Listening: A Sports Commentary
A sports commentary is a B1–B2 listening text in the high-speed media genre. The audio covers live commentary on a football or other sports event — pace shifts (calm during play, urgent during crucial moments), specialist vocabulary (positions, tactics, fouls, plays), and the commentator’s emotional reactions. Learners practise tracking fast speech, catching key events, and recognising the commentator’s framing.
This worksheet builds B1–B2 listening comprehension through a high-speed sports-commentary audio.
Worksheet preview
What’s inside:
- A sports-commentary audio (~4 minutes) with annotated transcript
- Pre-listening vocabulary box with sports-specific terms (positions, fouls, tactics)
- Event-tracking task: note key moments in the order they happen
- Multiple-choice items on game state and key plays
- Production task: write a short paragraph describing a memorable sports moment
- Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes
Common challenges: Speed is the central B1–B2 challenge in sports commentary — natural commentary is among the fastest spoken English. Sports-specific vocabulary may need explicit pre-teaching. Idiomatic language: hit the back of the net, go down to ten men, play out of their skin.
For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B1–B2, in intermediate and upper-intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. Maps onto Cambridge B2 First (FCE) Listening. Part of the Media & Entertainment collection — the natural next step is A Podcast on Mental Health, which extends media listening into long-form conversational format.
Every worksheet you'll ever need — ready to teach.
Stop building from scratch. 324 classroom-ready worksheets, every level, with answer keys and teacher notes on every sheet.
