Lesson 85 - Listening

Track 35
1. The monarchy has existed in England since the ninth century AD.
2. Elizabeth II became Queen of England in the mid-twentieth century.
3. There was a Civil War in England between 1642 and 1649.
4. The Tower of London has had many functions in the last 200 years.
5. The Tower of London was built by William the Conqueror during the 1070s.
6. The First World War lasted from 1914 to 1918.
7. King Charles II gained control of the Tower of London after the restoration of the monarchy.
8. The Tower of London became a tourist destination during the Victorian era.
9. The number of visitors to the Tower of London rose to 2 million per year in the first decade of the twenty-first
century.

Track 36
Welcome to the Tower of London. Before the tour starts, I would like to ______________________________ about
the Tower. The Tower of London is __________________________________________with over 2 million visitors
per year. It ______________________________- that is when Queen Victoria was on the throne - that __________
____________________. Before that, ______________________________. It ______________________________,
a menagerie - ______________________________- it even had lions. And _________________ the Royal Mint -
that's ______________________________, and coins made. It also ______________________________, a fortress
and most famously of all, a prison!

Track 37
The Tower of London was built in the 1070s by William the Conqueror, ______________________________and
______________________________, Harold. ______________________________ to consolidate his rule over the
English people. The Tower ______________________________, including William 11, Henry VIII and Edward I, the
last two being chiefly responsible for creating the form in which the Tower exists today. It
______________________________ which places it ______________________________. During the reign of Henry
VIII, the Tower _____________________________________________. Many of them were executed. When Henry
VIII broke away from the Church of Rome, many of those who opposed this move ended up in the Tower, including
the second of his six wives, Anne Boleyn, ______________________________. The Tower
______________________________ during the English Civil War from 1642 to 1649, when it was fought over by the
armies of the King, Charles I, and his opponents, the Parliamentarians. The enemies of the King
______________________________ and the Crown Jewels - the ceremonial jewellery of the royal family - were
______________________________so the ______________________________and the money used for the good of
the people. However, after ______________________________, the new king, Charles II, regained control of the
Tower and it became the home of the new Crown Jewels which he had specially made.
And here's ______________________________- it ______________________________! As long ago as the 1200s,
King John founded the Royal Menagerie for the entertainment of the court. ______________________________, an
elephant and even a polar bear, a gift from the King of Norway. Attached on a lead, the
____________________________________________________________in the River Thames! The Menagerie
survived for 600 years, until the mid 1800s, when it was closed and the animals moved to Regent's Park and became
the basis of London Zoo, which you can visit today.
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__________________________________________- the big, black birds who live within the walls of the Tower. They
are known as the Guardians of the Tower and ______________________________. They are fed on raw meat by a
Raven Master and _______________________________________. Legend has it that if the ravens ever leave the
Tower of London, ______________________________. Another famous sight at the Tower is the Beef eaters, or as
they are correctly called, the Yeoman Warders. They were first appointed in 1485 by Henry VIII as the ceremonial
guards of the Tower and the Crown Jewels. Nowadays ____________________
_______________________________________ of the Tower's history. However, it's not a position many of us can
aspire to. To become a Beefeater, you need 22 years' military service with a medal of good conduct.
Track 39
Student 1: So, _____________________________for our Tower of London presentation?
Student 2: There are _____________________________, but _____________________________, remember. Our
_____________________________. What about a time line? I mean _____________________________, you know,
covering all the major events.
Student 1: Do you think we can really _____________________________? I don't.
Student 2: No, I suppose not. You're right.
Student 1: We need to be __________________________________________________________. We could, say, talk
about the history of the Beef eaters and the ravens. For example, I don't think _____________________________that
it's actually _____________________________, not the guards.
Student 2: That's worth considering, though I'm not sure _____________________________. Surely there isn't that
much to say about them?
Student 1: OK, I take your point. ... I'm also _____________________________, so the Fusilier Museum fascinated
me. We could actually _____________________________ in there.
Student 2: ______________________________________________. We need to think of a
______________________. Student 1: All right ... um ... Well, don't they conduct special ceremonies in the Tower,
like the Ceremony of the Keys, every evening, when _____________________________? It's a bit like the Changing
of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, only better. That _____________________________.
Student 2: But it doesn't have that wow factor, does it? Oh wait. Speaking of wow factor, we haven't mentioned the
Crown Jewels.
Student 1: Yes! There's so much history associated with them and they still get used for state occasions like
coronations and royal weddings. I _____________________________.
Student 2: Hey! We __________________________________________________________as part of the
presentation? We _____________________________!
Student 1: But the jewels are priceless really, so it would be ______________________________________________.
Not one of your best ideas!
Student 2: OK, so summing up based on what we've talked about then, it should be either the Beefeaters, the
Ceremony of the Keys or the Crown Jewels. I _____________________________.
Student 1: I'd still like to do the Fusilier Museum personally speaking, but OK, let's settle on the Crown Jewels. It
would probably have the most universal appeal. ______________________________________________________?
Track 40
Harry: So Olga, how did your visit to London go? Did _____________________________?
Olga: Well, on the whole pretty well, though I _____________________________. I'd
_________________________.
Harry: Did you manage to get into Madame Tussauds this time? I know you didn't last time you were in London.
Olga: Oh, yes. _____________________________or _____________________________. I loved seeing the
waxworks of the Royal Family again. Did you know that _____________________________ every few years, as she
gets older? And it's the same with Prince William and Kate, and Prince Harry. It's scary how life-like they look. They
_____________________________.
Harry: Well, you've always been fascinated by the British Royal Family so you were bound to enjoy that. Speaking of
which, did you get on that tour of Buckingham Palace? I know _____________________________.
Olga: Oh, yes, _____________________________. My favourite part was the State Rooms.
_____________________. I _____________________________. There _____________________________from
some of the world's most famous painters: Rubens, Van Dyck ...
Harry: When I went, _____________________________the Queen's 90th birthday. It was called 'Fashioning a Reign'
and _____________________________from the 1930s right up to the present. And after Buckingham Palace, where
was next?
Olga: Westminster Abbey. I had to see that. So _____________________________. Kings, queens, prime ministers,
the list is endless. And let's not forget Prince William and Kate got married there, like many royals before them.
Harry: I can tell from your voice that you loved it there. _____________________________? Now there's
__________ ___________________. Think of all the executions that took place there. They say it's a terrifying place.
Olga: _____________________________. On the day we went there, _____________________________to do with
poppies- red flowers- and we _____________________________. It felt like the whole of London was there, standing
in line.
Harry: Oh yes, _____________________________. Hundreds of thousands of ceramic poppies decorating the
building. I saw photos on line - it looked very impressive.
Olga: It was. The _____________________________, but I didn't _____________________________. Instead we
_____________________________called the London Bridge Experience. It's supposed to be 'The UK's scariest year-
round attraction', so I thought it would be fun. It didn't disappoint. I can't remember __________________________.
Harry: Doesn't sound very historical to me.
Olga: Maybe not, but certainly worth a visit. .:
Track 41
Adrian: So, I'd like _____________________________. I _____________________________of Petra, you know, in
Jordan. But I'm not sure _____________________________.
Jayne: Oh, OK, yes, there's plenty to write about there. _____________________________?
Adrian: Well, there's the historical angle. Petra dates back to prehistoric times, but
_____________________________ from about 2,000 years ago.
Jayne: OK, so you'd have to concentrate on sometime in the last 2,000 years. But that's still a long time with a huge
_____________________________. That's _____________________________. You ________________________.
Why did Petra become well known at that time, do you think?
Adrian: Well, because of the trading routes mainly. Its location made it an _____________________________when
they _____________________________.
Jayne: True, and _____________________________. But ... you wouldn't really be talking just about Petra itself, as it
was only _____________________________. I would rule that one out because your topic needs to concentrate on
one place.
Adrian: OK. I'm also _____________________________that took place as _____________________________
_____________________________
 Jayne: Right, but to be honest, _____________________________. For such a small sub-topic, there's a surprisingly
_____________________________. I _____________________________.
Adrian: Yes, I had noticed that. So, I guess that leaves Petra's architecture, though it might be seen as rather an
obvious choice. Jayne: Well, _____________________________. You could talk about the unique style of half
building and half carving into the rocks.
Adrian: That _____________________________, but I'm worried that it might _____________________________of
building techniques and so on. I'm interested in architecture, but my background is more history and social studies.
Jayne: Understood. So any other thoughts?
Adrian: Actually I'm very interested in the buildings in the context of the present day community of Petra.
Apparently, people go and sleep in the cave dwellings, even though _____________________________. Living in
caves is very _____________________________
Jayne: Well, _____________________________, but I think you would get drawn into talking about tourism and
that's not really suitable for your degree. I think __________________________________________for a dissertation.

Before you hear the rest of the discussion you have some time to look at questions 6 and 7. [pause] Now listen and
answer questions 6 and 7.
Jayne: OK, Adrian, so you've _____________________________of Petra, which is
___________________________. What have you found out so far?
Adrian: Well, mainly that the people of Petra _____________________________of how to make use of every bit of
groundwater and rainwater they had access to.
Jayne: _____________________________? Adrian: Well,
________________________________________________ __________. Petra _____________________________,
so _______________________________________and they developed systems to do that.
Jayne: You mentioned that you haven't studied much science. Do you think this area is going to be too technical for
you?
Adrian: Well, actually the water supply process is fairly simple to grasp. They used clay pipes and thought about the
height of different areas so _____________________________. You don't need a degree in engineering to understand
it.
Jayne: OK, that's good. And _____________________________?
Adrian: _____________________________- as simple as that.
Jayne: And is there anything else that's particularly noteworthy?
Adrian: There's an aqueduct in Petra _____________________________. That's _____________________________.
It was unbelievably ahead of its time. Other similar regions were uninhabitable at that time because of the lack of
water management.
Jayne: OK, and _____________________________?
Adrian: Well ... the social history angle - apart from the benefits of irrigation, initially it was the elite - that is the rich -
_____________________________. __________________________________________________________, for
example.
Jayne: Hmm, and that's still the case with any new technology, isn't it?