What is London like at Christmas? – A listening practice

Listen to the video and fill in the gaps in the script.

London is an amazing place all year round, but at (1) …… it is just unbelievably beautiful. The lights, the displays, the atmosphere it is really breath-taking. It’s this (2)…… , busy city for 11 months of the year, but when (3) …… comes along you can see all of the busy Londoners making time to take a step back from their routine and just appreciating what the city has to (4) …… . One of the things I really enjoy doing at Christmas is buying amazing gifts for my (5) …… ones. One thing I love doing is (6) …… . I’ll spend an afternoon looking at all the window displays without really buying anything, just trying to gather (7) …… and inspiration. London is so great for shopping. The most famous street is Oxford Street but I really like Kings Road as well. The luxury (8) …… really compete with each other. Some of them are pretty impressive. Another lovely place to visit in London at Christmas time is Covent Garden the centre of which used to be a fruit and vegetable (9) …… and then in the 1980s it changed to a shopping centre. There are lots of lovely little shops and you can also see some street performers if you go at the right time. I enjoy heading down south of the river and appreciating the views of the river  (10) …… from one of London’s many (11)…… . It really does make me feel very, very, very small in such a big city. One of my favourite lunch spots is one of the largest and oldest food markets in the whole of London. In 2014 it celebrated its thousandth birthday. If you do head over to Borough Market don’t forget to try some of the hot (12)…… , perfect to warm you up on a cold day. So that was a little taste of my beautiful city at Christmas time and I’d love to hear your recommendations. Bye for now.  

Key: 

1. Christmas 2. crazy 3. December 4. offer 5. loved 6. window shopping 7. ideas 8. brands 9. market 10. Thames 11. bridges 12. cider

Script:

London is an amazing place all year round, but at Christmas it is just unbelievably beautiful. The lights, the displays, the atmosphere it is really breath-taking. It’s this crazy, busy city for 11 months of the year, but when December comes along you can see all of the busy Londoners making time to take a step back from their routine and just appreciating what the city has to offer. One of the things I really enjoy doing at Christmas is buying amazing gifts for my loved ones. One thing I love doing is window shopping. I’ll spend an afternoon looking at all the window displays without really buying anything, just trying to gather ideas and inspiration. London is so great for shopping. The most famous street is Oxford Street but I really like Kings Road as well. The luxury brands really compete with each other. Some of them are pretty impressive. Another lovely place to visit in London at Christmas time is Covent Garden the centre of which used to be a fruit and vegetable market and then in the 1980s it changed to a shopping centre. There are lots of lovely little shops and you can also see some street performers if you go at the right time. I enjoy heading down south of the river and appreciating the views of the river Thames from one of London’s many bridges. It really does make me feel very, very, very small in such a big city. One of my favourite lunch spots is one of the largest and oldest food markets in the whole of London. In 2014 it celebrated its thousandth birthday. If you do head over to Borough Market don’t forget to try some of the hot cider, perfect to warm you up on a cold day. So that was a little taste of my beautiful city at Christmas time and I’d love to hear your recommendations. Bye for now.