Practice English Listening Test for B1 with answer and audioscript – Test #03

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

Audioscript

1   Which T-shirt does the boy decide to buy?

Boy:   I’d like to buy a black T-shirt with short sleeves, please. Large size.

Woman:   I’m afraid the black ones have long sleeves, but we’ve got short sleeves in the lighter colours. Do you want a round neck or a V-neck?

Boy:   It must be round neck. Let me think … umm, OK, I’ll take one of the short-sleeved ones, the colour’s not so important really.

2   Who will be on the stage next?

Man:   And that was Shark, with Jo on piano and Rich on guitar. Lots of music to come, including The Three Biscuits with songs from their new CD. But first, here are Subway – you all know the dummer and guitarist, but singing here with them for the first time is Sarah Ireland, the drummer’s sister – please give her a big welcome.

3   What time will the pie be ready?

Girl:   What time is it, Mum? Do you think the apple pie will be ready yet?

Mum:   It’s 4.35.

Girl:   And the pie went into the oven at a quarter past four?

Mum:   That’s right. You could check it at five and turn the heat down a bit but don’t take it out until twenty past. That’s forty-five minutes to go!

Girl:   OK, I’m hungry already.

4   Which photo does the girl dislike?

Girl:   I’ve got the photos back! Look, this one of us on the beach is just brilliant!

Boy:   Yes … You must get a copy for me to put in my photo album. It was a great day, but that other one’s good too!

Girl:   I don’t know why you think so, that dress I’m wearing looks awful. I only bought it because it was half-price. The one of us on the boat isn’t bad, look.

Boy:   Mm … apart from the fact that we look seasick!

5   What should the students take on the school trip?

Teacher:   Now, you won’t need any money for the bus or your entrance ticket to the museum tomorrow, because that’s already paid for. But bring some change for when you get thirsty and want to buy a drink. The only food or drink allowed on the bus is fruit. Bring some with you because it’s quite a long trip, and you’ll get hungry. And you’ll need to bring all your coloured pencils for the work I’m going to ask you to do there.

6   Where do the boys decide to go?

Boy 1:   So, we’ve got three hours. Shall we go skateboarding in the park? What do you think?

Boy 2:   Well, there’s the latest space film, which is meant to be good, or there’s a new computer-game shop which has just opened.

Boy 1:   Oh, well I haven’t got enough money to buy a new game anyway. Let’s go and watch the film.

Boy 2:   OK. We can go skateboarding any time.

7   What has the girl lost?

Teacher:   Can I help you? you look worried. Is everything all right?

Girl:   Well, I was in the playground about ten minutes ago with my friends and I got a call on my mobile phone – I had to get a pen out of my bag to write something down and I think my purse fell out. I can’t find it now. Do you know if anyone has handed it in?

Teacher:   You know you’re not supposed to bring phones to school – anyway, let me go and check. What colour is it?

8 B   9 C   10 A   11 B   12 C   13 A

Audioscript

Man:   Today, I’m talking to teenage surfer Abby Fielding. Abby, welcome. Tell us about how you started surfing.

Abby:   Well, my family have always loved going to our local beach, and my dad became keen on surfing. He wasn’t very good, but he really wanted to show me how to do it, and my mum offered to buy me a board. I still wasn’t keen, but then I started watching surfing competitions near home, and when I saw the standard of the surfers, I just felt I could do better!

Man:   Very confident! How easy was it to get started?

Abby:   Well, it’s free to practise, once you’ve got the equipment. But it can cost quite a lot to buy what you need. I went to the local surfing school for a bit too. I was lent some boards before I bought one, to see which type I liked best – that was useful.

Man:   So do you go surfing all year round now?

Abby:   Yes – even in winter when it’s cold! The sea is actually warmer than the land. I just wear the same wetsuit as I do in the summer – although sometimes I do add gloves! You’d be surprised how many people are out there surfing with me.

Man:   And your biggest achievement was surfing an enormous wave!

Abby:   Yeah! That kind of wave only comes along a couple of times a year. I borrowed a large board, as mine wasn’t big enough, and I was nervous – the waves were a lot bigger than they look from the beach. People say it hurts if you fall off in those conditions – but I didn’t have time to think about that!

Man:   So – any advice for other teenagers taking up surfing?

Abby:   Well, you’re never too young to start – not on big waves, of course, in case you have to swim back to the beach. But in many places, you need to know how to surf whatever the waves are like – good and bad. And surfing schools are OK, but watching other surfers is just as useful – and practising yourself, of course!

Man:   So … you’re still young – what next?

Abby:   Well, I’m going to miss the next big competition, as I’ve injured my ankle, but my future’s definitely in surfing, so I need to investigate what opportunities there are. There’s a course in surfing science you can do at the university here, but I’m not sure that’s the right path for me at the moment.

Man:   Well, thank you Abby.

14 rope   15 20/twenty   16 tall

17 band   18 rabbit   19 ice(-)cream

Audioscript

Caspar:   My name is Caspar and I’m the youngest child in a circus family. My parents and brother and sister are all performers. My mother wears wonderful costumes and dances across a rope about fifteen metres above the ground. Sometimes she plays a violin at the same time … Incredible!

My brother is ten years older than me, and my sister’s sixteen. They’re part of an act where up to twenty people balance on a motorbike and ride round the ring. The performers stand on each other’s shoulders, with my sister at the top.

My dad’s the ringmaster, or the boss of the circus. He’s good at his job because he’s tall and has a loud voice. He introduces the performers and makes sure the acts start and finish on time.

I’m not allowed to perform until I’m fifteen, but I march beside my dad ahead of the band at the beginning of the show, and lead everyone out at the end. I have some great costumes, and I love being in the ring. I can’t wait to start training to be a performer.

We don’t have horses or dogs. In fact the only animals in the circus is a rabbit, who doesn’t do much but is always the star of the show. The children love him. The performers have a lot of other jobs to do. We have to clean out the circus tent between each show, make the costumes, and repair the equipment. I check the audience tickets, and sell ice-cream at half-time.

We only work for eight months, during good weather, and we travel around from place to place. It’s a great life.

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

Audioscript

Lisa:   So, Sam, have you finished that book we had to read for school, Lime Country?

Sam:   Oh, hi, Lisa. Yeah, just last weekend. It took me a long time to get into it. The first chapter was difficult. But in the end I couldn’t put it down.

Lisa:   I liked it from the first page. I’ve never finished a book so quickly, and normally I don’t like reading fiction.

Sam:   The main character in the story, Paul, was interesting. He hurt his leg badly and couldn’t play football with the other kids. But the author didn’t make you feel pity for him.

Lisa:   Yes, that was because he was such a strong character. He couldn’t do anything active, but he used his time to think about game plans for his team. They depended on him in the end.

Sam:   He was almost like a coach.

Lisa:   I thought the book was well written and it had a good plot. There was a bit of mystery about Paul’s brother. Did he cause Paul’s injury? Was he jealous of Paul? You don’t find out until the very end.

Sam:   I didn’t care so much about that. It was the football matches I liked, seen through Paul’s eyes. I could imagine exactly what was happening.

Lisa:   The author was clever because when Paul was unhappy, the whole story – the weather, the background – sort of got darker, so the reader could feel what Paul was feeling.

Sam:   There was quite a lot of detail about the techniques of football. I think the author got that just right.

Lisa:   Any more would make it too long, and boring for people who weren’t mad about football. That side of the book was about right. For me, the best part was that Paul realised what’s important in life and how to deal with tough situations. He really grew as a person.