Practice English Listening Tests for B2 - Listening Test 01

Listening 1

You will hear people talking in eight different situations. For questions 1-8, choose the best answer (A, B or C).

1 You hear two students talking about their first geography class of the year.

How do they both feel?

A optimistic about how the classes will develop over the term

B concerned that it was more difficult than they’d expected

C satisfied that they’d learnt some valuable information

2 You hear a boy telling a friend about buying some food for wild birds.

What is he aiming to do?

A attract one particular species of bird

B keep the local birds alive during the winter

C monitor the range of wild birds that visit his garden

3 You hear a girl telling a friend about a spelling competition she won.

What does she say about it?

A She took some time to find a strategy that worked for her.

B She found that her good visual memory helped her the most.

C She wasn’t concerned by the level of level of the other competitors.

4 You hear a technology teacher telling her students about the model cars they are going to make.

What does she warn them about?

A being inaccurate as they develop their model

B choosing a car that’s too complicated for them to make

C finding they need tools that the school doesn’t currently have

5 You hear a boy talking to his sister about a sweatshirt he bought recently.

Why is he unhappy with it?

A He’s worried it may already have gone out of fashion.

B He feels it’s poor quality for the price he paid.

C He thinks the colour doesn’t suit him at all.

6 You hear a school football coach talking to his team about avoiding injuries.

What does he propose for this season?

A checking players drink enough fluids before training and matches

B improving the exercises at the start of their training sessions.

C making a specific type of training a regular event

7 You hear a girl talking to her friend about a building she’s just visited.

Why is she telling her about it?

A to recommend it as somewhere worth visiting

B to confirm that his opinion about it was correct

C to explain why she decided to go there

8 You hear a boy leaving a phone message for a friend about a family camping holiday.

What does he say about the holiday?

A They feel inspired to repeat the experience.

B They managed to make the best of a bad situation.

C They were disappointed after all their preparation.

Answer & Audioscript

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

Audioscript

Mark: Did you enjoy today’s geography class about Canada? It really made me want to go there!

Zoe: It’s a great place – I’ve been a few times.

Mark: Really? Wow! Well, I certainly discovered loads of useful stuff I wasn’t aware of before. I was struggling to keep up sometimes, though. Doing some background reading will help, I think.

Zoe: Mm, well, even though I’ve been there, I can’t say I knew that much. What we did should really help with our next assignment. I wonder if we’ll get to find out about the animals in Canada. They’re really interesting.

Mark: That’d be great, but I’ve no idea if geography includes those.

Zoe: Mm, maybe not …

Millie: Where are you off to with that bag of birdseed, Jake?

Jake: I’m going to put some in the garden and then wait till the birds come. I’ve fed them every morning this winter – I’ve had an amazing number come and feed so far, and recently one really unusual-coloured bird’s been visiting. It might come back again.

Millie: Really?

Jake: Yeah. Anyway, it’s all for a conservation organisation I’m involved with. There’s been such a decline in some species, they’ve asked people to identify the birds they see over a certain period.

Millie: Sounds brilliant. Can I take part too?

Jake: Sure. You can help me if there’s one I don’t recognise!

Tom: Congratulations on winning the national spelling test, Hayley!

Hayley: Thanks. I thought it’d be scary, as the other students were brilliant, but I refused to be put off by them!

Tom: Great! Loads of the words were really difficult, though. How on earth did you learn to spell them all?

Hayley: Well, I just got used to remembering them. My dad taught me different strategies, like using rhymes to remember unusual spellings. Actually, just seeing the words constantly was what did it – it really helped get them into my head. I had lots of them all stuck on the walls in my room. I always remember stuff that way.

Tom: Wow! Wish that worked for me!

Right, last term we made some great model cars from ready-made kits, didn’t we? This term you’ve got a new challenge – building a model car using parts you’ve made yourself! Now we’ve got pretty much all the tools you’ll require here in school, but if you need anything else, I’ll see what I can do. The key to this project is that you are precise about the component parts you make. If you are careless, the car probably won’t work! But first, look online for the kind of car you’d like to build. Even if it’s something quite advanced, you can get help to simplify it. Right, let’s get started!

Nicole: Ben, could I borrow your new sweatshirt? I’m going skateboarding, and it’s really cold.

Ben: Sure – in fact, you can keep it if you want.

Nicole: What? But it was really expensive! And I love the bright red – it’s not a colour you usually buy, is it? But it looks good on you.

Ben: Mmm – Maybe you’re right! To be honest, though, I’ve been tempted to return it to the shop. It’s quite thin, considering how much they charged for it. You might feel quite chilly in it today.

Nicole: It’s what everyone’s wearing, though – not like you to be so fashionable!

Ben: Well, thanks! I’ll take that as a compliment!

Right everyone, it’s the start of the football season soon, and I want to make sure you’re all well prepared, so we can avoid unnecessary injuries on the pitch. We did pretty well last year, so let’s keep that up. Now we did some strength-building sessions last year, but I want to ensure we do that weekly this season – that’ll really help. I know you’re all aware of the importance of keeping hydrated, keeping up fluid levels, so I won’t go on about that. And those warm-up exercises we’ve always done for your muscles will be just as important this year, so don’t go treating those as a waste of time!

Beth: I finally went to visit Curzon Palace yesterday, Sam.

Sam: Really? I’m not sure that place would be for me.

Beth: Well, like you, I’m not really into old houses and paintings and all that stuff, so I just skipped those. I was told the gardens weren’t that great, but actually they were amazing – you could just wander through them and believe you were the only person there. I reckon there’d be enough stuff there to keep you interested. I mean, I even got really into the exhibition of vintage cars they’ve got there, and they’re not normally my thing at all.

Sam: Well … we’ll see, maybe I’ll go …

Hi Jack, we’re back from our family camping trip! As you know, we’d spent weeks beforehand getting ready – Mum and Dad packed so much stuff! Anyway, by the time we arrived at the coast, bad weather had already set in and we could see we weren’t in for the sunshine we were hoping for. It could’ve wrecked the whole trip, but our tent was really dry, so we just got on with it and decided not to let it spoil things. It was a beautiful place, overlooking the sea – you’d love it! Whether we’d be tempted to go again, though, I’m not entirely sure. Anyway, see you next week!

Listening 2

You will hear an interview with a girl called Laura Rogers, who’s talking about a trip to the beach to look for signs that dinosaurs once lived there. For questions 24-30, choose the best answer (A, B or C).

24 What made Laura decide to go on the beach trip with her uncle?

A She recently visited an exhibition about the area.

B She become interested in archaeology through internet research.

C She realised it was the best way to prepare for some schoolwork.

25 When Laura’s uncle showed her some real dinosaur bones, she

A found it hard to imagine how big the creature had been.

B was disappointed to hear they hadn’t been discovered locally.

C began to hope they’d find something similar during their beach trip.

26 Laura describes the beach they went to as somewhere that

A attracts some unusual wildlife.

B is known for its good weather.

C is popular only with walkers.

27 When Laura discovered a black stone during their search for dinosaurs, her uncle

A advised her to keep it and turn it into jewellery.

B told her it was rare to find one of that size.

C suggested that it might be worth some money.

28 How did Laura respond when she finally saw a dinosaur footprint?

A She didn’t immediately understand what she was looking at.

B She regretted not knowing more about animals.

C She couldn’t imagine that an animal had once walked on the beach.

29 During their exploration of an old ship further along the coast, Laura and her uncle

A make sure they avoided doing any damage to it.

B tried hard not to disturb the seals in the area.

C were aware the ground was dangerous to walk on.

30 As a result of her trip to the beach, Laura

A thinks she has discovered a new career path.

B is proud that she can guide others around the area.

C wants to learn how to observe more during her walks there.

Answer & Audioscript

24 C 25 B 26 A 27 B 28 A

Audioscript

Interviewer: I’m with Laura Rogers, who’s recently been on a trip with her uncle to the coast near her home, to look for signs that dinosaurs may have once lived there. Laura, why did you go on the trip?

Laura: Well, my uncle’s an archaeologist, and he’s learnt a lot about dinosaurs in his work – and I’d begun to get into archaeology through some books I’d got from school I’d also been to an exhibition about dinosaurs found locally. Anyway, my English teacher asked us to do some creative writing about where we live, and dinosaurs seemed the perfect subject. But to write convincingly about them I knew I’d have to go and find out more for myself – and my uncle was the ideal person to help me with this!

Interviewer: So did he tell you more about dinosaurs before you went?

Laura: Oh, he brought along some dinosaur bones he’d found during an excavation! It was amazing, thinking I was looking at something that’s lived in my area millions of years ago. But then he said he’d actually found them in the USA, so that was a bit of a let-down, and I realised we almost certainly wouldn’t find any on our trip. He said that the original creature would’ve been as big as a bus, though, so that really fired my imagination!

Interviewer: So you went to a beach near where you live. What was it like?

Laura: Well, it’s quite a wild place, with high cliffs and lots of rocks on the beach. It’s bitterly cold for parts of the year because of the strong wind, though you still see walkers and people doing watersports there. Some species of seabird live there in really impressive numbers, apparently. I guess it’s because there’s plenty for them to feed on among the rocks.

Interviewer: And when you started exploring, did you find anything interesting?

Laura: Well, no immediate signs of any dinosaurs! But as we were looking among the rocks on the beach, I happened to pick up a big black stone lying there. My uncle said it was called jet, and it was once used for making jewellery. It’s become quite expensive to buy in antique shops, apparently, and he also said that it was unusual to come across a piece as large as that, so I was quite proud of myself!

Interviewer: And then you spotted signs that a dinosaur had once been there?

Laura: Absolutely! My uncle said the rocks there would’ve once been mud, which dinosaurs could’ve walked across, before it gradually turned into rock over millions of years. Then he suddenly pointed out a stone footprint of three toes half-buried by sand. As we uncovered it, it took me a while to realise what it was – a perfect footprint of a small dinosaur! It was amazing to think that a baby dinosaur had once been exactly where we were standing. Thanks to my uncle’s description, I also had a good image of what the landscape must’ve looked like then.

Interviewer: Fantastic! And you ended the day by exploring an old ship?

Laura: Yes! We walked further down the coast to the remains of an old wooden ship, abandoned many years before. My uncle said we had to walk slowly, because the sand surrounding the ship was soft in places, and you could easily sink in to it! But he led my safety across. As we got closer, we noticed some seals turn and go back into the sea. That was a pity – we hadn’t meant to frighten them away. The ship was more like a skeleton, really, and looked almost ready to break, but we still climbed aboard to take a look.

Interviewer: So after your trip, do you want to study dinosaurs?

Laura: Well, it’s certainly made me notice a lot more when I’m walking on the beach! I’ve been back several times with friends to show them what we found and I feel really pleased that I’m able to point out the natural features my uncle showed me. But whether it’ll turn into a career one day – who knows?