Practice English Listening Tests for B1 – Listening Test 04

8 B   9 C   10 C   11 A   12 C   13 B

Audioscript

8

Boy:   Hi, Angela. Waiting for the bus again? It’s just as quick to walk into town from here, you know.

Girl:   I know it’s strange, especially as it takes 15 minutes to walk here from home, but I work in a shop in town on Saturdays with a friend. She lives further out of town, so she gets the bus in. It’s a bit more sociable if we go together.

Boy:   But how do you know which one she’ll be on?

Girl:   The buses come every 10 minutes on weekdays, but only once an hour on Saturdays, so I know exactly which one to get!

9

Boy:   Have you seen the video for Lionheart’s new song yet?

Girl:   Yes, I watched it last night. It’s really not like their other stuff, but I couldn’t stop listening to it.

Boy:   Maybe I’ll start to like it once I’ve heard it a few more times. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an incredible video, though.

Girl:   I think they hired a Hollywood director to make it – you can tell because of the quality.

Boy:   The dancing looked like something from another planet!

Girl:   I thought it was the costumes that created that effect. The routines themselves were quite like other videos I’ve seen.

10

Girl:   My parents say I can get a new phone for my birthday.

Boy:   Hey, that’s great. So which model are you going to choose? Reading what phone buyers have written about their phones is probably more reliable than listening to a sales assistant telling you which one is best. I’ve heard that some phone companies give stores money for selling more of their phones, especially the newer, more expensive ones, so I’m not sure you could trust what they’d say.

Girl:   That’s useful to know. I’ll ask my parents what they think is the best way to choose, too.

Boy:   Good idea.

11

Boy:   You don’t usually look so happy at the end of a school day.

Girl:   That’s because we’ve usually been given a load of maths problems to do for the next day. Not today, though.

Boy:   But you’re good at maths – you usually get high marks.

Girl:   I know, but it still takes time. Anyway, you know I finished that physics project last week?

Boy:   Yeah …

Girl:   Well, the teacher was so impressed with it, she gave me a book.

Boy:   Wow, that’s great. Next thing you know, they’ll make you captain of the football team.

Girl:   That’d be unbelievable, but fairly unlikely as I hardly ever play football.

12

Girl:   How was the weekend away?

Boy:   Good, thanks. I had a really nice time with my cousins – we get on really well, and I always miss them for a few days after we come home. My aunt and uncle love having us there too, although he got a bit angry when my brother broke one of their vases.

Girl:   Oh, dear!

Boy:   Fortunately, it wasn’t an old one, but I’ve never heard my uncle shout like that before. Visiting them for only a weekend’s a bit cruel in a way. It feels like you’ve only just arrived and suddenly it’s time to go.

13

Boy:   Have you tried the new pool? It’s awesome.

Girl:   I went with my family last week. I had a few goes on those tubes with the water in – you know, the ones you can go down really fast and end up in the pool.

Boy:   Oh yes, that was amazing.

Girl:   I think I’d go back just to play on them. Lots of teenagers used the old pool too, but only because they didn’t have anywhere else to go. The water in this new one is nowhere near as warm, but it’s better in a way because it keeps you moving.

Boy:   True.

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

Audioscript

Interviewer:   Jasmine, you recently went on a flying experience day, and actually flew a plane with the help of a qualified instructor. What made you decide to do this?

Jasmine:   A friend of mine tried it a while ago. Even though she wasn’t especially positive about it, as she’d been quite frightened, she told me she’d noticed her house while she was up there. That made me want to look for mine, too, and also enjoy a different view of the local countryside. It wasn’t like I wanted to fly planes professionally or anything.

Interviewer:   How did you feel at the beginning of the day?

Jasmine:   When I saw the aeroplane we’d be using, I couldn’t believe that something that size could actually take off with two people in it. The organisation of everything was so efficient, though, that I’d soon forgotten about any doubts I’d had. I’d watched some online videos and flying looked quite easy, so I was confident I could do that well.

Interviewer:   What training did you do before you got in the plane?

Jasmine:   We had a session on safety, which needed to be a bit shorter in my opinion, and one on what the different controls do, which I enjoyed. While what we were told was all essential, I don’t think the people running the sessions were actually trained teachers, so they didn’t really communicate the information very clearly.

Interviewer:   And how was your flying instructor?

Jasmine:   She was brilliant. I’d always imagined that flying instructors would be really cool and quiet people. Jana was like that before we took off but quite different in the air. She never stopped chatting and making me laugh by saying funny things – she said afterwards she does it to help people to relax.

Interviewer:   And what about the flight?

Jasmine:   It was amazing – one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done, although I was kind of expecting that. When we landed, it felt like we’d been up there for hours, although it was only about 30 minutes in reality. In some of the reviews on the website, people said they were exhausted afterwards, but I was just the opposite.

Interviewer:   So has this made you want to try other experience days?

Jasmine:   Definitely, yes. I had a look at the company’s brochure and there are loads I’d like to try. I’ve never been horse riding, so that’s something I wouldn’t mind doing. First on my list, though, would have to be driving a sports car, and after that would come deep-sea fishing.

Interviewer:   Thanks, Jasmine.