Practice FCE (B2) Listening Test 23 with Answers and Audioscripts

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

Audioscripts

1   You hear a man talking about planting flower seeds in his garden.

I’m a keen gardener and there’s nothing I enjoy more than seeing everything I’ve planted coming up in spring. I think it’s nice to put in some early-flowering seeds as soon as winter’s properly over – maybe in April so there’s less chance of a late frost that you sometimes get in the earlier months of the year. You wouldn’t want to leave it as late as May to do any planting if you want to see the results by June, though. You should have a lovely splash of colour in the flower beds by then. You may find they’re a little later, depending on whether we get any warmer weather …

2   You hear two friends talking about when they last met.

A:   George! It’s so lovely to see you again! It must be ages since we last met.

B:   Oh, I suppose it is. But weren’t you at Michael’s twenty-first party last August?

A:   No, I wasn’t. I got the flu at the last minute. I think the last time I saw you was three years ago in December, when we all had dinner together in that Indian restaurant …

B:   No, surely we’ve met since then … Wait a minute … it was at Peter’s place. When he and Jenny got married.

A:   Yes, of course it was! Wasn’t it a fantastic reception?

B:   One of the best I’ve ever been to.

3   You hear a woman talking about the kind of book she currently enjoys reading.

I suppose the books I’ve tended to pick up most often are somehow romantic – not in the traditional sense but like Time to Go which I’ve read recently. It’s about the lonely individual against the world, about a man’s relationship with nature – it’s a moving story. I used to be into mysteries in a big way – I just loved the thrill of trying to work out who’d done the crime before the detective did. I started to find the themes repetitive after a while, though. I’ve actually gone back to my childhood favourite recently. Simple fairy tales may not seem very grown-up, but some of them are real classics.

4   You hear two friends discussing the sports they play.

A:   I haven’t played tennis for ages. I’m sure you’ll beat me easily.

B:   We can practise for a while first, if you prefer. We shouldn’t leave it so long until we play next time, since it’s our strongest sport.

A:   Sure. I’m not as fit as I should be either … as you no doubt picked up when we played volleyball at college yesterday.

B:   Well, I guess no one puts their best efforts into sports they aren’t so keen on. By the way, are you playing in the basketball match on Saturday?

A:   No. To be honest I’m thinking of giving it up. It’s something I’d much rather watch than play.

B:   That’s a pity.

5   You hear a shop assistant talking to a customer.

A:   How did that sweater fit?

B:   Not bad, actually, though I’m not sure about the colour. Anyway, I think I may abandon my search until another day and concentrate on what I really came in for! I’m going to an important business event next week and need a shirt to go with my suit as nothing I have really seems suitable. Do you have formalwear in stock?

A:   Indeed we do. In fact, we have a very wide selection of formal garments, in addition to our casual range. If you follow me over to the formalwear section, I’m sure we’ll be able to sort you out with just the right thing.

6   You hear a man talking about his job as a lighting technician in a theatre.

A:   How’s your new job, Michael? You’re part of the theatre lighting team, aren’t you?

B:   Yeah. Tonight’s the first performance I’ll be involved with. I expected to be nervous about it, in case I get something wrong. Fortunately, though, the whole responsibility doesn’t lie with me to get everything right, and once everything’s up and running, I’ll be able to enjoy it. Even if I do make one or two errors – the audience probably won’t realise. I’m sure I’ll be pretty tired by the end of it with all the concentration and so on. It’ll be a real buzz, though – I’ve wanted to work in theatre for so long.

7   You hear a boy talking about school.

I’m pretty good at maths, and I’ve had some good results in homework projects lately. I just find it … I don’t know … fairly easy really, which means there isn’t much challenge in it for me. My teacher says I’m talented – unlike history, where I struggle to remember all the dates and stuff. I know I should take more interest in it – it just doesn’t do it for me. I guess the highlight of the school day is art. That’s where I really seem able to let my imagination take over – it takes my attention away from all the serious stuff we have to study for a while.

8   You hear a travel agent talking about a journey.

Now, Mr Birch, the good news is that I’ve been able to arrange a flight for you, getting you to Houston by Wednesday morning for the price you wanted to pay, but the bad news is that it does involve a few stopovers. You see, you first fly to Amsterdam, arriving late Tuesday morning, and then take the transatlantic flight to JFK Airport in New York, where you have to wait for about three hours for your connecting flight to your final destination, which will be coming from Los Angeles …

9 culture   10 economics

11 interviews   12 articles

13 film critic   14 organisation

15 web design   16 football matches

17 research   18 photographer

Audioscripts

Hello, my name’s Tom Botham. Thanks for coming to this talk about newspaper journalism. I’ll tell you a bit about how I got into it and there’ll be some time at the end to ask any questions. As you know, newspaper journalists report on local and national events – everything from news and business, to culture and sport.

The usual way to become a journalist is by first gaining a qualification in journalism or writing, though these days many newspaper editors welcome people with degrees in other subjects such as economics – which is the route I took – or science. So, if you’re already studying another subject like music, all is not lost. Specialising in an unrelated subject can put you in a strong position should you want to work for a specialist publication, for example.

It’s difficult to get ahead in the field without having a recognised journalism certificate in addition to your university studies. In preparation for this qualification you can do a course where you’ll learn the basics of news reporting and – my personal favourite – how to conduct interviews. You also need editing skills – you know, preparing copy for print.

When you’re applying for a journalism role, you have to prove you can actually put pen to paper – or fingers to keyboard – and create a compelling piece that grabs the reader’s attention.

Potential employers will want to see your portfolio – a collection of articles you’ve had published. This doesn’t have to be in national publications – anything you’ve had printed in a local magazine or paper will prove your writing ability.

There are lots of ways to get writing experience. Like me, lots of budding journalists contribute to their student magazine doing things like music reviews. My own involvement was as a film critic and my best friend wrote features on student issues. It’s great fun and you make loads of good friends – and if you’re lucky – some useful contacts in the industry.

Employers aren’t only interested in how well you can write, though. Journalists have to be able to demonstrate evidence of other key skills such as organisation, oral communication, and an ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines. On a more personal level, you’ll need to have a flexible approach, as well as persistence and motivation.

You also need to think about what else you can offer employers, especially as newspapers are now available in many formats, including online. My brother runs his own web design company and I’d been involved in that as a weekend job while I was studying. Other things like video skills and understanding social media definitely come in useful for online publishing. My own background certainly helped me progress in my career.

I got my first job as a junior reporter on a local newspaper, which is the usual route. I won’t pretend it was the most glamorous job, but it did provide me with invaluable experience and it had its perks – I regularly got to go and watch football matches, which was a real bonus. I also had to go to things like school talent shows and amateur theatre performances, which weren’t quite as fascinating!

I currently work on a regional paper, which is a step up from the local one. Working on a smaller paper suits me because I have more responsibility than I would on a national paper. I get involved in all aspects of the job, from deciding what will go where, to what content to include in our daily e-newsletter. I specialise in research – my preferred aspect of the role – and also make sure our advertising copy is consistent.

There are great opportunities for career progression as a journalist. I’m definitely planning on staying in the field, though I wouldn’t mind investigating other avenues. Many journalists will tell you that they want to progress to a subeditor role and eventually land the top job as editor, something I used to want myself. In fact, I fancy trying something totally different and I’m looking into the possibilities of becoming a photographer here. But enough about me. Are there any questions?

19 C   20 G   21 F   22 B   23 E

Audioscripts

Speaker 1

I think my favourite film must be Some Like it Hot. It’s a crazy story about two men – musicians – who pretend to be women to get away from some gangsters and join a women’s orchestra. The plot may sound silly, and it’s hardly what you’d call realistic, but the film is just hilarious. I’ve seen it four or five times and every time I see it, I just can’t stop laughing. The ending fitted perfectly with the rest of the story, too. I think the director was wonderful. His name was Billy Wilder and he made some great films.

Speaker 2

I thought The Hobbit was brilliant. Fantasy films don’t usually do it for me – I prefer more realistic stuff, but I watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy with my brother and fell in love with the characters, so I was disappointed when it ended. This prequel’s on a similar theme, so when I heard about it, there was never any doubt I’d be first in line for a ticket! The actors’ performances were awe-inspiring, which is a good enough reason to see the film, even if it isn’t really your thing. The special effects were a bit of a let-down, but the story makes up for that.

Speaker 3

My favourite film? I would say Solaris, by the Russian director, Tarkovsky. It was never a blockbuster or a great financial success, but it’s so absolutely gripping, a fascinating psychological study. I don’t normally like science-fiction films, but unusually in this case I did. I put it down to the fact that the effects are not used just to impress the audience; there’s a reason for them. I like the actors who played the main characters as well, of course. In a way, Tarkovsky uses a futuristic setting so that we can concentrate on the story he’s telling.

Speaker 4

My favourite film has to be Skyfall. It’s an action film about a spy called James Bond and follows a long series of films about the character. The theme doesn’t vary that much between them buy you’re on the edge of your seat the whole way through as he’s involved in chasing and escaping from the baddies. It all works out OK in the end, of course – you know it will but you still have to watch, just to make sure! That’s what makes me love the films so much. I like the main actor – he makes a good James Bond I think. It’s completely unrealistic, but I love it.

Speaker 5

Actually, the film I like best is set in England 300 years ago. It’s called Barry Lyndon, and it’s the story of a man’s life in those times. The photography is great, so it’s what we call, easy on the eye: it’s lovely to watch. I suppose it really captures the way people feel and talk at any time through the history of mankind! This is what makes it absolutely realistic. I mean, you get the feeling the film is sort of universal in that sense.

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

Audioscripts

Interviewer:   My guest today is Alice Barker, who has a very unusual ability. Alice, thank you for coming into the studio. What kind of unusual ability are we talking about here?

Alice Barker:   Well, it’s quite easy to describe. Basically, when I read a word or even think of a particular word, such as Tuesday, I see a colour connected with it. It’s not that I imagine a colour – I really see it floating in front of my eyes. People think it sounds really weird, but it feels perfectly normal to me!

Interviewer:   How interesting! Is it a sort of medical condition?

Alice Barker:   Yes, and just recently doctors have begun to understand it more. They call it synaesthesia, and it means that somewhere in my brain there are links between sections that should really be separate. Synaesthesia affects different people in different ways. Some people experience tastes or smells when they hear a word, for example. Apparently, it’s generally passed on from parents to their children, which is the case with me. That means if I have kids, I could pass it on to them.

Interviewer:   And do you have brothers or sisters with the same ability?

Alice Barker:   Yes, my brother is the same as me. If we start talking about it, people think we’re completely crazy – in a funny way, of course! When we were younger, we used to have arguments about things like what colour the word Friday was. It turns out that everyone with this condition sees different colours for different things. I haven’t met anyone else with synaesthesia yet, but I think we’ll have some fascinating conversations if I ever do!

Interviewer:   It sounds as though it could make life quite exhausting.

Alice Barker:   I suppose it does, but you see, if you’ve never known anything different, you don’t think of it like that. It does make you aware of your moods, though. I know if I’m starting to feel depressed because things begin to look grey. That’s pretty useful actually, as it means I can do something to cheer myself up before I feel too bad!

Interviewer:   Are there any other advantages to having synaesthesia, do you find?

Alice Barker:   Well, it seems that quite a lot of artists and musicians have this condition, so I guess it can be beneficial if it’s combined with some sort of gift or natural talent. Which is not the case with me, unfortunately! But I do find it makes reading very interesting, because sometimes a sentence has a very nice range of colours, so you want to read it again just to experience that. Of course, this makes me quite a slow reader.

Interviewer:   When you’re listening to someone, do you also see colours connected to that person’s words?

Alice Barker:   Yes, and that can be pretty distracting! Sometimes I hardly listen to what the other person is saying, because I’m concentrating on the colours I can see. But on the whole, having this condition is not at all unpleasant. At least, now I understand it. I think other people have more difficulty trying to get their heads round it than I do experiencing it.

Interviewer:   Did you use to think it could be a dangerous condition?

Alice Barker:   When I was a child, yes, but that was because doctors used to think it was a sign of approaching mental illness, so the first doctor I saw, when I was about ten, told my parents I would probably grow up to be insane! At the time there was no name for what we experienced. Now research has shown that synaesthesia is not that uncommon and it may affect one in 25,000 people. It’s interesting that for some people smells, tastes or even sounds can have colours!