Welcome to our free resource to practise for the IGCSE ESL listening test about beekeeping. This is just one of many exercises to reinforce your learning so you feel confident when exam day arrives. More resources available on the IGCSE ESL site.
Beekeeping
You will hear a radio presenter talking to a woman called Maria about beekeeping. Listen to the interview and look at the questions. For each question, choose the correct answer, A, B or C.
V2: Well, a few years ago I read a novel in which the main character kept bees and really enjoyed it. Then I met the author who told me how the story came about. But it wasn’t until I watched a documentary on TV that I chose to become a beekeeper myself.
V1: I imagine beekeeping is really time-consuming.
V2: Well, I work as a journalist so time is very precious. If I could, I’d give up my job during the summer and only work during the winter when the bees don’t need my attention. That’s my dream. In reality, I make a weekly plan and I make sure I have at least two afternoons available to attend to my bees. My children think it’s an old fashioned hobby. However, they give me a hand on the rare occasion when I travel abroad for longer periods of time.
V1: And it must be quite challenging too.
V2: Absolutely. Last year, I faced my greatest challenge yet when the temperature dropped suddenly and my bees were under threat. Over time, I’ve had the usual problems every beekeeper faces such as your bees flying away from their beehive with the queen to form a new home. Or when your bees get badly affected by dangerous pests like wax moths.
V1: I also heard about bees becoming aggressive. Can you tell us a bit about that?
V2: There are many reasons for this behaviour. People say you should wear light-coloured clothing when dealing with bees because dark colours can upset them. I did have a problem recently when a neighbour was burning something in the garden. My bees reacted badly and became irritated. Apparently, this can also happen when they can’t find enough flowers to feed on.
V1: I also heard that sometimes the queen bee has to be replaced.
V2: That’s right. Once, when I had to get a new one, I got a tip from a friend who also keeps bees. She suggested ordering one online. I was quite astonished that people can do that and to my surprise received the special delivery in the post within three days of ordering. In some cases though, the existing queen bee can naturally create a new queen when the group gets too big.
V1: You’re very interested in the behaviour of bees, aren’t you?
V2: Yes, last year I was invited to a lab to observe something called the waggle dance. I’d always thought that this dance was a response to possible danger, such as an earthquake. But in fact, it’s what happens when a bee has found a good source of food and it returns to indicate the distance and the direction of it to the rest of the bees. That’s what I find incredible.
V1: Indeed. We’ve mentioned the challenges of beekeeping, but what about the rewards?
V2: Well, just ensuring your bees don’t pick up any diseases is quite an achievement. I’ve been asked to do some presentations about bees and how important they are for us. I really enjoy doing this. But that was nothing compared to the feeling I got when people started buying my honey at the local market.
V1: And how about bees in the future?
V2: Well, many people worry about bees, but I remain positive. I’ve noticed that more young people are taking up beekeeping as a hobby, especially in cities. And thanks to lots of parks in our towns, there’s been an increase in the amount of food for bees to survive on. This, especially, is really encouraging for me personally. I’ve also noticed a rise in the number of college courses that offer beekeeping. So let’s do our best to make sure that bees are here to stay.
V1: That’s a very good message to end on. Thank you, Maria.
Here are keywords and phrases covered in beekeeping:
- abroad
- aggresive
- beekeeping
- behaviour
- challenging
- declining
- diseases
- documentary
- journalist
- old fashion hobby
- observe
- population
- replace
- rewards
- source of food
- temperature
- Exercise 1 & 2 (Extended)
- Exercise 3 & 4 (Extended)
- Exercise 5 & 6 (Extended)
- Listening Questions 1-5
- Listening Exercise 3 & 4
- Listening 5 (Extended)
- Videos (Extended)
- Speaking Test
Exercise 1 - Read a text and answer a series of questions.
Exercise 2 - Read a text and answer a series of questions testing more detailed comprehension.
Exercise 3 - Make brief notes related to a piece of text.
- Exercise 3 Being Bilingual
- Exercise 3 Extended Video introduction
- Exercise 3 Finding time to do things
- Exercise 3 Frozen Caveman
- Exercise 3 Kite Surfing
- Exercise 3 Life in 2069
- Exercise 3 World’s Sporting Champions
- Exercise 3 Young Mountaineer
Exercise 4 - Write a summary.
Exercise 5 - Write an informal email.
- Bonfire Night
- Exercise 5 Birthday Party
- Exercise 5 Cousin Visiting (Description)
- Exercise 5 Favourite Film
- Exercise 5 Going for an Interview (Advice)
- Exercise 5 Going on Holiday
- Exercise 5 Interesting Meeting
- Exercise 5 New Attraction
- Exercise 5 Restaurant Visit (Narrative)
- Exercise 5 Returning Home
Exercise 6 - Write a report, review or article.
- Becoming Vegetarian Article
- Ed Sheeran Concert Review
- Exam Advice Article
- Exercise 6 Career’s Talk Report
- Exercise 6 Dangerous Shopping Book Review
- Exercise 6 Eating Out in Berlin Travel Report
- Exercise 6 Important Developments Article
- Exercise 6 Living in Different Places
- Exercise 6 Recycling Centre Report
- Exercise 6 Subject Choices Article
- Exercise 6 Thai Restaurant Review
- Mission Impossible – Fallout Review
- Online Gaming Article
- Snack Machine Article
- Sports Lessons Article
- Work Experience Day Report
- Working in the Summer Holidays Report
Exercise 1 (Questions 1 -4) - Short answer exercises
Exercise 2 - (Question 5) Gap-filled exercises
Exercise 3 - Matching
Exercise 4 - Multiple Choice
Exercise 5 - Gap Fill Part A
Exercise 5 - Gap Fill Part B
Here are videos to help you with the reading and wrting sections.
- Exercise 1 Extended Video introduction
- Exercise 2 Extended Video introduction
- Exercise 3 Extended Video introduction
- Exercise 4 How to write a Summary (Extended)
- Exercise 5 How to write an Informal Advice Email
- Exercise 5 How to write an Informal Descriptive Email
- Exercise 5 How to write an Informal Narrative Email
- Exercise 6 Becoming Vegetarian
- Exercise 6 How to write a Film Review
- Exercise 6 How to write a report
- Exercise 6 How to write a review
- Exercise 6 How to write an Event Report
- How to write a school magazine article
- Report Writing with Subheadings
Speaking Test Examples:
- Customs and Traditions
- Entertainment and Leisure
- Environment and Nature
- Family and Lifestyle
- Fitness and Sports
- Science and Technology
- Shopping and Consumer Society
- Travel and Adventure
- Work and Education
Exploring the way humans and animals live, adapt and change on our planet
- Dangerous Spiders and Snakes
- Extreme Weather
- Taking photos
- Natural World Puzzles
- Changes in the weather
- Seas and Oceans Puzzles
- Geography Exercises
- Natural World Word Search
- Exercise 2 Weather Reports
- Exercise 3 Managing Waste
- Exercise 1 Keeping Bees in the City
- Exercise 4 Reducing Noise Pollution
- Exercise 6 Important Developments Article
- Exercise 6 Recycling Centre Report
Explore the way we use technology and science in the modern world
- Exercise 4 Shipwrecked
- Ancient Structures
- Exercise 6 Eating Out in Berlin Travel Report
- Exercise 2 Different Seaside Towns
- Exercise 2 Different Cultures
- Exercise 1 Walking to the North Pole
- Exercise 4 Travel Writing
- Exercise 2 Time Travel
- Exercise 2 Train Journeys
- Exercise 2 Different Summer Camps
- London Travel Guide
- Riding a Motorbike Listening Exercise
- Adjective Suffixes
- Exercise 5 Returning Home
- Travel Puzzles
- Great Ship Adventure Listening Exercise
- Exercise 6 Living in Different Places
- Exercise 5 Interesting Meeting
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