B2 Listening worksheet 6 (plus)

Is TV becoming extinct?

Warmer
Discuss the following in pairs
1 How much time do you spend watching television every week?

2 Which of the following programmes do you like watching and why? Are there any that you especially
dislike?

soap operas comedies dramas cartoons sport music documentaries cooking
travel the news reality historical films game shows science fiction

3 How do you access your favourite shows? (television, tablets, smartphone etc.)

Vocabulary
Match the following synonyms:
1 extinction a travel to work
2 restrict b important part of something
3 commute c not real
4 fake d despite something
5 integral e careful about what you choose
6 selective f no longer exists
7 regardless g to limit

PHOTOCOPIABLE © Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment English 2021 Page 1
B2 Listening worksheet 6 (plus)
Is TV becoming extinct?
Listening
07

You will hear a debate between Tom and Sarah, discussing the future of television. For questions 1–7
choose the best answer (A, B or C).
1 Sarah believes that television
A isn’t as good as it used to be
B is no longer needed
C will be less popular than video games
2 Where does Sarah usually watch her favourite programmes?
A at work
B at home
C whilst travelling
3 Tom thinks that the news on television is better because it is
A is more accurate
B more interesting
C more relevant
4 What does Sarah say about news on the internet?
A fake news stories are a myth
B you have to be selective when choosing a source
C she agrees it isn’t reliable at all
5 What does Tom say about watching TV with other people?
A they always end up looking at their mobile phones instead
B he used to enjoy watching TV with other people
C he doesn’t like it when people talk over the TV
6 Why does Tom think TV will still be popular in the future?
A because for people of his age, it is a common social activity
B because people of all ages enjoy watching television with friends and family
C because television has been very popular for decades
7 Sarah thinks that in order to survive television needs to
A be attractive to all generations
B change with the times
C be entertaining for children

Tip
When listening to the recording always be careful of distractors. Distractors are the incorrect
options in each of the multiple-choice questions. They are called distractors because all the
options are possible, but the incorrect choices are meant to “distract” you from choosing the
correct answer. You must listen very carefully to the audio script to ensure you have made
the right choice.

PHOTOCOPIABLE © Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment English 2021 Page 2
B2 Listening worksheet 6 (plus)
Is TV becoming extinct?
Speaking
Discuss the following question in pairs or small groups
● Who do/don’t you like watching TV with? Why?
● Do you think that watching TV helps families communicate more or less with each other? Why?
● What are the advantages and disadvantages of watching traditional TV compared with streaming
TV programmes?
● Do you think television will exist in the future? Why/Why not?

PHOTOCOPIABLE © Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment English 2021 Page 3
B2 Listening worksheet 6 (plus)
Teacher’s notes
Sarah: Yes, I know my prediction may seem
somewhat strange, especially to the
This worksheet stretches students
older generation, but I think TV is already
towards C1 by introducing vocabulary at
becoming fairly redundant. Many of my
this level, most of which is pre-taught. friends don’t even own one and I hardly
In the following tasks students will need to ever use mine. Why should we? We can get
listen for the gist and specific information. everything we need from the internet. For
This worksheet practises Listening part 4. example, internet channels are already
In this section candidates are required to attracting millions of views every week,
answer seven multiple- choice questions. and streaming services are becoming
increasingly popular. Nowadays, you can
watch all these great shows on your tablet
Warmer
or mobile at anytime and anywhere. Why
This task introduces the topic of television. restrict yourself to a particular place and
Ask students to discuss these questions in time? I watch my favourite shows on my
pairs and then feedback to the whole class. commute to work or in my local café. If
I do use my television, it is only to play
Vocabulary video games on.
This exercise pre-teaches some of the C1 words
encountered in the listening task. Tom: Well, I think that is such a shame. My
wife and I still watch television every
Answers night for several hours, before going to
1 f  2 g  3 a   4 c  5 b  6 e  7 d bed. I couldn’t imagine life without it. We
have been following some programmes
for years and I often look forward to
Listening catching up on the next episode. And
Tell the students they are going to listen to a the news, we always watch the morning
discussion about the future of television and and evening news programme. I realise
whether it will still exist in the future. Students the internet has many benefits, but you
will hear the recording twice. can’t trust it as a source of news. There is
a lot of fake information on the internet
Before playing the recording direct students’
and you don’t know who or where it
attention to the tip box. This reminds students
comes from. Some websites just try to
to listen carefully to the recording and be careful
grab the readers’ attention by producing
of distractors.
shocking headlines, regardless of
07 whether they are true or not.
Interviewer: Today in the studio we will be Sarah: I do see your point on this, but there are
discussing television, and whether or trusted sources on the internet, you just
not it will still be popular in the future. have to be a bit careful about which ones
To debate this topic today, I have two to trust. It’s true that there are fake news
guests. Tom, who is sixty-two, and sites out there that spread stories that
believes that television will always are clearly more fiction than fact, but by
be popular and twenty-one-year-old doing a little bit of checking you can see if
Sarah, who thinks that TV is actually a source is reliable or not and the amount
close to extinction. Hello and welcome, of different places you can go for news
to both of you. Sarah, let’s start by means that you have more opportunities
hearing your views on this matter, as to look at all sides of the argument.
some of our listeners might find your
claim somewhat hard to imagine. Interviewer: What about the idea of sitting together,
with friends and family to watch your
favourite programme?

PHOTOCOPIABLE © Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment English 2021 Page 4
B2 Listening worksheet 6 (plus)
Teacher’s notes
Tom: Well, it certainly wouldn’t be comfortable
Answers
to do that on a mobile phone or tablet.
Some of my fondest memories of growing 1 B  2 C  3 A  4 B  5 B  6 B  7 B
up are of the shows we used to watch
Speaking
together, as a family. It became a tradition
and every week we would all sit down to Ask students to discuss the topic question
watch certain programmes, and then talk in pairs or small groups and then feedback
about them afterwards. to the whole class.
Sarah: Well you’re right to a certain extent,
I don’t watch any shows with friends
and family, but we do watch the same
shows, just not together. And we often
discuss them.
Tom: Yes, but it can’t be the same. For many
families and people of all age groups
watching television together is not
just a popular form of entertainment,
but also a way of socialising with each
other. I just can’t see that disappearing
in the future. Television continues to be
integral to our daily lives; it’s part of our
routine. If you ask me, these new forms
of entertainment won’t last, they won’t
be as popular in the future. Television
on the other hand, will be, and it has
already been around for decades.
Sarah: I wouldn’t be so sure about that. These
other digital platforms have been
around for quite a while too and for the
younger generation they are already
a way of life. It’s very common, for
example, to see children of primary
school age being entertained by either
a tablet or smartphone. I think they see
television as a bit old-fashioned really.
If television is going to survive it needs
to appeal to future generations and
adapt to the modern world.
Presenter: Tom and Sarah I’m afraid I’m going to
have to stop you there. Thank you for
your comments today. This has been a
very interesting debate, one that certainly
seems to divide the generations.

PHOTOCOPIABLE © Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment English 2021 Page 5