Special Report

Listening audio
Listening level
Advanced

Special Report
 

1. General Comprehension. Fill in the blanks in following paragraph which is a general comment about the film.
    Hard Choices is a
film that has been
by many critics this past summer, but that does not make it
. Its
-year-old
has been found at the film's
passing out
in front of
.

2. Fill in the blanks to complete the following statements. Then use these sentences as a guide to write a summary of the story in Hard Choices.
(1) The protagonist's name is
.
(2) He is
years old.
(3) He lives in
.
(4) In his eyes, his older brothers are
.
(5) One evening he
with his older brothers.
(6) His brothers decide to
.
(7) When he stays in the truck one of his brothers
.
(8) After the robbery he is
with his brothers and soon
.
(9) The protagonist is so
that he does not even know how to
when he is questioned about his
habit.
(10) Laura is a
.
(11) She takes a
to the protagonist.
(12) His
make Laura feel so attracted to him.
(13) She points
and tries to help him to
.
(14)
is the hard choice for the protagonist.
(15) That is a hard choice because he's being
and is likely to serve a pretty
in
.

Brief synopsis of the story:

3. Focusing on Details. Fill in the detailed information according to what you have heard.
(1)
is much more
and
and just
than most of the
that it makes you want to
.
(2) One of the best things about
is that
seems so
.
(3) The supporting cast is
.
(4) The director keeps your just
, which is wonderful.
(5) The thing is that
is
.
(6) It is certainly not perfect. But it sure makes
.

4. Fill in the blanks to complete the following statements.
(1) The problem is, if you want to see the film, you may
because it is
. There are only
.
(2) Hard Choices opens
in
, and
in
and at
.

Listening answers

Special Report
 

1. General Comprehension. Fill in the blanks in following paragraph which is a general comment about the film.
    Hard Choices is a
film that has been
by many critics this past summer, but that does not make it
. Its
-year-old
has been found at the film's
passing out
in front of
.

2. Fill in the blanks to complete the following statements. Then use these sentences as a guide to write a summary of the story in Hard Choices.
(1) The protagonist's name is
.
(2) He is
years old.
(3) He lives in
.
(4) In his eyes, his older brothers are
.
(5) One evening he
with his older brothers.
(6) His brothers decide to
.
(7) When he stays in the truck one of his brothers
.
(8) After the robbery he is
with his brothers and soon
.
(9) The protagonist is so
that he does not even know how to
when he is questioned about his
habit.
(10) Laura is a
.
(11) She takes a
to the protagonist.
(12) His
make Laura feel so attracted to him.
(13) She points
and tries to help him to
.
(14)
is the hard choice for the protagonist.
(15) That is a hard choice because he's being
and is likely to serve a pretty
in
.

Brief synopsis of the story:

Suggested version: Bobby, a 16-year-old country boy in Tennessee, is captured by the police and jailed when he happens to be in the truck while his older brothers robbed a pharmacy and killed a cop. Laura, a young social worker, comes to like Bobby and tries to help him escape. Bobby is faced with the hard choice between a long jail sentence and a violation of law.

3. Focusing on Details. Fill in the detailed information according to what you have heard.
(1)
is much more
and
and just
than most of the
that it makes you want to
.
(2) One of the best things about
is that
seems so
.
(3) The supporting cast is
.
(4) The director keeps your just
, which is wonderful.
(5) The thing is that
is
.
(6) It is certainly not perfect. But it sure makes
.

4. Fill in the blanks to complete the following statements.
(1) The problem is, if you want to see the film, you may
because it is
. There are only
.
(2) Hard Choices opens
in
, and
in
and at
.