Practice English Listening Test for B2 with answer and audioscript – Test #21

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

Audioscript

1

Man:   I didn’t want to go to university, so when I finished school, I went and got a job. My parents said if I was in full-time education, they’d give me an allowance, but if not, I’d have to work. So, I got a job in a big store in the menswear department … Actually, I think I had to go and find out what I could do because in school I wasn’t particularly brilliant, so, when it came to doing work, I think I had to prove a lot of people wrong. So I really felt like doing it … even though it was just selling socks in Harridges.

2

Man:   The Hilton Dance Company have been at the Camden Theatre for almost a month now, offering us a wonderful programme of mainly modern dances. The company have just celebrated their twentieth year of performances all over the world! But this week they’ll be taking a break from dancing, to give us an idea of how a dance company works. Top dancer and company manager Lisa West will be in the theatre telling us about the company’s work, but all the dancers will be there too, so it’s also your opportunity for a get-together! And, of course, you don’t need to have any experience of dance for this …

3

Woman:   I tell you, we were dead lucky! He could have done some serious damage if we hadn’t reacted so quickly.

Man:   What did he do – just school straight out without looking?

Woman:   Yeah. Clare yelled something at me and I just slammed on the brakes.

Man:   Did he stop?

Woman:   You’re joking! Just blasted his horn at us and carried on.

Man:   And there was nobody behind you?

Woman:   No, fortunately, otherwise who knows what might have happened.

Man:   You were lucky. That road’s always busy.

4

Woman:   The research for a major wildlife TV series can take up to a year, followed by about two years filming, with four or five camera teams around the world at any one time. Finding the right stories to film is only half the job. The other half is finding the right location and then going out to help the camera-person film it. This can be difficult – you have to make sure you’re in the right place at the right time. So good planning is essential. We spend a lot of time on the phone beforehand, getting advice from local experts.

5

Man:   This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever visited and believe me, in my career as a travel writer, I’ve seen some fabulous scenes. From the deck of this small sailing boat, I have a wonderful view out over a short expanse of sparkling blue water to the white houses of the village on the left, and then to the wooded hillsides behind, which climb up to the snow-covered mountain peaks surrounding this lovely valley. By the water’s edge, people are visiting in the late evening sun enjoying a leisurely meal of fresh fish, caught in these waters only a few hours ago. It’s heaven!

6

Woman:   Giving me my money back isn’t the point. My son needs to practise for an important match, but at the moment his table is lying in bits on the floor. When I bought it, I was assured that it would only take a matter of moments to screw the different parts in place, but the instructions don’t make sense. Since I paid so much for it, I think it’s only fair to ask for some hands-on help from you in getting it into a usable state. My son is impatient for a game on his new table!

7

Interviewer:   Helen, was this business always a dream of yours?

Woman:   No, not really, it developed from what we used to do, build fishing boats.

Interviewer:   How long have you been in business?

Woman:   About eight years, first we built the marina, then we bought boats to rent out for cruising holidays! It’s going well.

Interviewer:   How many boats do you have? During the summer I bet you’re pretty busy?

Woman:   Yes, people use them like caravans really, they go up river for their holidays and then bring them back to the moorings here for us to prepare for the next client …

8

Man:   This is a really delicious part – plenty to get your teeth into, some very good speeches, a lot of changed of mood. There’s lots for the audience to identify with too, so it all goes to make my job more rewarding. The fact that this is a revival means I also have the challenge of putting my own stamp on a role. The original performance, by the man who created the part some twenty years ago, will still be in the mind of some members of the audience. I couldn’t ask for more.

9 tunnels   10 space (and) fresh air   11 Wales

12 climbing   13 hat   14 lamp   15 boots   16 all ages

17 special interest   18 competitions

Audioscript

Interviewer:   In the studio with me today, I have Mike Reynolds who’s what is known as a caver. In other words, he spends long periods of time exploring underground caves for pleasure. And Mike’s here to tell us all about this fascinating hobby and how to get started on it. So Mike, why caves?

Mike:   Well, cavers actually explore any space that’s underground whether it’s caves, old mines or tunnels.

Interviewer:   Oh right. So how big are these underground spaces?

Mike:   Oh – anything up to 80 kilometres long … which means that, in some cases, in order to reach the end you’ve got to sleep, to set up camp, inside the cave at some point – usually where both space and fresh air are available.

Interviewer:   No good if you’re afraid of dark.

Mike:   No.

Interviewer:   So, where do you find the best caves?

Mike:   In terms of countries, the best places are, for example, Ireland, Australia and the Philippines. Here in the UK, various areas have the right sort of geology. My favourite is Wales, but you can find plenty of caves in northern England and in Scotland too.

Interviewer:   Caving involves a lot of physical exercise, doesn’t it?

Mike:   That’s right … in terms of physical activity, it’s very similar to climbing except they go up and we go down. The conditions can be very different though … we often find ourselves facing very small gaps in the rock which we have to crawl through on our hands and knees.

Interviewer:   So the right equipment is obviously very important. If I wanted to start out on a hobby like this, what would I need?

Mike:   Well, you’d need a hard hat, and it’s important to get one that flits properly, so that it doesn’t keep falling over your eyes or feel too tight, and these can cost anything from five to twenty pounds.

Interviewer:   Umm … that doesn’t sound too much for starters.

Mike:   Oh, but then there’s the lamp. You wear that on your head because it’s very important to keep your hands free at all times. But it doesn’t come with the hat and it can cost anything up to fifty pounds to get a suitable one.

Interviewer:   I guess warm clothes are a must too?

Mike:   You’ll need to spend thirty to forty pounds on a waterproof suit because the caves can be pretty wet and cold inside and you can get ill if you’re not protected. Then, of course, the thing that you really need to spend money on is something for your feet that keeps the water out. Strong boots are essential for this, also because without them you could be slipping on wet surfaces and doing yourself an injury. Cheap ones are just not as safe, I’m afraid.

Interviewer:   It sounds pretty tough. I mean is it really only a sport for the young and fit?

Mike:   That’s quite interesting because people tend to think that, but in fact cavers come from all ages and backgrounds – students and professionals alike. You even find eighty-year-olds who’ve been doing it for years.

Interviewer:   What exactly is it that people find so attractive?

Mike:   It’s excitement … the pleasure you get in finding something new – a passage that nobody knew about before or a piece of rock that’s just lovely to look at.

Interviewer:   And I understand that conservation has become a key issue as well?

Mike:   Yes. Forty-eight caves in Britain are now known as ‘places of special interest’ because of what they contain and this is the same in other countries too.

Interviewer:   So do cavers enjoy competing, like in other sports?

Mike:   No. We want to enjoy a safe sport and, in order to ensure that, there are no competitions in caving. We try to organise a range of events, but the emphasis is on co-operation and the enjoyment of the sport for what it can offer the individual.

Interviewer:   Well, it sounds like something I’ll have to try one day. Mike, thank you very much for coming in and sharing …

19 C   20 D   21 B   22 F   23 A

Audioscript

Speaker 1

Man:   I deal with anything to do with entertainment on board, and that covers guest lecturers, cabaret artists, the show company and any special nights. I have to plan each cruise with all the performers and then introduce them at the beginning of the show. There’s never a dull moment and if I want time to myself, I have to escape to my cabin because a huge part of my job is to mix with people. There are often parties to attend … and then, sometimes, dance nights to organise. So, if I’m not in the shows, I’ll be out there dancing with the passengers, because that’s part of my job too.

Speaker 2

Woman:   I’m in charge of reception at the Health and Fitness Centre, so I greet passengers and organise their individual fitness programmes and beauty treatments. I wouldn’t say it was glamorous because it’s very hard work, but the rewards for me are meeting really interesting people, and the system of working. We do eight-month contracts, and once you’ve finished, it’s up to you how much time you have off. Then you renew your contract when you’re ready. I like working on a contract basis; I don’t like to feel as if I’m stuck somewhere. At home, everyone follows the same nine-to-five pattern. Here, time just has a different meaning.

Speaker 3

Man:   I’m responsible for the safety of the passengers. That means that, apart from keeping an eye on things on a day-to-day basis, I have to make sure that passengers can be safety evacuated if there’s an emergency. So, I do a lot of staff training, to make sure each member of staff knows exactly what to do if there’s a problem … and, of course, we do emergency drills with the passengers. In theory, I’m on call for twenty-hour hours a day, but, in fact, I’m generally on duty for about fifteen so I do get the chance to socialise a bit too. When we’re in port, though, I get the whole time off.

Speaker 4

Woman:   There are six photographers here, and we take photos of passengers in various locations on the ship. My main role, though, is to develop and print all the passenger film so I’m less in evidence socially. We don’t have set hours because every cruise programme is different and, because I print the photos, I frequently carry on working until six in the morning – getting them ready for the next day. It’s quite exciting. People like having their pictures taken with the captain, and we also do quite a few shots in the restaurant and on party nights, but – generally – people come to us with their own requests.

Speaker 5

Man:   I’m in charge of all the restaurants on board. So, menus, costings and the quality of food, plus any staff issues – it’s all down to me, I love all that even if the paperwork and accounts can be a bit dull sometimes. But I’ve worked for this company for nearly 24 years, and I haven’t regretted it for one minute. Even though we can’t choose where we go, we can put in requests for certain cruises. So, normally, I do four months away and then two months’ leave. Where else could you get a job like that and get paid for it? You miss your friends and family, but you don’t get time to think about it.

24 NO   25 YES   26 NO   27 YES   28 NO   29 YES   30 NO

Audioscript

Interviewer:   Today we’re talking about the advertising of toys. With me I have Anna Thompson, a member of an environmental group and mother of three, David wheeler, father of two and manager of a marketing company, and Jim East here is an Advertising Standards Officer who makes the rules about television advertising in Britain. Anna, first, your group has been asking people to stop and think before they go out and buy more toys.

Anna:   Yes, parents are under more and more pressure to buy the latest toy for their child and we feel that television advertising is at fault. A lot of it is targeted at children of maybe five or six. There’s evidence that these children don’t distinguish between the advertisements and the programmes so they enjoy the pictures and the stories and then of course they want the product.

Interviewer:   Do you think though that today’s children are any different from children ten, twenty, even thirty years ago?

Anna:   If you look at the kind of top toys, you’ll find that 20, 30 years ago the same toys would run over two, three or four years and now you’ll find that there are lots of new ones each year. We’re talking about the way new things are pushed at kids, every five minutes practically.

David:   Can I just come in there and say that advertising on British television by toy manufacturers to kids is actually decreasing and it has been for the last six years.

Anna:   But spending on advertising has increased – the advertisements which do appear are much more sophisticated and have had more money spent on them.

David:   But for a toy manufacturer to keep its share of the market, it has to do just that. Traditional toys are having a hard time now from all the other things aimed at kids – competition from videos, computer games and the rest. What used to be spent on toys now has to be shared with all these newer and probably more exciting products.

Interviewer:   Jim, what are the rules governing the advertising of toys to children in Britain?

Jim:   OK, very briefly, advertisers are not allowed to say, “go and ask your parents for this product”. What they show in terms of the product itself has to reflect what the product can actually do. It mustn’t do magical things on television that it can’t do in real life.

Interviewer:   I’m a mother of four small children myself and what I wonder when I watch the advertisements is how they can show something which I know is tiny and plasticky but it’s shot in such a way – the camerawork and the lighting and stuff – that it looks very attractive. Are they allowed, those sorts of advertisements?

Jim:   Well, in toy advertisements, unlike for other products, advertisers are obliged to show some kind of familiar item that kids will recognise and put it next to the toy so that you can tell how big it really is. Advertisers can, though, show their products in the best light as long as it’s not actually misleading.

Interviewer:   How about if toy advertisements weren’t allowed until after 8pm, when most children are in bed. What difference would that make? David?

David:   Well, very little, I’d say. For a start 8pm isn’t significant: a quarter of all children’s viewing takes place after that time, even some of the young children, four to sevens, are watching then. But, really why shouldn’t the kids see the adverts?

Anna:   Because advertising is teaching kids that they can use something a few times and then throw it away. It doesn’t do them any good and it certainly doesn’t do the planet any good.

Jim:   I have to say that we deal with all the complaints about toy advertising on television and we get a handful each year. The research we’ve done indicates that the majority of people find toy advertising acceptable.

Interviewer:   Well, we have to leave it there, so thank you.