Practice FCE (B2) Listening Test 11 with Answers and Audioscripts

1 A   2 B   3 B   4 A

5 A   6 C   7 B   8 B

Audioscripts

1   You are watching TV and you hear this advertisement.

Every thirty seconds, somewhere in the UK, this happens, … Sometimes this happens, too … It is certain that if you drive a car, sooner or later you will have to make an emergency stop. Even if you always drive carefully; even if you never touch a drop of alcohol, something will happen. Whether it be another vehicle, a child crossing, or an unexpected bend in the road, a good set of tyres with at least five millimetres of tread can and will save your life.

2   You overhear these two people discussing a football match.

M1 = Man 1   M2 = Man 2

M1:   I just don’t know what the referee was going on about. There was never an off-side just before the end of the first half!

M2:   Well, you couldn’t exactly see from where we were standing.

M1:   But we were the better team; we should have won. I mean the Liverpool defence are rubbish. Man. United are far better than that, but last night, we couldn’t even get near the goal.

M2:   Look, I’ve been supporting this team longer than you have. I’ve seen this before. They were just having an ‘off day’.

M1:   That was no ‘off day’, the match was fixed.

3   You are out shopping when you pass a man in the street selling something.

… with a tarnish resistant, rotating, aluminium, serrated cutting edge. And, of course, you’ve all seen it before on TV anyway, haven’t you ladies? … and here it is before your very eyes, exactly the same quality as all the others with one important difference, ladies and gentlemen … because you won’t find it anywhere at this superb knock-down, bargain-basement price of only £9.99.

4   You are at a wedding reception when a man starts to make a speech.

When George told me somebody had agreed to marry him, well, frankly, I was amazed. Then he told me it was to be Samantha, and this is what happened … I regained consciousness in the hospital with a big bump on my head … And that was when I realised the true enormity of the problem that Samantha will be taking on. You see, ever since we were at school together, George has had the most hideously smelly feet … and that is why I have bought him one of these …

5   Listen to this person speaking about a recent holiday.

Well, I suppose it wasn’t a total disaster, I mean the scenery was nice and some of the local people were friendly but they should have told us we’d be staying in the city centre … and they should have told us how hot it was going to be … and they should certainly have printed the right departure time on the ticket … and that hotel manager should be sacked right away. In fact, I’ve got a mind to write to Tomlinson’s right now and tell them just what I think of them.

6   You are in an office when you hear a woman making this telephone call.

Hi. Is that Crown Paper Company? … Yes, I’d like to ask about an order that you delivered to our offices this morning … No, no everything was supplied as ordered … No, it was for this morning, so that’s fine … Well it’s just that the amount stated on the invoice for the six items mentioned is $35, so you have overcharged us by $14. What I want to know is why on earth you have done this? FADE

7   You hear a friend telephoning a sandwich delivery company.

Yes, hello, is that ‘Well-Bred Sandwiches and Confections’? … I’d like to order some filled rolls … Yes … it’s for the offices of T.J. Smith and Sons … OK then. We’ll have cheese, ham, sausage, mayonnaise and crispy lettuce on brown and cheddar cheese, chicken and chutney, and roast beef, horse radish and cucumber, both on white. Have you got that?

8   You are watching the evening news on TV when you hear this item about Dino the dog.

And finally, on a happier note, the Paganucci family were reunited today with their exceptionally streetwise pet dog, Dino. When the Paganuccis moved from Naples in southern Italy to Hamburg in Germany, naturally, they took Dino with them. But after two days in Hamburg, Dino went missing. Two weeks later, the family had all but given up hope of ever seeing Dino again when a letter arrived from a former neighbour in Naples where Dino had turned up looking for them. Apparently, Dino had decided that Germany was not for him.

9 British adults

10 business decisions

11 character

12 foundation/base

13 choice of career

14 artists and entertainers

15 less obvious

16 winter 17 disappointing

18 effects of nature

Audioscripts

Introducer:   We have with us today the psychologist Simon Calvin who has recently created quite a stir with some rather unlikely claims about Astrology. Simon, are you indeed claiming that our lives are ruled by the stars?

Simon:   No, not at all. I would not for one minute say that all of our lives are affected by the movements of stars in the heavens. My research really concerns things that are far more down to earth. But, before I start, I should just say that by no means do the majority of people in general totally disbelieve the value of astrology. An incredible 62% of British adults say that their stars are of some interest to them although only 3.5% would use them to choose a husband or wife, and only 2.9% of people would refer to them in making business decisions. But anyway, coming back to what I said before, I’m not so interested in the stars themselves, as I am in the time of year somebody is born. Psychologists now widely agree that both early life experiences and time of birth are a great influence on the development of a person’s character. Of course, this does not make the whole of a per son’s character, but rather the foundation or base on which later changes are made.

However, these later changes in character are not connected with the person’s time of birth. So the question is, then, after all these personality changes have happened, can we look at an adult and see any of this foundation or base as part of their psycho logical make-up? The technique I have been using to do just this is a very simple one, but I believe, very effective. I have simply made a statistical comparison between people’s choice of career and their zodiac sign. Where somebody has made a strong choice in favour of a particular kind of career, I believe that this indicates something very important in their character. If you look at a particular profession, say entertainers for example, and find that more than 15% of them were born in a certain short period of the year, it suggests that their choice of that profession is in some way connected with their birth at that particular time of the year. And this is, in fact, the case. An astonishing 20% of artists and entertainers were born in the period between the 12th of July and the 20th of August.

This, in fact, is the most positive connection we have found so far. But there have been others although they have been less obvious. We looked at keen sports players participating more than five times a week and found a sizable number were born in the winter months of January and February. Another group of people we looked at were frequent travellers, who we discovered were more likely to have been born in early spring while accountants, bankers, executives and people generally in financial professions more frequently have birthdays in the late spring.

Now, so far, we haven’t found any professions containing large percentages of one particular star sign, which is a little disappointing, but this is, no doubt, because our modern technological world has re moved us further and further from the effects of nature. If, as was the case in the past, many people lived closer to nature, we could be seeing percentages as high as 40 or 50 or even more. This of course would mean that we would have … FADE

19 H   20 C   21 B   22 F   23 D

Audioscripts

Speaker 1

You’d be surprised how affectionate they can be, especially at night when you see them all cuddled up together. Makes me wonder how some people can hate them so much. And they’re really playful too sometimes. Of course, you can’t have them running around the house all the time but we try to give them as much freedom as possible although we do have to keep them out of sight when Trevor’s mother comes round. If she catches sight of just one of them, she starts yelling and screaming.

Speaker 2

We’d been trying for years to get the stupid thing to talk. You know, tempting him with biscuits and saying his name over and over again. But he didn’t utter a word. He squawked every so often so in the end we kind of gave up hope of ever hearing him speak. And then he goes and comes out with a rude word right in front of the vicar, who was having tea in our living room at the time. I don’t know where he could have heard that word before. It certainly wasn’t from me. Mind you, the vicar did take it very well, but I suppose he must have heard language like that in the past from other parishioners.

Speaker 3

Maurice is so intelligent. I’m certain he recognises his name, which I’m told is quite unusual when you get them after they’ve grown up. He certainly knows he’s onto a good thing with us, but I guess it couldn’t really be much worse than what he was used to before. I mean, the people at the shelter for stray animals must have their hearts in the right place, but putting an animal like that in such a small cage – it’s inhuman. You should have heard the yapping and barking coming from those cages. My Tony’s more soft-hearted than I am. He wanted to take them all home.

Speaker 4

Well, at first, I wouldn’t have it in the house but Matthew pleaded with me for a whole afternoon and in the end I gave in. And now I’ve grown to be quite fond of Ferdinand. He’s not a bit like you’d imagine. I mean he’s ever so clean and doesn’t take that much looking after and if you are brave enough to hold him, he’s actually quite soft and furry and really quite warm. Anyway, he’s Matthew’s responsibility and that’s what matters. The only thing I don’t like so much is this horrible clicking noise he makes with his mouth while he’s eating.

Speaker 5

I really don’t think I’d ever be interested in any other kind of pet. After all, we’ve had a dog and a cat in the past but it wasn’t the same thing at all. I suppose it’s the variety that interests me. I mean there are so many different colours and patterns and shapes and sizes and they all move in different ways as well. I can spend hours in front of the tank watching them going up and down and from side to side and this next week’s going to be really interesting because one of them has laid some eggs and according to my reference book, they should be hatching any day now.

24 A   25 A   26 C   27 C

28 B   29 A   30 C

Audioscripts

I = Ivan     H = Hannah     J = Joel

I:   I say, waiter. We’re ready to order.

H:   Not so loud, darling – people are looking.

I:   Ah, there you are. What kept you? er … Jo-elle.

J:   Just a little mix-up with one of the other orders, sir.

I:   I’m not surprised. I don’t know who wrote this load of nonsense but it’s all Greek to me …

H:   Darling, it’s perfectly plain and obvious. I’ve just explained it. You choose a starter from list A, a main course from list B and dessert from list C and the prices are all colour-coded.

I:   Well, what if I wanted two starters.

J:   I’d have to ask the manager about that, sir and I don’t think he’d be too happy.

I:   No, no, there’s no need for that Jo-elle, we’ll just order one of everything as my wife said.

J:   Well, do you know what you’d like, sir?

I:   Well, my wife will have the garlic mushrooms and a T-bone steak well-done on both sides and …

J:   Sorry, sir. You have to give me the numbers. You see the garlic mushrooms are A36 up here.

I:   Oh, I see. Well, you could try writing the numbers a bit more clearly. Er, can you deal with this, dear? I’ve left my reading glasses in the car.

H:   Uh, uh. Now, where were we? … Oh yes. We’ll have one A36, one B7 and one C15 and my husband will have A12, B3, oh hang on, did you want to ask about the quiche, dear?

I:   Ah, oh yes. Does the quiche contain animal fat, Jo-elle?

J:   I’ve never really thought about that – I used to be a vegetarian but I eat almost everything now.

H:   I’m sure the quiche is fine, dear. We’ll have one B3, Jo-elle.

J:   It’s Joel actually, you don’t pronounce the ‘E’.

I:   I could go for something else. Can you see anything, dear?

H:   Oh, sorry. Er, yes. There’s a nut roast – number B33 and it’s with lemon sauce – sounds nice.

I:   Lemon sauce? That’s a bit odd. Is it any good er … ‘Jole’?

J:   I don’t know, sir. I don’t eat nuts myself – they don’t agree with my digestion.

I:   I wasn’t asking about you Jo-elle, I just wanted to know if it’s popular.

J:   Ah, it’s one of our most popular dishes, sir.

I:   Okay then, nut roast and lemon B33 and one banana split.

H:   That’s C11.

I:   Thank you, dear – and don’t forget the extra cream.

J:   I’m sorry, sir, but all our meals are assembled in advance and nothing extra can be added – or removed.

I:   What kind of restaurant is this?

H:   Ivan, calm down. He’s doing his best.

J:   Will that be all then?

I:   Suppose it’ll have to be.

J:   Well, if you’ll wait just one and a half minutes, I’ll bring you your food.

I:   My word, that’s very efficient. Even the officer’s canteen in Stanbroke isn’t that fast. Just shows what a bit of organisation and … FADE