Practice English Listening Tests for B2 - Listening Test 05

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 a boy telling his class about a music workshop he attended with other students from his school.

What does he say about the workshop?

A It inspired them to attempt things they hadn’t tried before.

B It confirmed their confidence in their ability to compose.

C It gave them a great opportunity to work with professional musicians.

2 You hear a girl telling her friend about a long train trip she went on.

What does she say about it?

A It took longer than she’d expected.

B It felt more uncomfortable than usual.

C It was too noisy for her to do her homework.

3 You hear a theatre actor giving a talk to some drama students.

What does he emphasise about his work?

A the advantages of always being asked to play the same kind of character

B the difficulties of playing someone who is very different from him

C the energy required to repeat the same role over many performances

4 You hear a girl talking to her teacher about her homework.

What is her problem?

A She’s taken on something that’s too extensive in scale.

B She’s found it difficult to identify reliable sources of information.

C She’s struggled to find a topic that’s really inspired her.

5 You hear a girl phoning her mother about a friend she was supposed to meet.

How does she feel now about the meeting?

A concerned about her friend’s excuse for cancelling

B cross that her friend failed to contact her in advance

C embarrassed that she gave her friend the wrong information.

6 You hear a science teacher talking to his class about an experiment they are going to do.

What does he tell them?

A that the reaction they are hoping for may happen very suddenly

B that only following his instructions carefully can guarantee success

C that they should be prepared to observe minor changes

7 You hear two friends talking about a carnival that has just taken place in their town.

What do they agree about it?

A It was more exciting in previous years.

B It had more to attract teenagers than other local events.

C It provided young people with a great chance to perform.

8 You hear a teacher talking to her student about a story he’s written.

What is she doing?

A explaining which parts particularly impressed her

B giving hints as to how he could develop his writing skills

C trying to establish where his ideas came from

Answer & Audioscript

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

Audioscript

So, as you may know, some of us went to a music composition workshop last weekend – and it was brilliant! We took part in a range of musical activities, such as composing short pieces in groups inspired by poems the organisers had brought along. They were all musicians in big orchestras, and trying out our ideas with their guidance was such a great experience for us. Their input was amazing. If we’d never tried music composition before, we might have struggled though, as it was still quite hard to pull our ideas together and capture them in music. But our results were good – and it was a great weekend!

Kemal: How was your trip to your grandparents’ place? It’s about four hours away by train, isn’t it?

Lucy: Well, I’d prepared for it – I had some reading to do for our history project with me!

Kemal: And it was a really hot day …

Lucy: Yeah, I was expecting to feel boiling hot, but luckily the windows were all open, so it was bearable. The train left the station late, though, and it crawled along slowly in places, so the journey really dragged.

Kemal: Right.

Lucy: Anyway, while I was doing my reading I was also listening to music, and at one point my earphones came out of my phone and the music played really loudly in the carriage! Luckily, no-one complained about the noise!

Kemal: Great!

As you may know, audiences sometimes think actors turn up to a theatre night after night, perform exactly the same play, everyone claps and they go home, and that’s that! Well, if that was true about the job, most actors would give up! We prefer our work to be interesting and take on a wide range of roles to test our skills, rather than doing the same old stuff all the time. I’m currently performing as a character who’s my opposite in every sense and that creates lots of challenges for me. It’s a difficult part of the job as I have to think and behave in a completely unfamiliar way. But it’s absolutely worth it when it all comes together on stage!

Mr James: So what’s this about your homework, Karen?

Karen: Well, it took me a while to decide what to write about, but I decided on ancient castles in our country, as they’re fascinating. I’ve been looking up lots of stuff on the internet and in encyclopaedias, and have made loads of notes, but now I’ve just got so much information I don’t know how to get it all in order and start writing my essay.

Mr James: Sounds to me like you’ve been overambitious. You need to limit the topic you’re looking at. Could you do that, do you think?

Karen: OK, I’ll try. Thanks, Mr James.

Martha: Hi Mum. Just ringing to say what I didn’t manage to meet up with Katie after all. I waited for ages, and I was beginning to feel really annoyed that she was so late. Anyway, I decided to phone her to see if she was on her way – and it turns out I’d actually suggested tomorrow to meet rather than today! So that was really silly. She was at the doctor’s when I got through – she’s hurt her foot, but hopefully she’ll be OK, so we’ve rescheduled for next week instead. Let’s hope we manage to meet up this time!

Now listen everyone. As you know, we’re going to try and create some mini-volcanoes here on the sports field today! Now you’ve got your clay volcano shapes that you’ve made, and each one has got a glass container inside, hasn’t it? So now I want you to mix the vinegar I gave you with a large spoonful of soap – you don’t need to be too precise about measuring it – and pour that into the container. Then wrap the baking powder you’ve got in some paper, and put that into the container too. Watch what comes next carefully, but stand back, as the volcano could erupt without much warning. OK, let’s get started.

Paul: Did you enjoy the carnival?

Keeley: I guess so – although my mum kept saying that it wasn’t like it used to be years ago. But as I can’t really remember, I couldn’t say! It was great to see all those live bands performing – you don’t get that much around here.

Paul: Yeah, I’ve seen a few of them. And I noticed there were some people playing that used to go to our school. What a brilliant opportunity for them!

Keeley: Really? I didn’t notice that. But the bands certainly meant lots of people our age attended.

Paul: It’s quite rare to see them turn up to anything held around here, isn’t it?

Keeley: That proves the carnival was a success then!

Miss Carter: Michael, the story you submitted for your homework was fantastic! You’re always written some really imaginative stuff, but you must have been very inspired when you sat down to write this latest one.

Michael: Thanks, Miss. It just seemed to flow through my fingers onto the keyboard, somehow. I almost found it hard to know when to stop!

Miss Carter: Well, professionals read their work again after a few days, then go back and edit it. That might be something to consider to improve it even more?

Michael: I know what you mean, but then I sometimes seem to end up questioning my original ideas.

Miss Carter: Well, you do have to approach writing in a way that suits you …

Listening 2

You will hear an interview with a student called Katie Cross, who is talking about her hobby of kitesurfing. For questions 24-30, choose the best answer (A, B or C).

24 Katie says that for her, kitesurfing

A is something she wishes she could do more of.

B is great motivation for completing her school work.

C is a better alternative for keeping fit than running.

25 What advantage of the sport does Katie point out?

A It’s relatively low-cost at the beginning.

B It’s easy to find somewhere to do it.

C It’s possible to transport the kit yourself.

26 What surprised Katie about the sport the first time she tried it?

A It didn’t require as much strength as she’d expected.

B It wasn’t only a sport for young people.

C It didn’t seem as tiring as people had told her.

27 What does Katie suggest about her rapid progress in kitesurfing?

A She thinks she was naturally talented at it.

B Her rate of improvement wasn’t unusual.

C She succeeded due to her determination.

28 What does Katie particularly appreciate about kitesurfers she’s met?

A They encourage her to improve by being so competitive.

B They’re all very friendly towards each other.

C They tend to have a lot of experience in watersports.

29 Katie recommends that people who want to try kitesurfing should

A learn how to deal with different sea conditions.

B learn to control the kite they’re using properly.

C learn from a professional instructor.

30 Katie is currently preparing to

A take part in some competitions.

B go abroad on a kitesurfing holiday.

C train to teach others how to kitesurf.

Answer & Audioscript

24 B 25 C 26 A 27 C 28 B 29 A 30 B

Audioscript

Interviewer: I’m with Katie Cross, who’s going to tell us about her favourite sport, kitesurfing. Katie, what is kitesurfing, exactly?

Katie: It’s just what the name suggests – you stand on a surfboard in the sea, and a kite above you catches the wind and pulls you along as you surf the waves. It’s great fun!

Interviewer: So what appeals to you about it?

Katie: Well, let’s see. I’m interested in keeping fit. I go running every evening, and I enjoy that – in fact, it’s built up my strength for kitesurfing. And luckily I live by the sea, so I’m able to kitesurf several times a week if I wish. But I’ve discovered it’s also had a really positive effect on my studies, which is strange, but great! If I know I’m going kitesurfing, I try double hard to get stuff done – this means I’m keeping up my fitness and not sitting too long at my desk.

Interviewer: But it’s not a sport that would suit everyone, is it?

Katie: Well, I don’t know – most people do enjoy it once they try it. I mean, you need to be somewhere with good access to water to do it and obviously that’s not straightforward for everyone. And even if you are, not everywhere offers kitesurfing facilities. I have to admit, the equipment you have to get initially isn’t exactly cheap – but once you’ve bought it, you’re all set! And if you travel a lot to kitesurf, for example by plane, it’s possible to carry what you need with you if you get a kitebag with wheels and take your board apart.

Interviewer: Did you love kitesurfing the first time you tried it?

Katie: Oh, my first day was great. I knew my instructor was trying to get older people to try it, so even though I wasn’t the youngest person, there were a number of people who were considerably older than me. Out on the water, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I mean, it looked like hard work to hold on to the kite from the shore, and I didn’t have great muscle power in my arms at that stage, but actually I was perfectly strong enough to do it. I was pretty exhausted after that first session, though!

Interviewer: And you learnt really quickly after that, didn’t you?

Katie: Yeah, I was up on my board and kitesurfing along the water after a week or so, although I was told most people do take longer than that. But it was such great fun, and I was just so keen to get going that I definitely wasn’t prepared to fail! And I don’t think I was particularly gifted at it, either – it was just a question of hard work to improve!

Interviewer: And is kitesurfing a very sociable sport?

Katie: Oh, yes! I’ve met great people while I’ve been doing it. I mean, unlike what you’d perhaps expect, they’re not all great watersports fans who’ve been doing it for years. But because they have a shared passion for the sport, they just get along. The people in my group don’t compete against each other, either, and will soon help you get launched if you’re having problems. It’s a real community!

Interviewer: So do you have any advice for people taking up the sport?

Katie: Well, I actually took some additional swimming lessons with a certified instructor at the beginning, because I realised I wasn’t confident about handling things like currents and tides in the water. That’s really important for your safety, so if you have a similar problem, I’d say try that. Once you’ve got over that, and learnt some techniques to stay on the board behind your kite, you’ll soon be away.

Interviewer: So tell us more about your plans!

Katie: Well, I’ve decided my future lies with kitesurfing, so I’m considering becoming a qualified instructor. But first, to build up my skills a bit more, some friends and I are busy preparing for a visit to some South American countries, where the beaches are supposed to be fantastic for the sport. I hear there will be plenty of competitions there if we want to take part, although I may just wait till I get there to decide!

Interviewer: Thanks, Katie!