Practice English Listening Test for B2 with answer and audioscript – Test #06

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

Audioscript

1

Woman:   I felt so sorry for her, she just couldn’t cope. She had the baby under one arm and a list in the other. And he was screaming, all red in the face. She must have only just come out of hospital, he was so tiny.

Man:   So you offered to help.

Woman:   Well, I wanted to get through the check-out and pay for my things quickly, otherwise I knew I’d be late getting here, but …

Man:   Well, I’ve only been here half an hour.

Woman:   Oh, I’m sorry, there was such a queue. And then I forgot, it’s the big football game today and the roads were just packed …

2

I’ve never wanted to walk around with an enormous mobile, you know, fixed to my belt or whatever, because that’s socially embarrassing, isn’t it? So I was really taken with the Edmundsen GP 876 model which you can just slip in your inside pocket and no one’s the wiser, if you know what I mean. And it says in the blurb ‘satisfaction guaranteed – should your mobile develop a fault in the first year, we will replace it the next day’. Well, to be honest, it wasn’t exactly what you call cheap, so I’m rather hoping that I don’t need to find out just how good that particular promise is.

3

Hello, it’s Mr Brown here. I got your message. Yes, I was really sorry to hear the house I wanted had just been sold … Yes … I missed the chance to buy the house of my dreams. Yes, I know it wasn’t your fault. I should have contacted you earlier … Yes … That’s why I’m now eager to hear of any houses that come on the market. As you know, what I want is a house which combines a kitchen and breakfast room with lots of space for living, eating and cooking … Yes, I’m tired of small places where you can hardly move.

4

I got it as a present from my father when I was fourteen. My family thought it would be a phase, that I’d go off the idea. Mum doesn’t believe there’ll be any money in it, but Dad is quite interested because, apart from football, it’s the only thing I can talk to him about at the moment. If you’re not going to make the effort to practise on it, no way is anyone going to be interested in you. I think one of the reasons you see so few girls playing in bands is that they tend not to be willing to do all that work.

5

A cat with a mind of its own joined the eleven fifty-five train from King’s Lynn yesterday. A passenger spotted the cat, thought to have boarded at Littleport, and handed it to a member of the platform staff once the train got to Ely station. The friendly cat was put in a box and returned to Littleport. Eventually, its owner, Jack Prince, from Littleport, was reunited with his cat. It is thought that the cat must have crossed the lines at Littleport and waited on the platform, together with a dozen passengers who didn’t notice it at all.

6

I work with my husband, Bob, and every time we have a holiday somewhere, we seem to come up with an idea. And touring round the USA last year, he’d written the words for this children’s ghost story. But I had no idea how to … to get the atmosphere in the pictures, which is my role in the partnership. And then we went to Las Vegas and all that amazing architecture, lit up at night under the desert sky, was er … was dreamlike. I mean, despite all the films, nothing prepares you for what it actually feels like to be there. I just sat down and started sketching out ideas on the spot.

7

Woman:   There they are! At last. I’ve been looking for them everywhere.

Man:   What? Your keys? You’re always losing them.

Woman:   I know, and I really thought I’d lost them for good this time. Thank goodness!

Man:   Why don’t you make sure you put them down in the same place, then you’d have the satisfaction of finding them whenever you wanted them.

Woman:   Maybe. That’s not a bad idea. I’ll think about it.

8

Discover the amazing secrets of the planet Earth in three major recently launched exhibitions: ‘From the Beginning’, ‘Earth’s Treasury’ and ‘Earth Today and Tomorrow’, which form the finest series of exhibitions of their kind in the world. Together they tell Earth’s dramatic story, starting with the birth of the universe, exploring the forces that shape it and the riches within it, concluding with a glimpse into the future and what it might hold for our planet.

9 camping   10 fit (your back)

11 (a) day(-)trip / one-day trips / one day / day(-)trips

12 climb (up)   13 solid/firm bottom / leather base

13 (two) compartment(s)   15 sharp  

16 easy to adjust / easily adjusted / (easily) adjustable

17 falling (off)   18 (air)(-)hole(s) / airholes / ventilation

Audioscript

Announcer:   And now for a few tips for those of you who are going to go walking this summer. Let’s look first of all at the type of bag that you should take with you. Rod Smith works in a shop that sells camping equipment and he feels he has a bag for every type of walking holiday. Rod, does it really make a difference what type of bag you use?

Rod:   Yes, Jill, it certainly does. Bags come in every shape, colour and size now so it makes sense to pick one that is right for your needs. A backpack, for example, could quite rapidly ruin an otherwise good walking holiday if it doesn’t fit your back. In fact the fit is critical but the choice is so large now that it’s difficult to know how to make the right one. So – here are a few things to look for.

First of all size. A bag that holds thirty-five litres and has three outside pockets should be plenty big enough for a day-trip. For a four to five-day walking tour I would recommend a bag that holds seventy litres for a man and fifty to sixty litres for a woman. That’s along with a tent and a sleeping bag. An upright bag – that’s one that closes at the top – is better if you intend to climb a lot of hills.

What about the contents? Well, in order to really avoid the inconvenience of broken containers or crushed clothes, I suggest you go for a bag with a solid bottom. The best ones – but these are probably the most expensive – have a leather base that is particularly resistant to wear and tear. A bag that has two compartments inside will allow you to find things more easily and separate out items such as creams that could leak in hot weather. Extra pockets on the outside of the bag are also useful if you want to carry any tools for climbing that are sharp or get dirty when you use them.

Then you have to think about carrying your bag. If it’s a backpack, a wide, cushioned belt will ease the strain on your back and hips and leave you with more energy for your walking activities. Shoulder straps also help lighten the load and these should be easy to adjust. There are many different types of strap on the market that can be adjusted in various different ways. Try several and compare them. It’s also a good idea to make sure there’s a horizontal bar that goes across your shoulders and stops the straps from falling off.

Well, if you choose your bag carefully and think about some of the things I’ve mentioned, you shouldn’t waste your money. Finally, make sure there are plenty of air holes in the padded part of your bag that touches your body. These are essential to allow sweat to escape and to make your walking or climbing holiday a comfortable one.

19 F   20 B   21 A   22 E   23 C

Audioscript

Speaker 1

I’d requested college accommodation, so when I was offered it I was really pleased. I didn’t fancy having to look after myself … too many other things to do … lessons and homework and going out with friends. I knew what the rules were – in by ten, no noise after nine – and I didn’t mind them at first, but they’ve started to annoy me more and more – and now I can’t wait to get out and be able to do my own thing. I don’t think I’ll be recommending this place to anyone else!

Speaker 2

It’s exciting leaving home and becoming independent. I’ve been staying with some relatives for the past year. I’d stayed with them before so when I knew I was coming here to study they said, why don’t you come and live with us – great. And they’ve been fine – let me do whatever I want and haven’t stuck to rigid meal times and all that sort of thing. So I’ve been able to meet plenty of people and get to know the area and the course and so on. I feel a part of it all now, but I’m always ready to try something different.

Speaker 3

I was pretty calm about coming here, but I couldn’t decide whether to stay with a family or get my own flat. I’d talked to other people, you know, friends who’ve studied away from home before and they all recommended that I should get a flat because you have so much more freedom, so I did that. I’d only been here two weeks and I went out one day and left the front door unlocked. When I got back, I found that my camera had been stolen. I suppose I was lucky it was just that. I’m a bit more careful now.

Speaker 4

My friend Benny and I started the course at the same time. There was never any doubt that we’d share a place. It was the obvious choice for us to make and I think it’s definitely the best option. Of course, you have to think about what you’re going to eat, have some kind of system for cleaning, a few ground rules. We get annoyed with each other at times. Benny smokes and I had to ask him to go outside, which he does now. It hasn’t all been straightforward but overall I prefer the independence this place gives me.

Speaker 5

My sister came here before me and studied at the same college. She told my parents that it would be much better if I stayed with her and then she could look after me, help me settle down here, that kind of thing. So, that’s what happened – nobody asked me what I wanted to do. Well, the truth is we don’t get on badly but I never seem to see the other students that I study with, which is a big disadvantage. I think it’s better to force yourself to find your own way in a new environment.

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

Audioscript

Interviewer:   Tina White, some people describe you as the best magazine editor in the world, and you are only in your thirties. Can you tell us how you started your amazing career?

Tina:   Well, when I was twenty, still at college, I was asked to write a weekly column for a local paper. The paper had wanted me to write about famous people, you know, their wonderful lifestyles, the sort of thing people like to read about. Instead, what I did was to concentrate on people who the general public didn’t know, but who had something original to say.

Interviewer:   And you got away with it! Now at that early stage, your family was important. How far did they influence your career choice?

Tina:   My father was a film producer, and my childhood was spent around international actors and directors, so with such influences, I should have become an actress – something my father would have loved. But no, I chose to be a journalist in spite of the wishes of my family. I think the biggest influence was my school, not so much the people but the materials it gave me access to … the hours and hours spent in the library.

Interviewer:   From being a journalist, you then went on to become an editor. I understand the first magazine you edited, Female Focus, wasn’t much of a success?

Tina:   Well, I was the editor for a year, and then I resigned, mainly because of disagreements with the owners. They were reluctant to change things, because they had faith it would eventually make a profit. But when you think of it, the magazine had been losing millions of pounds a year before I became its editor. When I left, it was still losing money but nothing like as much as previously. Also, when I took over, it was selling around six hundred and fifty thousand copies. That soon increased to eight hundred thousand, so it was certainly an improvement.

Interviewer:   And now you are editing Woman’s World, and you’ve made it the best-selling women’s magazine ever. How do you make people want to read it?

Tina:   For some of my competitors, the most important point is what you put on the cover of your magazine. But the forget faithful readers look beyond that. The real challenge is, how do you encourage a reader to read a serious piece? How are we going to make it an article that people want to read? You have to get their attention. And nothing does that better than a very lively, even shocking, opening line.

Interviewer:   It is said that you work very hard because you don’t trust your employees.

Tina:   That was the case five years ago, when I was appointed. It almost drove me mad. I knew I had the right idea, for example, but I wasn’t able to get it done because I didn’t have the brilliant writers I have now, or the right staff to read all the material when it came in. I had to read everything about six times, and that was awful! It took me four years to put together the team I wanted, and it would be very unfair to say I don’t trust them.

Interviewer:   Do you sometimes worry that you might lose your fame and wealth?

Tina:   Yes, when you work as an editor, you are praised today and criticised tomorrow. Of course it would be difficult to live without all the … well … material comforts I’m used to, but a smaller income is something I think I could cope with. It wouldn’t be the end of the world. Much more serious would be if the people I work with no longer admired my work, and most of all I want it to stay that way.

Interviewer:   And what about the future?

Tina:   Well, people often think I have planned my career very carefully, but in fact lots of things have happened by chance. Lots of opportunities have come my way, and I was once asked to edit a book series. As a youngster, one of my dreams was to be a writer, to write a novel that would become a best-seller and then an award-winning film. Well, it may seem silly, but I still hope that will happen one day.

Interviewer:   Tina, thank you very much for joining us today.