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Joy English · Level B2 · Psychologyjoy-english.com

The benefits of boredom

Name:Date:

Follow an argument supported by research.

Listen to each sentence and write what you hear.

Audio and answer checking: https://joy-english.com/listening-lessons/the-benefits-of-boredom

Words to know

boredom
The feeling of being bored.
wander
Here, to move freely without a clear direction.
dull
Not interesting.

Answer key

  1. We often try to avoid boredom by reaching for our phones.“Reaching for” — the -ing runs into “for”.
  2. Yet some researchers think boredom can be useful.“Yet” here means but.
  3. It may encourage the mind to wander and come up with new ideas.“Wander” rhymes with “ponder”, not with “under”.
  4. In one study, people who did a dull task first were more creative in a later task.The stress in “creative” is on “a”.
  5. So putting the phone away for a while might not be a bad idea.“For a while” means for a period of time.

Joy English · free English practice · https://joy-english.com/listening-lessons/the-benefits-of-boredom