Fill each gap with a maximum of three words:
M: I’ve just finished reading Luke Sanderson’s latest book in his Human Successes Trilogy, called The Rise of the Maya. His previous two books were fascinating to read, but this one just wasn’t (1) ___________. His whole (2) _________ style seems to have changed.
W: Really? I couldn’t put that book down! But then again the Mayan (3) _________ has always (4) _________ me. Isn’t it just amazing how they achieved such great things like building huge (5) _________ without the help of modern technology?
M: Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of the Mayans, too. I just thought their story could have been presented in a more (6) _________ way.
W: That wasn’t a problem I had. But then I haven’t read the first two books, so I can’t really compare this work with his previous works
KEY:
- up to scratch
- narrative
- civilisation
- mesmerised
- pyramids
- appealing
VOCABULARY:
1. up to scratch (idiom) (C2) = reaching an acceptable standard (đạt đến một tiêu chuẩn chấp nhận được)
Examples:
Her performance wasn’t up to scratch.
His English was not up to scratch.
2. narrative (adj) /ˈnærətɪv/: kể chuyện
3. civilisation (n) /ˌsɪvəlaɪˈzeɪʃn/ /ˌsɪvələˈzeɪʃn/: nền văn minh
4. mesmerise sb (v) /ˈmezməraɪz/: hấp dẫn, thu hút ai đó
5. pyramid (n) /ˈpɪrəmɪd/: Kim tự tháp
6. appealing (adj) /əˈpiːlɪŋ/ (C1): lôi cuốn
Tags: ielts, IELTS LISTENING
