Practice PET (B1) Listening Test 23 with Answers and Audioscripts

1 B   2 B   3 A   4 C   5 C   6 A   7 C

Audioscripts

1   Which programme will they watch first?

Boy:   What time is the environmental programme on that we were watching last night? I don’t want to miss it as it has a very interesting subject today about recycling.

Girl:   It starts at nine but I really want to watch my favourite cookery programme first. They have a big competition tonight and the winner gets to cook with a famous chef.

Boy:   Well, luckily the football match is very late because it’s being played on the other side of the world. In fact, I’m not even sure that mum will let me stay awake for it.

2   Why did the boy go to bed late?

Woman:   You look tired Christopher. Did you watch TV until late last night?

Boy:   No, mum. We had a difficult project on maths and it took a lot of time to finish it. I needed some help but nobody, not even George, could help me. And he is the best student in class and always helps me. He had to paint a nice picture for the art lesson.

3   What did the girl see at the science museum?

Girl:   My visit to the Science Museum was really interesting yesterday. Although the special exhibition I’d gone there to see with my aunt about cars was closed. There was a problem with the lights, I think. But there are so many other things to see there. I’ve never noticed how different and huge old computers were before. My aunt also told me that this is also true about mobile phones but I didn’t get to that part of the museum this time because I met my friend Tina and we spent some time in the museum cafe.

4   How much was the restaurant bill?

Girl:   Yesterday I went with my parents to the new Chinese restaurant in town. My father paid £95.

Boy:   Did you enjoy your meal last night?

Girl:   Actually we didn’t. My chicken was quite cold and my dad’s vegetables were extremely overcooked.

Boy:   Did they offer you a free dessert then?

Girl:   We had to go, as my father had an important meeting after the meal, so we didn’t have time for dessert. But they took £20 off our bill.

Boy:   So your father paid £75, then?

Girl:   No, the amount of money I told you before was after that discount.

Boy:   Oh that’s too expensive for a three-person meal.

5   Which book will the girl borrow from her friend?

Girl:   Have you got a good book I can borrow, Erik?

Boy:   I’m afraid I don’t have any romantic girls’ books.

Girl:   Who said I like those sorts of books? I usually read travel books but this time I want something with more action.

Boy:   In that case I have just the thing. I finished this book last week. It’s a bit frightening but it has a great story about difficult situations a police officer has to deal with every day.

Girl:   It sounds perfect, thanks.

6   What did the girl cook?

Boy:   Hi Lin, how was your birthday party?

Girl:   It was amazing. I wasn’t sure what to cook for everyone because I’ve never organised a birthday party before on my own. I was just going to make pizza but I didn’t think that would be nice enough. Then I decided to bake a lovely cake. Also Jade brought some of her mother’s special chicken soup which was really nice of her.

7   Which animal did the boy enjoy seeing best?

Boy:   I really enjoyed the school trip yesterday to the farm. There were so many different animals to see. My favourite animals are the cows. I laugh so much when they walk around the field. They look so funny and heavy. But the birds in the trees were the most attractive animals for me this time. These birds had beautiful colours and they were singing all the time. However, seeing the baby rabbits eating carrots came second.

8 B   9 B   10 A   11 C   12 A   13 B

Audioscripts

8   You will hear a boy talking to a friend about his grandma’s house.

Girl:   How’s your grandma’s house?

Boy:   I like it. Although it is small it has a very big bedroom but the colours aren’t what I’ve ever chosen. However that’s not a problem.

Girl:   Is it near your house?

Boy:   Yes. I can walk there in ten minutes, which means I visit her very often. My grandma’s house is next to my school, so sometimes I sleep there when I want to stay a bit longer in bed in the morning. That’s really great.

9   You will hear two friends talking about a birthday present for their friend, Mary.

Boy:   I’ve been trying hard to pick out a cool gift for Mary’s birthday.

Girl:   That’s been challenging for me too. Would you like to go in with me and choose something together?

Boy:   Yes, two heads are better than one.

Girl:   What does she like to do? That might help us pick something out.

Boy:   She seems to really enjoy music and going to the cinema every weekend.

Girl:   Maybe we could get her some concert tickets, then. Do you know who might know what concert she might like to go to?

Boy:   I think that her brother, Jack, could give us some suggestions.

Girl:   Jack definitely could help us. He knows Mary very well. I am going to see Jack afternoon after class and ask him what he thinks.

Boy:   That will work out well.

10   You will hear two friends talking about a concert.

Boy:   Wow, that was fantastic. I can’t hear well now, though.

Girl:   It wasn’t too loud. That’s just how a live concert should be.

Boy:   It was too loud for me. I also think they sold more tickets than they should have done.

Girl:   I was thinking the same thing. When you go to a concert, you should be able to watch it in comfort.

Boy:   I don’t mind paying for expensive tickets so long as you can move when you are in there. I couldn’t get to the other side to meet some of my friends.

11   You will hear two friends talking about a party they went to.

Girl:   Have you seen Peter since his party on Saturday?

Boy:   No, perhaps his parents haven’t let him go out since then because they are so angry with him.

Girl:   It could have been worse. At least the house wasn’t very dirty because we had the party in the garden.

Boy:   Exactly and there were only ten of us. Jackie had over 30 people at her party last month.

Girl:   It’s just that they had actually told Peter not to have a party while they were away.

Boy:   I know. I will never forget the look on his face when they came home a day early.

12   You will hear two friends talking about a competition.

Girl:   You’ll be so proud of me. I’ve won first prize in that science competition I took part in.

Boy:   Wow! Well done! So what was the prize?

Girl:   A week in London with free entrance to the Science Museum there.

Boy:   That’s amazing!

Girl:   Yes, I’m so excited. There’s only one problem. I have to go with my parents, so I can’t take you…

Boy:   Don’t worry… I understand!

Girl:   I know but it’s so sad for you to miss out on such a great opportunity.

Boy:   At least I know you would take me with you if you could.

Girl:   I’m glad you understand.

13   You will hear two friends talking about a new student.

Girl:   So what do you think about the new student at school? She seems to be a bit unfriendly. When I tried to talk to her she didn’t say much.

Boy:   Really? I had a chat with her and she was really interesting. She’s just moved here from America.

Girl:   That’s strange. Why didn’t she talk to me then?

Boy:   To be honest Anna, you can be a bit scary if people don’t know you. You have a bit loud.

Girl:   Oh, thanks.

Boy:   Don’t be upset. People love you when they know you but the new girl is probably finding it a bit difficult getting to know so many new people as she seems to be a little bit quiet. I’m sure you’ll be friends with her soon.

14 train   15 10:15 / ten fifteen

16 30 / thirty   17 bridges

18 fish   19 toy boats

Audioscripts

Girl:   Hi everyone. I’m going to tell you all about my wonderful trip to Venice last week. I went with my family. We arrived on Saturday morning at about 10 a.m. It’s very easy to get from the airport to Venice as you can (14) either go by train or bus from the airport or you can do it the more romantic way which is by boat.

The boats are called vaporetti and they are very long and narrow so that they can sail down the canals easily. The wonderful thing about going by boat is that you can see a lot of the city before you’ve even checked in to your hotel. (15) We stayed in an area of Venice called Arsenale. We were on the boat for over an hour before we got to our stop. We set off at 10:15 and we arrived there at 11:30. On the way we cruised past most of the outside of the city.

The cheapest way of travelling around Venice is of course on foot but after a while you will probably get very tired. You can buy a three-day ticket to use on the vaporetti which only costs 20 pounds. (16) We also bought a Museum Card for 30 pounds which we could use to go into the museums, art galleries and churches. That saved us a lot of money.

Apart from its fantastic buildings and squares, Venice is most famous for its canals. (17) The thing I enjoyed most was walking over the many beautiful bridges and watching the boats beneath us.

Now I’d like to mention the food in Venice. There are plenty of restaurants all over the city. As you would expect there are plenty of pizza and pasta restaurants (18) but the nicest thing to eat in Venice is fish.

On the last day we sat and drank fresh juice on the Grand Canal. I took many photos for my friends and bought lots of Italian sweets. (19) My parents bought some toy boats for our cousins. It was the perfect city holiday.

20 A   21 B   22 A   23 C   24 A   25 C

Audioscripts

Man:   Hi Isabella, welcome to the show. Can you tell us what made you start playing basketball?

Isabella:   I grew up in the centre of the city. We didn’t have any parks near to where we lived but there was one small basketball court. (20) My parents used to work many hours every day so I had to find something to do. And guess… I started playing basketball.

Man:   And why do you think you became so good at basketball? I mean you are a player at an international youth team now, aren’t you?

Isabella:   Yes, I’ve done really well in my sport. I think that’s because my parents were not at home during the day and I also hate watching TV, (21) I stayed outside and I played and played and naturally I became really talented.

Man:   What was it that made you realise that you could play basketball as a job? You’re very young. You’re still a student.

Isabella:   I started to play for the school team and (22) my teachers noticed how good I was. That’s when I started to get some proper training. One of my teachers told my parents that I could do really well in my sport and then persuaded them to support me.

Man:   So what has been the best part of your career so far? I’m sure it must have been winning the gold medal in the World Youth Championship.

Isabella:   Winning a medal at a World Championship was really great but the best time of all for me was before it started. (23) I got to hold the flag to lead our team around the stadium in the opening ceremony. That was actually the proudest moment.

Man:   What about the future? Do you think you will be winning the gold medal at the Olympic games?

Isabella:   To tell you the truth, I’m not sure that is what I want to work for next. I honestly don’t think being a basketball player was what I really wanted to do. Actually I wanted to be a doctor. (24) I want to study hard and enter university.

Man:   How can you imagine your life 10 years from now?

Isabella:   The way I see myself ten years ahead of now is not something I often think about. One thing I’m certain of, is that I want to make the most of my years and put all my effort to become (25) a successful, happy woman either as a doctor or as a basketball player. What I would say is that I’m the sort of person who sees good in everyone and everything so I know whatever life holds in store for me it is going to be good.

Man:   Isabella, I wish you luck in whatever you decide to do.