Practice English Listening Tests for B1 – Listening Test 20

8 C   9 C   10 B   11 A   12 C   13 B

Audioscripts

8   You will hear two people talking about the weather.

Woman:   Oh dear. It’s raining again. I’m getting really fed up with all this wet weather. I wanted to go for a picnic this weekend.

Man:   Well, the weather forecast says that the rain is going to stop by Saturday morning, and we’re going to have a few sunny days.

Woman:   Really? I’ll believe that when I see it. I don’t trust the weather forecast.

Man:   I don’t know. They’re pretty accurate these days. I rely on the weather app on my phone to tell me when I need to take an umbrella with me!

Woman:   Well, I hope that you and your weather app are right. A few sunny days would be lovely.

9   You will hear a girl telling a friend about her dreams for the future.

Boy:   Where do you think you’ll be in 20 years’ time?

Girl:   Ooh – that’s difficult. Perhaps I’ll be living by a beautiful Italian lake surrounded by mountains. I could work as a windsurfing instructor. Or maybe I’ll be a businesswoman getting rich in New York City – I wonder what that would be like.

Boy:   You don’t think you’ll still be living here in Ireland, then?

Girl:   Oh yes, that’s it. I’ll live in one of those pretty little cottages you see round here, and sell my pictures of the local landscape.

Boy:   That makes sense. You’re a very talented painter.

10   You will hear two siblings talking about a trip.

Sister:   I’m so excited about our trip to London next month. Shall we go ahead and buy our train tickets online now? If you book early, it’s cheaper.

Brother:   Ummm, I don’t know …

Sister:   What, why? Do you not want to go anymore?

Brother:   No, it’s not that. I’m really looking forward to London, but I was thinking maybe we should take the bus instead. It’s better value for money.

Sister:   But doesn’t the bus take longer?

Brother:   It does, but not much, and it’s still more convenient. If we get the train, we’ll have to change at Birmingham and carry our bags to a different platform, you know? But the bus is direct.

11   You will hear a boy telling a friend about his father’s job.

Girl:   I think it’s so cool that your dad is a firefighter. He must face danger every day.

Boy:   Well, not every day, but it is cool! He told me that most of the calls they get are not actually for fires. They rescue people from all sorts of situations. And, when they do get called to a fire, they have all the right equipment. Apparently, the biggest danger is when a firefighter isn’t fit enough. It’s really important to keep fit in that job.

Girl:   Yes, it must be. And I expect communication is important, too.

Boy:   Oh yes. Everyone on the team needs to communicate really well, and to trust each other, too. If they work together well then everyone is a lot safer.

12   You will hear two friends talking about a song.

Girl:   This song is great, Tony. Have you heard it yet?

Boy:   Don’t tell me you actually like it. It sounds so miserable!

Girl:   Come on, it’s not that bad. Listen to the words she’s singing.

Boy:   OK, I can see that the song is well-written. You might even say that it’s interesting – but it just goes on and on!

Girl:   Well, it makes me smile. I can’t stop listening to it.

Boy:   I guess we just have different tastes. You know I prefer songs that sound more positive.

13   You will hear two friends talking about a computer game.

Boy:   Look at this new game! Isn’t it fantastic! The characters look like real people.

Girl:   Wow! It’s just like watching a film! That’s fantastic. Is it good fun to play?

Boy:   It’s great! The puzzles are a bit difficult, though. Sometimes it can take me days to work out what I need to do to get to the next stage of the game.

Girl:   Well, you don’t want it to be too easy, or you’ll finish the game too fast!

Boy:   That’s true, but I like to find out what happens next in the story. I get bored if I have to wait too long to move on in the game.

20 C   21 B   22 C   23 A   24 B   25 A

Audioscripts

Interviewer:   What does it take to be a head chef? Paul Heaton is here to tell us all about it.

Paul:   Thanks! I didn’t enjoy school that much, and I decided quite early on that I was going to leave as soon as I could, which was at 16. I tried a few other things, including the local supermarket, but nothing really interested me until I got a job as a kitchen assistant. I was a fresh-faced 17-year-old when I turned up at the Grand Hotel. It was hard, dirty work and the pay wasn’t great either. On the positive side, I was in a really busy kitchen where the top chefs were highly skilled and during my breaks I could watch and learn. I was fascinated by all the equipment and the unlikely stories of people injuring themselves with kitchen tools.

Interviewer:   I imagine that kitchen assistants don’t work from 9.00 to 5.00.

Paul:   No! I had to get used to long hours and working late. They needed me when the kitchen got busy, around twelve o’clock, which doesn’t sound bad, but I sometimes wouldn’t finish until two o’clock the next morning. I’d spend most of the time cleaning the kitchen equipment or preparing food for the chefs to use. I must’ve washed and prepared literally millions of carrots and potatoes.

Interviewer:   But those days are behind you now, aren’t they?

Paul:   Yes, these days I’m a head chef, so I’m responsible for organizing the kitchen. This includes preparing the menus, selecting and training staff and keeping the kitchen in good working order. And, I still love to cook of course. But now I don’t have to do it every day, but can choose to do it when I really want to.

Interviewer:   What advice would you give to anyone thinking of becoming a chef?

Paul:   You have to be able to work in a team, whether you’re cleaning the floor or grilling a steak. You must be prepared to deal with stressful situations. And you have to be able to think quickly – if the fish you wanted to use for your main dish doesn’t arrive, you’ve got to invent something completely different.

People sometimes think that preparing food in a first-class restaurant is a complicated and difficult thing to do. This is partly true – there’s a lot to think about and your work needs to be right every time – but the key to success is to buy the best and the freshest food available and keep things simple.