Practice English Listening Test for B2 with answer and audioscript – Test #18

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

Audioscript

1

It wasn’t my ambition to be a newsreader, I just happened to be offered a presenting job after being a correspondent for a daily paper for 13 years. I’d say that, before anyone can sit in a studio and present news, it’s essential to build up practical experience of researching a story and preparing a piece on it. Of course, you need to be able to present in a clear and professional way, but the main job’s about journalism. Some people think because I read the news at 11 o’clock at night, I turn up for work at 10.30, but hours of writing and editing go into the late night broadcasts.

2

Woman:   You’ve been going surfing for ages, Ben, haven’t you?

Man:   Yes, it must be over ten years. I went to a surf school to learn how to do it properly.

Woman:   Sensible. In theory, standing on a board should be simple, but in reality it’s really tough. When I watch surfers at the beach, the main thing I notice is how often they end up failing into the water.

Man:   Don’t laugh. That’s me quite a lot of the time too. It’s incredibly hard to keep upright, but it’s worth it for the excitement you get when you do finally catch a big wave.

3

I work as a nurse at a health clinic and I find my job really satisfying. But it’s such a shame that a lot of patients who come to me are suffering from things that are entirely preventable. If only they would adopt a more sensible approach to healthy eating and exercise. I mean, we all have to look after ourselves, don’t we? Of course, it’s really rewarding when I can make a difference to people’s lives. And I like it that I get to meet all kinds of people of all ages and with a variety of medical conditions.

4

Allpower is a brand new educational game for children of all ages. It began as a collection of classroom quizzes that were entertaining and educationally beneficial, but the new app goes beyond that. Parents, teachers and classmates can now enter quizzes on the Allpower app, and either share these or set permissions for a group. There’s a team mode for group quizzes, a single player mode, and it’s possible for anyone to select quizzes created by others. Creating a quiz is straightforward, and students stay focused and are constantly challenged with new questions.

5

Man 1:   When I think of the fishing trips we’ve been on – day time, night time, sea fishing, river fishing – I think I’ve enjoyed every single one of them. Even when there are no fish around all day.

Man 2:   Absolutely. Or even when the weather’s cold or rainy, I hardly notice it.

Man 1:   Yes, that moment, when you’re standing in the shallow water, out in the open air and without a care in the world. It’s just the best feeling there is.

Man 2:   Yeah, for me, it’s essentially about getting outside and being able to enjoy nature.

6

Man:   I’m so glad the roadworks around the town have come to an end. The queues of cars aren’t nearly as long as they have been recently.

Woman:   Yes. The thing is, though, there’s a road I have to drive along sometimes that’s now closed to private vehicles. So I have to find an alternate route that takes me out of my way. And it’s not like I can catch a bus instead.

Man:   Oh dear, that’s not good. In general though, it was time for them to put in special lanes for buses.

Woman:   Yes, people do need to leave their cars at home and use forms of public transport.

7

Do you ever feel you should be getting more sleep? Do you ever wonder why we need to sleep? Sleep is certainly a common topic of discussion nowadays. A brand new documentary explores this topic that has preoccupied scientists for centuries and offers clues as to why we need to sleep. The presenter is a doctor who suffers from a lack of sleep himself. He explains recent research findings that sleep doesn’t just help the cells in the body to recover. It also clears our mind of information we no longer need and supports learning and memory. So that’s The facts about sleep, next Tuesday at 8.30pm.

8

Man:   I recently ordered a set of graphic novels for my class, but, do you know, I had to justify to my head-teacher why I needed them. When I explained that I was basing the term’s literature, history, art and drama projects on this one book, my request was approved straightaway. That’s why I think they’re so good to have in class. It’s funny that some people look down on them.

Woman:   I know. Most of my pupils love reading cartoons, and when I gave them some graphic novels to read for the first time, they absolutely loved them.

Man:   I read graphic novels myself sometimes.

9 documentary   10 ice   11 tree   12 rain(fall)   13 hand(-)picked

14 temperature   15 honey   16 instant   17 energy   18 ceremony

Audioscript

Hi, I’m Sam, and I’ve been finding out about tea. The history of tea-drinking dates back nearly 5,000 years, when it was discovered by a Chinese Emperor. It’s said he discovered the drink when tea leaves accidentally blew into his pot of boiling water.

Today, tea is one of the most popular drinks in the world, and I found out loads about its history online. There are millions of internet articles on tea and I didn’t know where to begin, but luckily I came across a documentary that covered everything I wanted to know about tea’s origins. There are books about tea for sale, but I didn’t buy any of those.

Tea’s been drunk in South-east Asia for centuries, but it didn’t really reach Europe till the late-1500s. The reason why it’s remained popular is the number of varieties – around fifteen hundred – and also the way it’s served has evolved to suit consumers. In 1904, a tea merchant in the USA, who couldn’t sell his product in the hot weather, put ice in tea, to produce a more refreshing drink than hot tea with milk.

Tea comes from the Camellia Sinensis plant. The drink is generally made with the dried leaves, though the flowers or flower buds may be used. We’ve probably all seen pictures of a tea bush, but what I hadn’t realised was that tea’s actually a tree. It can grow to 17 metres high, but the plant is cut to waist-height to make the leaves easier to pick.

Tea grows best in mountain areas, at least 1,000 metres above sea level, though there are exceptions. For example, the Portuguese Azores Islands, an island off the coast of South Carolina USA, and the far South-west of the UK. Wherever it’s cultivated, it’s true to say there must be a lot of rainfall for the plants to grow well. Rich soil and sunshine are much less important.

There are four main types of tea plant: green, black, white and what’s known as oolong. But the huge variety of aromas, flavours, and colours that tea comes in is determined by how it’s processed. However, it’s probably true to say the leaves have to be hand picked in order to obtain the highest quality product.

So, how to make the best cup of tea! Firstly, I recommend using an electric kettle or saucepan to boil the water. Some people use microwaves, but I think it’s harder to control the water temperature in them and you risk damaging the flavour of the tea. Some people say water quality matters, but I think you can make a great cup of tea with water from anywhere.

Next, the all-important question of whether to add anything to your tea. Here in Britain, most people add milk or lemon to their tea. Fewer people here put sugar in their tea nowadays, but have you ever tried it with honey, I wonder? It’s worth giving it a go, as it’s a lovely flavour combination.

Experts say you should always use loose tea, not teabags, though personally I find teabags convenient. As for instant tea, there’s no way I’d drink that – the list of ingredients on the label puts me off. There’s also canned tea – if you haven’t seen it before, it comes in tins or cartons. It’s a nice drink, but I wouldn’t call it proper tea.

Some people say tea has many health benefits. Some people insist green tea is good for controlling their weight, and my aunt claims tea gives her more energy. Given that tea contains caffeine, that’s almost certainly true. Whether tea reduces blood pressure or the risk of other diseases, I don’t know, but compared to fizzy drinks, it seems a healthy choice.

Now I’ve completed this project, I’m keen to learn more about tea culture. Obviously I live nowhere near China or India, so visiting a tea plantation is out of the question. However, someone at a café told me about a place where you can watch a traditional tea ceremony, which is something I’d definitely love to do one day.

19 B   20 D   21 G   22 A   23 F

Audioscript

Speaker 1

I first got into astronomy in a big way when I heard a radio advert for a company that was offering an online preparation course leading to a qualification in astronomy. It was just the kind of thing I needed – something serious to keep my mind active. I don’t know how many other people were on the course, but the tutors were great, always so enthusiastic about the subject. I’ve never actually met a proper astronomer, but I do enjoy looking at the stars. In some countries I’ve been to, the levels of pollution are so low that, at night-time, galaxies millions of kilometres away are visible through a telescope.

Speaker 2

My local university runs something called a dark skies project, which is where ordinary members of the public are encouraged to look at the sky at night. They then compare what they witness with a ‘star map’ produced by astronomers for that part of the night sky. People upload their observations to a website, and everyone comments on them. I really liked the idea of blogging, so that’s how come I joined. And my interest in astronomy grew from there, really. I’m looking forward to discovering a new star one day and telling my friends on the blog about it.

Speaker 3

I came to astronomy by accident when I watched a science-fiction film about black holes for a project we were doing at school. What started my fascination with everything to do with astronomy was that I realised it asks the biggest questions of all: ‘What’s the universe made of?’ and ‘Is there any other life out there?’ But more than that, I realised that if you can answer some of those questions, it will provide solutions to problems we face here on our planet. Of course, I knew I could never come up with those answers myself, but I wanted to keep up with what professional astronomers are working on.

Speaker 4

My grandfather had a telescope and when we went to stay with him, he’d make us look through it while he explained how far away the stars were, and how long it took for light to travel from the stars to Earth, and so on. As a child, I didn’t take any of it in. I didn’t come back to astronomy ‘til I became a teacher. I took my class to a space centre and they were so excited by everything they saw and read. And I thought, actually they’re right: astronomy is a fantastic subject, and I’ve been reading about it ever since.

Speaker 5

I’ve been interested in astronomy for a few years. I go away a lot for work and rarely have time for hobbies. But then I got the idea that I would be able o combine astronomy with my business trips. It actually started with a camping trip I went on with friends. As soon as the sun went down, it was so dark, you couldn’t see your hands in front of your face. So we just sat there staring at the sky, gazing at the patterns made by billions of stars. Fantastic! I’ve tried to get my daughter involved in my hobby as well. She even has her own telescope.

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

Audioscript

Interviewer:   Today I’m talking to Natasha Green, who’s an archaeologist. Welcome Natasha. Could I start by asking what made you want be an archaeologist?

Natasha:   I was interested in the dinosaur remains that were being dug up in Australia when I was growing up there, though none of them were discovered near where I lived. But my aunt and uncle, who loved the outdoors, took me on a camping trip and I came across a stone tool that looked fascinating. It turned out to be 80,000 years old, and archaeologists got really excited about it because it suggested people had been in Australia longer than previously thought. From that day on, there was only one career for me.

Interviewer:   You have a special interest in the archaeology of the Sahara Desert. What’s it like digging there?

Natasha:   It’s not everyone’s dream to spend the summer vacation working in the baking sun in temperatures of over 40 degrees – my friends think I’m mad – but I love the desert. There are places where you can dig almost anywhere and be guaranteed of finding something. Sometimes it drives me mad because I just don’t know where to investigate next. But I find the desert beautiful, especially at night-time when it’s cooler and so quiet.

Interviewer:   What kind of preparation goes into a new dig? Presumably you want to know whether another archaeologist has already dug there before.

Natasha:   Well, that doesn’t require too much effort to find out. There are written records for digs going back over 100 years. When I’m on a project and someone digs something up out of the ground, it’s important that I can immediately identify what it is. That way, the other archaeologists assisting me know what to do with the object – how to process it, as we say – in order to keep it in the best possible condition.

Interviewer:   So, what particular skills would you say an archaeologist needs?

Natasha:   I don’t imagine anyone would be surprised to hear me say IT knowledge is vital, as that’s the case in most research type jobs. What’s less widely known is that we still produce drawings of every site as a way to record where we find the objects. If you’re on a dig, you have to be able to take your turn at doing that. Depending where your archaeological project is taking place in the world, you may need to be able to speak a foreign language, but I suppose that’s self-evident, really.

Interviewer:   Can children get involved in archaeology?

Natasha:   Absolutely. It’s a great way for even very young children to start learning about the past. Even if you don’t have archaeological sites near you, all libraries have archaeology books for youngsters. There are also lots of websites on the subject for kids, too. I’d encourage anyone, young or old, to learn all about this fascinating subject. Maybe there’s a dig in your area you could go and see, but health and safety regulations mean they couldn’t let you join in just like that.

Interviewer:   What should people do if they find something in the ground that looks very old?

Natasha:   Well, not just keep it for themselves, definitely. Objects from the past are part our shared culture, so they need to be examined carefully by a specialist and put on display for the public to see. It makes me furious to hear stories of people not taking things they find to a museum.

Interviewer:   Do you think there’ll be less need for archaeologists in the future? After all, so much about the past is already known.

Natasha:   There are layers and layers of the past beneath our feet that haven’t yet been discovered. Every city construction site has to be investigated by archaeologists to see what ancient remains are there, and that’ll carry on. Remains that are open to the public are exposed to weather and pollution. This means we’re going to have to devote more effort to making sure they stay in the best possible condition, to preserve them for future generations.

Interviewer:   Natasha, thanks …