Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.
Preparation
Transcript
… and the next part of this talk is on the Panama Canal. It's amazing how this one small section of a small country can be so important to the world. Let's learn a little bit about the canal itself, before we look at how it connects to everything else.
The Panama Canal is an artificial waterway in the Central American country of Panama that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. It is only 82 kilometres long. If you go around South America by ship then you need to travel another 15,000 kilometres. So the canal saves a lot of travel time. It takes around 8 to 10 hours to cross the canal.
The French started building the canal in 1881, but they couldn't finish it. The project was started again in 1904 by the United States and the canal was finally finished in 1914. Many people died while they were building the canal, some say up to 25,000. For the rest of the 20th century, the United States controlled the canal, but gave control back to Panama in 2000.
Every year, around 40,000 ships come through the canal. These are mostly commercial ships. They transport goods for trade between Asia and America, or Europe. In 2016 the government of Panama made the canal bigger, so that now 99 per cent of ships can pass through it.
Let's now turn to the role of the Panama Canal in the global economy …
Are you good with numbers?
No I'm not at numbers. Especially with another language like Arabic and English its so confusing for me. And ı hate math .
No, I'm not good with numbers, I have problem with memorize the numbers.
I'm no bad, but it isn't my best.
Are you good with numbers?
I am just normal with numbers, but I am not scared about math, I can calculate fast math like add, minus, times, and divide in business but I am not good at geometry. I felt I could work with the number because I was patient with it.
Yes, I am good at numbers while listening it is difficult for me to understand it. I am now trying to listen more to numbers by practicing listening tasks and will be able to increase my listening skills.
Discussion:
I'm good with numbers and figures. My math, and physics are good, in fact, I often receive high scores in these subjects. Moreover, currently, I work as an electrical engineer, so you know my job requires math skills to calculate and handle technical problems that I have to deal with. If it is English numbers and figures, I can understand if you speak slowly, sometimes, I misunderstand them when trying to remember all of it.
I will try my best to enhance my number skills by listening more and using frequently in my tasks and my daily communication
Discussion
Are you good with numbers?
=> I have no head for figures, honestly. I find it much more challenging to listen to numbers in any foreign languages. I almost failed my English listening semi-final exam due to the number part. Moreover, I have difficulty calculating too.
Listening to numbers is a little bit confusing for me, So I try to focus extra hard when I’m listenings to numbers.
Are you good with numbers? A little, because I know how to say all the numbers in English, but listening is more difficult. So I try to have a paper to write down the number that I heard, and then check it.