MAGISTER

OPOSICIONES AL PROFESORADO Inglés Secundaria

LISTENING

01 DOG AND DUCK

(ANSWERS AND TRANSCRIPT)

Listen to the recording and answer the following questions.

a. Listening for comparisons: listen to the whole recording and write the phrases in the box in
the correct column.

animal shelter lower blood pressure chased after seagulls

put in fridge coastguards social contact
hunting season still alive fewer minor ailments
take it for ‘walkies’ a little bit shaken 200ft cliff

THE SECOND DOG

THE DUCK STORY THE FIRST DOG STORY
STORY
hunting season take it for ‘walkies’ chased after seagulls
put in fridge social contact 200ft cliff
still alive lower blood pressure coastguards
animal shelter fewer minor ailments a little bit shaken

b. Listen for more detail: fill in the chart below for the duck and the second dog stories.

What was the man

What happened to What was the What was the
doing at the start
the animal? surprise? outcome?
of the story?
it was shot, stuck in
the after two days in the it wasn’t killed but
the hunter’s bag,
duck going hunting fridge the duck was taken to the animal
taken home, and put
story still alive shelter
in the fridge
he/it chased after the dog was fine, no the dog will never
the dog some seagulls and physical injuries, be off the lead again
going for a walk
story fell off the edge of a just a little bit (when going for
200ft cliff shaken walks)

c. Listen for more detail: Jackie says there are two ways that having a dog can help your
 health. What are the health benefits?

CAUSE BENEFITS
1 take dog for ‘walkies’  the owner gets exercise too
2 social interaction with the dog  calms people down
 lowers blood pressure
 lowers the cholesterol
 fewer minor ailments
 fewer serious medical problems

d. What are the missing words here?

So we have a lucky dog and a plucky duck!

TRANSCRIPT - The dog and duck

Jackie: For this week’s podcastsinenglish.com we’re going to be looking at some news stories to
do with animals. Richard, you’re going to go first. I understand you have a story about a
duck…
Richard: Yes, [laughs] it’s um… it’s the duck hunting season in err… the US and um… well, and
anyway this hunter he went out, shot a duck, stuck it in his bag, took it home, put it in the
fridge, and he thought ‘That’s great, I’ll have some duck pie’. Um… but anyway I think it
was in the fridge for a couple of days and his wife goes into the fridge, opens the door and
the duck is still alive!
Jackie: Oh no!
Richard: [laughs] Well, what I find quite strange is OK he wants to kill the duck to eat it – he
doesn’t kill it then!
Jackie: Oh really?
Richard: They take it to the animal shelter.
Jackie: Why?
Richard: [laughs] I don’t know! Anyway he takes it to the animal shelter and apparently now it’s
fine!
Jackie: But that’s odd because he deliberately wanted to kill it in the first place and then when he
saw the duck had survived they decided not to kill it!
Richard: Well, I suppose he felt sorry for it. He thought it was a real hardy duck so err… I think it’s
good news for everybody anyway.
Jackie: I think it was his wife, when his wife saw that the duck was alive um… she wouldn’t let
her husband kill it maybe.
Richard: Perhaps, I don’t know. Anyway what’s err… what’s your story?
Jackie: Yes, not to do with ducks, to do with dogs this time. Apparently, people… all those of you
who are listening who want to lead a healthier life um… the easiest thing to do apparently
is to get a dog.
Richard: So what’s so good about a dog, what, what… how, how is it healthier?
Jackie: Um, well, there are two reasons for that. One is of course if you have a dog you have to
take it for ‘walkies’ and they say that, obviously the owner is automatically getting
exercise, you take your dog for half an hour walk…
Richard: Well, my mum has a dog and she doesn’t take it for ‘walkies’! [laughs]
Jackie: OK, but there’s the second reason for owning the dog is that for older people (and I think
this is… includes your mum here) if you have an animal it… you you’re kind of interacting
with the animal, you have some kind of social contact with it and especially old people
who are living on their own, they talk to the dog and an animal can fulfill the ‘need to be
needed’ feeling that we all have.
Richard: Oh OK, calms them down as well does it?
Jackie: Yes! And so it lowers the blood pressure, it lowers the cholesterol and apparently um…
dog owners suffer fewer minor ailments and serious medical problems.
Richard: Mmm, seems a bit strange to me. Is it just dogs? Can… what about cats, rabbits?
Jackie: Well, they’ve known for a long time that cats have been good for people. Apparently when
you stroke a cat you get lower blood pressure although interestingly what happens is that
the cat gets lower blood pressure as well, it’s a kind of a mutual thing here but they’ve only
just realized that actually um… dog owners lead even healthier lives than cat owners.
Richard: OK, you say taking dogs for ‘walkies’ is very healthy for the person taking the walk and
the dog, but not always. I read another story this week about a rather unfortunate dog.
Jackie: Right, what happened to the dog?
Richard: Well, a man was taking it for his walk, I think it was on the edge of a cliff and the stupid
dog suddenly started running off towards some seagulls. Unfortunately he didn’t see that
he’d run out… he’d run out of ground and…
Jackie: Was this at night or during the day?
Richard: It was during the day. The dog chased after these seagulls and basically jumped off the end
of a 200 ft cliff.
Jackie: Oh dear, so it died?
Richard: [laughs] No! The owner rushed to the end of the cliff, saw his dog falling down…
Jackie: He watched it falling?
Richard: He watched it fall down and he thought ‘Oh no’ but anyway of course he rang the
coastguard and the coastguards came and they abseiled down the cliff, found the dog – and
it was absolutely fine!
Jackie: No!
Richard: [laughs] It said ‘It was a little bit shaken but no physical injuries whatsoever’! So he was
fine! However, I think the final thing in the story was the dog is never going to be off the
lead again. So that was another happy ending.
Jackie: Another, another lucky animal.
Richard: Yep
Jackie: OK, so we had a lucky dog and a plucky duck!
Richard: [laughs] Yes, I suppose so! Thanks very much Jackie.
Jackie: Thanks Richard.