Practice FCE (B2) Listening Test 02 with Answers and Audioscripts

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

Audioscript

1

Hi Jasmine! It’s Alice. I’ve just been to buy a new T-shirt from that shop near the library, but when I went to return my books afterwards, I discovered I didn’t have my student ID. I must have left it in the shop, and I needed it to get a student discount. I’m really sorry, but I was wondering if we could meet a bit later than we planned, so I can go back to the shop? We could go to that café we always stop at on our way home, if you want. I’ll buy the drinks! It’s the least I can do. Let me know!

2

We’ve just played the final match of the season, against Wilton School. They’d gone through the qualifying rounds beating their opponents really easily, so we guessed they’d be tough to play. So imagine how we felt when our players scored twice in the first half! What I hadn’t realised until then was that loads of people from school had come to cheer us on – and at that point they went wild! That motivated us to keep fighting, although the game slipped away from us in the second half, and Wilton scored three times – so the result was much as people had predicted. Still, I was really proud of our performance!

3

Ollie:   It was great to actually meet the person that wrote the books I’ve enjoyed so much. And he asked us a lot about our opinions of his work.

Amy:   I found that as he talked, it made all the references in his stories much clearer. He’s certainly had varied experiences – becoming a doctor, going climbing in the Andes …

Ollie:   You’re right. For me, that’s the attraction of the stories – they’ve got such a wide range of settings, you never get bored.

Amy:   I don’t know, There have been a couple I couldn’t get into.

Ollie:   Well, they all make some sense to me after what he said. Maybe you should go back to those books again …

Amy:   Maybe.

4

Dad:   What would you like to eat, Lauren?

Lauren:   I don’t know, Dad. I really love fish, so let’s have a look …

Dad:   Hmm, I can’t see see anything like that on the menu. There’s plenty of other things like steak, chicken, all the usual stuff …

Lauren:   There are one or two things here that are a bit different, though – aubergine curry, that’s a new one on us, isn’t it? I’ll have that. Sounds delicious.

Dad:   True. Hmm, it’s good to experiment – I’ll give that a go. Shame there aren’t any fish dishes, though. I know you like those.

Lauren:   Oh, there are lots of other things to make up for it.

5

As you know, there’s recently been a huge project to modernise and develop our city centre. In the process, of course, we needed to demolish a number of buildings put up in the last century, which many people wanted to preserve. However, they’d become structurally unsafe, so nothing could be done to save them. In their place, we’ve built a centre that addresses all our needs, and will impress generations to come – and being part of that was a real honour. It provided an opportunity to use some interesting design ideas, too – they’ve received mixed reviews, but I’m confident they really add to the city’s architectural appeal.

6

I get on well with my older cousin Jake. Until recently I didn’t see him much, ‘cos he lived miles away, but now he’s moved closer. So while he wasn’t around for some of the big events in my life, he was the one who told me I was good enough to take up competitive running and apply to study Maths at university. I’ve been successful in both, and I probably wouldn’t have tackled them if it hadn’t been for him. I wouldn’t say stuff like fixing my bike or sorting out my IT problems are really his strength – but I’m grateful for all the support he’s given me.

7

Now before we start, I’ve recently come across a book you might enjoy taking a look at. It’s basically a colouring book – well, more precisely, it’s a gallery of beautiful pictures containing different mathematical concepts, to get people thinking more about maths. The pictures are all based on maths topics such as geometry, number theory and so on. Now you might feel anxious at the mention of those, as they’re pretty difficult concepts. But I think if you’re keen on maths, you’ll really find yourself engaging with some of the fantastic images, especially as there are notes to talk you through each one. Do have a look, anyway – it’s on my desk.

8

Joe:   How was your boating trip?

Florence:   Well, we set off along the river, with my two brothers rowing the boat – that was fine. Then we suddenly discovered that our picnic was still in the car. Shortly after that, my brothers decided they were too tired to row, so Dad and I had to do it. Not having any food didn’t bother me, but the rowing was exhausting, so I was really cross with them. We’d been exploring the little streams joining the river, and at one point I thought we were lost, but Dad knows the river well, so he got us safely back to the car at the end.

Joe:   Right …

9 hot-air balloon   10 castle   11 seabirds

12 town   13 fashionable   14 market   15 honey

16 sand sculptures   17 windsurfing   18 guidebook

Audioscript

Hi! I’m Julie, and I’d like to tell you about my birthday which I celebrated last week. My dad promised me a treat for the day – a special trip! He refused to tell me anything about it, though – so imagine my surprise when we drove to the small airport near our home! I’d heard you could get a ride in a hot-air balloon from there, although I wasn’t sure that’d be my thing. But when I spotted a helicopter in one corner of the airport, I became very excited, ‘cos that’s just the sort of thing he’d plan. It turned out, that he’d actually booked a trip in a private plane, piloted by a friend of his. Our destination? An island across the bay from where we live. Even though it’s not far away, we’d never actually been there before.

So off we went! As we rose into the air above the town, the sun was really bright, so I couldn’t see our house, which was a bit of a let-down. The one thing in view was the castle – a reminder that we were leaving the town, and the rest of the family, behind for a day.

As we flew out over the sea, the sky around the coast was brilliant blue, with some impressive-looking clouds in the distance. I could clearly see the waves on the sea below, but they were nothing compared with the sight of all the seabirds which were flying around beneath us – a great experience.

Soon, we landed at the island’s airport, and started thinking about how we’d get into the nearest town from there. Apparently there was a bus, but it wasn’t due for another hour, so we decided to rent bicycles and go on those. As it turned out, it was quite a long way to go on foot, so we’d made the right choice!

Now I’d always been under the impression that the town we were heading for was pretty quiet and actually very boring. Dad assured me that absolutely wasn’t the case, though, and that I’d find it was really fashionable – which turned out to be true! The clothes and shoes there were amazing. And after going into a big department store, the next thing we came across was a market, which I dived straight into – and bought some great clothes at low prices, so I was really pleased! And a nearby clothes store had stuff that was pretty cool, too.

The food in the shops was great. We found some wonderful chocolate, which I got through a lot of, and then we got a kind of honey that was new to me, although Dad said it was delicious. And I found an unusual type of cheese that’s actually one of my favourite, so we bought that too.

After lunch we walked down to the beach. There was a sign showing the way to a number of sand sculptures that some artists had done there, which I wanted to see. Dad was more keen to visit an exhibition of local paintings close by, but as it was my birthday, he agreed to do what I wanted!

At the beach there were also people doing watersports. Some were waterskiing, which I’d tried at home, and then we watched some others windsurfing. Dad asked me if I wanted to have a go at that, but I thought we didn’t have time, so I said no. Later I wished I’d accepted his offer, but we did have a go at diving. We hired some kit at the beach, so that was fun!

Soon it was time to leave. I’d had a great day out, so I wanted to give Dad something to thank him. I guessed he’d be coming back to visit the island again soon, ‘cos he’d clearly enjoyed it, so I managed to find a guidebook for him. He really liked that! I got a great photo of the two of us, too!

19 E   20 G   21 A   22 B   23 H

Audioscript

Speaker 1

I was keen to be in the play, even though I knew I’d be nervous. But I’d always felt I had a real talent for acting, if only someone would recognise it, and thought that this might be my chance. That feeling faded slightly after what happened in our first preparation session for the play. As a warm-up exercise, our drama teacher asked us to work together in groups and act out a scene. I thought I’d done brilliantly, but one look at her face told a different story. That damaged my confidence for a while, although in some ways it helped, ‘cos I put in more effort when I finally performed on stage!

Speaker 2

When the idea of a school play was suggested, I wasn’t sure how I felt about taking part, but I soon got swept up in all the preparations – making costumes and learning my lines. I was given quite a big part to play because my teacher said I had a really good memory and a loud voice! So I just hoped she was right about both of those, and as it turned out, she was! I think the whole process brought the school together, and I ended up collaborating with students I barely knew – that was fantastic. The audience were clearly impressed by the end of the performance too!

Speaker 3

Our school was putting on a historical play, and I was given a big speaking part – probably because I’ve got a powerful voice! I immediately assumed, though, I’d be too nervous to say anything once I got on the stage! We had loads of rehearsals, and soon everyone could remember their words perfectly. The nearer we got to performing to an audience, the more excited we became! Then finally, we all got to see what we were going to wear – and my outfit was magnificent. As soon as I put it on, I just turned into the person I was going to play, and all my thoughts of nervousness disappeared!

Speaker 4

I thought being in a play would be exciting, although I’d never performed on stage, so had no idea whether I’d be any good. Anyway, the teacher gave out the parts, but for some reason, she assumed I wouldn’t want a leading role. I wasn’t too disappointed, though. Anyway, I worked hard at learning my words, then we had a rehearsal – and it turned out I was a natural. The other actors in the play said I was pretty impressive. Then just before we performed in front of an audience, our star actor went off sick – so I played the leading role after all!

Speaker 5

Our teacher had chosen a classical play to perform to our parents. We really enjoyed reading through it together in class, as the story was great, even though some words in it were quite old-fashioned and unfamiliar. Anyway, I was thrilled to get a longish part to play. So imagine how I felt when I just couldn’t get the words into my head – even though I’d got the hang of saying them loudly enough for people to hear. Anyway, I was determined I wouldn’t be defeated and practised loads, and by the time I went on stage, in my wonderful costume, I was word perfect – and super confident. And the audience loved it!

24 C   25 B   26 A   27 B   28 A

Audioscript

Interviewer:   I’m with Laura Rogers, who’s recently been on a trip with her uncle to the coast near her home, to look for signs that dinosaurs may have once lived there. Laura, why did you go on the trip?

Laura:   Well, my uncle’s an archaeologist, and he’s learnt a lot about dinosaurs in his work – and I’d begun to get into archaeology through some books I’d got from school I’d also been to an exhibition about dinosaurs found locally. Anyway, my English teacher asked us to do some creative writing about where we live, and dinosaurs seemed the perfect subject. But to write convincingly about them I knew I’d have to go and find out more for myself – and my uncle was the ideal person to help me with this!

Interviewer:   So did he tell you more about dinosaurs before you went?

Laura:   Oh, he brought along some dinosaur bones he’d found during an excavation! It was amazing, thinking I was looking at something that’s lived in my area millions of years ago. But then he said he’d actually found them in the USA, so that was a bit of a let-down, and I realised we almost certainly wouldn’t find any on our trip. He said that the original creature would’ve been as big as a bus, though, so that really fired my imagination!

Interviewer:   So you went to a beach near where you live. What was it like?

Laura:   Well, it’s quite a wild place, with high cliffs and lots of rocks on the beach. It’s bitterly cold for parts of the year because of the strong wind, though you still see walkers and people doing watersports there. Some species of seabird live there in really impressive numbers, apparently. I guess it’s because there’s plenty for them to feed on among the rocks.

Interviewer:   And when you started exploring, did you find anything interesting?

Laura:   Well, no immediate signs of any dinosaurs! But as we were looking among the rocks on the beach, I happened to pick up a big black stone lying there. My uncle said it was called jet, and it was once used for making jewellery. It’s become quite expensive to buy in antique shops, apparently, and he also said that it was unusual to come across a piece as large as that, so I was quite proud of myself!

Interviewer:   And then you spotted signs that a dinosaur had once been there?

Laura:   Absolutely! My uncle said the rocks there would’ve once been mud, which dinosaurs could’ve walked across, before it gradually turned into rock over millions of years. Then he suddenly pointed out a stone footprint of three toes half-buried by sand. As we uncovered it, it took me a while to realise what it was – a perfect footprint of a small dinosaur! It was amazing to think that a baby dinosaur had once been exactly where we were standing. Thanks to my uncle’s description, I also had a good image of what the landscape must’ve looked like then.

Interviewer:   Fantastic! And you ended the day by exploring an old ship?

Laura:   Yes! We walked further down the coast to the remains of an old wooden ship, abandoned many years before. My uncle said we had to walk slowly, because the sand surrounding the ship was soft in places, and you could easily sink in to it! But he led my safety across. As we got closer, we noticed some seals turn and go back into the sea. That was a pity – we hadn’t meant to frighten them away. The ship was more like a skeleton, really, and looked almost ready to break, but we still climbed aboard to take a look.

Interviewer:   So after your trip, do you want to study dinosaurs?

Laura:   Well, it’s certainly made me notice a lot more when I’m walking on the beach! I’ve been back several times with friends to show them what we found and I feel really pleased that I’m able to point out the natural features my uncle showed me. But whether it’ll turn into a career one day – who knows?