The CBC EAL Newscast is a listening lesson for students who are learning English.
The lessons are for students who are at Canadian Language Benchmarks 3 and 4 (high beginner / low intermediate). Each newscast has a lesson file and an audio file.
You will need to print the lesson file first. Here’s what you will find in each lesson.
1. A vocabulary match exercise for each story
Learning new vocabulary before you listen makes it easier for you to understand the story.
2. Questions on the main ideas or details of each story
Can you listen to a news story and understand the main ideas? Are you hearing the most important details? Answer the questions and find out!
3. A transcript for the newscast
If you are having difficulty understanding the story when you listen, you can use the transcript to help you.
4. Answers to the questions in the lesson
The answers are at end of the lesson on page 5.
5. An internet link or other resource suggestion
Some stories will have an internet link or suggest another resource you can use to find more information.
(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external websites)
Click on this file to hear three real world news stories read by a CBC news reader. The first is a Manitoba story. The second is a Canadian story. The third is an international story. All of the stories are in the same audio file
There are new stories and lessons every Thursday.
Now you are ready to begin. Read on!

Story 1: NHL team likely to come to Winnipeg
Step 1: Learn new vocabulary . Learning new vocabulary before you listen makes it easier for you to understand the story. Can you match these vocabulary words with their meaning? The first one is completed for you as an example.
Vocabulary Word
1. d the NHL
Meaning a) the name of the NHL hockey team that left
Winnipeg in 1996
2. __ True North b) a downtown Winnipeg sports and entertainment centre
3. __ the Atlanta Thrashers c) the months of the year when hockey is usually played
4. __ the MTS Centre d) the National Hockey League
5. __ the Manitoba Moose
6. __ the hockey season
7. __ the Winnipeg Jets e) the name of an NHL hockey team which may come to Winnipeg f) the name of the privately owned company that owns the MTS Centre in Winnipeg g) the name of the American Hockey League
(AHL) team which currently plays hockey in
Winnipeg
Step 2: Listen to the first story in the audio file. Focus on listening for the main ideas and key information. Listen as many times as you need to.
Step 3: Answer questions about the story.
Fill in the blank with the correct word from the box below. The first one is completed for you as an example.
1. True North Sports and Entertainment wants to bring an NHL team ______ to
Winnipeg.
2. True North is hoping to ____ the Atlanta Thrashers team.
3. The _____ of bringing the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg could be _____ onehundred-and-fifty ______ dollars.
4. Winnipeg hockey fans are __________.
5. Winnipeg has not had an NHL team _____ 1996. That was the year the Winnipeg
Jets _____.
NHL excited million over left back buy since cost
To find out more: www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2011/05/26/sp-nhl-atl-thrashers.html
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Story 2: Some Canadians have no Internet access
Step 1: Learn new vocabulary . Learning new vocabulary before you listen makes it easier for you to understand the story. Can you match these vocabulary words with their meaning? The first one is completed for you as an example.
Vocabulary Word Meaning
1. b to have Internet access a) many
2. __ Statistics Canada b) to buy a service or product that allows you to use the Internet
3. __ a survey
4. __ several c) the tools, machines, clothes etc. that you need to do a particular job d) a questionnaire which asks a large number of people questions to find out their attitudes or opinions
5. __ equipment
6. __ to be expensive e) to cost a lot; to have a high price tag f) people who live together in one house
7. __ a household g) the federal agency which gathers statistical information on Canada’s population, resources, economy, culture etc.
Step 2: Listen to the first story in the audio file. Focus on listening for the main ideas and key information. Listen as many times as you need to.
Step 3: Answer questions about the story.
Does option a) or option b) make the sentence correct? Underline or circle your answer. The first one is completed for you as an example.
1. The survey on Internet access was conducted by _____. a) Statistics Canada b) the CBC
2. The survey found that _______.
3. About half of the households without
Internet access ________ .
4.
Some people don’t have Internet access because ________. a) one in five Canadian households have access to the Internet b) one in five Canadian households do not have access to the Internet a) are low income b) earn over $30,000 a year a) they don’t believe in it b) they don’t know how to use a computer
To find out more: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/05/25/technology-internet-use-statisticscanada.html
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Story 3: Tornado causes destruction in Missouri town
Step 1: Learn new vocabulary . Learning new vocabulary before you listen makes it easier for you to understand the story. Can you match these vocabulary words with their meaning? The first one is completed for you as an example.
Vocabulary Word
1. _e a tornado
Meaning a) to travel through; to go through
2. __ to cause destruction
3. __ to move through b) a place where people seek protection, especially from the weather c) almost; nearly
4. __ Missouri
5. __ close to
6. __ an emergency shelter
7. __ weather officials d) to cause death e) an extremely violent storm where air spins very quickly and causes a lot of damage f) a number given to something to show how it rates or compares to other things/events g) to destroy; to damage something so severely it no longer exists and cannot be repaired
9. __ to be deadly i) a U.S. state
Step 2: Listen to the third story in the audio file. Focus on listening for the main ideas and key information. Listen as many times as you need to.
Step 3: Answer questions about the story.
Which of the following statements about the story are true? Which are false? Underline or circle the correct answer. The first one is completed for you as an example.
1. A tornado destroyed the entire state of Missouri last week. True False
2. Close to 140 people were killed and others are missing. True False
3. The tornado moved through the northern part of Joplin.
4. Emergency shelters filled quickly.
5.
6.
8. __ a rating h) people responsible for weather predictions and for reporting on weather patterns
The tornado winds were just over 300 miles an hour.
The last time the U.S. had a tornado this deadly was 1953.
To find out more: www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/05/26/weather-us-tornadoes.html
True False
True False
True False
True False
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Hi, this is Heather Wells. You’re listening to Learning English with CBC newscast for the week of May 23 rd .
Here is our first news story.
NHL team likely to come to Winnipeg
True North Sports and Entertainment wants to bring a National Hockey League team back to Winnipeg. True North is trying to buy the Atlanta Thrashers team and bring it to
Winnipeg. It could cost over one-hundred-and-fifty million dollars to bring the team here. True North is the company that owns the MTS Centre and the Manitoba Moose hockey team. Hockey fans are excited about the possibility of having an NHL team back in Winnipeg for the 2011-12 season. The Winnipeg Jets left the city in 1996.
And in Canadian news,
Some Canadians have no Internet access
Statistics Canada did a survey on Internet use in Canada. According to the survey, twenty per cent of Canadians do not have Internet access in their homes. Close to half of the households without Internet access are low income households earning $30,000 a year or less. The survey found there were several reasons why households do not have Internet. Some said they do not need it while others said the equipment is too expensive. Just over ten percent of the households without Internet said it is because they do not know how to use computers.
And in international news,
Tornado causes destruction in Missouri town
A tornado that moved through Joplin, Missouri last week killed close to a hundred and forty people and destroyed much of the town. The tornado moved through the south part of the town, destroying homes, buildings, and trees for about ten kilometers. Many people were missing after the tornado hit. Emergency shelters quickly filled with people. During the tornado, the winds were blowing at over three hundred kilometers an hour. Weather officials rated the tornado as an F5. The tornado was the deadliest one in the United States since 1953.
Answers for Story 1
Vocabulary: 1) d; 2) f; 3) e; 4) b; 5) g; 6) c; 7) a
Questions: 1) NHL, back; 2) buy; 3) cost, over, million; 4) excited; 5) since, left
Answers for Story 2
Vocabulary: 1) b; 2) g; 3) d; 4) a; 5) c; 6) e; 7) f
Questions: 1) a; 2) b; 3) a; 4) b
Answers for Story 3
Vocabulary: 1) e; 2) g: 3) a; 4) i; 5) c; 6) b; 7) h; 8) f; 9) d
Questions: 1) F; 2) T; 3) F; 4) T; 5) F; 6) T
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