Check Your English Level

Visiting a friend — VOA Learning English. Listen twice, then choose one answer per question. Use subtitles only after your first attempt.

Choose one answer for each question.

1 Which Metro station is near Anna’s apartment?

• Dupont Circle.
• Union Station.
• Columbia Heights.

2 What should Ashley do when she leaves the Metro?

• Turn right.
• Go straight ahead.
• Turn left.

3 What is near Anna’s apartment?

• A supermarket.
• A coffee shop.
• A bookshop.

Finding a time to meet — VOA Learning English. Listen twice, then choose one answer per question. Use subtitles only after your first attempt.

Choose one answer for each question.

1 Why can’t Anna go to the cinema on Thursday evening?

• She is visiting her parents.
• She has plans to dance with friends.
• She is going jogging.

2 What does Marsha say her family always does on Friday nights?

• They have dinner together.
• They play a board game.
• They watch a film.

3 Which statement is correct about Monday evening?

• Both Anna and Marsha are free.
• Anna is free, but Marsha has plans.
• Marsha is free, but Anna has plans.

Before a meeting — VOA Learning English. Listen twice, then choose one answer per question. Use subtitles only after your first attempt.

Choose one answer for each question.

1 Why does Anna think the meeting may be important?

• Mark has explained its purpose.
• The email gives her that impression.
• Jonathan has already attended it.

2 Why does Anna challenge Jonathan’s use of “people”?

• He has misunderstood the word “budget”.
• His information comes from only one person.
• The person he mentions works elsewhere.

3 What concern does Anna express at the end?

• They will miss the start of the meeting.
• Their conversation could help a rumour spread.
• Mark will refuse to speak to them again.

Understanding spoken English — VOA Learning English. Listen twice, then choose one answer per question. Use subtitles only after your first attempt.

Choose one answer for each question.

1 Why does the speaker mention her university students?

• To suggest that university courses cause the problem.
• To show that difficulty following spoken English is a familiar complaint.
• To argue that only advanced students have this problem.

2 What does the comparison with a bullet train suggest?

• Learners should focus on transport vocabulary.
• Conversation usually follows a predictable route.
• Ordinary speech can pass too quickly for learners to process.

3 What advantage of reading does the speaker emphasise?

• Readers can control the pace and revisit language.
• Written English avoids grammatical complexity.
• Readers never need to work out unfamiliar meanings.