Pre-Intermediate Listening Practice

David: Hello Carol. What did you do today?

Carol: Hi David, I've just got back from the Art Gallery. You know, they had a wonderful exhibition of abstract art today. You should have come with me.

David: No, I really can't stand modern art. It just seems like children's painting to me.

Carol: Yes, if you don't understand what the artist is trying to communicate, it can seem a little like that.

David: Well, what did you see then? Tell me about some of your favorite pictures.

Carol: OK, I'll try to remember. There was this one huge painting which was mainly black and gray. I think it was supposed to be a tree although it could have been anything really - you know what these modern paintings are like.

David: And what did you like about that one?

Carol: Just the way the tree looked. It was like the tree was made of hard, metal spikes and the mix of white and gray made everything look like it was winter. Very cold.

David: What else did you see?

Carol: There was this other huge painting which was mainly black and white. It looked very impressive. It was a sort of spiral and each part of the spiral was a white disc and they all met in the middle. It's really hard to explain. But my absolute favorite was a painting we saw in the last room we visited.

David: Who did you go with?

Carol: I went with Melanie and her sister. Anyway, there was this beautiful painting and it looked like a meadow and all the grass was purple and red and there was this green sky in the background. I looked at it and thought of summer. It also had this amazing jet black frame and the whole effect was very impressive. I spent about ten minutes just looking at that one.

David: Wow, that really does sound impressive. Maybe I should go and visit this exhibition.

Carol: You really should. I think you would be inspired by some of the paintings. I think you should look at modern art like food. You need to taste things to see if you like them. At that exhibition today, some of them were even for sale. That last one, the meadow one, was on sale for $8,000.

David: How much?! That's really expensive. I may go and visit the exhibition tomorrow, but I'm not going to buy anything.

Carol: OK, let me know how it goes, won't you? Give Mark a call. He wanted to come with us today but his aunt was in town so he couldn't. He'd be really keen on going.

David: OK, I will.