Practice CAE (C1) Listening Test 03 with Answers and Audioscripts

1 C   2 B   3 B   4 B   5 B   6 C

Audioscript

Extract One

Lisa: So, Peter, how’s your work on generating electricity from the oceans going?

Peter: Good, thanks, Lisa. As you know, my interest is in generating energy from ocean tides. And it’s easy to talk about the obvious benefits to potential investors, like there are always tides, twice a day, so as an energy resource it won’t run out. But that’s not, as I see it, the main attraction – it’s the fact that wherever there’s a large body of water, you can generate power. Energy won’t need to be imported from abroad.

Lisa: That’s a really important point. And I think I’m right in saying that a whole range of new devices have been developed to harness energy from the sea, like giant blades, and paddles to power turbines?

Peter: Yes, they’re the next big thing.

Lisa: But I’m still a firm believer in land-based wind turbines as a clean, renewable energy resource. The company I work for doesn’t use off-shore wind turbines. To me, the possible damage to marine wildlife that can occur with generating energy from the ocean, by whatever means, cancels out any benefits.

Extract Two

Man: Hey, Nancy, you know a lot about plants – what do you think about urban foraging?

Woman: You mean people going out and picking fruit and things from public areas in cities? Well, I can understand the appeal. It’d barely make a difference to your weekly outlay on food, but I think people are so fed up with mass produced processed food, they like the idea that it’s sure to be natural – free of artificial chemicals. But I wonder how many people these days venture out into parks and forests. I mean, loads of city kids have never been into the countryside.

Man: Mmm. You know there’s talk of letting people pick the fruit and nuts from the trees in the park on Main Street? Just in the area where all the trees are, so the flowers and bushes don’t get trashed.

Woman: Well, as long as they offer classes so that people know what things are. Apparently, there are some blueberry bushes in the park.

Man: Really? I didn’t know that. But good point – you also wouldn’t want anyone getting sick because they’d eaten something poisonous! It’ll be interesting to see how many of my neighbours have heard about foraging and might do it!

Extract Three

Man: Freya, do you think it’s about time we did something about booking a summer holiday?

Woman: Absolutely! It seems ages since last year’s holiday. Are you happy to laze about on a beach again?

Man: Perfect. Living in a city and having hectic jobs, that suits us, I think. And I’d rather not do anything too energetic like a walking holiday. Remember when we went with your sister?

Woman: Yeah, exhausting! And we don’t want to book so late this year that we end up in a grotty hotel like last year. We’d even saved enough to stay in a four-star hotel, but they were all booked.

Man: I know. Anyway, we’ve got those new suitcases, so packing will be easy. We always seem to take more than we need, but I’d rather it was that way round than be short of things.

Woman: And you never know exactly what the weather’s going to be like, so you’ve got to cover every eventuality! Have you still got that list you downloaded from the internet so that we don’t forget anything?

Man: It’s saved on my laptop. Do you want to look at it now?

Woman: Why not? I love planning everything way ahead of time; it’s part of the fun.

7 bees   8 perfume   9 food chain

10 pest control   11 climate change

12 higher altitudes   13 tourists

14 antibiotic

Audioscript

In this talk, I’ll be giving some key information about butterflies. I can only give you a brief overview here because there are known to be more than 20,000 different species, and here in North America we’re lucky to have around 700 of them.

First, I’d like to draw your attention to butterflies as pollinators. They’re responsible for pollinating many flowers and, even though they may not be as efficient as bees, they’re better pollinators than beetles, for example. As butterflies are feeding on the nectar in a flower, the pollen sticks to their bodies and it’s then transferred to other flowers.

Butterflies are attracted to plants for several reasons. As I mentioned, they’re after the sweet nectar, but I’ve studied the effect of a plant’s powerful perfume in attracting them, rather than a plant’s colour or nectar content. Red and yellow flowers are known to attract butterflies. In areas where butterflies are plentiful, it’s a sign that nature is in balance because butterflies are an essential component of the food chain. They are eaten by some animals, such as bats and birds, and butterflies, in turn, eat other insects.

Farmers too can gain from some species of butterfly, such as the Harvester butterfly, which acts as a kind of pest control by eating caterpillars which damage the farmers’ harvest. The detection of these caterpillars takes only seconds for these clever butterflies.

Another very important point is that scientists are aware that they can learn a lot from the movements of butterflies, in particular about climate change. Butterflies are more sensitive than many other animals, so act as a good early warning system. In North America, we’ve been keeping a careful watch on the Checkerspot butterfly. It’s very noticeable that it’s now living at higher altitudes than a couple of decades ago because of global warming. Other species too show signs of migrating away from areas at lower levels.

Moving on to a different aspect: butterflies can also give an economic boost to an area. For example, in Mexico, which is home to the Monarch butterfly, tourists come from around the world in the hope of catching a glimpse of it and of course getting the perfect photo. Hotel owners and restaurateurs do a roaring trade at certain times of the year because of them.

And my final point in this podcast is about how important butterflies can be to human health. Let me give you an example. The European Meadow Brown butterfly produces an antibiotic which scientists have been able to extract. It could mean a decrease in the need for artificial forms of treatment against bacteria if a natural treatment were available.

I think you’ll agree that these small creatures are truly remarkable!

15 B   16 D   17 A   18 B   19 C   20 B

Audioscript

Interviewer: Today, in our series on the choices young people have to make, I’m talking to high school students Tamsin and Farid about whether they think it’s a good idea to go to university straight after high school. Farid, there are a lot of options open to school leavers: have you been getting all sorts of ideas from friends and family?

Farid: Absolutely! My parents are very keen for me to go straight to university, but, actually, a big international company I’d contacted has just been in contact with me. They offer work for school leavers and they train you in company. That’s an option. My sister did a gap year before going to university and visited about ten countries, but afterwards said she felt she wished she’d done something more useful with her time, like just going to one country and working as a volunteer for a charity. She thinks I should work for myself. I’m good at game design and she thinks I should do that for a living.

Interviewer: A lot to think about! Tamsin, what’s your view on school leavers going straight to university?

Tamsin: Well, I think people have to consider every aspect of it carefully because I’m concerned that some people go to university for the wrong reasons. I don’t mean that they go just because their parents and teachers say they should, more that some courses have become really cool, like social sciences, and they just want to jump on the bandwagon. However, it is true that students can sometimes make good contacts by socialising at university, which may lead to finding a job more easily later.

Interviewer: Interesting point. Do you think some people are put off going to university by the expense?

Tamsin: Well, quite a few students work while they’re studying and in that way they help support themselves financially. And if they’re well organised, it shouldn’t mean they neglect their studies. And actually, I’ve heard that lots of employers like the fact that students have some familiarity with what it’s really like to have a job.

Farid: And from the student’s perspective, it can give you a good idea about what you do and don’t like about a job. But I wonder if there’s a danger when you work and study at the same time that you just get exhausted and end up ill and not able to do either well.

Tamsin: I think that’s rare. Anyway, I’m pretty sure I’m going to go straight to university.

Farid: Yes, I think that’s the right choice for you. After all, you’ve always got top grades in maths and sciences.

Tamsin: I think it’ll teach me to think outside the box. Even reading details about the modules offered at some universities makes me think I’ll learn to look at things from a much wider perspective. And I’m really focused on becoming an engineer – so what am I waiting for? My dad’s an engineer and I’ve talked to some of his colleagues, and they can give me work experience during the holidays.

Farid: I wish I was as sure as you are about what I want to do. You know I went to a university Open Day a couple of weeks ago? It was great – I got to meet some students already studying Spanish, which is what I might be interested in doing, and they showed me round the Languages Faculty. What I hadn’t expected was that a large number of the lecturers were available, so that you could ask them about the courses. That was really useful. There were also tours of the science labs, which are supposed to be really cutting edge, but that wasn’t what interested me.

Interviewer: Right. So, Tamsin, have you written your university letter of application yet? It’s very important to get that just right, isn’t it?

Tamsin: Yes, I have and I asked Farid to take a look at it to see what he thinks.

Farid: It’s really impressive. It covers pretty much everything that it should. The way it’s written shows she’s a really good communicator, and her love of engineering really comes across well. If she built up the part where she talks about what a dedicated student she is and how open to feedback she is, then I think it’s ready to send. Tamsin’s so lucky in that she knows exactly where she wants to be in ten years’ time! I’m still not sure what to do.

Interviewer: Well, I’m afraid we have to leave it there for today. Thank you both for taking part in today’s discussion and good luck with your futures.

Task One

21 D   22 B   23 G   24 C   25 F

Task Two

26 G   27 A   28 D   29 E   30 F

Audioscript

Speaker 1

The film I’d like to talk about is called The Teller. It’s written by a comparatively new scriptwriter and, to give him his due, as the plot unfolds, you do see how the main characters grow in their understanding of themselves and others around them. However, what I find unforgivable is that I feel as though I’ve heard all those conversations before! If I had to sum up what the film’s about, I’d say it’s the value of seeing the funny side of things when life gets tough. It might be worth going to see – you never know, you may notice something in it that I missed altogether. I rather doubt it, though!

Speaker 2

If you want to know what it must be like to live in a tiny village in northern Canada, watch the movie called Rachel. It’s about how an ageing, but fiercely passionate, aunt guides her relatives through various situations while, at the same time, teaching them the value of supporting each other. I only have one small complaint and that is, to me, the musical score didn’t seem to fit the action. For example, when the main actor was saying something quite profound and serious, quite near the end, it was far too jolly. But, despite that, it’s still worth seeing if you happen to come across it.

Speaker 3

I’m afraid I’m going to tell you about a film I don’t think you should waste your time and money on. It’s called The Empty Jar. Despite one of my all-time favourite actors being in it, I really had no idea what was going on from start to finish. And I’m not alone in this view. The rest of the audience were equally baffled when I went to see it. Don’t get me wrong, it was obvious what the scriptwriter was getting at: that contentment can be gained from simple activities, like sharing an ice cream with your child at the beach. And to be honest, there were some fabulous panoramic shots of the landscape.

Speaker 4

You must see the film called Sold By. I know it’s an odd title, and might actually sound more like a business documentary about how to make money, but it’s not. Far from it – it’s about how one small lie can result in life becoming very complicated, and how maintaining the pretence can make people very anxious. The only thing I could find fault with was little things, like one moment the main actor’s holding a bag in a restaurant, but then he leaves without the bag. It’s a pity such carelessness leaves a bad impression. But overall, the moral of the film, honesty, is a good one.

Speaker 5

The movie Twice in a Row has many strong points – the background music, to name just one. It’s set in a typical, medium-sized American town and the action all takes place in a diner. However, from about ten minutes into the movie, I could have told you that in the end Bill Jenkins, that’s the name of the main character, would never be able to run a restaurant with his brother as the chef and his mother as the accountant. It was a project doomed from the outset. And that’s the focus really, that running a business with your nearest and dearest is no walk in the park. No wonder they all finish up hating each other!