUNS,ADJECTIVES,AND THE ADVERBS IN THE FOLLOWING STORY.
2. WRITE A COMPOSITIONS OF 200 WORDS ABOUT IT.
3. PREPARE 6 QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT CLASS

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Smoking Kills ( TEMA 5 - 6 )
(before 2003)

Read the story. Click the LISTEN" button at the bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click the "NEXT" button.

Smoking kills more Americans than AIDS, drug abuse, car accidents and crime.

Did you know that 390,000 Americans die each year from cigarette smoking? Smoking tobacco causes 1 out of 6 deaths. Smoking can also cause some very serious diseases. Some people become addicted to smoking.

Lung cancer has caused more deaths in women than breast cancer. If a pregnant woman smokes, she has a greater chance of medical problems with her baby.

Cigarette smoking is the number one cause of cancer death in men. Male smokers over the age of 35 are more likely to die from smoking-related diseases like lung cancer.

Many children start smoking before they reach high school. They run the risk of smoking most of their lives. They could die of smoking-related diseases.

EXERCISE

1 .PICK OUT THE VERBS , NOUNS,ADJECTIVES,AND THE ADVERBS IN THE FOLLOWING STORY.
2. WRITE A COMPOSITIONS OF 200 WORDS ABOUT IT.
3. PREPARE 6 QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT CLASS

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Housing Plan to End Homelessness ( TEMA 7 - 8 )
(9/26/06)

Read the story. Click the "LISTEN button at the bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click the "NEXT" button.

One county has a problem. The problem is that many people don’t have places to live. This is called being homeless. There are many reasons why people become homeless. Sometimes people lose their job and can’t afford to pay rent. Some are teenagers who ran away from home. Homeless people often sleep in their cars or in public places. Sometimes they sleep in parks or under bridges. They beg for money on the streets. The county does not like having homeless people living on the streets. It is not safe for the public or the homeless people.

Being homeless can be harmful to a person’s health. It is not healthy to live on the street. Some cities provide shelters for these people. But the shelters are usually very crowded. Sometimes the shelters are not safe. Homeless people are often sick. In shelters, they can spread their illness to others.

Shelters can provide beds, but they can’t meet all the needs of the homeless people. The homeless often have many other problems. Some homeless people have mental illness. Some are addicted to drugs. Some are alcoholics. Some have lost their families.

One city has decided to help end the problem. City leaders have developed a plan. The plan has two parts. Leaders think the plan will take ten years to work.

The first part of the plan will focus on housing. The city will provide stable housing. Clean, safe apartments will be rented to homeless people. Then the homeless won’t have to live in crowded shelters. No one will be denied an apartment. These apartments are located in an apartment complex in the county. The manager of the complex is a success story. He was once homeless.

The second part of the plan will help homeless people in other ways. Some services will help them find a job. Classes will teach them special skills, and how to keep their job. The plan will also provide mental health services. This will help the clients become healthy enough to live a normal life.

There have been many plans to help the homeless. Most plans require that people are healthy. They cannot be addicted to drugs. That is not possible for many. This plan is different. It gives them an apartment while they are getting sober. Then they have a better chance at ending their drug habit.

The mayor hopes that state funding will be given to the county to help with this plan. Local leaders hope federal aid will also help them put their plan into action. Many homeless people will be given a chance at a new life.

(This was adapted from an original story provided by News10 KXTV Sacramento.)

EXERCISE

1 .PICK OUT THE VERBS , NOUNS,ADJECTIVES,AND THE ADVERBS IN THE FOLLOWING STORY.
2. WRITE A COMPOSITIONS OF 300 WORDS ABOUT IT.
3. PREPARE 6 QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT CLASS

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Buying and Selling Votes ( TEMA 9 - 10 )(before 2003)

Read the story. Click the LISTEN" button at the bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click the "NEXT" button.

Every four years there is an election in the United States. We vote for people to help make laws for us. When we vote, we go to a place that has our ballots. To pick the person we want to elect, we mark ballots and put them in a box.

The law says that we have the right to vote for the person we want. The law also says that we can not sell or give away our vote to someone else. Someone has decided to help people sell and buy their votes. Helping people to buy or sell votes is wrong.

A person in charge of the elections is mad. He is going to try to stop those people who are selling and buying votes. He will try to arrest those who are in charge.

The information about buying and selling votes is on the Internet. The Internet is a system with many people connected to it using their computers. Anyone with access to the Internet can read about buying and selling votes on a Web page.

A college student started this Web page. It was shut down. Another person from a different country bought it and still has it on the Internet. He was told to shut it down as well. No one knows whether or not any voting was changed because of this web page.

(This was adapted from an original story provided by News10 KXTV Sacramento.)

EXERCISE

1 .PICK OUT THE VERBS , NOUNS,ADJECTIVES,AND THE ADVERBS IN THE FOLLOWING STORY.
2. WRITE A COMPOSITIONS OF 300 WORDS ABOUT IT.
3. PREPARE 6 QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT CLASS
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Computers in the Classroom ( TEMA 11- 12 ) (before 2003)

Read the story. Click the LISTEN" button at the bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click the "NEXT" button.

Kids are going all over the world without ever leaving their school. They are using their computers. A school in California could be the most wired school in America. They are wired to the Internet through their computers.

Thirty students are able to use the Internet every day. The kids are between the grades of kindergarten and fifth grade. The teacher says that it is hard to get them away from the computers. They do not even want to go to recess.

Internet has opened the world to many people. Now students can go to any library on earth. They can get information. They can visit a child in another country.

Laura Bacon likes to visit with other students. She's going to Peggy's page. Peggy is a school student in London, England. She put her own home page on the Internet. It includes pictures of Peggy, her school, her mom, dad and friends. You can send her mail, too.

A scientist helped to wire the school. He says, "There is a plan to connect 12 thousand California schools to the Internet."

Wiring schools in California can cost a lot of money. It needs to be done on volunteer effort or schools will not be able to afford it. They think that it will cost as much as fifty billion dollars.

Some people say that the money should be spent on teachers instead of computers. Some people say that it would be worth it to wire all of the classrooms.

EXERCISE

1 .PICK OUT THE VERBS , NOUNS,ADJECTIVES,AND THE ADVERBS IN THE FOLLOWING STORY.
2. WRITE A COMPOSITIONS OF 300 WORDS ABOUT IT.
3. PREPARE 6 QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT CLASS

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911 Calls ( TEMA 13 - 14 )
(before 2003)

Read the story. Click the LISTEN" button at the bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click the "NEXT" button.

People can call 911 when they need help. The police will come quickly. This phone number should be used only in an emergency.

There have been some problems with people using the 911 phone number. More than half of the calls made to it are accidental. These accidental calls are not real emergencies.

Calling 911 when you do not need it can be very bad. It wastes the time of the people answering the calls. It can even force someone who has a real emergency to wait before getting the help they need.

Many accidental 911 calls come from cell phones. Keys are sometimes pushed and the call goes through without the owner of the phone knowing that he has called in an emergency. A group of people is trying to find a way to fix this problem.

One area is trying a new program that might help solve the problem of accidental 911 calls. This program will make callers of 911 calls push another key on the phone if it is a real emergency. People hope that change will reduce the number of accidental 911 calls going through.

EXERCISE

1 .PICK OUT THE VERBS , NOUNS,ADJECTIVES,AND THE ADVERBS IN THE FOLLOWING STORY.
2. WRITE A COMPOSITIONS OF 300 WORDS ABOUT IT.
3. PREPARE 6 QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT CLASS

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Cell Phone Safety ( TEMA 15 - 16 )

Read the story. Click the LISTEN" button at the bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click the "NEXT" button.

Many people are wondering if it is safe to talk on the phone while driving. There have been quite a few accidents while drivers were talking on the phone. Some research is being done to find out if driving while talking on the phone is dangerous.

When there is a car accident police officers will find out if any of the drivers were using a cell phone. They will write this information in a report. The information will be saved and later studied.

There have been some very bad car accidents caused by drivers being distracted by cell phones. Drivers sometimes forget to watch the road carefully when they are using their phones. Not paying attention to the road can dangerous, even deadly.

It is important for drivers to focus on the road. They need to pay attention to what is going on around them. They might need to stop or swerve quickly.

People want to make sure that the roads are safe for everyone. Studies will be done using the information police officers collect at accidents. Maybe someday this information will lead to laws about driving and using cell phones.

(This was adapted from an original story provided by News10 KXTV Sacramento.)

EXERCISE

1 .PICK OUT THE VERBS , NOUNS,ADJECTIVES,AND THE ADVERBS IN THE FOLLOWING STORY.
2. WRITE A COMPOSITIONS OF 400 WORDS ABOUT IT.
3. PREPARE 6 QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT CLASS

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Earthquake Could be Worse than Hurricane ( TEAMA 17 - 18 ) (10/12/2005)

Read the story. Click the LISTEN" button at the bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click the "NEXT" button.

Experts know that a disaster is coming but they do not know when it will happen. They do know that it could cause a lot of damage. They think it will be worse than a hurricane. The disaster they are worried about is an earthquake.

There is a break in the earth's crust. It is called the San Andreas Fault. The San Andreas Fault is in California. Many earthquakes happen along the San Andreas Fault. In 1989 there was a big earthquake on the fault. The earthquake was called the "Loma Prieta Earthquake." Many people were hurt or died. Many buildings were ruined. Lots of people lost their homes. Roads and bridges were also damaged.

A large earthquake could happen in Southern California. Many small earthquakes have happened in the last year. Earthquake experts think that a large earthquake will happen there soon. They think a big earthquake will happen in the next few years.

The San Andreas Fault has many power lines stretched across it. There are water channels close to the earthquake fault. A large earthquake in Southern California would destroy energy and water supplies. Lots of people would be without power or water for weeks. Buildings that have not been built strong enough would be destroyed. Not all hospitals would be able to help people who were injured. Many people would die or be homeless.

People need to be prepared. They need to know what to do if an earthquake happens. Everyone in California should have a survival kit at home. The emergency kit would include food and water. There should be medication and first aid supplies in the kit. A good survival kit will also have a portable radio, flashlights and spare batteries. All of the supplies in the kit should last at least 3 days.



EXERCISE

1 .PICK OUT THE VERBS , NOUNS,ADJECTIVES,AND THE ADVERBS IN THE FOLLOWING STORY.
2. WRITE A COMPOSITIONS OF 400 WORDS ABOUT IT.
3. PREPARE 6 QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT CLASS

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Civil Service ( TEMA 19- 20 ) (before 2003)

Read the story. Click the "LISTEN" button at the bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click the "NEXT" button.

Civil service offers jobs to thousands of men and women. They work at many different levels of the government. The levels are city, county, state, and federal.

All areas of civil service work on the merit system. This system is set up to protect the employee. It is meant to have each job filled by the people best qualified to have them.

The merit system makes sure each employee gets equal and fair pay. Training is provided for those who need it. Fair treatment will be given to all no matter who they are.

Many kinds of jobs are available through civil service. Some of these jobs could be clerks, cabinet makers, painters, law enforcement, and mail delivery.

A problem with trying to get a civil service job is that it takes a long time to get placed in a job. Another problem is that applying for a job can be time consuming. However, once you get a civil service job, you will be secure in the job for a long time, as long as you work hard.


EXERCISE

1 .PICK OUT THE VERBS , NOUNS,ADJECTIVES,AND THE ADVERBS IN THE FOLLOWING STORY.
2. WRITE A COMPOSITIONS OF 400 WORDS ABOUT IT.
3. PREPARE 6 QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT CLASS