Practice English Listening Tests for B1 – Listening Test 31

8 C   9 C   10 A   11 B   12 B   13 A

Audioscripts

8   You will hear a brother and sister talking about a school trip to a museum.

Girl:   Are you looking forward to the school trip tomorrow?

Boy:   Well, I’ve been to that museum several times with Mum and Dad so it’s not as if I’m going to see all the exhibitions for the first time.

Girl:   True, but it’ll be nice to spend time with your classmates away from school.

Boy:   Yeah, and it’ll be fun to chat to some of my friends from other classes on the coach.

Girl:   How’s your foot new, by the way?

Boy:   Much better, luckily. When I hurt it the other day, I thought I wouldn’t be able to go on this trip.

Girl:   Yeah, that’d be awful!

9   You will hear a boy telling his friend about his new phone.

Boy:   Have you seen my new phone?

Girl:   Wow! Is that the one that’s got a really high quality camera?

Boy:   That’s what all the reviews said, and it’s the main reason I chose this model. It’s totally brilliant. But the problem is I take so many pictures and videos that I’m using all the memory. It’d be better if it had more.

Girl:   Well, I think it looks really cool – light and slim and I love the silver grey colour!

Boy:   Yeah, but that isn’t the sort of thing I care about – a phone that looks stylish or fashionable.

10   You will hear two friends talking about a thunderstorm the day before.

Boy:   Did you see that thunderstorm yesterday afternoon? The lightning was amazing.

Girl:   I was walking home from football practice when the rain started?

Boy:   It was really heavy.

Girl:   Yeah. When it began I’d just left the sports centre, so I was able to go back and take cover inside. I called my mum to say I’d be home late. Anyway, I met a friend who was still there so we just chatted and waited till it was over. Shame I missed seeing the lightning though. I heard it was spectacular.

Boy:   So you don’t get wet?

Girl:   No, after it stopped I just walked home.

11   You will hear a boy telling a friend about his new bike.

Girl:   Is that a new bike you’ve got there?

Boy:   Yes, it’s great, isn’t it? I’m really proud of it. I’ve been on a few bike rides already, but I’ll have to do a lot more than that if I want to improve my fitness levels!

Girl:   You’ll save money too, because you won’t need to get the bus to school anymore.

Boy:   That’s true, and now I don’t have to ask mum for a lift whenever I want to go anywhere. That’s what makes the biggest difference for me. I hated having to use public transport all the time too.

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

Girl:   That’s the first film I’ve seen with an interval. I thought they only had them in plays and shows.

Boy:   They sometimes have them in long films like that one. It gave me the chance to try and understand what was going on – there were so many characters!

Girl:   It was hard to work out what was happening, and the break made me forget who was who! The soundtrack didn’t really go with the action in the film either.

Boy:   They kept playing the same song, but it added to the atmosphere. I don’t know why people said the film was good though.

13   You will hear two friends talking about a football club they play for.

Boy1:   Are you going to football at the club tomorrow?

Boy2:   Yeah. We’ll get to wear the new purple team shirt.

Boy1:   I’m glad they changed it from grey. Such a boring colour.

Boy2:   They’ve improved other things at the club too.

Boy1:   Yeah. It’ll be our first time on that new pitch. I wonder if it’ll be better – not playing on grass anymore.

Boy2:   Even our coach seems happy about it. Shame he rarely lets us play for fun though. Training’s always so hard.

Boy1:   It’s all about how to win matches. Maybe the new pitch and team shirt will make him smile for once.

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

Audioscripts

Man:   Jenna, you went on a driving experience day for teenagers at a race track recently. Why?

Girl:   Well, people often think driving fast cars is for boys. My parents bought my brother a ticket for his birthday. I was so jealous and, as he already drives a car, he said I could take his place. I’d definitely recommend it – my best friend thought it sounded cool so she’s going to go too.

Man:   How did you feel when you arrived at the race track?

Girl:   I waited in reception till everyone who was driving that day arrived – a couple of girls my age and two older teenagers – that was it – not what I’d expected, but I guess very few people knew about it. I thought I’d get in a car straight away but there was stuff to do first, which was a pity! My instructor was cool, though – he said he used to be a racing driver.

Man:   What did you have to do before driving?

Girl:   We had to watch a video about staying safe. That’s when I realised I had no idea how to drive! I was slightly anxious, but I never considered not doing it, like one boy. We were told we’d have a practice session to get used to the car before going out on the track, which I was glad about.

Man:   How did you feel out on the track?

Girl:   Brilliant! The car was automatic so I didn’t have to worry about using lots of controls. It was like those racing computer games – you can’t see what’s coming next. I’ve heard there’s a game based on that race track, actually. The instructor was sitting right next to me and kept telling me to brake when I wanted to speed up – very annoying!

Man:   Were you happy about everything else?

Girl:   Well, yes and no. I knew the car would be super-powerful – that’s why I went. I drove for around ten minutes. It seemed much longer cos you concentrate so hard. The only thing was that I was completely exhausted when I finished, just from driving for such a short time!

Man:   What would you do differently next time?

Girl:   If there is a next time, I’d probably do my best to learn what comes next as I was driving, so I’d be ready for a corner or a straight bit or whatever. The instructions I was given helped me to understand all the special driving techniques, so I didn’t feel I had loads of questions I needed to ask.

Man:   Thanks, Jenna…