oCoder Education - English listening Audios are suitable for learners with different levels of English. Here are some ways to make them easier (if you have a lower level of English) or more difficult (if you have a higher level of English).
You can choose one or two of these suggestions – you don't have to follow all of them!
Making it easier
Read all the exercises before you listen to the audio.
Look up the words in the exercises that you don't know or don't understand in a dictionary.
Play the audio as many times as you need.
Play each part of the audio separately.
Answer all questions in the exercise.
Read the transcript after you have listened to the audio.
Making it harder
Listen to the audio before you read the exercises.
Only play the audio once before answering the questions.
Play the whole audio without a break.
Don't read the transcript.
Now, listen to the audio and do the exercises on the following tabs.
If you do not complete all the question, you can play the audio again.
After that, read the dialog to make sure that you understand all word in the audio.
According to the speaker, what is the job of a publisher?
To market the writing of popular authors
To take ideas and turn them into books
To expose new writers to a large audience
To print large numbers of profitable books
What does the speaker mention about writing?
He often writes about unusual topics.
Writing is why he became a publisher.
Publishers have difficulty find good writers.
He is always too busy to write.
Why does the speaker mention Indian religion?
He has trouble finding books on that topic.
It is a topic of great interest to him.
It is a popular topic among readers.
His company publishes books on that topic.
According to the speaker, why is 'Mandrake' a good name for his company?
The plant is unique to Britain.
The word is familiar to artists.
The plant is believed to cause mystical visions.
The word is understood in many languages.
What does the speaker mainly discuss?
His recent writing goals
His knowledge of other cultures.
His company and personal interests
His passion for art and nature
5
http://ocodereducation.com/
Okay, my name is Chris Morgan, although my friends tend to call me 'Mog'.
I live in Oxford and I work as a publisher.
Usually when I say that a lot of people don’t actually know what a publisher is.
A publisher is someone who takes, someone’s idea basically, maybe a, idea for a story or, a ,a topic, and turns it into a book.
And edits it a_ and, and, and the books see on your shelves that’s, that’s my work really.
So I’m kind of like, a manufacturer, I suppose, of pieces of knowledge.
So that’s what I do.
I’ve always like books and I’m, uh, always been interested in reading and writing.
And always wanted to be a writer myself.
And it just seemed the easiest way to, make your way in the world as a writer was actually to, publish your own_ well publish books to work in the industry.
And then you know, get my stuff out.
And so, I’m kind of doing what I’ve always wanted to do really.
Which is, sort of be involved in the wor_ uh, world of books.
I don’t like all books.
I like kind of books that are a bit unusual or, or a bit weird in, in some ways.
And some of the titles, that we’ve, done_ cause I’ve got a partner as well I should say in, in the company.
Um, I’ll properly give you an idea how strange_ we’ve done books on Jack the Ripper.
We’ve done books on, surrealism and, and art and stuff like that.
So we, we’re interested in art but it would be the, kind of stranger sides or art.
We’ve done books on, Indian religion and,uh, sort of stranger sides of, of India and, and the eastern ideas.
And we’ve done books about, kind of pagan ideas and esoteric ideas and strange things that might be, you might find in, in Britain if you, if you know where, haha, where to look.
So , that gives you an idea wha- of what we do.
Um, and we sell our books all over the world in fact.
So the company’s called Mandrake.
Which to me is such a_ so sort of familiar that eh I kind of, can’t believe that people don’t know what a mandrake is.
But, uh, I meet people all the time , haha, who have never_ who have no idea what a what a mandrake is.
A mandrake is actually, a little plant, uh, like a kind of carroty type thing.
Um, that has all sorts of folklore.
Around the world I mean I think they’re probably different names for it in in kind of what part of the world you’re from.
Mandrake itself isn’t an English word I don’t think.
I think it’s_ nobody knows quite where they got that word from.
Although people think it looks like a little man or something like that.
They say people take the, the mandrake here they’re supposed to have a sort of mystical visions and stuff.
So it’s just seemed an appropriate kind of name for a, publishing company.
So that’s what I do.
I’m,i’m also interested, you know, when i’m not working, I spend my time sort of walking around and, looking at nature and taking photographs.
Maybe studying interesting things like, uh, Egyptology or, the past or, folklore.
Or maybe just sitting in the woods playing me drum.
That’s me.