Practice FCE (B2) Listening Test 03 with Answers and Audioscripts

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

Audioscript

1

Tim:   How was your charity walk, Megan?

Megan:   Brilliant! Yeah, everyone enjoyed it. We do it every year, but it’s always a struggle for me to get to the end – it’s 25km, which is further than I ever walk usually! I think everyone’s feet were really sore by the end, and a couple of people hurt their ankles – the path goes up over some quite rough ground by the late – but they made it over the finish line.

Tim:   I guess the rain halfway around didn’t help.

Megan:   No, that was a pain, especially as it hadn’t been forecast. But it actually cleared up before the end, so that make crossing the finish line even better!

2

Now as you know, we’ve booked to see the play Cumberdown on Thursday. We’ve done a lot of work on it in class, but you may well change your opinions about it once you see it performed! As we’ve noticed, the storyline revolves around the actions of the hero’s brother, so as you’re matching, ask yourselves why he behaved as he did – and be prepared to share your answers next week. The art students among you will definitely get some inspiration for your next project from the scenery the designers have come up with, although personally I feel it’s too decorative for the play. Right, let’s move on to today’s lesson …

3

Darren:   So how’s your brother’s new job going, Kirstie?

Kirstie:   Fine, thanks – he seems to be settling in OK.

Darren:   Good. I was surprised he’s looked for another job. I thought he was happy in his old one.

Kirstie:   Well, he was, and he enjoyed the work, but he just felt he wouldn’t move up and get to take on more responsibility if he stayed there. There are some similarities between that job and what he’s doing now, though – you know, going abroad and stuff. He’s been asked to go to the United States on business next month, which he hadn’t expected so soon, so he’s pleased about that.

Darren:   I’m sure – lucky him!

4

Andrew:   What are you making, Jackie?

Jackie:   Oh, a pie for supper – it’s Dad’s favourite. I wanted to surprise him.

Andrew:   Hmm … are you sure it’s supposed to look like that? It’s a strange shape.

Jackie:   Oh, don’t worry – that’s only because I added more meat and vegetables before I put the pastry on top. There wouldn’t have been enough for all of us otherwise.

Andrew:   Right. Maybe you could put some decoration or something on top, just to make it look nicer?

Jackie:   Yeah, I’ve already made some shapes to put on. Look. I think I’ll brush the top with some egg, too – then it’ll be nice and golden once it’s cooked!

Andrew:   Sounds good!

5

Saskia:   Who’s that boy in the photo, Sam?

Sam:   Oh, that’s me when I was eight or nine – holding a model train engine. It used to belong to my dad.

Saskia:   Was it part of that train set you’ve still got in your room?

Sam:   Yeah, my dad and I built all that together – my mates used to come round and we’d spend hours playing with it. That engine was Dad’s favourite, but it didn’t go as fast as some of the others I’d got, so I finally just put it in a box in my room. He was quite upset, I think, but we did manage to find a replacement.

Saskia:   Right.

6

Nadim:   What’s up, Yasmin?

Yasmin:   Oh, it’s that story we’ve got to write for our English class. Usually I’ve got loads of ideas, but nothing’s coming this time. I’m unwilling to ask Mrs Watson for help until I’m really desperate …

Nadim:   Well, she’d be the best person to ask. And your dad’s a writer – if anyone’d know how to tackle it, he would! Or how about flicking through some story books? That could spark some ideas.

Yasmin:   Honestly, I can’t think of anything. I’ll have to admit defeat and speak to someone who knows more about it.

Nadim:   Maybe you could have a break from it and come back to it later?

Yasmin:   Yeah, I could – if it wasn’t due in two days!

Nadim:   Right.

7

OK, let’s talk about next Tuesday’s trip to the city architecture exhibition. Over the last century, the city’s experienced a lot of reconstruction, and as we discussed last week, it’s largely down to that that our environment has improved. As you’ll see at the exhibition, many artists and designers got involved in the city’s regeneration, but just how far did they contribute to the buildings we have today and what other factors were involved as well? That’s something you should give some thought to. And if any potential architects among you can think of ways to make the city even better, do share them when we get back!

8

Alexis:   So, how was your skiing trip?

Dan:   Well, I’d never skied before, so I wasn’t whizzing down the slopes immediately. But our instructor was brilliant – I improved quickly.

Alexis:   Great.

Dan:   Anyway, he finally took us down a really steep slope. I was pretty confident and managing to keep control, but then I started heading for a tree …

Alexis:   Oh, no.

Dan:   I know. The only way I could stop was to fall over in the snow.

Alexis:   You could’ve been badly hurt, doing that. I mean, it’s hard to believe that the instructor would’ve let you loose like that, knowing you’d only just started to learn to ski. In your position, I’d have refused to even try it.

Dan:   Yeah, well …

9 scenery   10 lake   11 gold mines

12   postcards   13 pancakes   14 red rock   15 eagles

16 storm   17 hiking   18 bear

Audioscript

Jamie:   My name’s Jamie and I’d like to tell you about a trip I went on with my family last month. We travelled by car around the state of Colorado, in America. Mum and Dad had already visited loads of big cities across the US, but this time they felt they’d prefer to go to a place that offered constantly changing scenery – and Colorado certainly does that. There’s everything there, from a range of high mountains to deserts.

We set off from the city of Denver and stopped first of all in a small town, where we booked into a hotel. The manager showed us a room at the front of the hotel, from which you could only see a busy street below, so Mum and Dad opted for a room at the back instead. It was much nicer and had a balcony overlooking a lake where we spent the evening.

The next day we drove on, and passed through several towns, bigger than the one we’d left behind – some even had small factories in them. We discovered these towns had originally grown up around the gold mines that’s been established there decades ago, which were now abandoned. I became interested in the history of these towns, so I started looking for books I could buy about them – I was really hoping to find some old posters for my room at home too. Anyway, I didn’t have any luck until in one bookshop I came across some postcards that Dad reckoned had probably been there since the 1950s. They showed what the town would’ve looked like then, so I bought them.

We ate in lots of different places along the way – cafés, hotels, you name it. Sometimes the food was quite plain – steak and potatoes, which I liked, but not every day! Or sometimes we had fried chicken, which was good. The food that stuck in my mind, though, is some pancakes we ate at a roadside diner. They were absolutely delicious!

As we travelled across Colorado, it was fascinating to watch the landscape rolling past through our car windows. For some time we were looking at grey mountains, but as we drove on, those gradually transformed into red rock. We were certainly a long way from the green fields that we see on our journeys at home. And the wildlife was amazing – there were wild rabbits all over the place, and herds of magnificent deer. We’d been assured that we’d see eagles too, although none appeared, sadly.

It wasn’t long before we were heading for the town of Aspen, where we planned to spend a few days before returning home. But first, we had to navigate our way across the mountains. Mum was driving at this stage, and we’d heard on the radio that a storm was on its way, so she was a bit nervous. In fact, a thick mist did come down and there were strong winds, which made driving along the rough mountain road more difficult, but we finally got to our hotel in Aspen without incident.

Aspen is popular for all kinds of outdoor activities such as skiing. That wasn’t for us, as we didn’t have any kit, but I was keen to try cycling around the area. Mum and Dad finally decided we’d have a go at hiking, so off we went – and the views along the trail were fantastic.

On our last evening in Aspen, we had a swim in the hotel’s outdoor pool. The manager had given us a plastic crocodile to use in the pool, which was fun. Imagine our feelings, though, when we suddenly spotted a bear heading straight for us! Luckily, it changed course and headed for the rubbish bin. Apparently it was a frequent visitor, but we certainly won’t forget that moment – and neither will the hotel cat, probably, hiding up in a tree!

19 E   20 B   21 H   22 D   23 G

Audioscript

Speaker 1

If you’ve ever tried any creative writing, then you’ll know there often comes a point where you feel you simply can’t go any further. Whatever you write down looks awful and unskilled, the characters you’ve created don’t work – and you certainly don’t want anyone else to read and give their opinions on it. But that’s just a stage, something you have to get over – remember, even famous authors will have experienced it at some point, so keep going. After all, you’ve already written so much – what’s to stop you from writing a brilliant ending and producing that best-selling novel you’ve been aiming for?

Speaker 2

If you’ve got a story in your head, then getting it down on paper is comparatively easy. The hard part is making it good enough for other people to want to read it, too, especially if you’ve written it quickly. You might well get halfway through, read what you’ve written back to yourself and find it’s actually a bit boring. If that’s the case, why not introduce something different into the next bit of your story? A stranger suddenly appearing on the scene can set you off on another creative route. You might have to adjust your ideas for the ending of your story – but then that’s the nature of creative writing, isn’t it?

Speaker 3

I love the process of producing stories, then reading them aloud to check if they work. Creating characters and getting them to think and behave how I want is a real delight I’m always making notes of my ideas for how the story will develop, and what the ending will be – it’s very motivating. Ideas can come from anywhere – when I’m messing about on the internet or watching a movie on TV, say. However, I’ve found that the best thing is to put the story to one side and pick a book, by a classic author, someone with amazing talent. This really works – it’s usually not long afterwards that an idea comes to me and I start writing again.

Speaker 4

I’ve found since I started writing that it’s easy to write pages and pages very quickly when you’re inspired. But you must never assume then that you’ve then finished, and can’t possibly improve on the work I’ve discovered that if you look carefully over what you’ve done, you’ll always find bits that strike you as really good. The trick is to bring the rest of it up to that level. Some great modern writers have commented that they listen to music or browse the internet or something while they’re being creative, but that just doesn’t work for me, I’m afraid.

Speaker 5

Writing a great story sounds simple, doesn’t it? Especially if you’re in the habit of reading the work of great authors, which always seems perfect. But don’t forget – just like you, they worked long and hard to get their writing to that point! I’ve found the best way to polish a piece of writing to a state where others might actually want to read it is to make sure there are no interruptions while you’re working on it – and in my case that means switching off the internet. Then the ideas can flow freely – I just have to make sure I can write quickly enough to get them all down on paper!

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

Audioscript

Interviewer:   I’m with guitarist, Tom Barker, whose band has won a national music competition. Congratulations, Tom!

Tom:   Thanks!

Interviewer:   So tell us why you first took up the electric guitar.

Tom:   Well, my brother’s always been a fan of rock guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry, so I grew up hearing their music. There were a few of their guitar pieces I really loved, so I tried playing them myself, on the violin, would you believe, which my parents preferred me to learn – that and the piano. They wouldn’t let me have a guitar as they hoped I’d get into classical music. Anyway, after paying for loads of lessons, they finally realised I wasn’t really into it, so they let me learn the guitar instead.

Interviewer:   So you saved up and eventually bought your own guitar?

Tom:   Yes, and I loved it! To be honest, though, when friends showed me photos they’d taken of me playing at school concerts, I was always disappointed. I’d imagined I looked like my rock heroes – but I definitely didn’t! Anyway, just having that guitar round my neck made me feel I could play absolutely anything when I got on stage, despite the fact I was normally a bit shy.

Interviewer:   And then having taught yourself to play, you decided to find a local guitar tutor.

Tom:   I did – I’d used online tutorials till then. There are loads of them on the internet, and some are great. But I could see that although I’d come quite far that way, I now needed to spend time with an individual tutor, preferably someone local, to speed things up a bit. I didn’t get on well with the first one I went to for lessons, though, and I could see that would affect how much I’d improve.

Interviewer:   And then disaster struck – coming home from school one day, you lost your guitar. How did you feel?

Tom:   Well, at first I couldn’t believe what I’d done! I didn’t often take my guitar into school, so I wasn’t used to carrying it around. I was chatting to a friend on the phone when I got off the bus that day – I just got distracted, and left the guitar behind. I became convinced I’d never see it again. And as it had taken me ages to save the money for it, I knew I wouldn’t manage to get another one any time soon.

Interviewer:   But a month later, someone called and said they’d found it!

Tom:   Yes – word had got around on social media, and this girl got in touch. Amazing! When I got the guitar back, I immediately put the strap over my shoulder, and started practising chords. That took me a while to get used to, as I’d forgotten the pain that the strap and the guitar strings always caused me! It was weird, though – I’d always thought of it as quite a basic instrument, but having played on really old guitars at school since I’d lost it, it suddenly seemed really cool and advanced, so I was thrilled to play it again!

Interviewer:   So what’s made you stay with the electric guitar?

Tom:   Well, I think of all the instruments I’ve played, it’s the one that feels it needs other musicians performing alongside it, rather than being played solo. I love playing as part of a group and I wouldn’t have met my band without it! So I wouldn’t swap it now. It’s a bit boring having to carry it round to practise with other people though, as it’s quite heavy. And you usually have to keep the sound turned down when you play, too, unless you’re at a concert, of course!

Interviewer:   And then you and your band entered a national competition – and won!

Tom:   Yes! We’ve really come together as a group now, and I’m proud of our music, although I wasn’t convinced we’d win. Then during the competition, I spotted a guy in the front row, playing exactly like me, but on an ‘air guitar’, totally lost in the music! He clearly thought my playing was good, and that really inspired me – I gave my best performance ever! So I think we won thanks to that guy!