Practice English Listening Test for B2 with answer and audioscript – Test #20

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

Audioscript

1

With literally hundreds of models on the market, it’s tough for people to know where to start looking for a new bike. Customers often ask me, ‘Which bike is best to buy and should I go for the most expensive one?’ But what I think actually matters is what you want to use the bike for; for example, an expensive bike isn’t necessarily the most suitable for doing off-road riding. And similarly, what’s the point in paying out hundreds of dollars on a top-of-the-range racing model with 18 gears, if you’re just gonna take a gentle ride around the park once a week?

2

Man:   I’m off on holiday next week. Can’t wait. I’m going skiing again.

Woman:   Fantastic. I went last month. if skiing trips weren’t quite so expensive, I’d go several times a year.

Man:   I know what you mean. But you do during school holiday time, don’t you? The prices always go up then.

Woman:   True, and the holidays always seem to sell out fast, so I’ve never been able to take advantage of last-minute deals. Mind you, I managed to save myself some money this time by booking accommodation direct, rather than through my usual tour operator’s website. The hotel even threw in lift passes as part of the deal.

Man:   That’s good to know.

3

Hi Catrina, just to let you know I had my interview this morning, for the hotel manager job. It went OK, I think. Well, I was shaking like a leaf before I went in – I don’t know why because I was well prepared – but once I got into the room, I think I replied to everything they asked clearly and confidently, and they seemed satisfied with what I had to say. They said they’d let me know within the next three days, so I’ll just have to wait and see. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. See you soon. Bye.

4

Man:   Wow, what an unforgettable experience!

Woman:   I got loads of photos. Including some of our camels looking really grumpy!

Man:   Luckily, I couldn’t see their faces for most of the ride.

Woman:   Well, camels aren’t exactly known for their friendliness.

Man:   And anyway, Ismail, the guide, made it clear to my camel that he was in charge. He wouldn’t have put up with any nonsense. You know, the sight of the sand dunes and the shapes of desert rocks took my breath away – I hadn’t been prepared for that.

Woman:   I was so pleased we paid extra for the guide to take a different route to the other groups.

Man:   Yes, that was good thinking on your part.

5

The thinking on passwords keeps changing. We once advised people to choose passwords that mixed up words, for example by adding capital letters, numbers and symbols, and to change their password every 90 days. But when people changed their passwords, they made only minimal alterations, so panda1 became panda2, for example. So, passwords like these got easier for cybercriminals to crack. Some people keep a note of their password by inserting it into the middle of what looks like a phone number. That’s something we’re told not to do, but I find it works for me, though the password’s never actually stored on my cellphone.

6

Man:   What’s that building on the skyline there? It’s huge – I bet you can see the whole city from up there.

Woman:   That’s the City Hall. Its nickname is The Icicle, because of all the glass used in its construction. I love going there at sunrise and sunset because the light reflected off the glass is amazing. You can see the river from the top, but you don’t get a panorama of the whole city – the clock tower’s better for that. And The Icicle gets really busy outside, as it’s where a lot of tour groups get dropped off and meet up again.

Man:   OK, thanks.

7

And now a traffic update. I’m pleased to report that traffic is moving smoothly in and around the city centre this afternoon, despite the icy conditions earlier in the day. But for drivers on the motorway, please be aware that traffic is at a standstill in both directions between junctions nine and ten. A lorry carrying tins of paint tipped over onto its side several hours ago. The vehicle has now been removed, but fire crews are in the process of clearing up the spilt load. The police are advising finding alternative routes in the meantime.

8

Man:   Well done, Fliss. That was a great dive.

Woman:   Thanks. I’m always terrified about jumping in backwards.

Man:   Well, we can work on technique. But you’ve clearly listened to my advice about moving underwater. I don’t know if you noticed but you didn’t frighten off the fish because you were going at a much gentler pace. One thing I did spot today was you need to check the needle on your tank. Even though we’re only doing short dives, it’s an important habit to get into, as it’s crucial to be aware of how much air you have left at all times.

Woman:   I’ll try and remember that.

9 stone   10 handles   11 beauty   12 weight   13 lighthouse

14 curved   15 sand   16 self(-)portrait   17 furniture   18 chemist

Audioscript

Hi everyone. I’m Ella and I’d like to tell you about the project I’ve just finished, which was about mirrors. I chose this topic because mirrors have a very long history and are important to us in both art and photography.

Early humans probably looked at their refection in rivers or streams, so you could say the very first mirrors were made of water. The earliest man-made mirrors were cut from stone, and I went to look at some of these at the Ancient Treasures Museum, which was a really exciting way to being my project. Some ancient mirrors were made using a very shiny volcanic glass, which was black, but I didn’t see any of those.

The museum has a room filled with Ancient Egyptian objects, including a collection of mirrors. They were flat, round discs and I had to pick them up wearing gloves to keep them free from scratches. They were made of polished copper and attached to handles, which would have made them easier to use. Despite being 4,900 years old, I could sort of see my face reflected.

Elsewhere in the museum, there were mirrors from Ancient Rome, Japan and China. They must have taken ages to make, as every single one of them had symbols carved on them. I couldn’t decide if these illustrations represented nature, or possibly love, but I later learnt from the museum’s researcher that they symbolise beauty, something that we in the art world are very concerned with.

The researcher lent me a book that contained pictures of early mirrors that have been found in different parts of the Roman Empire. No matter whether they were made from copper, gold or silver, they were really small – less than 20 centimetres in diameter. It occurred to me this must have been due to the cost of the metal, but then I read it was actually a question of weight, which made complete sense.

However, when I did some research online, I discovered that not all mirrors were small, and fragments of much larger mirrors have been uncovered. Although no remains survived from it, written records describe a lighthouse whose large mirror reflected sunlight during the day and a fire at night. This was to signal to ships they were approaching a harbour.

Mirrors made from glass didn’t become widespread till the Middle Ages, from the 5th to the 15th centuries. They still weren’t all that large, the glass had a slight colouring and was also curved, rather than flat like our mirrors today. This was a result of the manufacturing process, and the glass was backed with a sheet of metal.

These glass mirrors were very fragile, and the glass often broke as the hot metal was applied to the back. Even worse, the technique for making glass involved melting sand, but this wasn’t pure enough, and the finished product was a poor reflector.

It wasn’t until the Renaissance in the 15th century, when glass producers in Florence in Italy invented a new process, that modern mirrors started to appear. These mirrors were clearer than anything that had gone before, and were used by artists to enable them to show greater depth and scale in many paintings. And they gave rise to the self-portrait, a form that became incredibly popular.

From the 1700s onwards, mirrors were found in the houses of the wealthy, either on the walls or as portable objects. Round, square and oval mirrors were also added to furniture, and decorated with patterns that matched textiles and floor coverings.

Mirrors today are produced by fixing a thin layer of aluminium to a piece of glass. But this process was actually based on one developed by a chemist. He got his assistant to coat glass with a thin layer of silver in his workshop in Germany in 1835, and this made it possible for mirrors to be produced commercially by factory workers. For the first time in history, ordinary people could afford a mirror.

19 B   20 H   21 G   22 C   23 E

Audioscript

Speaker 1

When I eat out, I usually book places I’ve never eaten at before, especially ones serving international food. For a recent family party, I booked a restaurant that’s only been open a month. What I didn’t realise was that it’s had some fantastic reviews online, and the place was packed out. There was a band playing, and there was lots of noise from the chefs in the kitchen. But, do you know, that’s what made it just right for a celebration dinner, and why I’d recommend it to anyone booking a similar event, even if the prices are a bit higher than elsewhere and the service is a bit slow.

Speaker 2

To celebrate the end of term, my friends and I ate at a fantastic restaurant last week. It’s located in an old bicycle shop, so there are bike wheels hanging on the walls which is a bit different, but otherwise there’s nothing particularly interesting about the place. But we spent half what you’d normally expect to pay and the portion were huge, and it was all fresh, healthy stuff. You order your food at the counter and then they bring it to your table, which some people might find a bit strange for a restaurant. I’m surprised it wasn’t busier, but I’ve added a positive review on social media.

Speaker 3

I recently had a great lunch at a fish restaurant down by the harbour of my town. It took us forever to decide what to eat ‘cos the menu was huge and everything on it was based on traditional recipes from this region. I guess the service was a bit slow, and the chef prepared the wrong starters for us, so it was lucky we weren’t in a real hurry. I think it’s definitely worth a visit though; you can sit outside and enjoy watching the boats go by. Everything we ate was so tasty. I’m sure I’ll go back and try something different next time.

Speaker 4

My family took me to a really smart restaurant for my birthday. It’s quite new and I’d never been there before because it’s the kind of place you’d only go to on special occasions; it’s not cheap to eat there. But the food was beautiful presented, there was so much attention to detail in every single dish. And the head chef came out and spoke to us personally, which I thought was a really nice gesture. Since our visit, he’s been in lots of newspapers and magazines. I’ve heard it’s already harder to get a table as people want to try his food for themselves.

Speaker 5

We had dinner at a popular restaurant in an area of our town where there are lots of narrow streets with really interesting old houses. The head chef trained at a top hotel in the Caribbean and everything on the menu was seafood, which is my favourite. Throughout our meal the waiting staff couldn’t do enough for us – basically nothing was too much trouble – so that’s why I’d encourage you to go. Unfortunately, there happened to be some noise people at the table next to us, which was really annoying, so we asked to move and we were given a different table.

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

Audioscript

Interviewer:   Today, I’m thrilled to welcome best-selling author Eddy Carlton, who’s back in the UK promoting his new novel. Before we talk about your novel, Eddy, I’m sure our listeners would love to know why you left Scotland and moved to Spain where you bought a fruit farm.

Eddy:   Well, my farm’s in Southern Spain, in a beautiful valley where people have been farming for centuries. A couple of years ago, I was there looking for background information for a novel and I walked past a picture of the farmhouse in an estate agent’s window. It was love at first sight! I knew I had to buy it. It wasn’t cheap, but I had enough income from the sale of my books, and I’d grown up on a farm, so I knew a bit about how to run an agricultural business.

Interviewer:   Fantastic. So you bought the farm, moved in, and then what?

Eddy:   Well, the day we moved in there was a tremendous storm, which I knew happens there sometimes, but which I’d never experienced in my life before. Luckily, the heating was working and we had enough food, so we stayed indoors for a few days. When we finally came out and were able to make a tour of the orange trees, we noticed that many of them were diseased and had to be cut down. It’s taken a good few years to get to the stage of producing enough good fruit to sell.

Interviewer:   And how were you received by the locals?

Eddy:   Everyone was really welcoming. None of them knew who I was, so I wasn’t given any special treatment, which was a relief. I think they thought I was a bit mad going out into the midday sun to work, but they kept their thoughts to themselves. They were willing, however, to give me plenty of guidance on how to look after orange trees. It proved invaluable to learn from their experience of running their own orange farms.

Interviewer:   I’m amazed you had time to carry on writing, with so much to do on the farm.

Eddy:   Well, both sides of my life are of equal significance to me. I don’t think I could give up either. In Scotland, I used to stare out the window for hours, desperately searching for inspiration, but now, I only have to glance up at the sky or take a quick walk through the trees and the ideas start to flow. Having said that, I’m yet to base any of my novels in Spain. I don’t know why.

Interviewer:   So, how’s the orange farm doing now?

Eddy:   We’re producing plenty, and luckily I sell everything I grow to a local co-operative. There are plenty of students around to help with the picking, and I’ve had loads of family and friends come over for a free holiday in exchange for doing some work. There’s less demand for oranges in some markets – shoppers are tending to go for smaller, more tropical fruit – so that might mean I won’t do so well in the future.

Interviewer:   You mentioned the area where you live has been inhabited for a long time.

Eddy:   That’s right. Since the Romans settled there and built a military base, a theatre and baths. You’d expect the place to be crowded with tourists, but hardly anyone goes sightseeing there. The remains are everywhere, but you have to look hard to find them. Perhaps I shouldn’t say this, but I’m not sure I’d appreciate seeing hotels being built in our lovely valley.

Interviewer:   Quite. So are there any other plans for the farm?

Eddy:   Well, I won’t be able to carry on doing this forever, and I’m delighted my sons and their families have agreed to come over and share the running of the farm. These are a couple of cottages on the estate, so I’ll move into one and they’re going to have the main farmhouse. I’m having discussions with a neighbour to see if I can buy some of his land and that’ll mean we can start growing other things.

Interviewer:   Fantastic. So, your new novel …