Practice English Listening Test for B2 with answer and audioscript – Test #46

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

Audioscript

1

I started this business with a really small budget. I tried to run it really economically, using the money I’d saved over the years and I chose to sell my products in quality stores for the first year before approaching the supermarkets. Then my business suddenly took off and I knew if I wanted to continue to grow, I really needed to make a series of TV advertisements and that required more money than I personally had. Someone my mother knew offered to help me out, which was really lucky because I’d tried applying to the bank for a loan but the interest rates were too high.

2

Well I thought it was pretty uncomfortable, really. We had to be on board half an hour before we set off – I’ve no idea why – and then didn’t stop at a service station for four hours. Four hours, can you imagine? We couldn’t even get up to stretch our legs. We were just stuck in our seats, and when we did eventually stop, it was a rush to find a snack and a drink before we had to get on again. But it was cheap, and the new bridge means you don’t have to take those awful ferries, which is definitely a bonus!

3

It’ll be great, you’ll see! We won’t just be stuck in one place, we’ll be able to go on day trips wherever we want, and see all sorts of interesting sights. We won’t be rushing to catch the bus to work every morning – we’ll actually have time to sit down and have breakfast together – it seems a shame that we only have time to do things like that when we’re away on holiday. Fancy having to leave the country to have a relaxed breakfast! I know it’s expensive, but I definitely think it’ll be worth it. And when you pass, you’ll get the benefit too!

4

Man:   That was a good lecture, wasn’t it?

Woman:   Yeah, not bad – I just wish the course was a bit more challenging sometimes.

Man:   Do you? I find it quite hard enough already, actually!

Woman:   Well, at the beginning of term, I thought it was going to be great, you know, and looking into it all in more depth would be fascinating … but now I’m not so sure.

Man:   So do you think you might do something else instead next year?

Woman:   No, I’ll definitely carry on – I am learning and I need the qualification, even if it’s just so I can go on to do something a bit more relevant later on!

5

My roller derby skats are the most expensive footwear I’ve ever owned. It’s a tough, physical game, and I think that’s been the most astonishing thing for friends to understand, when I tell them which sport I’ve taken up. They’re always amazed when they see me too, as our team races against another one around a track at incredible speed. It’s thrilling – a great way of just leaving all my worries behind for a few hours. But of course body protection like a big helmet and knee pads are essential, so I admit I must be pretty unrecognisable like that – especially since in my daily life I look so ordinary!

6

I’m sure it’ll be popular, especially with sporty types. There’s a lot of swimming gear on display – it’s fascinating to see how different types of swimwear can affect a swimmer’s performance. It actually made me want to get out there and do something active myself! You can book tickets online, and it’s open seven days a week. And of course once you’re in the building, there are all the permanent collections to look at too, if you want to. So whether you’re like me and a bit of a couch potato, or fit and into exercise already, go and have a look!

7

Man:   So did you like working with the little kids, reading with them and everything? The books we chose for them from our library went down a storm, didn’t they? Especially the bits we read out loud.

Woman:   Yeah, though I wondered if the really little ones could hear properly – it’s such a big space. It was good fun, though …

Man:   Like when we started giving away the gifts we’d brought them.

Woman:   It’s a pity the weather wasn’t good – we should’ve been out in the sunshine. That room’s meant to hold the whole school – about six hundred kids …

Man:   Well, at least we got out to play football with them in the break …

8

Well, I enjoy playing her because she’s so complex. She can be really sharp-tongued and gives brilliant one-liners. I wish I could do that! She’s a clever lady but I wouldn’t want to spend my time jetting all over the world like she does. I think it’s really important to understand the character you’re playing, you know, to try and get inside the character’s head, so I’ve invented a whole backstory for her. I’m sure that at some point in the future she’ll have a romance. Then you’d see a different side to her.

9 teacher   10 3,000 / three thousand   11 travel writer

12 airports   13 passengers   14 science   15 controls

16 monitor   17 report   18 night

Audioscript

Hello everyone. My name’s Gina Purvis and I work as a pilot for a commercial airline. I’m going to tell you about my career. When I was about ten, I dreamt of being a flight attendant. Then the dream moved on to being a vet and working with animals, which actually I’d have hated because I hate seeing animals in pain. In fact, after school I went to train as a teacher and after I qualified I worked for a few years, but not with any great enthusiasm I must say. So how did I get started with flying?

Well, my mum bought me some flying lessons for a birthday present and I loved it from the start. I’ve been a commercial pilot for ten years now, and captain for the last five. The airline I work for demands that pilots have a minimum of three hundred flying hours experience initially, and to be eligible to become a captain, it’s three thousand hours.

At the moment, I’m flying people to their holiday destinations around the Mediterranean. Some people aske me if my work interferes with my private life and friends outside work can struggle to understand why I’m not available on Friday or Saturday nights. It really helps that I’m married to a travel writer, who understands the air industry. Other pilots, whose partners are bank managers and things like that, find it hard. And we don’t have any children so it all works, somehow.

Now, before I take off, I have to consult the ‘Notices to Pilots’, as they’re called. That gives me news of airports having any problems. For example, one of the runways at London Gatwick is having work done at the moment. I also have to do some calculations to work out the weight of the plane, plus crates of cargo and the number of passengers. Then I put that with the route into a computer, plus the alternatives in case we get diverted, and the computer comes up with how much fuel we’ll need. But, often at the last minute, we get notification of some more passengers so that requires a further calculation and more fuel.

I’m often asked if I have a degree in maths as I need to do so many calculations, but I haven’t. Like me, most of my colleagues have studied science at university. You do need to have a good head for figures, though. I often think it would have been good to study people management, too.

The interior of the cockpit, where I and my co-pilot sit, is quite small and cramped. There’s a practical reason for that – we need to be able to reach the controls, just in case one of us falls ill. But there’s space to put our jackets in the cupboard at the back. Everything we need is more or less reachable without having to stand up.

I can’t really move around during the flight. We used to have to get up to open the door if one of the cabin crew wanted to come in but now we can do that electronically. And we can see on a monitor who’s at the door to the cockpit or the cabin behind.

Before I take off, I just need to check if there are any small defects on the plane. I receive a report of anything I need to be aware of, in which case I call for assistance. It can be just a little thing like a broken ice chiller in the front cabin and, if there are no real problems then we’re ready for the people to come on board.

I’ve visited some wonderful places. What I like best, though, is flying at night. If the skies are clear, you can have stars above you and the lights of cities below you. And then there’s the moonlight on the mountains. It’s magical.

So, if you have any questions …

19 D   20 B   21 G   22 C   23 E

Audioscript

Speaker 1

My tour of the Highlands was just fantastic, and a great way to start off my year studying in Scotland. I swam in a freezing lake – stopped at the ruins of a medieval castle and chatted with the tour guide all the way home on the bus. He was a great character, really friendly, and took his responsibilities seriously. I learnt a lot, and without him, I wouldn’t have had half as much fun. There’s little doubt in my mind that I’ll be returning there someday – they were some of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in my life.

Speaker 2

It was the first time I’d set foot in mainland Europe, and in reality it was my first experience of real travel. I wasn’t exactly prepared for the big city – for example I walked half a day to one of the main sights because I hadn’t thought of using public transport. That’s why it’s one place I genuinely want to go back to but next time with friends and I’d take in some nights I may have missed. The trip does have one up on many of the other cities and countries that I’ve visited since, as it was the first time I’d realised how amazing travelling can be.

Speaker 3

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed when I arrived in the city, partly because at the time it reminded me of every other major European city I’d seen, and partly because I was sharing a room in a youth hostel with five girls I didn’t know who talked and laughed until the early hours. Looking back on it now, I realise I judged the city a bit too harshly. I actually had a great time riding the double-decker tour bus around during the day, and eating at little local restaurants in the evening. I also met some interesting people, and I might go back and stay with one of them.

Speaker 4

My trip to London was spent with two buddies from high school; one who was studying in Holland, and one who was actually studying in London. It may not seem all that significant, but if you’d asked any of the three of us when we were back in high school what we’d be doing in the future, I seriously doubt any of us would’ve said meeting up in London while studying abroad. I think you see another side of you friends if you travel together, and we all feel even closer to each other than before. I’m sure we’ll all go back one day.

Speaker 5

I went to the capital twice, and the second time was with my family when they came over to visit towards the end of my second term. It was great, because my family paid for me to do everything that I was too poor to do the first time around. But more importantly, I was happy to be able to enjoy my travels with the people that mean the most to me. My parents had never been to the capital before, so were happy to visit all the main sights during the day and wander around soaking up the atmosphere in the evenings.

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

Audioscript

Interviewer:   We are very pleased to welcome the violinist and conductor Jarrold Harding, who has come to tell us about how he began his career as a musician.

Jarrold:   Hello.

Interviewer:   Well first of all, Jarrold, how did your interest in music begin?

Jarrold:   My father was a violinist in an orchestra, and from an early age I would go with him when they were rehearsing for concerts. I would sit with the violinists, and listen. I learned a lot, and everyone was very kind to me. I actually composed my first piece of music for the violin when I was six years old. My father treasured it!

Interviewer:   And when did you start playing in public?

Jarrold:   When I was around eight years old, my father started playing in a small orchestra at a holiday resort in the summer. All the family went with him – it was on the coast, and that way we had a break we couldn’t have afforded otherwise. I sometimes went a long to performances, and I played in my first concert there at the age of eleven, just for fun. My mother also played the piano in a hotel in the evenings.

Interviewer:   So your mother was a musician, too? Tell us about her.

Jarrold:   Sure. She was an amazing pianist! She knew all the music she played by heart – everything! And that was after playing it through just a couple of times to get it right. I learned that from her, and that’s what I do on the violin, too – because I don’t have to read the notes, I can concentrate on my playing and avoid errors.

Interviewer:   And what made you interested in conducting?

Jarrold:   From the very start, conductors fascinated me a great deal! I dreamt of becoming one from the first time I saw an orchestra. When I listened to recordings at home, I would conduct them! But my father insisted that I become a violinist, and he also taught me. So that’s what I did, but I never gave up my old dream.

Interviewer:   You studied music at one of the best colleges. Did you enjoy it?

Jarrold:   I could do the violin playing anyway, of course, which my father had taught me. But then, so could everyone else. And, naturally, I perfected my technique at college and broadened the range of music I played. But some of the others found the discipline and commitment required of us too demanding. But because of my upbringing, I was used to that.

Interviewer:   So what happened when you left college?

Jarrold:   Well, just when I was about to start a career as a violinist, I started learning to be a conductor too! Even after college, I needed to carry on improving, so I was having private lessons with a professional violinist. And his wife – although not a professional musician – taught me conducting technique. She insisted that I took lessons from a teacher she knew who had many well-known conductors as students. He himself wasn’t a well-known conductor, but as an instructor he was the best, and very enthusiastic.

Interviewer:   Since then, you’ve become well known as both a violinist and a conductor. Has it been difficult to have both these careers?

Jarrold:   On the contrary – I’ve learned so much from the conductors I’ve played with as a violin soloist. Even when one plays the same violin piece often, it’s still always different every time. One can therefore learn a great deal, especially as I’ve had the good fortune to practically always play under the best conductors in the world. And I haven’t only learned from seeing and hearing them, but I’ve always taken the time to consult them, to discuss the smallest details with them, and to continuously improve myself.

Interviewer:   Well, unfortunately we’ve run out of time – but thank you very much, it’s been a great pleasure speaking to you. And the very best of luck in the future!

Jarrold:   Thank you!