Practice English Listening Test for B2 with answer and audioscript – Test #43

1 B   2 C   3 A   4 C   5 B   6 B   7 A   8 C

Audioscript

1

M:   We lived in London, but our grandparents lived in Wales and we all went to stay with them one holiday, my parents and my brother. Wales is absolutely beautiful, but the weather’s never that great, which meant that I got really rather bored. Each day we’d plan an activity like swimming in a mountain stream or playing cricket in the garden and each day we’d have to do something else instead when the clouds rolled in off the sea. My brother was in a permanently bad mood, arguing the whole time with my parents about everything – I took no notice of him. Just his age, I guess.

2

M:   Your books are usually described as ‘romantic novels’, but they’re grounded in the real world.

F:   I like to think so. The people and the events I describe could’ve happened in the way that I present them to my readers. I stop short of claiming that they did, but I say they’re true to life …

M:   Nice distinction.

F:   I put in little touches of history, passing references to famous events, to give a sort of flavour of the past. I work hard to make sure it all fits together, calculating in advance what’ll happen when x meets y for the first time, how x should react to what y does, or whatever.

3

M:   Well, I study all day, you know, so that means I’m just stuck in front of a computer screen. Staring.

F:   Yes, the modern world isn’t really what our bodies were designed for. I don’t think in your case that your sight’s got any worse since I last saw you.

M:   That’s good. Because I always think it’s a family problem. We’re all the same, my parents, both my sisters – all in glasses.

F:   Yes, to some extent, short sight’s something that we inherit. But as I say, I don’t think we need to change your prescription at this point. But make sure you take regular breaks from the computer, won’t you?

M:   Sure.

4

M:   So was it always your ambition to become a chef?

F:   I started cooking as a kid. I used to take the school bus home and my stop was in front of this amazing pizza parlour. It always smelled real good, but I only had enough money for the bus. So I’d go home, find a recipe, and make pizza from scratch − the dough, the sauce, everything. Those early pizzas usually tasted great, but one time my dad cracked a tooth on the crust. You live and learn. I used to read cookbooks out loud constantly to my parents like they were comic books; food was just always my thing.

5

M:   Well, at least you’re here now.

F:   Yes, though I thought I wouldn’t be able to get in at one point. I just feel I’ve been very careless. I still don’t remember actually dropping it. But obviously I must have.

M:   Anyway, don’t worry about it now.

F:   I suppose it slipped out of my bag earlier, when it started raining and I was looking for my umbrella. I was more concerned about not getting wet than about where I was going. I think the man who checks them on the door thought I was making up some story.

M:   At least you had the money to get another one.

F:   But it was so embarrassing!

6

F:   Here with me in the studio today is Ken Brunswick, one of the city’s most successful businessmen – and one of the youngest. Ken, welcome and thanks for agreeing to come and talk to us today.

M:   It’s a pleasure. You know, I don’t often agree to do interviews. It’s not that I don’t like them, and anyway I feel I ought to give them, but they do take it out of me actually. I find them exhausting. I know it may sound a bit silly, but I’m so concerned not to just repeat the same ideas each time, that I really do lots of preparation, so they’re quite hard work!

7

F:   It was an awesome experience visiting the recording studios. First of all, somebody talked us through all the technical stuff, which some of the boys found really interesting, but it didn’t mean much to me. When the band turned up, they were really surprised to meet us, cos nobody had warned them, but they were OK about it, though they didn’t have that much to say about what it’s like being in a band. Then we actually saw a song being recorded, which made the biggest impression on me cos it was nothing like I thought it’d be actually. It took ages because they kept stopping and starting. I never realised that.

8

M:   Do you have a tip for how to fit exercise into your life? How do you do it?

F:   I don’t really consider what I do ‘exercise’. But I try to not make ‘exercising’ a chore. I call it ‘me time’ − time to think. I walk with my mom sometimes, I may run if I feel like it, dance like nobody’s watching, bike, hike or swim. It’s just thirty minutes to myself. I make space for it and I think everybody owes themselves at least that long each day. How you spend it is your thing. And I also do yoga about three times a week for about twenty minutes.

9 large mammal   10 (zoo) biology   11 snakes

12 (briefing) meeting   13 breakfast   14 family

15 observant   16 aggressive   17 Career Discovery Day

18 register (online)

Audioscript

Hi, my name’s Lance and I work as an animal keeper at the local zoo. I’ve come along today to tell you about my job and about an upcoming event at the zoo for young people.

So what do I do? I am an animal keeper, and I am responsible for one group of animals at the zoo. I’m lucky enough to have the elephants under my charge, but I’m not just an elephant keeper because I also look after the rhinos and hippos. In fact, I’m officially called the large mammal keeper, because the zoo actually has quite a few different types.

Now you might be wondering what qualifications you need to be a keeper. Well I didn’t go to university, so I don’t have a degree in zoology, nor did I study veterinary science. The subject I studied is known as zoo biology and I’m a graduate of zoo-keeping college.

On the course I did, you learn about a range of animals – you only specialise once you get a job. So you learn about looking after birds, fish and insects as well. In my case, I got an internship looking after snakes immediately after I qualified. Although it was interesting, I knew I didn’t want to do that as a career, and I was glad to get my job here.

So what does my job involve? Although you’d think my first job would be to check out the animals and make sure they’re all OK, in fact the night keeper will do that as his last job before going home. So a typical day for me begins with a briefing meeting. That’s when I get together with my co-workers to discuss the day’s activities.

After that, I go to say good morning to the animals in my charge. They are fed and cleaned all day, but I like to be the one to give them breakfast. For me that is the best part of the day. Other meals will be distributed by my assistants. Another favourite activity is giving the elephants their daily shower – that’s always a laugh.

I try to make a difference to the lives of each one in my care, and you form strong bonds with them. For me they are more like family than friends. I guess that’s because I deal with big animals that all have characters – perhaps you wouldn’t grow so fond of insects or reptiles.

Zoo-keeping is physically demanding, so you have to be fit. In my particular job, you also need to be observant, because I am dealing with intelligent animals, and you never know what they are going to do next. I look out for signs of nervousness or anger and try to find out what’s wrong.

Rhinos, for example, have a reputation for being aggressive, but this is not generally true. They are very perceptive intelligent animals and can be trained in much the same way as dogs and horses, to follow commands and so on.

So, if you’re interested in a job like mine, the zoo is holding what’s known as a Career Discovery Day on November sixth, and anyone over the age of sixteen is welcome to come along. Younger kids can come too – but they need to be accompanied by an adult. There’ll be a tour of the zoo and talks from various people who work there. Check-in will begin at 12:30 and the events will start at around one a clock and go on till four.

Our zoo gets lots of people coming to these events, and numbers are limited, so be sure to register online if you’re interested. I’m afraid I can’t take applications now because there’s a fee of £25 to pay and that has to be done with a credit card. So I guess you’ll need to discuss it with your parents.

OK, so before I go on to …

19 A   20 D   21 F   22 B   23 C

Audioscript

Speaker one

I wouldn’t pretend I knew the best way, but I have an idea of what seems to work OK for me. I think you need to be in a good atmosphere, and to try to enjoy yourself – there’s no reason for studying to be a hard or miserable thing to do, is there? If you have a friend that you get on with in a relaxed way, try saying you’ll do some studying together. Get some snacks to eat – but turn the music off – and get on with it. See how much you can get done in a block of time, say an afternoon, or morning, whatever works best for you.

Speaker two

My problem is not that I don’t want to study – because I do – but that I fall asleep very easily. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat down to do some studying, felt my eyes get a bit heavy, and the next thing I know I’m waking up an hour or so later. None of my friends will admit to the same problem, so it must just be me. I’ve learnt, I think, that food really doesn’t help, so I try now to study when I’m feeling a bit hungry. It’s also useful to avoid getting too comfortable in any way, such as sitting on a sofa or listening to relaxing music.

Speaker three

I don’t think there’s any one perfect way to study … some magical solution. You just have to do your best to stay focussed, motivated. A big part of that is being realistic. If you try to read a whole book in one go, it’s not going to work. Divide work up into bite-sized chunks that you can handle, like the next ten pages, revising one set of notes, that kind of thing. If you take this step-by-step approach, you can keep going much longer, but you need a pace that you’re comfortable with. Otherwise, simple stuff: don’t call your friends, don’t put the radio on, don’t lie on the bed.

Speaker four

I play a lot of sport, and maybe it’s because of this that I look at studying as a basically physical thing, something to be in training for, to be fit for. I like to feel awake when I study, so I make sure I do some good physical exercise in the morning, say running, which will clear my mind and get me focussed on studying in the afternoon. I have enough to eat, fruit and so on, so being hungry isn’t preventing me from concentrating. I have a good, solid chair and my desk is at the right height and I have a good lamp. These things really help.

Speaker five

The most important thing is being in the right mood. Your favourite band playing in the background can help with this, and clear your mind of other thoughts so that you can just get on with your work. There are people I know who form study clubs with their friends, and then agree they’ll do a certain number of hours or sections of book or something in the morning before they’re allowed to stop for lunch, but a lot of that seems too, well, scientific for me. And you know, I believe I enjoy the way I study more than a lot of other students enjoy the serious way.

24 C   25 A   26 C   27 B   28 A   29 C   30 B

Audioscript

Int:   My guest today is Jason Phipps, drummer with the pop band called Well Kept Secret. Jason, first of all, tell us where that name came from.

J:   Well, the thing is people think we were trying to sound mysterious or something, but that wasn’t the case. When Jordan, the bassist, and me started thinking of putting a new band together, we didn’t want everyone to know. The band did have a name then, but we jokingly referred to it with the words ‘well kept secret’ when we were chatting online or whatever. Even though the whole world pretty soon got to know what we were up to, the name kind of stuck.

Int:   But you already had a band – why not use that name?

J:   Yeah. Me and Jordan were in another band called Donkey Tears, not a great name, but not so embarrassing either. But when the singer and other guitarist both left, we were looking for new members. When Charley and Declan joined, and we started writing new material, it became clear that the music was going in a new direction – so it seemed the right moment for a new name too, and they were cool with that.

Int:   Now that your brand-new album’s complete, are you satisfied with it?

J:   Yeah – proud of it really – we all feel that. Making it was like a kind of natural process. A lot of bands feel under commercial pressure or worry what the fans will think of the songs, but to be honest we didn’t much care. We just made the sort of music we felt like making. It’s much easier to be creative that way!

Int:   So how does it work – how do you make an album?

J:   We all have our parts in writing and that works well. Jordan’s the ideas guy who starts the ball rolling with most songs. Charley’s an unbelievable guitar player as well as lead singer and he has a huge part in writing the songs too. I guess I’m the guy that takes Jordan’s ideas and polishes them, while adding in little touches. I then also work with Declan on the production and arrangement side of things, though he does the electronics and samples.

Int:   But the songs are really strong. How do you achieve that?

J:   Thanks for the compliment! Even though the songs are full of complicated rhythms and memorable lyrics, there’s always a clear message at the core of it all. Actually we generally begin with the title and then start building from that simple concept and then add in all the other aspects. The melody is important, as are some strong lines in the chorus – but it’s all got to fit into that original idea.

Int:   So at what point do the songs get recorded?

J:   Well, we get a rough idea, then we start jamming together and that’s when the songs take shape. By the time we get to the studio, we generally know exactly what we want – it’s just a question of realising it. At the studio, we always do music first and then vocals after; it’s just how we work! Just like any musical project, some songs take a while and some get done really quickly. It varies!

Int:   And what about live tours?

J:   Well, nothing’s finalised yet, but a pretty full schedule is being put together. Just keep checking our networking page for updates. It’s gonna be fun, but kind of exhausting. We practise a lot before we play live. We want to make sure people are getting an experience that not just equals but surpasses our album performance. What’s the point of seeing a band live if it’s just going to be like listening to their album on a big sound system?

Int:   Jason, can’t wait to hear it. Thanks.

J:   Thank you.