Practice English Listening Tests for B1 – Listening Test 29

8 A   9 A   10 B   11 A   12 C   13 C

Audioscripts

8   You will hear two students talking about a history book.

Girl:   What did you think of that history book I lent you?

Boy:   Well, I’m not sure I’ll remember much from it.

Girl:   Really? I used it to help me with an essay and I found some parts of it pretty useful. The last two chapters just repeat information from earlier in the book, though, so I don’t know why they included them.

Boy:   For studying I prefer books with maps and photos and stuff. That makes it easier to understand. The book you lent me has pages and pages of details that aren’t necessary. Some of it could be left out.

9   You will hear two friends talking about their lunch break at school.

Boy:   Not long till lunch break. I heard there’ll be some strange new dish. I’d prefer burger and chips

Girl:   You’re so boring. I’m going to try it. I hope there’ll be time to play that new game Starball. I downloaded it onto my phone this morning.

Boy:   Yeah, I want to try it. But don’t forget we’ve got to get that homework done before the afternoon lesson. If not, we’ll be in trouble.

Girl:   True. Okay, let’s do that – but then we won’t have enough time for games as well.

Boy:   I’m sure we’ll feel better after we’ve done it. Hope it’s not too hard.

10   You will hear two friends talking about a film they have seen.

Boy:   I really enjoyed that film, didn’t you?

Girl:   Well, to be honest, I was a bit disappointed, I was expecting something a bit more exciting.

Boy:   Were you? I thought you were going to say the actors were awful – you did last time.

Girl:   I didn’t think much of them actually. What did you like so much about the film?

Boy:   Well, it was funny how easy it was to predict how it would all finish. But apart from that it was great. You know action films are more my thing than comedies, and the special effects were fantastic.

11   You will hear two friends talking about a school trip.

Boy:   I really enjoyed the trip to the museum yesterday, didn’t you?

Girl:   It was great once we got there, but it just took a long time to get everybody ready and onto the coach. Things are usually better planned than that!

Boy:   I didn’t notice. But half a day was quite short, as there was so much to see – we really needed to spend the whole day there. Especially as the entrance fee was quite high.

Girl:   I didn’t think the price was too bad, but I was a bit disappointed that I ended up only seeing half the space exhibition.

12   You will hear a boy telling his friend about a science lesson with a new teacher.

Boy:   We had that new science teacher for our lesson today, Mrs Jones.

Girl:   Oh yes, I’ve heard she’s pretty good. What did you think of her?

Boy:   Yeah, good. Our usual teacher’s off sick this week. He always shows us cool experiments and stuff. It’s a lot of fun. Mrs Jones had a different style. I was impressed by her knowledge. You can ask questions about anything and she explains the answers really clearly. I enjoy my normal lessons more though I think. I’m really into science anyway, especially when we get to do experiments in the lab.

13   You will hear two friends talking about where to have a party.

Boy:   We need to think about where to have our end-of-year party.

Girl:   I think it’d be good to find somewhere we can play football and cricket.

Boy:   There’s only the sports club where you can do that, but it isn’t that easy to get to unless we ask our parents for lifts. Why don’t we keep it simple and go to the park?

Girl:   Good idea! I don’t think anyone lives too far away so we’ll all be able to walk there. It’s not huge, but there’s enough space for us all and we can chat, play music and have some snacks.

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

Audioscripts

Interviewer:   Anna Taylor’s a teenager and already a champion cyclist. Anna, when did you first get into cycling?

Anna:   Only a few years ago. I’ve always been keen on sports – I’ve tried everything from running to ice-skating – but I never tried to be good at anything in particular. After I went to support a friend cycling in a competition, I decided to try it myself – and loved it. Since then, it’s been a big part of my life.

Interviewer:   Is it hard to practise cycling and do your schoolwork?

Anna:   Studying’s difficult when there’s a big competition coming up. I still have to attend all my lessons – and the teachers are very strict about giving in homework on time. I manage to get it done somehow. I have cycle practice in the afternoons after school, so then I have to work still bedtime once I’ve had dinner with my family.

Interviewer:   You do a lot of track cycling in a stadium. Tell me about that.

Anna:   We cycle around a special indoor track and the fastest person wins. When cyclists race on the road, speed is important too of course, and being strong’s also essential. I think more skill are needed for track cycling – watching one another and waiting for a chance to move to the front. It takes a lot of experience to get it right.

Interviewer:   Do you like cycling with teammates in road races?

Anna:   Yes. They’re a great group of people, and we all have different styles. When things go wrong it’s not always easy to see the funny side, so it’s nice to know the others are finding it as stressful as I am. We encourage each other. I’m beginning to understand just how important that is.

Interviewer:   How was your last road race?

Anna:   My team actually came second. But just before the start of the race, I had to make a quick phone call, and when I’d finished the call, 200 cyclists were racing past me – I was shocked to see it had already started! I ran to my bike, and then I saw my teammate had a tyre problem. But despite all that, things didn’t go too badly in the end!

Interviewer:   What your advice for anyone wanting to become a champion cyclist?

Anna:   Well, if all I did was cycling, life would be extremely difficult. It’s a good idea to have interests other than sport. I don’t want competing in races to be everything. When things go wrong in training, you have to remind yourself there are more things to life than winning competitions.