Empty Seats at European Athletics Spark Criticism
Listen to the story
The European Athletics Championships are happening in Birmingham, England. But many seats at the stadium are empty.
On Monday, nearly 10,000 seats were empty at Alexander Stadium. People are not happy about this.
Some people say the ticket prices are too high. This may be why fewer people came to watch.
The empty seats look bad on TV. Many fans and experts are talking about the problem.
Organisers have not given a clear answer yet. People want to know why so many seats are empty.
This is a big event for European sports. Many top athletes are competing this week.
But the low number of fans in the stadium is a problem for the championships.
Vocabulary15 words
- European
- from Europe
- stadium
- a big place with seats for watching sports
- ticket
- a paper you buy to enter an event
- event
- something that happens, like a show or game
- athletes
- people who play sports
- empty
- with nothing or no one inside
- criticism
- saying something is bad
- organisers
- people who plan an event
- fans
- people who like and watch a sport
- competing
- trying to win against others
- problem
- something bad that needs fixing
- prices
- how much something costs
- watch
- to look at something happening
- championships
- a big competition to find the best
- happening
- taking place now
Quiz
Answer key
1. Birmingham 2. Nearly 10,000 3. True
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
The European Athletics Championships are happening in _____, England. But many seats at the stadium are _____.
On Monday, nearly _____ seats were empty at Alexander Stadium. People are not happy about this.
Some people say the ticket _____ are too high. This may be why fewer people came to watch.
The empty seats look bad on TV. Many fans and experts are talking about the _____.
This is a big _____ for European sports. Many top _____ are competing this week.
But the low number of _____ in the stadium is a problem for the championships.
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