Practice English Listening Test for B2 with answer and audioscript – Test #49

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

Audioscript

1

Interviewer:   You came from quite a tough town, didn’t you?

Man:   Yes, I did. The experiences I had living there, the people I know, the lessons I had to learn growing up have stood me in good stead for the kind of life I’ve chosen. I’m streetwise as a result of all that and I feel equipped to write the crime novels that I’m known for. I definitely haven’t lived a sheltered life. I still have to go back there a lot to see family. Luckily, as a writer, my face isn’t that well known. It’s not as if I’m a celebrity with my name on the cover of every magazine.

2

Woman:   I’ve been for two job interviews and I’ve been offered the first job. I’d prefer the second one but I haven’t heard from the company yet. What should I do?

Advisor:   It’s difficult to make the right decision if you don’t have all the information to hand. I’d explain to the first employer that you’re very pleased to have been offered the job but some other organisations haven’t been in touch with you yet. Ask them if it’s possible to have a bit more time before you decide. Hopefully, they’ll be understanding. Just remember that there could be legal consequences if you accept the first job in writing and then turn it down!

3

Well I was quite excited when I finally found this psychology book, because I need it for my assignment. It was hardly cheap, and I know I could get a lot of the information in it for free online, but I still think it was worth getting my own copy of it. It has such clear explanations – I probably won’t find anything else as useful. Some books like this can turn out to be pretty boring, I know, but I just don’t believe this one will. And it’s no more expensive than any of the other coursebooks I have to buy.

4

Well, I don’t know who was more surprised, Kelly or me, that she’d won. She didn’t start skiing until she was fourteen so she was quite a late starter really. She went to work in a restaurant in Austria in the year before she went to university and went skiing every day after work. I tried to get in touch with her one day at the restaurant and couldn’t – she’d left apparently. Then a couple of days later, she phoned me and said, “Guess what? I’ve got a new job in a different restaurant, but more importantly, I’ve just won the junior skiing championship!”. I couldn’t believe it!

5

I have to say, having also worked on some very big-budget films, there are all sorts of advantages to working on a small project like this one. Everyone shares a common goal. Actors always have three reasons to act. The first is to make money for their family, the second is to do good work and the third is to get their name in lights. The main actors, Chris and Fiona, are already big names in showbusiness. I don’t think they’re short of money either. No, they’re doing this because they’re totally committed to the project.

6

I’d read everything I could about the company and referred to a lot of it in my interview. I wanted the interviewer to know how much research I’d done and how much I wanted the job and I’d thought about what an interviewer would want to know about me based on what I could offer. Deep down I knew I’d be a great match. In the interview there was a long silence after one question I was asked but I knew it was important not to say the first thing that came into my head. I did say a few embarrassing things but I just moved on.

7

Man:   Did you watch that programme last night on Channel Two?

Woman:   Yeah. It’s hard to believe Helen Jenkins is seventy-five years old, isn’t it? Most people give up work well before then and she still seems to be on TV all the time!

Man:   I know! I think it’s because she’s such a good communicator and she’s come into her own, hasn’t she, with the move away from complicated cuisine towards the simple, budget-friendly family stuff. It’s very much in keeping with the times, isn’t it?

Woman:   Yes, but I still haven’t learnt to do it myself.

8

Woman:   I loved the architecture, didn’t you?

Man:   Yeah, it was so unusual – I mean when you think of what’s being put up in cities nowadays – you know, all the shopping centres and places, then you wonder whether anyone actually bothers to design buildings like that anymore.

Woman:   That’s right, and it’s just so quiet and peaceful in there – you could really take time to look at all the objects on display. I loved those rare fifteenth-century books! So different from anything you could ever buy.

Man:   Yeah, me too. I’m going to read up on those now, in fact. There’ll be something about them on the internet, or maybe a book I can borrow.

9 (local) charity   10 industry   11 lawyer   12 chocolate   13 passport

14 concert   15 (gold) medal (each)   16 problem-solving / solving problems

17 social worker   18 information pack

Audioscript

I’m here today to talk about a wonderful project I’ve been involved in this summer called the Children’s University. It’s run every day for local children aged from seven to fourteen by a team of parents, teachers, students and local employers. It was originally set up by a local charity and has been running for the last five years.

The aim of the Children’s University is to inspire children and foster a love of learning. It sounds rather grand I know, but it was amazing to watch the children working so enthusiastically on all the various projects. This year the topic and overall theme was industry, building on previous years’ themes such as culture and science.

Each volunteer on the scheme was partnered with another with a different background. I was paired up with Mark, who was fantastic at motivating the children. He was a natural teacher and the children really loved him. Not exactly what you’d expect from a lawyer! I’m a student at university doing biology so we couldn’t have been more different!

The workshop material was written by the volunteers. I was in a group of six who taught a series of workshops on manufacturing in our city called Making Chocolate. The workshop included taking the children to visit the local factory and we even had a tasting session! Other groups did things like making their own furniture and baking bread.

Each child had their own booklet which was stamped when they’d successfully finished a project. This was known by everybody as their ‘passport’. The children were very competitive and were always comparing to see who’d collected the most stamps. It really seemed to be much more effective in encouraging the children to do more workshops than last year when group leaders simply signed their notebook each time they did a workshop.

At the end of the Children’s University we held a graduation ceremony in the city’s real university. This was held in the Concert Hall and was very exciting for the children. They all wore graduation caps and gowns. And afterwards, everyone went to the dining hall for the official photos and refreshments. It was just like a proper graduation ceremony and the children and their parents loved it.

Every child that attended the Children’s University was awarded a certificate. In addition, the children who had attended the most workshops received a gold medal each. Some had been to as many as forty workshops over the summer!

The main benefit for me of volunteering for the Children’s University was learning from the other volunteers because many of them were older than me and more experienced. For example, I had ample opportunity to practise problem-solving and became much better at it. It’s a useful skill that I can use in the workplace when I graduate.

Another benefit is that it gave me the opportunity to work with children. I’d been undecided about whether to become a teacher or a social worker. While I loved helping the children learn, the experience has confirmed that what I most want to do is help children and their families in our community who are having difficulties.

I think that having worked on the Children’s University should definitely help me after I graduate and want to start my career because I can show that I’ve got experience of working closely with children. I’m definitely going to do it again next summer.

If you think this kind of work is for you, and would like to register for next summer, come and ask me for an information pack after this talk. When you’re sure it’s what you want to do, you can download an application form from the Children’s University website.

19 D   20 H   21 F   22 G   23 C

Audioscript

Speaker 1

When they went to the moon, they brought back samples of moon rock that turned out to be really important in various fields of physics and chemistry. That’s the main thing for me really – what we can gain from going to Mars. I don’t know exactly what kind of person they’re looking for but I’d be gutted if I’m not it! I don’t think they want celebrities or anyone like that. They want people who are really committed to space travel, like me. I studied astronomy at university and I’ve been fascinated by it ever since.

Speaker 2

To me, the chance to go somewhere no one else has ever been, a planet completely different from the one that every person who has ever lived has known, clinched it for me. Of course, leaving my family will be hard but there will be regular video and computer links for personal use in space, so it’ll be OK. There are lots of theories about how life may once have existed on Mars – but I don’t know too much about that. I do think that I’ll see the Earth and all the people on it differently once I’ve seen it from space. It’ll be so inspiring.

Speaker 3

I think it takes a particular type of person to even consider a trip to Mars. And I don’t mean you have to have a brilliant scientific mind, or anything like that. You have to be someone who wants to push themselves to the limit. That’s exactly the sort of person I am, and that’s why this adventure appeals to me. I’ve also got some very useful practical skills, because I’m a mechanical engineer. So I think I’d be able to contribute a lot to the team.

Speaker 4

I think it’ll have such a huge impact on the whole world. It’s an amazing opportunity to make scientific discoveries. For me though, it’s about providing young people with positive role models and this project will really catch their imagination. It shouldn’t be about wanting your name in lights or doing something no one else has done before. Yes, it’ll be scary but I trust the people who have the knowledge to keep us safe. The most difficult thing for me will be going without fresh fruit and vegetables.

Speaker 5

I’ve always dreamt of travelling into space but of course I know it won’t be easy. What’ll get me through is the knowledge that this will have a huge impact on the entire planet. I think I’ll see things differently too as a result of this trip. But the main thing is an adventure like this only ever comes up once in a lifetime and I’d be insane to pass it up! I haven’t actually been to many places where I’ve had to rely on my own skills to survive but I’m sure that they’ll teach us everything we’ll need to know.

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

Audioscript

Interviewer:   My guest today is the potter Mark Phillips whose first exhibition opens in the Carlisle Gallery on Friday. Welcome. I know you’ve only been a potter for four years so you must be pleased to have this exhibition.

Mark:   I’m thrilled. And you’re right, this is something fairly new for me. When I was younger I never wanted to be a potter. You see, my mother was a very successful one and I used to watch her in her studio. I could admire the way she created beautiful things from lumps of clay but I just remember thinking how on earth could I ever hope to reach that standard? I was more into playing music with my friends – we had grand ideas about forming a band. But you know, that was something we never got around to doing!

Interviewer:   So what made you change your mind and take up pottery?

Mark:   I was forty years old with my own computer company that I’d set up when I left school, and I was feeling a bit – you know – stuck. And I kind of reasoned with myself that the artistic side of me had been buried for quite long enough. My mother suggested pottery evening classes and came up with a whole load of ways they’d benefit me. I guess I had my doubts about whether doing it once a week in the evening would be satisfying.

Interviewer:   So, at the age of forty, you went to college and became a student again.

Mark:   I did. It was strange at first. I had no deadlines to keep to. My brain was still working obviously, but it was my body that was now being exercised – and you need a lot of stamina to be a potter. That was a big plus for me after sitting at a computer for years. I think my fellow students, who were all in their twenties, were surprised to see this older man, full of enthusiasm and working hard. But I loved it.

Interviewer:   And how would you describe your pots?

Mark:   Well, most of them are made on the wheel, but just lately I’ve been hand building. I make the pot using pieces of clay that I flatten by rolling them out – a bit like making pastry – then I press my knife into the clay to make a pattern: stars, triangles, whatever. Leaves would be ideal, but my mother might object, as that’s her specialty! Like mom’s, my pots are practical things. They shouldn’t just be on a shelf somewhere being admired in a sitting room.

Interviewer:   And how have your fellow potters reacted to your success?

Mark:   You mean, are they jealous? I’ve seen no evidence of that. Potters are generally quite interested in what fellow potters are doing. Obviously a lot of them knew my mother’s work and they’ve been nothing but helpful to me on a practical level such as letting me use their kiln to fire my pots in, something that I never imagined would happen. Very few potters earn much money – it’s hard enough making the pots, but then you’ve got to get yourself known in order for people to want to buy them.

Interviewer:   Does your mother take an interest in your work and give you advice?

Mark:   Of course and she’s usually right. She was worried when I gave up my computer company because I’d been making good money, so she insisted I invested some of it for my old age! Also, she’s always told me to look at the pots made by potters in history, sometimes going back thousands of years. If there’s one single thing that’s really inspired me, I guess that’d be it. It keeps me focused on keeping things simple, not being too ambitious with the shapes I make.

Interviewer:   And after this exhibition is over, what do you think you’ll be doing?

Mark:   Oh that’s hard. I’m still new to this and I’m keen to learn more – really big pots are what I want to make but I have to get to grips with learning how to do that. Also the gallery tell me that some customers want pots in bright colours so that’s something I’ll pass on to my mother. That’s more her thing because it’s much more complicated than it sounds.

Interviewer:   Thank you, Mark … [fade]