Learning English

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Transcript

Sian
Can you guess which sport it is by listening to the commentary?

Phil
You can feel the tension in the arena. It's Hernandez with the serve. It's gone straight down the middle to the back of the court. There's Hoffman with the dig. A set from Fischer. And there's the spike! Hard into the corner, no one could get near that! They've won the point.

Beth
OK, so the word 'dig' was there, and I've got no idea what that is.

Tianqi
I'm not sure about this one, actually.

Beth
But you talked about 'serve' and a 'point', so it sounds a bit like tennis, but I haven't heard some of those other words.

Tianqi
Yeah, it feels like it has 'spikes' or something.

Beth
So, I feel like saying badminton, but I don't think it's that either.

Tianqi
It is just, like, running, two hundred metres.

Beth
Do I have to give an answer?

Pippa
OK. I'm going to say volleyball.

George
OK. I think this is commentary for volleyball.

Pippa
Because of the word 'dig' and the word 'spike'.

George
I heard words like 'spike', 'serve', 'point' but I guess you get lots of points in other sports. But 'spike' and 'serve' were very telling, I think.

Sian
This sport is volleyball. The clues are: 'court', 'serve', 'dig', 'set', 'spike'. Volleyball is played on a court. Players serve the ball to start play. A dig is a shot that keeps the ball off the ground. A set is a shot that gets the ball ready for someone else to hit, and a spike is where the ball is hit down towards the ground on the opponent's side of the court. Now, let's listen again, and spot the clues.

Phil
You can feel the tension in the arena. It's Hernandez with the serve. It's gone straight down the middle to the back of the court. There's Hoffman with the dig. A set from Fischer. And there's the spike! Hard into the corner, no one could get near that! They've won the point.

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