Practice English Listening Tests for B1 – Listening Test 51

1

1 c)   2 a)   3 b)   4 c)   5 a)   6 b)

2

1 F   2 F   3 F   4 T   5 F   6 T

Audioscript

Narrator:   1

Jo:   Have you ever had your family tree done, Marta?

Marta:   Yes, I have. And you, Jo?

Jo:   Yes, I just had it done. Fascinating! I discovered that one of my ancestors had been a minister for King Charles the second in the seventeenth century. Now I’m thinking of having a DNA test.

Marta:   Whatever for?

Jo:   Because it could be very exciting! I know my family originally came from France. But, who knows? I might be fifty percent Native American or fifteen percent sub-Saharan African!

Marta:   In my opinion, it doesn’t really matter, does it? You know your family history and where your ancestors came from. The rest is a waste of money!

Narrator:   2

Woman:   Did you see the news about the big earthquake?

Man:   Yes, isn’t it awful?

Woman:   It reminds me of when I was in Argentina—when they had that big earthquake in Chile.

Man:   Really? What happened?

Woman:   Well, I was in a hotel in a small town just over the border from Chile. I woke up in the middle of the night because the bed was moving around.

Man:   I don’t believe it! What did you do?

Woman:   I didn’t know what to do. They say you should get under a table or something and not go outside—but, I was so scared, I started putting on my clothes.

Man:   What happened next?

Woman:   By the time I got dressed, the floor had stopped moving. Then I switched on the TV and saw there’d been a very big earthquake on the other side of the Andes in Chile.

Man:   How awful!

Woman:   Yes, I’ve never been so scared in my life!

Narrator:   3

Man:   Did you read that article about stress, Ella?

Ella:   Oh, the one in the local newspaper?

Man:   No, not that paper. It was in the Sunday News yesterday. Anyway, it was really interesting and said that, if you’re stressed, you should laugh, since it’ll help lower your stress levels and make you feel more relaxed.

Ella:   Really? Well, that’s a nice idea in theory, but can you imagine it actually working? I mean, if you are having a stressful day, then it’s going to be hard to find a reason to laugh—don’t you think?

Man:   I guess so—and other people might get confused, too. They might not understand why you’re laughing and be surprised or worried about your behavior. But I can understand why you might feel better. Don’t you think it would feel good to laugh when you’re stressed?

Ella:   Maybe—I just can’t imagine what my boss would think! I’m sure she would get annoyed. I can just imagine the scene…

Narrator:   4

Nate:   Do you remember your first job?

Jane:   That’s a strange question, Nate. Why do you ask?

Nate:   Well, I was just thinking about my first job and how different it is from what I’m now doing.

Jane:   Oh, I see—and what did you used to do then?

Nate:   Well, you might not believe me, but I was a parking enforcement officer.

Jane:   Really? You mean you used to put parking tickets on people’s cars if they parked in the wrong place or didn’t pay the parking meter?

Nate:   Yes, that was me. I wasn’t very popular with the drivers, that’s for sure, but it was fun. Well, apart from when it was raining or really cold. Then I hated it! What about you?

Jane:   Well, please don’t laugh …, but I used to work at the make-up counter of King’s Department Store in town.

Nate:   Really? I can’t imagine you doing that. You don’t even wear make-up! How did you get that job?! …

Narrator:   5

Customer:   Excuse me.

Sales assistant:   Yes, ma’am? How can I help you?

Customer:   Could you tell me which dishwasher is better: this smaller one or that bigger one?

Sales assistant:   They’re both very good, ma’am. But I think the smaller one is slightly more expensive.

Customer:   Really? The smaller one should be cheaper, shouldn’t it?

Sales assistant:   I’m not sure, ma’am. Would you mind waiting a minute while I go and check?

Customer:   Of course not.

Sales assistant:   I’m sorry to keep you waiting, ma’am, but our computer crashed.

Customer:   Do you mean to say you don’t have a price list?

Sales assistant:   I’m afraid not, ma’am. All the prices are on the computer. I’ll have to wait until they fix it. Could you come back in half an hour?

Customer:   I’m afraid I can’t. I’m having a big dinner party for thirty people tonight, and I need a new dishwasher now!

Narrator:   6

Alice:   Have you seen these new self-parking cars that are now for sale, George?

George:   Sure. They look interesting, but who really needs one?

Alice:   Well, I think a lot of people do, and, because it means you can park your car in a smaller space, surely, that’s better, too.

George:   I’m not sure about that. Why?

Alice:   Think about it. There are more cars on the road now, and that’s unlikely to change, so it’s better if we use parking spaces more effectively. We’ll save space that way.

George:   I guess so, but I still don’t see why people can’t park their cars themselves.

Alice:   Oh, no, don’t say that. Don’t you remember when Mom used to ask strangers to park the car for her?

George:   Yes, but she doesn’t do that any more.

Alice:   Exactly! And you know why, don’t you? She bought one of those self-parking cars!

Suggested answers:

2   1,600

3   Because they have to walk or cycle

4   2011

5   The National Training College

6   (their own) computer software

Audioscript

Narrator:   Listen to Huw Jones talking about a healthcare project he’s helped set up in Africa.

Huw:   The project I’ve come here to talk to you about today is the “Virtual Doctors” project. It’s a project we set up in Zambia in 2007 when we first came up with the idea of creating mobile health clinics for rural areas.

      Two-thirds of Zambia’s population of fourteen million live in rural areas, but two-thirds of the country’s one thousand six hundred doctors live in towns and cities. On top of this, most rural healthcare centers are under-equipped and are often days away from where many rural people live.

      As people mostly rely on walking or cycling as a means of transportation. What this means is that health problems that can easily be treated can become much more serious—even life-threatening. So, we wanted to find ways to provide healthcare to really isolated areas, and we started thinking outside the box.

      We were sure that modern technology could help us, and this led us to develop the idea of telemedicine, which we tested out in 2011. Our concept of telemedicine made good use of satellite technology.

      We used a mobile broadband network to connect a doctor based in New York with a healthcare center in the rural district of Kafue in Zambia. The trial was so successful that we increased the number of virtual doctors and created a network so they could connect to six different rural healthcare centers.

      As this ambitious project continues to grow: with the help of the Ministry of Health, more and more people living in isolated areas of Zambia will gain much-needed access to healthcare. We are working with the National Training College and are also developing our own computer software that will help develop the telemedicine service further…

4

2 8   3 6   4 10:15   5 11   6 20

7 Modern   8 picnic   9 Station

10 Fast   11 5:30

5

1 F   2 F   3 F   4 T   5 T   6 F

Audioscript

Teacher:   Good morning, everybody. Before we start the class today, I need to give you some information about our field trip on the twenty-seventh of May—next Friday, in fact. As you know, we’re spending the day at the amazing Science Museum in London. The bus will pick us up in the school parking lot. We’ll leave at eight o’clock, so plan to be here at least fifteen minutes before that—7:45 at the latest. You’d better set your alarms for 6:30, OK?

      Our visit’s been confirmed by the museum, and I’ve just received the itinerary and information about the activities they’ve organized for us. If you’ve visited the Science Museum before, you’ll know that it’s enormous and we can’t possibly see everything in one day. You may want to take some notes now—though I’ll also put the info on the class website later on.

      The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. If all goes well, we hope to arrive by 10:15 at the latest, when we’ll have our first guided tour of the day—there are two, by the way. If you read the newspaper last Sunday, you’ll have seen the article about the re-opening of the Wellcome Wing last week.

               It now has three state-of-the-art galleries, which deal only with contemporary science. We’re going to get a guided tour of one of them—an exhibition called Antenna, which is about how the latest scientific discoveries could change our lives. You’ll also have the opportunity to give your opinions about the latest ideas. Now, remember, the museum has lots of hands-on multimedia stuff, so you won’t get bored—I’m sure you’ll find it fascinating.

      Then at eleven o’clock, we’ll have a coffee break, and you’ll be free to visit the permanent exhibitions until 12:30. There are twenty galleries with different themes, so you’ll only have time to see two or three fully. If I were you, I wouldn’t miss the one called Making the Modern World, which is marvellous. It shows the development of the modern industrial world in a really entertaining and creative way.

      Also look for The Secret Life of the Home. It’s a lot of fun, and you’ll be amazed by all the gadgets people used to use in the house—and will use in the future!

      Then it’s lunchtime. We’ve ordered a picnic lunch, which we’ll eat in the “picnic area” on the first floor. We’ll all meet there at 12:30, so don’t be late—we have to go to the theater at 1:15! Yes, but not an ordinary theater—an IMAX 3D theater! At quarter past one, we’re scheduled to have a 3D experience called Space Station. You’ll blast off into space with astronauts from the U.S.A. and Russia and experience life on the International Space Station, two hundred and twenty miles above Earth. How does that sound?

      Great. OK, then we have our second guided tour at 2:45—quarter to three—to see one of the special temporary exhibitions called Fast Forward. It’s about twenty ways that Formula One technology is being used in our hospitals, homes and work places. For example, the materials and machines they’ve developed for the Formula One cars are now being used to make racing bikes and sophisticated machines to monitor hospital patients. The tour should take about an hour—until 3:45. And I’m pleased to tell you that you’ll then be free for the rest of the afternoon! You’ll be able to go back to any galleries you’re particularly interested in or see something new. Now we’ll leave the Museum at half past five, so tell your parents you should be home by 8 p.m.

      I think that’s all for now. Oh, one last thing. Check out the Science Museum website before we go. The more you read about it, the more interesting the visit will be.