FCE First Certificate Course Lesson 32

Dialogue lesson 32

Dialogue 32: Ryanair low-cost flights to America

CHARLOTTE: Hey Nicole how’s it going?

NICOLE: Hiya, you’ll never guess what I’ve just seen on the news. That low-cost airline is doing flights from Europe to America starting from £15.

CHARLOTTE: What a coincidence, I was just about to tell you that, I was reading an article on a news website before. Hopefully they will have started in time for us to plan our trip to the East coast. I don’t know though, it seems too good to be true.

NICOLE: Well yeah I thought the same. I bet there’s a catch.

CHARLOTTE: You know what these companies are like with the charges they add for baggage allowance and taxes.

NICOLE: True, but I guess it won’t come to more than £100 overall which is an absolute bargain!

CHARLOTTE: Yeah that would be amazing! I mean, it’s definitely worth sacrificing the comfort of a more expensive flight to save money, right?

NICOLE: I think so! Just think, then we have more spending money for when we get there.

CHARLOTTE: Absolutely, I’m going to have another look at my budget with all this in mind. I can’t wait!

Vocabulary lesson 32

ENGLISH

SYNONYM or DEFINITION

to guess

to estimate, to reckon, to gauge

a low-cost airline

a relatively inexpensive airline

a coincidence

a co-occurrence, providence

to be about to + verb

to be on the verge of

in time for

not late, punctual

too good to be true

unbelievable

to bet

to lay a wager, to gamble, to put/lay money

a catch

a trap, a stumbling block

the baggage allowance

the amount of luggage permitted on the plane

taxes

compulsory contribution to state revenue

a bargain

a good buy, a giveaway

to sacrifice

to give up, to renounce

spending money

money available to be spent on pleasures and entertainment

a budget

financial plan, statement

with all this in mind

with all to remember, with all this noted

Exam tip 32

EXAM TIP FOR FCE LESSON 32

The Listening exam is comprised of 4 parts. Let’s focus on Part 2!

You will be focusing on:

  • detail, specific information
  • stated opinion 

This test contains 10 questions each preceded by a recording / listening passage you will have just listened to. You have to complete each of the 10 gaps with 1 to 3 words from the recording. You are not given any options to choose from so you must pay attention to the listening passage. The gap can be completed with 1 to 3 words which could be heard in the recording, as they are spoken (they do not need to be changed in any way). The missing word(s) can be words, numbers or phrases. You must try and spell the words correctly. Minor spelling errors are not penalised.

Listening passages may include broadcasts, monologues, or classroom presentations. So expect a specialist topic to appear in this recording!

Advice:

  • get used to listening to real-life recordings such as announcements, news announcements, weather reports, YouTubers vlogging (video blogging). Ask a friend to hide ten words in a text, then have him or her read out the text with the missing words. Try to write down the words to fill in the gap.
  • go over numbers: cardinal and ordinal numbers, but also letters of the alphabet. In lesson 38 your exam tip will be about this!
  • do not rephrase what you hear in the recording. You have to transcribe words or phrases from the recording
  • check the text before and after the gap to ensure that the 1 to 3 words that you have added make sense.

Grammar and vocabulary recommended videos

Exercises FCE

Vocabulary Exercise

Grammar Exercise