Birthday parties

Listen to a conversation about birthday parties between three friends to practise and improve your listening skills.

Before listening

Task 1. Circle the best answer.

1. Charles thinks a surprise party is … 

a. a chance to relax. 

b. too much of a shock.

 c. a different way to celebrate. 

 

2. Marco and Dora agree that … 

a. a 40th birthday is more special than other birthdays. 

b. ageing is a bad thing. 

c. both of the above are true.

3. Charles sees himself as someone who … 

a. prefers to be in the background.

 b. likes to be the centre of attention. 

c. organises nice things for other people. 

 

4. Describe Marco’s feelings about his child’s ninth birthday party. 

a. He’s not looking forward to it. 

b. He’s looking forward to it. 

c. It’s a sensitive topic for him. 

 

5. Why can’t he organise a trip to the cinema for the ninth birthday party? 

a. Children prefer to go rock-climbing. 

b. Another child has had a cinema party recently. 

c. It’s not a good idea to repeat parties from the year before. 

 

6. Charles stopped celebrating birthdays because … 

a. he thinks they’re not suitable for adults. 

b. it became hard to find people to celebrate with. 

c. it’s less fun when you can’t play kids’ games.