Intermediate

answer machine part a.mp3 (347581)

answer machine part b.mp3 (370344)

PART A

Female voice: This is the Oxbridge School of English on Oxbridge ________. We're sorry the school is closed at the moment. Office ________ are between nine-thirty a.m. and five-thirty p.m., Monday to Friday. If you have an urgent ________ please speak after the tone, or you can call us ________ during office hours. Thank you for your ________.

PART B

Hi! This is lrene. Why are you ________ at home? I hate speaking to this machine. ________, listen. We've got two ________ for the opera for next Saturday night. It's Verdi's

Othello and Domingo's singing. Rodney can't go ________ he has to work this weekend. So I ________ if you'd like to come with me ________? It starts at seven. Ring me tomorrow. Oh, but ________before ten because I'm taking Harry to the ________. Byee!

keep fit.mp3 (634285)

'So you wanna keep fit, huh?'

PART A

Hi there! I'm Crystal Collins, and I'm very happy to ________ some time with you. So, you wanna keep fit, huh? Well, you sure came to the ________ place! Together we can keep fit and ________ , and be more successful. It's easy. Everybody can do it, you ________? Just remember the five golden ________:

Number one: Always wear ________ and ________ clothes when you're exercising. You need to feel comfortable and relaxed.

Number two: You should always do some simple ________ up exercises just to get your body ready for the ________ thing.

Number three: Never ________ to do too much exercise too soon. Take it nice and easy now, you hear? There's no ________ about this.

Number four. Don't ________ to relax completely for about five minutes when you've finished your workout. You need to rest a little bit after you've been ________. And here is golden rule number five. Stop immediately if you feel any ________ in your chest, throat, neck or head.

PART B

I hope you've ________ the simple warming-up exercise from the book. You have? Fine! Now I think we're ready for something a little ________. Today's exercise will give you stronger legs and healthier lungs. So put that cigarette out! You ________ a strong chair. Stand in front of the chair and put your right foot on the seat. Now ________ up onto the seat. Stand still. And step back down. Now do it again. This time ________ with your left foot. On the seat. Step up. Stand still. And ________back down. Now, Can you do this ten times? Let's go!

Bibi Khanym and the Origin of the Muslim Veil

Story-teller: _________ seven centuries ago, in Central Asia, there lived a great _________ called Tamerlane. He was a mighty, powerful, conquering _________, and his greatest ambition was that one day he would rule a massive _________ stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. He _________ his imperial capital in the oasis city of Samarkand, which he _________ to make the most beautiful city on _________. Many magnificent mosques were _________ and they were decorated with exquisite blue ceramic tiles on the _________, and with pure gold on the _________. Tamerlane, like the great oriental king that he was, had many _________, including a Chinese girl called Bibi Khanym. Now Bibi Khanym was the most beautiful of all Tamerlane's wives, and, as the _________, she was also the most senior. She was his favorite wife and she was _________ in love with him. In order to demonstrate her _________love of Tamerlane she decided to _________ a magnificent monument to honor him, while he was away _________ in a distant war. She engaged the best architect, who _________ for her the most magnificent mosque you could imagine. And then she _________ the best master builder, who began work immediately. But as the weeks and months _________ by, the master builder began to fall in love with Bibi Khanym. She _________ all his advances, but at last he threatened to _________ the mosque unfinished unless she allowed him to _________ her just once. Bibi Khanym wanted the beautiful mosque finished more than anything else. She was _________Tamerlane to return any day. So at last she _________ to let the master builder kiss her, just once. But that was her terrible _________. For so powerful was the master builder's love for Bibi Khanym that when he kissed her he left a _________mark on her face. King Tamerlane returned and saw the guilty mark on his wife's face. The master builder was _________immediately, and then, thinking that a woman's beauty can be a _________ thing, Tamerlane ordered that from that day and for ever more all the women in the kingdom should never be _________ in public without a veil to cover their face.