Practice English Listening Test for B1 with answer and audioscript – Test #29

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

Audioscript

1   What did the man buy?

Woman:   Hi, did you buy a new suit yesterday?

Man:   Well, I went to the shopping centre, but I had no idea how expensive suits are.

Woman:   I told you it would cost you a lot to buy one.

Man:   I know. Anyway, I saw lots of nice shirts and stuff I liked.

Woman:   But you’ve already got loads of shirts. You don’t really need any more.

Man:   Actually, I ended up with a rather stylish new sweater. When I’ve saved enough buy a suit, we’d better go shopping together.

2   How will the woman help the man?

Man:   Hi, Clara – just the person! Look, I’m giving a dinner party for my parents’ wedding anniversary and might need a bit of help.

Woman:   I’m not surprised. You can’t cook, can you? All you buy is ready-meals from the supermarket.

Man:   I know, but I’m going to get everything online from a company that cooks and delivers food to your home. I just want some help with choosing some dishes from their menu.

Woman:   That sounds fun. Can I also choose a nice dessert? So, am I invited to the party?

Man:   Of course.

3   What will the students buy for their teacher?

Man:   We need to decide what to get as a present for Anne at the end of our course.

Woman:   Yes, she’s such a great teacher … how about chocolates?

Man:   That’s not very exciting. We could get something to wear, like a scarf?

Woman:   She seems to have loads of those already. What about flowers? She often says how much she loves flowers.

Man:   But she told us she had a garden full of them! Let’s go with your original idea and buy her the largest box possible!

4   Which exhibition is the busiest today?

Man:   We haven’t got much time left now. There’s still so much to see in this museum.

Woman:   We’ll just have to choose one more exhibition. Can I have a look at the plan?

Man:   What about Jewellery from the Ancient World?

Woman:   But look at the queue. We’ll spend half our time waiting if we go in there. Why not try The Rainforest in Photos? You can wander round and see all the forest animals.

Man:   OK – then we won’t have time to visit Rescue by Helicopter. There’s a real one in there.

Woman:   Maybe next time.

5   Where can visitors see the ducks?

Man:   Hi everyone, and welcome to City Wildlife Park. I’ll explain where things are and then you’re free to go wherever you want. In front of us are some empty cages where the rabbits live. They’re free to run about in the long grass, but come back to their cages when they’re hungry! If you’re interested in ducks, surprisingly they’re not right here in the pond, but over there in one of their favourite places, near the dustbins. And we keep goats in the field here, together with some sheep.

6   What will the weather be like when the festival starts?

Woman:   And now for the weather forecast for this Saturday and Sunday. People heading to the music festival starting on Saturday on the south coast should be prepared for different conditions over the next two days. Saturday will bring bright sunshine but cool temperatures for this time of year. Over night, however, clouds are expected to move in and Sunday will see dull skies bringing a further drop in temperatures, and there will be a good chance of rain later on.

7   What has the man sent back to the company?

Man:   Hello. My name’s John Masters. This is a message for the person I spoke to yesterday in Customer Services. You asked me to return the iron I bought from you in its box. I’ve done this, although as I mentioned to you the box was badly damaged when it arrived. Anyway, that’s not the problem and the iron didn’t look damaged at all. But when I switched it on, it didn’t heat up. My order reference is 01376XB. I hope you’ll replace the iron as soon as possible. Thank you.

8 C   9 A   10 A   11 B   12 C   13 B

Audioscript

Woman:   My guest today is Tim Jones, who organises an international summer course for young musicians. Tim, tell us all about it.

Tim:   Well, I’m lucky to have such a great job. Basically, young musicians come from all over the world and learn to play together as an orchestra. By the end of the six-week course, they’re really good and hearing them play is what gives me most pleasure. Unfortunately, I don’t get to know them all that well, as organising every single detail of the course keeps me busy.

Woman:   So, how do you find the young musicians?

Tim:   We advertise on the Internet. Anyone between the ages of sixteen and twenty can complete the application form and email it to us, along with a short recording of their playing. We’re not looking for perfect performances or the stars of tomorrow – just people good enough to play in an orchestra. The course is in English, but only a basic level of spoken language is necessary.

Woman:   And the teachers?

Tim:   The teachers are well-known musicians. Because they want to help young people, they do this work for a very low salary, which is very kind of them. But it’s my job to take care of them and make sure they’re happy with their accommodation and so on. They generally have a great time, but some of them can be a bit difficult and sometimes complain about things.

Woman:   So where is the course held?

Tim:   In different places each year, actually, but it’s usually a university during the summer holidays. They have large halls for practising, plus plenty of bedrooms and dining-rooms. Most importantly, though, the place has to have good rail road and air connections, so somewhere in the middle of the countryside’s no good.

Woman:   Do the students bring their own instruments?

Tim:   Mostly, yes. So, another thing to consider is security. Storing instruments in a locked room when they’re not being used is essential. Can you imagine a hundred or more musical instruments lying around – violins, trumpets, flutes, cellos – all worth a lot of money. It would be terrible if one got damaged, or even worse stolen!

Woman:   And at the end of the course, there’s a concert tour.

Tim:   That’s right. I book concert halls and work out the programmes months in advance. It’s important to get it right. Ticket prices aren’t high, because we’re not a professional orchestra, but lots of people buy them. We don’t make a profit, but take enough money to pay for the students’ travel and living expenses. It’s a fantastic experience for them.

14   1 / one hour / hr 30 / thirty (minutes)

15   oil

16   (desert) plants

17   (large) (colourful) rocks

18   souvenirs

19   basket

Audioscript

Man:   Hi everyone, I’d like to welcome you aboard our train trip through high desert scenery. The train that you are sitting in was built in 1933, so it’s really old – but very comfortable! Our trip today lasts one-and-a-half hours and we will travel at a speed of about fifteen miles an hour. The train climb uphill for the first forty-five minutes and then makes its way down to a town called Oldsville.

In the twentieth century, oil was discovered here and an important industry developed. It didn’t last long, however, and tourism is the biggest industry these days. There’s lots to see in the town.

On the journey you won’t see any animals during the daytime because it’s too hot, but you should took out for beautiful desert plants right next to the track, although at this height there are no trees.

At one point, we go over an old wooden bridge. People get worried because it’s noisy, but it’s quite safe. There’s no river under the bridge, but you can see some large colourful rocks – they’re fantastic.

We don’t make any stops on the trip because all the stations were closed long ago. The route is kept open by local people who love the history of the railway and at the far end of our coach there’s a small store. This store is really special and sells souvenirs which you can’t buy anywhere else.

The other things which we sell during your ride are drinks and snacks. Unfortunately, the machine selling these is broken, so once we’re underway I’ll be walking down the coach with everything in a basket. So stop me if you want anything.

Enjoy your trip!

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

Audioscript

Greg:   Hi Julie. Wasn’t the indoor wildlife centre fantastic? I’ve never seen such an amazing building, with its glass walls and all those different floors.

Julie:   Hi Greg. Didn’t you find it tiring though, walking up so many stairs, and it was so hard to find your way round? That’s not what I call good design.

Greg:   I didn’t really think about that.

Julie:   It was an interesting start down in the basement, where it was so dark that I didn’t see the sharks at first in the water behind the glass.

Greg:   They were quite scary. You must know how dangerous they are.

Julie:   Only if you’re silly enough to swim with them! Anyway, what did you think of the temperature in the building?

Greg:   It has to be so high in there because of all those tropical trees growing. They need a lot of heat.

Julie:   I suppose so. It felt really uncomfortable to me. I loved the banana trees though.

Greg:   Those butterflies right at the top of the building were amazing – so huge and colourful. But I thought there would be a lot more insects to see. There were hardly any really.

Julie:   Just as well! Who wants to see a load of insects! I don’t find them especially interesting at the best of times. Did you manage to see any tree frogs? They’re so cute.

Greg:   I spent ages hunting for them. They manage to hide by having skin that looks like part of a tree and they lie still without moving. I couldn’t find a single one.

Julie:   Yeah, they’re not stupid – making sure they can’t be seen by hungry birds! I really can’t wait to go back ‘cos there was just too much to see.

Greg:   I’d like to read more about the wildlife before I think of going back there. Don’t you think we’d enjoy it more if we knew more about the animals?

Julie:   I’m not so sure really.