Theme 2.2: Healthy Living and Lifestyle - Listening Comprehension
Listening comprehension for the Healthy living and lifestyle theme tests understanding of spoken French about diet, exercise, sleep, and physical and mental wellbeing, in monologues, dialogues and doctor- or interview-style texts at both tiers, with every item played twice. Examiners are testing whether a student can extract specific detail (a food or habit, a frequency, an opinion with a reason), follow comparisons between healthy and unhealthy habits or past and present lifestyle changes, and catch numbers, negatives and modal verbs such as devoir and il faut that express obligation or advice.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Read the questions and options fully before listening; underline key words for food, exercise or health advice being asked about.
- Predict vocabulary: food groups (les fruits et légumes, les matières grasses), exercise verbs (faire du sport, s'entraîner), sleep and stress terms (dormir, le stress, se détendre), and body/illness words (avoir mal à, être en forme).
- On the first listening, focus on gist: is the speaker describing a healthy or unhealthy lifestyle, and is their tone one of pride, regret or concern.
- Track the tense contrast: imperfect for old, often unhealthy habits (avant, je mangeais beaucoup de fast-food), present for the current, changed habit (maintenant, je mange plus équilibré), and near future for an intended change (je vais essayer de dormir plus).
- Catch modal verbs expressing obligation or advice, since these signal recommendations rather than facts: il faut + infinitive (you must/need to), on devrait + infinitive (we/one should), il ne faut pas + infinitive (you must not).
- Catch frequency and quantity precisely: trois fois par semaine, cinq portions de fruits et légumes par jour, huit heures de sommeil - a misheard number changes a whole answer.
- Track negatives: je ne fume plus (I no longer smoke), je ne saute jamais le petit-déjeuner (I never skip breakfast) - listen for the ne even when it is spoken quickly.
- Note self-corrections and use the second listening to check numbers of portions, hours or times per week.
Worked example
You hear: 'Avant, je ne faisais jamais de sport et je mangeais beaucoup de plats préparés. Depuis six mois, j'ai changé : je cours trois fois par semaine et j'essaie de manger cinq fruits et légumes par jour.' Question: What changes has the speaker made to their lifestyle?
- Predict vocabulary before listening: sport, plats préparés, fruits et légumes.
- Identify the imperfect tense with ne...jamais for old habits: 'je ne faisais jamais de sport' means never used to exercise.
- Note the time marker 'depuis six mois' (for six months) with the perfect 'j'ai changé', showing when the change started and that it continues.
- Catch the numbers precisely: 'trois fois par semaine' (3 times a week) and 'cinq fruits et légumes par jour' (5 a day).
- Full answer: The speaker used to never exercise and ate a lot of ready meals; for the last six months they have changed, now running three times a week and trying to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1What does 'il faut dormir huit heures par nuit' mean?Show answer
Answer: 'You must/need to sleep eight hours a night' - il faut + infinitive expresses obligation or necessity.
Q2Translate: 'on devrait manger moins de sucre'.Show answer
Answer: We/one should eat less sugar (devrait is the conditional of devoir, expressing advice).
Q3What does 'je ne fume plus' mean?Show answer
Answer: 'I no longer smoke' - ne...plus reverses a past habit.
Q4A speaker says 'je fais du sport une fois... enfin, deux fois par semaine'. How often do they exercise?Show answer
Answer: Twice a week - the self-correction replaces the first number given.
Q5Translate the quantity: 'cinq portions de fruits et légumes par jour'.Show answer
Answer: Five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
Q6Before listening to a text titled 'Le stress chez les jeunes', predict two words you might hear.Show answer
Answer: Any two of: se détendre, l'anxiété, la pression, dormir mal, se reposer.
Q7What is the difference between 'je mange équilibré' and 'je ne mange pas équilibré'?Show answer
Answer: The second, with ne...pas, negates it: 'I don't eat a balanced diet', the opposite of 'I eat a balanced diet'.
Q8Translate: 'il ne faut pas sauter le petit-déjeuner'.Show answer
Answer: You must not skip breakfast.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE French exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Transcript of the recording: Bonjour, je m'appelle Claire et je suis infirmière scolaire. Beaucoup d'élèves me disent qu'ils dorment seulement cinq ou six heures par nuit, ce qui est vraiment insuffisant ; il en faudrait au moins huit. Je conseille aussi de faire au moins trente minutes d'activité physique par jour, même si ce n'est qu'une promenade. Côté alimentation, il ne faut pas sauter le petit-déjeuner, parce que ça provoque souvent une baisse d'énergie avant midi. Enfin, pour gérer le stress avant les examens, je recommande de bien s'organiser et de ne pas réviser trop tard le soir. Questions: 1) What is Claire's job? 2) How many hours do many students say they sleep, and how many does she recommend? 3) What physical activity advice does she give? 4) Why should you not skip breakfast? 5) What two pieces of advice does she give for managing exam stress?
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Transcript of the recording: Pendant longtemps, j'ai eu beaucoup de mal à gérer le stress, surtout à cause des examens. Je buvais trop de café... enfin, je devrais dire trop de boissons énergisantes, et je dormais très mal. Depuis que j'ai commencé le yoga, deux fois par semaine, je me sens beaucoup plus calme. Je pense que c'est essentiel de prendre du temps pour soi, même quinze minutes par jour, sinon on finit par s'épuiser complètement. Questions: 1) What did the speaker struggle with, and because of what in particular? 2) Correct the speaker's description of what they used to drink too much of. 3) What activity have they started, and how often? 4) What is the effect of this activity? 5) What does the speaker believe is essential, and what happens if you do not do it?
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See real GCSE French past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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