Matching sentence endings: why podcasts caught on
You can find where a sentence comes from in a passage and choose the ending that says what the passage says.
Podcasts started as a hobby for a few enthusiasts, and the passage here explains how a great many people came to listen to them.
You get the first half of six sentences about it, and a list of nine endings. Several endings fit the grammar of each beginning, so the passage has to decide. Three are never used.
Warm-up
Which ending fits?
Only one of these endings makes a correct sentence. Read the beginning with each ending and notice which ones sound wrong.
A radio phone-in programme lets listeners ...
How it works
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-I, below. Write the correct letter, A-I, next to questions 1-6.
- Aprefer short programmes to long conversations.
- Bmeant that listeners no longer had to move files between devices.
- Cthink of the hosts as people they know.
- Dwere made mainly by professional broadcasters.
- Ecan succeed without attracting a large audience.
- Fwere unknown to most of the public.
- Gdo not always play the episodes they download.
- Hleave the listener's eyes and hands free for other tasks.
- Iskip the advertising in each episode.
- 1In their first few years, podcasts1
- 2Smartphones helped podcasts to grow because they2
- 3Podcasts fit easily into people's daily routines because they3
- 4Because they cost little to make, many podcasts4
- 5Many people who follow a show every week5
- 6Advertisers find podcast audiences hard to measure because listeners6
The list always has more endings than there are sentences, so some are never used.
The method
- 1Read the beginnings first
Mark the words in each one that you can look for in the passage: a time, a name, a topic such as smartphones or advertisers.
- 2Find the place
The beginnings follow the order of the passage. The answer to question 3 comes after the answer to question 2.
- 3Finish the sentence yourself
Read those lines carefully and say, in your own words, how the passage completes the idea. Only then look at the list.
- 4Match the meaning
The right ending usually says the passage's idea in different words. An ending that repeats a word from the passage needs a second look.
- 5Read the whole sentence
Beginning and ending together must be correct English and must say what the passage says. Some endings are never used.
Three kinds of wrong ending
It says what the passage denies: podcasts need a licence, when the passage says there is no need for one.
It sounds reasonable, and it may be true in real life, but the passage never says it.
It is true according to the passage, but it completes a different beginning.
The passage
Why podcasts caught on
In the early 2000s, a new way of sharing speech began to spread online. Anyone with a microphone and a computer could record a programme, put it on the internet, and let listeners download each new episode to a portable music player. The programmes came to be called podcasts, a word that joined the name of one popular player with 'broadcast'. For several years, though, they remained a small interest. The shows were made mostly by enthusiasts, and most people had never heard of them.
The main obstacle was effort. To hear a programme, a listener usually had to download it to a computer at home and then copy it onto a separate device before going out. The smartphone did away with that step. Once a phone could find, download and play new episodes by itself, following a show became as easy as opening an app, and listeners could press play anywhere they had a signal.
Podcasts also suited the way people already spent their days. A newspaper or a video needs the eyes, but a podcast needs only the ears, so it can fill time that would otherwise be empty: the drive to work, a run, the cooking or the washing-up. Many regular listeners say that this is what attracted them in the first place. They can learn something or follow a story while their hands and eyes are busy.
For the people who make them, podcasts are cheap. A simple show needs little more than a decent microphone, editing software and a quiet room, and there is no need for a licence or a place in a broadcaster's schedule. As a result, subjects that are too narrow for radio can still find listeners. A programme about one sport, one kind of gardening or the history of a single city will never attract a national audience, but it does not need one. A few thousand loyal listeners can be enough to keep it going.
The voice itself may be part of the appeal. Heard through headphones, a presenter seems to be talking to one person, and people who follow the same show every week often feel that they know its hosts. The format also allows long conversations. On most radio stations a guest has a few minutes before the news or the traffic report, but a podcast guest can talk for an hour or more without being interrupted.
Money followed the listeners. Most podcasts are free to download, and those that make money usually do so through advertising, which the hosts often read aloud themselves. Success has brought difficulties too. With so many shows available, a new one can struggle to be noticed, and many are abandoned after a handful of episodes. Advertisers also find audiences hard to measure. A download shows only that a file has been saved, and many episodes are saved automatically by an app and never played at all.
Watch me do one
I'll take question 3: Podcasts fit easily into people's daily routines because they... The words I can look for are daily routines.
The beginnings follow the passage, so this one comes after the smartphone paragraph. The third paragraph opens with the way people already spent their days. That is my place.
Before I look at the list, I finish the sentence myself: a podcast needs only your ears, so you can listen while you drive or cook.
C, think of the hosts as people they know, is true, but it comes from the fifth paragraph and has nothing to do with routines. A, prefer short programmes to long conversations, sounds sensible, but the passage never says it.
H, leave the listener's eyes and hands free for other tasks, is my own summary in different words. I read the whole sentence against the paragraph once more and write H.
Practice with Elita7 questions
The other five sentences first, then two questions on how the endings are built. For sentences 1, 2 and 4 I print one paragraph; for 5 and 6, the last two paragraphs.
Sentence 1
Read the first paragraph and choose the ending for sentence 1.
Read thisIn the early 2000s, a new way of sharing speech began to spread online. Anyone with a microphone and a computer could record a programme, put it on the internet, and let listeners download each new episode to a portable music player. The programmes came to be called podcasts, a word that joined the name of one popular player with 'broadcast'. For several years, though, they remained a small interest. The shows were made mostly by enthusiasts, and most people had never heard of them.
1. In their first few years, podcasts ...
Sentence 2
Read the second paragraph and choose the ending for sentence 2.
Read thisThe main obstacle was effort. To hear a programme, a listener usually had to download it to a computer at home and then copy it onto a separate device before going out. The smartphone did away with that step. Once a phone could find, download and play new episodes by itself, following a show became as easy as opening an app, and listeners could press play anywhere they had a signal.
2. Smartphones helped podcasts to grow because they ...
Sentence 4
Read the fourth paragraph and choose the ending for sentence 4.
Read thisFor the people who make them, podcasts are cheap. A simple show needs little more than a decent microphone, editing software and a quiet room, and there is no need for a licence or a place in a broadcaster's schedule. As a result, subjects that are too narrow for radio can still find listeners. A programme about one sport, one kind of gardening or the history of a single city will never attract a national audience, but it does not need one. A few thousand loyal listeners can be enough to keep it going.
4. Because they cost little to make, many podcasts ...
Sentence 5
Here are the last two paragraphs. Find the lines about people who follow a show every week, then choose the ending for sentence 5.
Read thisThe voice itself may be part of the appeal. Heard through headphones, a presenter seems to be talking to one person, and people who follow the same show every week often feel that they know its hosts. The format also allows long conversations. On most radio stations a guest has a few minutes before the news or the traffic report, but a podcast guest can talk for an hour or more without being interrupted. Money followed the listeners. Most podcasts are free to download, and those that make money usually do so through advertising, which the hosts often read aloud themselves. Success has brought difficulties too. With so many shows available, a new one can struggle to be noticed, and many are abandoned after a handful of episodes. Advertisers also find audiences hard to measure. A download shows only that a file has been saved, and many episodes are saved automatically by an app and never played at all.
5. Many people who follow a show every week ...
Sentence 6
Same two paragraphs. This time find the lines about advertisers, then choose the ending for sentence 6.
Read thisThe voice itself may be part of the appeal. Heard through headphones, a presenter seems to be talking to one person, and people who follow the same show every week often feel that they know its hosts. The format also allows long conversations. On most radio stations a guest has a few minutes before the news or the traffic report, but a podcast guest can talk for an hour or more without being interrupted. Money followed the listeners. Most podcasts are free to download, and those that make money usually do so through advertising, which the hosts often read aloud themselves. Success has brought difficulties too. With so many shows available, a new one can struggle to be noticed, and many are abandoned after a handful of episodes. Advertisers also find audiences hard to measure. A download shows only that a file has been saved, and many episodes are saved automatically by an app and never played at all.
6. Advertisers find podcast audiences hard to measure because listeners ...
An ending nobody uses
Ending I fits none of the six sentences. Which kind of wrong ending is it?
I. skip the advertising in each episode.
Same idea, new words
Match the words from the passage to the words in the endings that mean the same.
Words to keep
Someone who is very interested in a hobby or subject. The first podcasts were made mostly by enthusiasts.
One programme in a series. A new episode comes out every Friday morning.
Get rid of something, or make it unnecessary. Podcast apps did away with the need to copy files.
Staying with someone or something over a long time. A small, loyal audience can keep a show going.
What makes something attractive or interesting. Part of the appeal of a podcast is the presenter's voice.
Stop doing something before it is finished. Many new podcasts are abandoned after a few episodes.
Before you go
Read the beginnings first and mark the words you can search for.
Use the order: each answer comes later in the passage than the one before.
Say how the sentence should end, in your own words, and only then look at the list.
Check the whole sentence against the passage. Reject endings that say the opposite, say something new, or belong to another beginning.
Next: In the next lesson you hear a Part 4 lecture about newspapers and the internet, and follow it by its signposts.