fbpx

  • This is Backcountry – English Listening and Writing Exercise

    We live in a mountain town that has a lot of daring people, so we get to meet a lot of extreme sports/adrenaline addicts. This video captures both the beauty and the danger of participating in these sports.

    It’s also a good listening exercise with some spectacular footage. This short videouses some interesting language that you might hear on the streets or trails of the United States. I also challenge you to try the writing exercise. I’ll correct both exercises and try to explain any errors that I see. Interested in improving your writing? Take our English writing course!

    Enjoy!

    The sentences below are from the video clip. See if you can fill the gaps. Write your answers in comments, and we’ll respond.

    1. _____ you been here?

    2. Maybe you think it’s all __-___ and red bull but it ______.

    3. What does the last word in the above sentence mean?

    4. How many times did you want to ______?

    5. Does your ______ still stop at the memory of that icy _____ the smell of your partner two weeks after her last ______?

    Would you ever do any of these extreme sports? Tell us why or why not. Why do you think people do them? Do you think it is acceptable? Write a short paragraph and I’ll correct it.

    • Dmitry Taipov

      1. Have you been here?
      2. Maybe you think it’s all high-fives and red bull, but it ain’t.
      3. Ain’t means ‘is not’
      4. How many times did you want to quit?
      5. Does your heart still stop at the memory of that icy path the smell of your partner two weeks after her last shower?

      I was doing snowboarding when I was at school because my friends was doing.
      In childhood we jumped into a river from a tree and from a pier.
      Recently I jumped with a parachute because I decided to get to space someday as a tourist.
      For the same reason I started to use skateboard instead of a bus to keep fit.
      Obviously, everything I’ve tried is not as extreme as what we can see in this video.
      And I don’t want to do such extreme sports, but I understand that there are people who like
      it very much and I think it’s quite acceptable.

      • LOIEnglish

        Dmitry,

        Very good listening skills. For your writing I suggest you watch our ‘used to/would’ video. In several of the above sentence it sounds more natural and is a very easy grammar structure to use ‘used to/would’ For example: When I was a child I used to jump into the river from a tree or from the pier.

        Your first sentence should be past simple: I did some snowboarding when I was at school because my friends were doing it.
        friends-plural-were
        You need an object at the end of the sentence.

        In this sentence: For the same reason I started to use A skateboard…missed the article

        Thanks for answering!

    • Marcio Guerguen

      Everyday as the sun came out and finished the breakfast, sit all day long on the computer screen, and try to plan next lecture, and suddenly I saw this video, my heart didn’t beat quicker, on the contrary, it stopped! It’s like a discombobulated moment that you recognize that Elisium really exist! whew! How I envy those who can go outside and enjoy nature and really got a life! I used to be a finicky person, but the tax and bill won me over! now I realize that I became a slave, A modern slave of the society! Someday I’ll kick somebody ass and quit everything! Just wait !

      • LOIEnglish

        Hahaha! This is an awesome reply! I hope you don’t kick anyone’s ass! Ok, a few grammar corrections. Everyday…states routine, which requires the present simple tense. So the correction is: Everyday as the sun COMES out and I FINISH breakfast (notice we don’t use THE with breakfast, lunch, or dinner).

        Elisium is 3rd person so we need to use ‘S’ at the end of our verbs. Elisium really existS.

        Your next sentence: Now I realize that I…. this is something that started in the past and unfortunately continues to the present. Which requires the present perfect tense. The correction is: I realize that I HAVE BECOME a slave.

        Thanks for the comment. It made me laugh! I hope you can get outside more often and enjoy life!

    • LOIEnglish

      Thanks for the response. Good writing skills! The only mistake I see is the very last sentence:
      Some are of us….there is a word order problem. The correction is: Some of us ARE more adrenaline junkies, some are less.

    • Thiago Moreira

      1 Have
      2 high-five, ain’t
      3 Ain’t means ‘is not’
      4 quit
      5 heart, path, shower

      No, I’m not. I think to put my life in any type of unnecessary risk is a kind of suicide. I think people who look for that kind of sport maybe has a necessity to prove for yourself how much he or she is brave and determinated, but for me, there are anothers way to prove it, This kind of sport don’t generate any type of value for people in the world besides entertainment.

      • LOIEnglish

        Thiago…good listening. Here are some corrections to your writing:
        I think people who look for that kind of sport maybe HAVE a necessity to prove THEMSELVES. They want to show how brave and determined he or she is, but for me there are OTHER WAYS to prove it. This kind of sport DOESN’T generate any type of value for people in the world besides THEIR own entertainment.