Upper-Intermediate 6A WB

Read the article quickly and answer the questions.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Read the article quickly and answer the questions.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Read the article again and mark the sentences T (true) or F (false).

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Question:

The music at the concert was louder than the sound of a jet plane taking off.

Read the article again and mark the sentences T (true) or F (false).

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Question:

After the concert, the writer had no symptoms of hearing damage.

Read the article again and mark the sentences T (true) or F (false).

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Question:

The writer had problems with her hearing at work, but not at home.

Read the article again and mark the sentences T (true) or F (false).

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Question:

The writer pretended that she could hear what a person at the party was saying.

Read the article again and mark the sentences T (true) or F (false).

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Question:

Despite her problems, the writer can still hear sounds at the bottom range of the scale.

Read the article again and mark the sentences T (true) or F (false).

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Question:

The doctors told her that her bearing would eventually recover.

Read the article again and mark the sentences T (true) or F (false).

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Question:

Now the writer wears a device in one ear to help her hear better.

Read the article again and mark the sentences T (true) or F (false).

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Question:

According to the writer, most people don’t take the dangers of hearing loss seriously.

Look at the highlighted words and phrases in the text and try to work out their meaning Then match to definitions 1-8.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Look at the highlighted words and phrases in the text and try to work out their meaning Then match to definitions 1-8.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Look at the highlighted words and phrases in the text and try to work out their meaning Then match to definitions 1-8.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Look at the highlighted words and phrases in the text and try to work out their meaning Then match to definitions 1-8.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Look at the highlighted words and phrases in the text and try to work out their meaning Then match to definitions 1-8.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Look at the highlighted words and phrases in the text and try to work out their meaning Then match to definitions 1-8.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Look at the highlighted words and phrases in the text and try to work out their meaning Then match to definitions 1-8.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

Look at the highlighted words and phrases in the text and try to work out their meaning Then match to definitions 1-8.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The hidden dangers of rock music

Twenty-two years ago as I left the house to go to see Motorhead- known at the time as ‘the loudest band in the world’ – my mother’s words followed me out of the door: ‘You’ll ruin your hearing one day!’ At the time, I rolled my eyes dramatically, and proceeded to assault my ears with 140 decibels of noise, which I now know is ten decibels above the sound of a jet plane taking off. That night, I left the venue with my ears ringing and it took more than a week for the ringing to diminish. But after that, I thought no more of it.
That is, until I was in my mid-20s. I was working in a busy store with background noise from shoppers and music, and I started finding it difficult to hear what customers were saying. At home, my husband began to notice that I was either mishearing or not hearing things at all. On one occasion when we were at a noisy party I had no idea what someone was saying to me, but I was nodding and smiling as if I understood. Afterwards, my husband informed me that the person had been telling me that her dog had just died. Needless to say, I was extremely embarrassed. The result of this episode was that I went to see my GP to have my hearing checked.
The news was not good. I had hearing loss of 50 per cent. It affected the top range of my hearing, which meant that any high-pitched noises, speech, phones, and day-to-day sounds were gone. I also had tinnitus, which was causing an infuriating ringing in my ears. The doctors explained that years of listening to loud music had caused the tiny sensory hair cells in the inner ear to become irreversibly flattened – meaning I would never hear properly again. And unless I protected my ears, my hearing would deteriorate even more.
So it turns out that my mother was right and I have, indeed, ruined my hearing. Today, I wear a paii of hearing aids that are quite discreet but still definitely very uncool. But according to the World Health Organization, I am not alone. They say that around four million Britons risk serious damage to their ears by exposure to loud music. Hours spent listening to music on MP3 players and at concerts are to blame
There are so many things that can be done to protect our hearing and it is often a case of ‘it’ll never happen to me’ or thinking that ‘only old people go deaf’. However, in our modern life, where most people spend half their time plugged into a music device, it is very likely that it may, indeed, happen to you.

choose the correct form.

1. My husband doesn’t mind doing / to do / do housework.

choose the correct form.

2. I must listening / to listen / listen to some of their songs before I go to the concert.

choose the correct form.

3. Our teacher makes us checking / to check / check our homework.

choose the correct form.

4. Tom’s doctor suggested seeing / to see / see a specialist about his back.

choose the correct form.

6. My girlfriend’s very possessive. She doesn’t let me going out / to go out / go out with my friends any more.

choose the correct form.

7. The man denied stealing / to steal / steal the laptop from my bag.

choose the correct form.

8. Kim expects getting / to get / get her exam results on Friday.

choose the correct form.

9. I’ve given up buying / to buy / buy CDs because it’s cheaper to download the tracks llike.

choose the correct form.

10. I can’t imagine having to / to have to / have to get up at 6.00 every morning.

choose the correct form.

11. He managed passing / to pass / pass his driving test although he was really nervous.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of a verb from the box.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of a verb from the box.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of a verb from the box.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of a verb from the box.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of a verb from the box.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of a verb from the box.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of a verb from the box.

choose the word with a different sound.

1. chess

choose the word with a different sound.

2. shower

choose the word with a different sound.

3. keys

Listen and complete the sentences.

Listen to a critic talking about a documentary film.

Listen again and choose the right answer.