Practice English Listening Test for B2 with answer and audioscript – Test #56

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

Audioscript

1

Man:   It sounds silly, I know, but I’d never seen anything like that before and I just thought it was the lid of a coffee pot or something. It was disc-shaped and decorated with a snake’s head on top. I was curious as I couldn’t identify it, so I went along to show it to the historian in the museum in town. She looked at it and went very quiet. It was at that point I realised that I’d found something really special. She entered it into a register of local historical finds and then sent it off to the National Museum and it’s still there now in an exhibition!

2

Man:   Have you seen that new mobile phone ad?

Woman:   Oh year, it’s everywhere. It’s quite fun, though I can’t say I feel that way about most advertisements.

Man:   Some of them are very clever, though, aren’t they?

Woman:   Yes, when it comes to persuading people they can’t live without stuff that’s actually completely useless! Or at least they usually already have something just as good, so why replace it?

Man:   But it’s interesting to know what’s out there, isn’t it?

Woman:   Well I’d say there are better ways of finding out about whether new products are any good than believing an ad that’s cost millions to make!

Man:   Yeah, maybe, but they don’t do any harm, really.

3

Woman:   I went for an audition to get into drama school cos I’d always wanted to be an actor. Anyway, they turned me down, which was a major obstacle. While I was trying to decide what to do next with my life, I went out for a meal with an old friend of mine who’s a successful actor, to ask her for some advice. So we were sitting in this restaurant chatting away when a film director came up to say hello. My friend’s worked with him on a film and introduced me. A few days later, the director just phoned up and offered me a role in his next film!

4

Woman:   Let me just stop here to enable you to savour the spectacular view. So over to your left, if you look down you can see a little circular wood. Well that’s quite a famous landmark locally because the poet Francis Alder actually used to have a cabin in that wood. Now down in the valley below there you can make out the River Thorn at its widest point, which Alder actually wrote about in many of his poems we all read when we were at school. Then if you look to halfway up the hill I’m sure you can see a large green area known as Callaway Park that’s popular with young families.

5

Woman:   So, how did your presentation go?

Man:   Pretty well, I think … and judging by the number of people there, I’d picked the right topic. It’s an area of law that’s very relevant at the moment, and that was reflected in the size of the audience. So I needn’t have worried on that score. All that practising in front of the mirror paid off, as did all that work I did recording myself and making sure I could easily by heard at the back of the room. I was quite well prepared for the questions, though of course there were a couple I hadn’t expected – there always are.

6

Woman:   That was a good careers talk, wasn’t it?

Man:   Well, yes and no. I mean, the speaker knew his stuff, but not much of it was new – we’ve already had two careers talks this year, covering most of the same topics.

Woman:   Hmm … you have a point there, but he made some great jokes, and held everyone’s attention. There was no chatting in the back row, or people checking their phones every five minutes.

Man:   Actually, there was quite a lot of that – I think you just didn’t notice. I did think he was funny, though.

7

Woman:   When I start writing a novel for children, my main aim is not to write a successful book – I write about things that I used to love reading about when I was their age. I’ve been writing novels for children for some years now and I’ve come to realise that mystery is important, but, what the children really want to read about is the young characters in the book. By solving a mystery, the characters have to build their relationships and solve problems together. So many writers try to teach children things too directly, but doing that just turns children off.

8

Man:   How are your mum’s Spanish classes going?

Woman:   Oh, I’m not sure. She thinks she’s too old to be doing them. The younger students learn so much quicker than her.

Man:   Younger students do pick things up more quickly in terms of accent and so on. But I think older people have an advantage. They’ve learnt to be efficient in how they spend their time and they’ve also learnt how to study. I bet your mum’s grammar and vocabulary are better than the younger students’. Anyway, there are so many apps and programmes out there for learning languages so people of any age can practise their skills whenever they want – even on the way to work!

9 business (studies)   10 (natural) green(-)house   11 gallery

12 bud(s)   13 mountains   14 sandwiches   15 stream

16 winter jackets   17 nose(-)ring   18 carrots

Audioscript

Hello, I’m Andy Richards and I’m here to talk about my recent trip to a tea plantation in the north-east of India, where Assam tea is grown.

My trip to the tea plantation was for my first year university project. If you’re not a business studies student, you might wonder why I chose that destination – after all, you’d think it would better suit natural sciences or geography students – but luckily I found lots that related to my course and my project.

On the first morning of the visit, we were given a talk by the plantation manager about how the tea’s grown. I discovered that the region where it’s grown is really hot and experiences high rainfall. The humidity traps the heat in and provides perfect growing conditions – a kind of natural greenhouse if you like. It certainly felt like one anyway!

After the talk, we were invited to a tea tasting session. We went along the veranda of the plantation house and into the dining room. On the other side was a separate room called the gallery and this was where the tea tasting took place. Awaiting us was a range of fifty-seven different types of tea blends from around the world.

Then, we went on a tour of the plantation and saw the sea pickers who were mainly women. They were amazingly fast and skilful. They used their thumbs and forefingers to pick the buds and leaves from the stem of the tea plant. I was surprised because I thought only the leaves would get picked. I got to ask a lot of questions about the commercial aspects of the plantation for my project.

To finish off a fantastic first day, a special afternoon tea complete with elephant ride had been organised. I had a fantastic view from the elephant’s back and I was amazed that I was able to catch a glimpse of the mountains on the horizon. We wandered along the roads and through the local villages, watching the local people going about their daily lives.

Eventually, we arrived at a neighbouring tea garden where refreshments were waiting for us. We had sandwiches that literally melted in your mouth – why don’t they taste like that at home? We also tried some curry puffs and some cream cakes … a speciality of the area apparently. And there was tea too obviously!

After a while, the sun began to go down and we could choose how to get back to the plantation.  Some chosen to walk or go by elephant. I decided to ride a vintage motorbike back, which meant driving through the villages on a muddy track. I was OK until I tried to cross a stream. The tyres slipped on the stones, but luckily I only got my feet wet!

We were lucky that our two-day visit coincided with the Saturday market in the nearest village. I was surprised at how big it was and I spent several hours wandering down the narrow aisles between the stalls looking at the jewellery, the colourful saris and believe it or not – the winter jackets! That was rather puzzling considering the weather!

I had a go at bargaining for the best price for some presents. I was a bit embarrassed to begin with. I started off buying a bag for my older sister. I probably paid too much to be honest but later I bought a nose ring for my other sister – and by then I’d really got into it! I think I got a real bargain there!

Everything was larger than life in that market – especially the food … nothing like shopping in a supermarket back home. The red poppers looked as if they’d been polished, the colourful spices ere overflowing out of large sacks and the carrots were bright red too, twice the size I’m used to, so I actually bought some of those – tasted amazing.

Now let me move on to the lavish dinner they prepared.

19 C   20 H   21 B   22 F   23 D

Audioscript

Speaker 1

I spent six months as a sales assistant in a toy shop. Until you’ve actually done it, you don’t realise how hard it is, working in a shop. They say the customers are always right but let me tell you, they’re not! Sometimes they’re simply rude. When I’d had a particularly tough day for one reason or another, my fellow workers were always sympathetic, for which I was very grateful. But I was glad it was only a temporary job, even though I was quite good at it. One thing came as a result of that … I’m always nice to shop assistants now!

Speaker 2

The shop where I worked sold mobile phones. There were six of us working there and there was never a moment when we weren’t rushing about. It’s draining being on your feet all day. Some of our customers hadn’t a clue what they wanted and others seemed to have a lot more knowledge than me. You had to be ready for a huge variety of questions. At the end of my shift, my brain couldn’t cope with any more! In the evenings I just sat at home watching rubbish on the TV. I work in a flower shop now – much more my thing!

Speaker 3

I sold jeans in a really fashionable shop. We worked on commission, which made selling quite competitive, so the more I sold the bigger my take-home pay was. Even knowing that, I couldn’t make myself push a pair of jeans on a customer if I thought they looked awful on her. And I think the customers recognised my honesty because I had a lot coming back who chose to be served by me. It was quite satisfying knowing that my approach seemed to work. In the end, I probably sold just as many as my colleagues, if not more.

Speaker 4

My colleagues were great and I really enjoyed some aspects of selling. I mean, I knew I was a good sales assistant, even with difficult customers. I was working in a furniture shop selling top-of-the-range sofas and chairs. In fact, we were also having to sell some stuff that wasn’t top of the range, and that wasn’t reflected in the price. I tried to put people off buying these lower quality pieces as I didn’t think they were worth the money. In the end, I left because of this and I’ve moved out of selling. I miss it sometimes.

Speaker 5

The dress shop I worked in always seemed to be having a sale where loads of things were marked down by as much as 50%. It attracted customers into the shop but not much of the discounted stuff was sold. Customers preferred our latest models, which were full price. But I wasn’t very good with customers. I’d had a couple of days before I started with the manager who went through the stock with me and the mysteries of the credit card machine but nothing on actually dealing with customers. So I left after a couple of months and tried something else instead.

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

Audioscript

Interviewer:   I’m talking to Marvin Benby, a city beekeeper. Marvin, how did you get into this?

Marvin:   I’d always been interested in insects, and a friend in the countryside was always telling me how enjoyable he found beekeeping. He’s got his own hives, you know, beehives, which bees are kept in, and produces beautiful honey, but living in a city, doing it myself hadn’t occurred to me – where would I keep them? I knew so little about it. Then I saw a newspaper ad for a beekeeping workshop, and told my friend … but he just raised his eyebrows. That was it – I thought ‘you don’t believe I can do it’, and signed up for the course.

Interviewer:   Is keeping bees fun?

Marvin:   Well, I’ve become somewhat obsessed with bees. As you probably know, they’re essential for keeping plants growing. They help spread their seeds. You’re doing a favour to society by keeping us bee numbers, providing homes for them. Of course, my friends love me because I’m always giving them pots of money. You only open the hive for a good reason, as it’s an intrusion breaking the seal on the hive. It’s the highlight for me and I can hardly sleep the night before – looking forward to seeing how they’re doing.

Interviewer:   Is it difficult keeping bees in a city?

Marvin:   Wherever you do it you’ll have to invest in things – a honey extractor, a bee smoker, special gear to protect yourself – the stuff’s as easy to get in urban as in rural areas. It’s devastating if a disease strikes the hive – you can’t help but feel responsible, even if it’s just nature taking its course. Actually bees in rural areas suffer worse – many say it’s due to pesticides used on farm crops. In fact city bees are fortunate enough to be exposed to a tremendous diversity of plants. There are things growing everywhere.

Interviewer:   Do your neighbours mind you keeping bees?

Marvin:   I’m lucky to have some roof space where my beehives sit – my neighbours don’t seem to mind. I wondered if there’d be complaints as some people worry about the fact bees can sting. But they only sting if they feel threatened. I originally kept the hives at street level, but then offered to move them up to the roof when I discovered the guy who lives on the ground floor’s allergic to them. He mentioned the risks and it seemed wiser to relocate to the top of the building.

Interviewer:   This is your fifth year of beekeeping …

Marvin:   Yes … I’ll never forget setting up my first hive. It involved moving my bees from a box into a new wooden hive. It’s important they don’t have any confusion about where the entrance to the new hive is – it must be in a familiar position or they get lost if they fly outside. I had to feed the bees sugar syrup, so they’d be full and sleepy, and wouldn’t react badly. I’d forgotten to bring gloves, and as I poured in the sugar syrup, to make matters worse, I spilt some on my unprotected hands, so they were sticky, and bees started settling on them. I was terrified they’d turn agitated and aggressive, but it went smoothly.

Interviewer:   You now sell honey and candles made from beeswax …

Marvin:   … and other products. I had to put quite a bit of cash down for stuff I needed, but I’m determined to turn it into a profitable business, and I’ve recruited some volunteers to help me sell things. I’m keen to involve the local community as much as possible … hopefully more people will consider taking up beekeeping – everyone loves honey after all!

Interviewer:   So, what’s next …?

Marvin:   My knowledge has reached a point where ideally I’d say I’m confident enough to sit back a bit more in the coming months, which is what an experienced beekeeper hopes to do when things are going well. There’s little certainly though … the next season brings fear as well as hope and joy … if you lose bees, there’s guilt, did you do something wrong? The weather’s definitely key too – how the bees manage it affects everything.