The listening exercise finishes after almost 12 minutes of the podcast with Seb Coe’s comment that the Games ‘are a great opportunity for the whole country to get involved’.Try to answer these initial questions first:

Exercise 1

1 What is Seb Coe’s current post?
2 Who is Tony Blair?
3 How did Seb Coe travel across the site where the Games will be held?
4 The Olympic village will serve both able-bodied athletes in the Olympics and athletes with disabilities in the Paralympics. What are the two words used to describe the participants of each event?
5 Where is Stratford International Railway station now?
6 When are the Beijing games going to be held?
7 What phrase does Seb Coe use to convey the concept of ‘up and down the country’, or ‘all over the country’?
8 When will the volunteer programme be launched?
9 How many volunteers will be required to help run the London 2012 Games?

Exercise 2

1 How long does Seb Coe say it is since Britain held the Games?
2 What phrase does Seb Coe use to mean ‘bring the Prime Minister up to date’ with the progress made towards staging the Games?
3 Seb Coe says it is ‘barely conceivable’ (= unbelievable) that it’s only been 19 months since they were in Singapore. What does the (now former) prime minister Tony Blair consider ‘incredible’?
4 What 2 adjectives does Tony Blair use to describe the effect on the nation of the prospect of the Games?
5 How many people will it be possible to transport per hour by rail in and out of the Olympic park from Stratford International Railway station?
6 What is the idea concerning environmental issues as far as the Games are concerned?
7 What has changed in recent years which helps the aim outlined in question 6?
8 What phrase does Seb Coe use to say that the Sydney Games ‘raised the standard‘ of environmental sustainability?
9 Will Great Britain maintain this rise in environmental sustainability?
10 When were the Sydney Games held?
11 To what does the term ‘zero waste‘ apply?
12 In recent years it has been acknowledged that housing in London is too expensive for ‘key-workers’ to afford, and for this reason 30 – 40% of the village will be re-developed for ‘key-worker housing’. Can you name the three ‘key-worker groups’ mentioned who will be able to buy houses within the village after the Games?
13 The Games will be a model of construction in two respects. What are these?
14 Tony Blair speaks of the project being ‘a cutting edge example of sustainability’. Was this apparent when planning began in 1997?
15 What four factors are mentioned as evidence of regeneration?
16 How many Olympic athletes will the village cater for?
17 And for how many Paralympic athletes afterwards?
18 The Olympic Park will leave as its legacy a regenerated area. Seb Coe gives two other examples of what the people moving into this area will also expect. What are they?
19 In what terms does Seb Coe describe the park they will leave behind after the Games have taken place?
20 There will be 85,000 seats at the Games. How many people will the stadium be adapted to seat afterwards?
21 What benefits will there be for local people?
22 What comment does Seb Coe make which makes it clear he aims to make the sporting facilities inclusive, rather than exclusive ones?
23 Why are some events in Glasgow mentioned?
24 In the Beijing Games Britain will have the chance to present their vision of the Olympic games. How long will they have to do so, and when?