General Listening Quiz

Think of five important steps to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Write them down and look up information on the internet to support these ideas.

1. 1. Exercising every day is necessary for good health.
   2. People should avoid all fast food to stay healthy.
   3. Getting enough sleep is just as important as eating well.
   4. Walking is a better exercise than going to the gym.
   5. Drinking lots of water is the key to a healthy body.
   6. Stress is one of the biggest dangers to our health.
   7. Eating vegetables is more important than eating meat.
   8. People can live a healthy life without playing sports.
   9. Technology makes it harder for people to stay active.
   10. A healthy lifestyle is more about balance than strict rules.

“feel like a million bucks” = feel in very good health
“Hey, some people get tired after a long day’s work, but I feel like a million bucks.”

“play it safe” = be careful and not take chances
“My knee still hurts, so I’m going to play it safe and not go jogging today.”

Listen to the recording and answer the questions. (See transcript)

Here are some words and expressions that appear in the recording:

• fridge (noun): short for “refrigerator”
  – I think we need to buy a new fridge. The old one just doesn’t cool properly.
• hon (pronoun): short for “honey”
  – Hon. Could you wake me up early tomorrow morning?
• humph: a word showing disbelief
  – Humph. There’s no way you can lift all that weight!
• abandon (verb): in this case, “give up” the idea
  – They had to abandon the plan to build a house due to a financial crisis.
• out of shape (idiom): in poor physical condition
  – I have to start exercising because I’m so out of shape.
• physical (noun): a medical examination
  – She had to have a physical before she joined the track team.
• cut back on (phrasal verb): to reduce
  – I have to cut back on the fatty foods I’ve been eating.
• take up (phrasal verb): begin or start
  – He has decided to take up cooking in his spare time.
• cardiovascular system (noun): your body’s blood circulation system including your heart, veins, and arteries
  – Running at least 30 minutes a day helps improve your cardiovascular system.

Do the vocabulary quizzes with the words from the conversation for more practice:

• Mixed-Up Sentence  | Multiple-Choice Questions  | Gap-fill Exercise |  Sentence and Vocabulary Matching

Find information on the following topics and discuss your findings with a partner:

• serious health concerns in different countries and solutions to resolving these problems
• a basic daily menu for a healthy lifestyle
• recommended exercises for different age groups and people with certain health risks

There are many companies that promote products promising amazing, and often, unbelievable health claims dealing with anything from weight loss to better memory power. For example, diet plans, weight loss aids, and nutritional supplements can provide health benefits, but you have to evaluate claims. So, how can we tell whether the claims are true or not? Search online for a product or service that claims to provide fantastic results, read over the information, and identify any parts of the ad that might be deceptive or misleading. Does the ad use an emotional appeal to get you to buy a product? Share your ideas with a partner.