1. Skills
  2. Listening
  3. A2 listening
  4. Understanding an explanation

Understanding an explanation

Understanding an explanation

Listen to a professor's explanation to practise and improve your listening skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.

Preparation

Matching_MjMzMzE=

Transcript

Professor: OK, before we continue, does anybody have a question? Oh, lots of questions, I see. OK, we'll go one at a time. Yes?

Student: Thank you. You talked about Fibonacci numbers in the lecture. Sorry, I don't understand. Can you explain?

Professor: Of course. What do you want to know?

Student: OK … I hope this isn't a silly question, but what does Fibonacci actually mean?

Professor: No question is ever silly – it's always good to ask. OK, it's the name of a person. Fibonacci was a European mathematician in the Middle Ages.

Student: Ah, OK. Thanks. So, we know he was a person, but what are the Fibonacci numbers? I don't get it.

Professor: The Fibonacci numbers are a sequence of numbers. They go 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and so on. Do you see the sequence? Do you see how it works?

Student: I'm not sure.

Professor: OK. This is how it works. The first number is 1, then 1 again, then 2. The third number is the first number plus the second number. The fourth number is the second number plus the third number: 1 plus 2 is 3. The fifth number is the third number, 2, plus the fourth number, 3. So the fifth number in a Fibonacci sequence is 5.

Student: Ah! I think I understand now. But what about their importance? You said these were very important.

Professor: Yes, let me explain. This sequence of numbers is important because we see it in many things. Fibonacci numbers are common in geometry, they are common in nature, for example in plants. We see the sequence everywhere.

Student: Could you give us some more examples?

Professor: OK ... well, we don't have time right now but I can bring more examples in for next class, OK?

Task 1

MultipleChoice_MjMzMzI=.xml

Task 2

ReorderingHorizontal_MjMzMzM=.xml

Discussion

What was the last lecture you went to about? Did the professor explain it clearly?

Download
Worksheet101.54 KB
Try another listening

Language level

A2 Pre-intermediate
Average: 4.5 (35 votes)
Do you need to improve your English listening skills?
Join thousands of learners from around the world who are improving their English listening skills with our online courses.
Find out more

Submitted by habibao.medo on Wed, 07/10/2020 - 14:32

Permalink
it was an English lecture about skimming and scanning i didn't get it very well

Submitted by Rinaa on Fri, 14/08/2020 - 00:11

Permalink
The last lecture that I attended, was one year ago when I was a student. I can remember one case when I had difficulty understand the payable and receivable accounts, and I couldn't know the difference between them. I asked my professor to found time to explain it with more examples, and he did it. He was satisfied with my question and interest to learn, so he approached me and explained it in detail. I still remember his advice and lectures about accounting.

Submitted by Phan Bao Dung on Fri, 31/07/2020 - 18:22

Permalink
My last lecture was 3 years ago when I studied Master about Chemistry. At that time, I didn't know how to use the chemical equipment so my professor gave me some instructions. She explained it to me step by step, clearly, slowly. Then, I could do it right away.

Submitted by kbravoz on Mon, 20/07/2020 - 17:36

Permalink
There's a missing number in Fibonacci sequence: 1,1,2,3,5... in the question

Hello kbravoz,

The question asks about a particular sequence ('in this Fibonacci sequence'), so it is not intended to be complete.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Soe Thuya on Wed, 15/07/2020 - 16:02

Permalink
I can't listen to all audio in these days.what happen to me?

Hello Soe Thuya,

I'm afraid our audio content is not working due to a temporary technical problem. We are working to resolve it as quickly as we can, and apologize for the inconvenience.

Please check again in a few hours or tomorrow.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Dastenova Firuza on Sat, 11/07/2020 - 20:06

Permalink
The last lecture was on ecological problems delivered by prof. Hanns Moschamer from Austria where I was an interpreter. It was very clear, intersting and useful.
Profile picture for user Hennadii

Submitted by Hennadii on Sat, 11/07/2020 - 17:59

Permalink
My last lecture at the university was over 15 years ago so it's quite difficult to remember what it was about )) Honestly, it's not difficult - it's impossible. But I think it was something special, you know. After those five long years with so many lectures, so many subjects to learn, so many exams to pass, and you finally got the very last lecture. I think we were happy and sad at the same time. Happy because no more lectures and sad because that was the end of our funny and careless students life.