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 two friends talking about some changes at their school.
What do they agree?
A Certain rules haven’t changed in the way they’d hoped.
B The changes will make part of their daily routine easier.
C More interesting activities will be on offer as a result.
2 You hear a girl talking to a friend about the library in their town.
During the conversation, she
A criticises the range of books in the library.
B suggests how the library could be improved.
C describes a library book she’s read recently.
3 You hear two friends discussing a concert they’ve just been to.
What do they agree about it?
A The band didn’t play enough well-known songs.
B One player’s performance wasn’t what they’d expected.
C The venue wasn’t ideal for the event.
4 You hear a teacher telling her class about a design task they are going to work on.
What is she doing?
A advising them which kind of designs will work best
B reminding them of the possible risks of using the machines
C suggesting key steps for achieving their goal
5 You hear a girl leaving a voicemail message for her friend.
Why is she calling her?
A to apologise for not ringing her as arranged
B to propose ways of helping her while she’s off sick
C to try and find out the details of her injury
6 You hear a boy talking to a friend about a meal he cooked for his family last night.
What does he admit about the meal?
A He hadn’t realised how little food the recipe would make.
B He should have checked that his family would like the meal.
C He was too ambitious in his choice of recipe.
7 You hear a girl talking about her first piano lesson.
How did she feel about it?
A confident that she’d pick it up quickly
B concerned at the extent of the task ahead
C surprised at how unfamiliar the instrument was
8 You hear two friends talking about a new music shop in their town.
What do they think is unusual about the shop?
A It offers huge reductions on some items.
B It stocks music from their parents’ era.
C It has regular visits from famous musicians.
Answer & Audioscript
1 A 2 B 3 A 4 C 5 B 6 C 7 C 8 A
Audioscript
1
Simon: That school discussion about changes the teachers have made was interesting, wasn’t it?
Vikki: I suppose, although I was hoping they’d say we don’t have to wear school uniform any more.
Simon: Me too, but that was never likely, was it? The new after-school clubs sound great, though. I’d like to join one.
Vikki: What I like is that there’ll now be hot food at lunchtimes, so we don’t have to take packed lunches every day.
Simon: Well, I’ll probably still take mine – I always get hungry before lunch! I was hoping they’d change the rule about arriving late. Sometimes I miss the bus, and get into trouble …
Vikki: Well, maybe you should start getting up earlier instead!
2
Frank: Where are you off to, Gemma?
Gemma: Just talking these books back to the library. I’ve read most of them, but there’s one I didn’t even start.
Frank: Why? Not your thing?
Gemma: Oh no, I just took out too many and I’ve got lots of homework now, so I haven’t got time to read it. But judging by the cover, it looks OK.
Frank: That’s the kind of thing I read! What’s the library like? I thought it was just full of boring stuff.
Gemma: It hasn’t got as many books as ours at school and it could do with some teenage magazines and things – but there’s a lot there, considering it’s small.
Frank: Cool! I’d like to see it for myself sometime!
3
Rosie: So, what did you think?
Oscar: Well, it’s the first time I’ve been to an open-air concert, and they certainly had us all dancing at the beginning, so that was cool.
Rosie: Yeah, the city concert hall would’ve been hopeless for that, will all the seats. I thought the lead guitarist was pretty skilful too.
Oscar: He was on good form tonight – I’ve seen him playing less than brilliantly at other events.
Rosie: Right. Having said that, I did think the second half was a let-down – they were just playing stuff that no-one had heard before.
Oscar: The dance floor cleared pretty quickly then, didn’t it? That should’ve told them it wasn’t what people wanted to hear!
4
So listen everyone – we’re going to have a go at using the equipment we looked at last week. You’ll use computer-aided design techniques to produce the designs you’ve brought with you. If you get far enough during the session, you’ll be able to create them in metal on our new 3D printer. But don’t work too fast – accuracy and precision are the important things here, so check every stage of what you do, otherwise you’ll be disappointed by the result. I’m happy to see you’ve all brought your laptops and have remembered to put on protective clothing, so – let’s go!
5
Danielle: Hi Tanya, it’s Danielle. Just heard about your football injury. I wasn’t at the match on Saturday, so I had no idea what had happened until the coach told us this morning. Poor you! I was going to call you last night, but I was out at a family do. I didn’t know football could be so risky! Anyway, as it’s your leg that you’ve hurt, I guess you may be finding it pretty difficult to get around. If I were you, I’d be taking it easy! I’m happy to drop by and bring you stuff – including homework – if that helps! We need you to be completely fit again for the final next month!
6
Alysha: So, was everyone impressed with your cooking, then Sean?
Sean: I think so. I probably should have made something different, though. I couldn’t get all the ingredients, and the cooking method was tricky – it was obviously for people who know how to cook really well. I did consult everyone before I started, and they all seemed keen to try it – and it tasted good in the end. But I won’t make it again – it was stressful!
Alysha: But it still turned out OK! It’s not easy cooking for six people who all like different things.
Sean: Yeah – especially when the recipe was only supposed to be for two! But I multiplied the amounts by three and that seemed to work!
7
I went for my first piano lesson yesterday! I’d been pretty excited about going, and because I can play the guitar, I guess I thought the piano would be easy to learn. However, it took me ages to find my way around the keyboard, although I did somehow play a tune by the end. I’d thought it would take me a while to get good at it, but I was prepared for that – after all, I’ve been playing the guitar for two years, and I’m not perfect on that yet! But I still get a lot out of doing it.
8
Heidi: That new music shop called Music World is interesting, isn’t it? Their stuff’s so affordable compared with bigger stores.
Rob: Yes, and the bigger stores don’t cut their prices massively like Music World. You don’t see that very often, do you?
Heidi: No, you’re right. I actually ran into the guitarist Jon Wyvern in there. He was just browsing and I said hello to him.
Rob: Really? My dad used to listen to his stuff when he was young!
Heidi: Yeah, my mum was a fan too. It’s pretty rare to see anyone that well known in our small town.
Rob: That’s true, sadly. I wonder what he was doing here?
Listening 2
You will hear an interview with a girl called Lucy Hughes, who is talking about her love of maths. For questions 24-30, choose the best answer (A, B or C).
24 What first made Lucy excited about maths?
A taking part in a maths activity at school
B being able to use the basic maths skills she’d learnt
C recognising a link between maths and the natural world
25 What does Lucy’s dad suggest about some people attending his training sessions?
A They don’t realise that maths is easier than they think.
B A lack of confidence discourages them from using maths.
C Having to remember so much has put them off maths.
26 How have Lucy’s parents helped her with maths?
A by giving her practical maths problems to solve
B by taking her to local events connected with maths
C by working through difficult maths homework with her
27 Lucy suggests the appeal of maths for her is that
A there is a limitless number of areas to explore.
B there is always a single clear and definite answer.
C there is more than one method for working out the same solution.
28 When Lucy entered a maths competition recently, she
A was worried by the level of the other competitors.
B felt confident once it was her turn to perform.
C only realised close to the end that she could actually win it.
29 What did Lucy discover during the competition?
A that people from a range of cultures have similar attitudes to maths
B that people in different countries solve maths problems in the same way
C that people with no shared languages can understand the same maths problems
30 Lucy thinks that in the future
A she will need maths to study science at a high level.
B she wants to train to become a maths teacher.
C she would like to just enjoy maths purely as a hobby.
Answer & Audioscript
24 C 25 B 26 A 27 B 28 B 29 C 30 A
Audioscript
Interviewer: I’m with student Lucy Hughes, talking about her favourite subject – maths! Lucy, some people don’t really enjoy maths, so what first interested you in it?
Lucy: Well, I didn’t like it much either, at first! I thought doing things like learning multiplication tables were boring, like everyone else. But then my teacher introduced us to something called Fibonacci numbers – a mathematical formula where you add the previous two numbers together to get the next number. And he showed us how the seeds in sunflowers are arranged according to these numbers. I realised then that what we were learning was relevant to things like plants and wildlife. My ‘maths brain’ suddenly woke up – and I was hooked on numbers! I don’t know why it took so long, though – our teachers were always organising maths activity days and things, so I’d been involved in exciting stuff before.
Interviewer: And your parents like maths, too …
Lucy: Yes, Mum’s a maths teacher, and Dad does advanced maths training for business people. He believes some people he meets are much better at maths than they claim they are, they just don’t feel very sure of their abilities. They’ve all learnt lots of maths by heart at school, but he thinks they’re just not keen to try and apply it in case they make a mistake.
Interviewer: So have your parents always helped you with maths?
Lucy: Yes, and they’ve made it fun, too – even my homework! Usually, though, they try to leave me to get on with that by myself, however hard it is! I’ve learnt a lot that way. But often when we go shopping, for example, they’ll ask me to calculate the change we’ll get – that’s really improved my mental maths. And sometimes Dad organises evening events to promote maths to adults, which I’m hoping to attend when I’m a bit older.
Interviewer: So can you explain why you love maths?
Lucy: Well, in my English class recently, we all had to write a poem about a tree. And when we compared them, everyone had written something completely different – but all of us had got the task right. But that’s not the case with a maths problem. You have to find the one correct solution – and that’s what really interests me. I mean, there might be lots of ways of working it out, but it doesn’t matter as long as your answer’s right. And that applies to all the different areas of maths.
Interviewer: And you recently took part in an international maths competition?
Lucy: Yes, in my city. I wasn’t at all sure of myself when I arrived, but my teacher told me I had an excellent chance of doing well. So that helped, and by the time I went onto the stage to answer questions, my nerves had disappeared! The other people were really good, though! By the end, I’d actually got quite a high score, but I knew all along I wouldn’t win.
Interviewer: So what do you think you learnt from the competition?
Lucy: Well, I was looking forward to being with people who all loved maths, no matter which country they came from – and I wasn’t disappointed! I realised it really didn’t matter if we couldn’t all understand each other perfectly when we were chatting, because when you wrote a maths sum on the board, everyone knew exactly what it meant! It was also fascinating to see how other competitors worked out solutions to maths questions – there were a number of different methods, just as my teacher had told me there’d be.
Interviewer: And how do you think maths with feature in your life in the future?
Lucy: Well, at the moment, I just like playing around with it, doing maths puzzles online for example. But eventually I’m hoping to do a physics degree, and I can’t really do that without advanced maths. My mum’s asked if I’d like to become a teacher like her, and I think I’d probably enjoy it, at least initially. I might find just doing maths all day a bit of a narrow focus, though.
Interviewer: Thanks, Lucy!
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