Recording Scripts - Fce Practice Tests

Recording scripts

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CD 1 – TRACK 2

TEST 1

Now open your question paperand look at Part 1. You’ll hearpeople talking in eight differentsituations. For questions 1–8,choose the best answer A, B or C.

One. You hear a woman talkingabout her job. How does she feelabout it?

A It’s boring.

B She likes it.

C She finds it difficult.

Before I came here I worked in salesand really I found the monotonygetting to me. Every day wasessentially the same. So I took acomplete change of direction,retrained and here I am. It’s beenalmost 4 years now and I canhonestly say that no day is like theone before. What’s particularlyrewarding is that I’m helping peoplewho find themselves in difficultsituations, due to any number ofreasons… health problems,unemployment, to name just two.What’s great is that, more often thannot I can make some sort ofdifference to their lives.

REPEAT

Two. You overhear a man telling afriend about a film he sawrecently. What type of film was it?

A a romance

B an action film

C science fiction

Well, it was OK I suppose. But to behonest, if you’ve seen one, you’veseen them all. And the final scenewas just awful. They’re looking up atthe stars with far away looks on theirfaces, when suddenly all theserockets and fireworks start explodingin the sky. He’s a tough New Yorkcop and she’s an investigativereporter, and at the beginning theyhate each other, but you’ve guessedit, he saves her from a professionalkiller and it’s not long before they’rerunning into each other’s arms in acrowded subway station.

REPEAT

Three. You hear a man telling hiscolleague about his holiday. Whatwas the problem with it?

A He became ill.

B He argued with his partner.

C He couldn’t see all the things he wanted to see.

F So… how was it?

M It wasn’t exactly the best twoweeks I’ve ever had. On thefirst night we went out to a localrestaurant and by the time wegot back to the hotel Beth wasfeeling sick and dizzy. The hoteldoctor had a look at her andsaid it was food poisoning.

F How awful!

M It wasn’t so bad. It meant that Icould just sit around the pooland relax while she wassleeping, instead of draggingme around to see everymonument and museum likeshe usually does.

F You’re terrible!

M Don’t worry; she got herrevenge on the second week. Ijust wanted to relax but we hadto see as much as we could inthe time we had left… weended up shouting at eachother in the middle of anancient convent and then didn’tspeak until we got home. It’s allOK now though. We’re both justglad to be back.

REPEAT

Four. You overhear a conversationin a supermarket. What are theydiscussing?

A Returning an item.

B Breaking an item.

C Buying an item.

M There you are. I was beginningto worry.

F Sorry. I was just looking at oneof those vases on sale. They’rereally cheap and I thought itwould look good on the TV. Andif it didn’t I could just bring itback with the receipt and get

my money back. But just as Iturned it over, the handle cameoff in my hand. So I just put itdown and came back here. Ihope nobody noticed me.

M Well, let’s just pay for all thisstuff and get out of here assoon as we can.

REPEAT

Five. You hear an advertisement onthe radio. What is being advertised?

A a festival

B a new music album

C a cake

All this week in Abbey Road Parkyou can sample locally madebiscuits, cakes and dessertsincluding last year’s prize winningcarrot cake. Dozens of rides andstalls for all the family as well asmusic on the main stage from 8.Local band Freddy and thePacesetters will be performing songsfrom their new album Phenomenal.Tickets cost 8 pounds for adults, 4pound for under 16’s.

REPEAT

Six. You overhear a woman talkingon the phone about her new boss.What is she worried about?

A Losing her job.

B Being given extra work to do.

C Her boss is inexperienced.

I know, but that’s not really thatimportant… she’s only my age andhasn’t been doing this very long, butmanagement seem to think she’squite capable, and I suppose theymust know what they’re doing. It’smore that with all these cuts sheproposing… most of the junior staffwill be out of work and will have tolook for other jobs, and who’s goingto do their share of the work here?You’ve guessed it… I’ll be stuck withit and expected to finish everythingon time as always.

REPEAT

Seven. You hear an actor talkingon the radio about his new film.What does he say about preparingfor the role?

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CD 1 – TRACK 3

You’ll hear a talk about anendangered species. Forquestions 9-18, complete thesentences. You now have 45seconds to look at Part 2.

The most endangered cat species isthe Iberian Lynx, sometimes calledthe Spanish Lynx. Should thisspecies die out it would be the firstfeline extinction since the Smilodon,commonly known as the Sabre-Toothed Tiger, 10,000 years ago.Recent studies estimate the numberof surviving Iberian lynx to be as fewas 100, which is around 400 lessthan there were in 2000. What doesan Iberian Lynx look like? Theirleopard-like spots particularlydistinguish it from its cousin, theEurasian Lynx and it is also smaller,with a head and body lengthbetween 85 and 110 centimetres.Males can weigh between 12.9 and27 kilograms, which is about half theweight of the average Eurasian Lynx.The lynx can live up to a period ofthirteen years. The Iberian Lynx’ssize means that it typically hunts foranimals no bigger than rabbits orhares. Rabbits would account formore than 70% of the Lynx’s food,but due to Spain’s declining rabbitpopulation, the lynx has been forcedto attack larger mammals such asyoung deer or roebuck. The IberianLynx hunts alone and follows its preyeven up to distances of 100kilometres. Or it lies in wait for itsprey for many hours. It uses the foursets of whiskers on its ears and chinto sense its victim. They are active atnight. They stay active in winter andtheir fur becomes thicker and paler.In extreme weather, they take shelterin caves or trees. The Iberian Lynxwas once widespread all over thepeninsula but it is now restricted tovery small areas, mainlymountainous areas covered withvegetation. Its recent drastic declineover recent decades is due to loss ofhabitat, reduction in prey and highnonnatural mortality from road kills,predator control and hunting,although it is under legal protectionand it is no longer legal to hunt them.It was recently thought that the onlybreeding Iberian lynxes were in theDoñana National Park in Andulucía,southern Spain, but in 2007 apreviously unknown population wasdiscovered in Castilla-La Mancha incentral Spain. In March 2005, for thefirst time Iberian Lynxes managed to

breed in captivity. 3 healthy cubswere born at a breeding centre inDoñana. In 2009 it was announcedthat 3 more cubs had been born inthe same centre. Typically a motherwill give birth to 3 cubs after agestation period of 60 days. IberianLynx conservation is now under waythrough political campaigning andlobbying from individuals andorganizations such as SOS Lynx.Important progress has been madein a number of ways. The foundationof the breeding programme inAndalucía, prevention of furtherconstruction in areas the Iberian lynxlives, and the halting of proposals fornew roads in problematic areas, suchas the new motorway that had beenplanned between Ciudad Real in LaMancha and Cordoba in Andalucía.Despite these successes, challengesand conflicting pressures remain.The World Wildlife Foundation hasbeen urging Spanish authorities forover two years to close a road whichcrosses the Doñana national park, asCallum Rankine of the WWF says,‘With such a small population, theaccidental loss of just one individualon the road brings the species closerto the brink of extinction.’

That’s the end of Part 2. Now turnto Part 3.

CD 1 – TRACK 4

You will hear five different peopletalking about holidays they havehad. For questions 19-23 choosefrom the list A-F how each personfeels about the holiday. Use theletters only once. There is oneextra letter which you do not needto use. You now have 30 secondsto look at Part 3.

Speaker 1

It came as a complete surprise. Rightout of the blue she came home andtold me she’d been made redundantfrom work and said why didn’t we justtake off for a year and travel aroundthe world. Well, it just all seemed tomake sense. I wasn’t enjoying mywork at the time and was thinkingabout doing something else. Hercompany had given her quite agenerous redundancy package andalso we could rent out our house forthe year; that would give us enoughto live on for the year as long as wewere careful with our money. And I’mpleased to say that we were, apart

A He had to learn a new skill.

B He did lots of research.

C It was physically challenging.

It seemed like quite a challengewhen I heard about the project; Imean playing somebody like BusterKeaton who performed all his ownstunts... having to jump from a horseonto a train… it’s a bit too much forme, I can’t even ride a horse. Butafter reading the script I was relievedto see that wasn’t necessary at all.It’s mainly focused on his personallife and so I wouldn’t have to facesuch physical torments. Instead Ispent hours every day, for aboutthree months in fact, watching DVDsof his old films, studying hismannerisms and facial expressions.And to be honest with you, I’m morethan a little proud of the result.

REPEAT

Eight. You overhear two peopletalking about a car. Why are theytalking about the car?

A It’s the man’s first car.

B It’s a brand new car.

C It has broken down.

F So I know you’re dying to tellme… how’s the car?

M To tell you the truth, I’mbeginning to think I should havewaited a bit longer. I may havemade a mistake and rushedinto buying it. I just imagined itthere in my garage and had tohave it.

F Why do you think you’ve madea mistake?

M It’s just that I’ve spenteverything I had on it. I could’vejust bought something secondhand or kept my old onerunning for another year or so.If I have to take it for repairsany time soon, I don’t knowhow I’ll be able to pay for it.

REPEAT



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from the occasional few luxuries hereand there… you know, meals inexpensive restaurants for specialoccasions like birthdays oranniversaries, that kind of thing.

Speaker 2

It’s something I’d been looking intofor some time. To tell you the truth,it’s something I’ve wanted to do eversince I was a kid. It just neverseemed that it would be something Icould realistically do, so it justremained a dream. But aftersomebody told me how cheap it waswhen you actually got there I startedto do some serious research. Andreally, although actually getting thereis very expensive, the price of thehotels, restaurants and travellingaround the country is so lowcompared to places in Europe, itmeans that in total you’re not payingmuch more than you would for acheap holiday on the beach inGreece or Spain. And it’s a lot moreinteresting than just lying around ona beach somewhere. It was great.I’m going back there next year. Ididn’t think I would ever be able tosay that.

Speaker 3

It’s not every day you go onhoneymoon, but if you ask me it wasall a bit over the top. We had ourown private beach and the staffcouldn’t do enough for us; theywouldn’t let us do a thing forourselves. For example if I tried topour myself a drink, somebody wouldsuddenly appear and take the bottleout of my hand and finish pouring it. Iknow it’s all these luxuries that you’repaying for but it’s a bit much for meand wasn’t something I wascomfortable with. I suppose you mustjust get used to it after a while, but allthe time I kept thinking that it wouldhave been a better idea if we’d usedthat money to buy a washingmachine and some new furnitureinstead of going to all that expense.

Speaker 4

To tell you the truth, the hotel was abit of a letdown. The pictures in thebrochure were flattering to say thevery least. The restaurant wassupposed to be five star but I canhonestly say I’ve had better food in amotorway service station. It wasn’t allbad though, the area itself was lovely.The beach near the village was lovely

and had everything you could askfor… clean white sand, beautiful bluesea, palm trees. And the locals werereally friendly and really made a fussof the kids. I think we’ll go back theresoon, but we’ll definitely stay in adifferent hotel, that one wasn’t goodvalue for money at all.

Speaker 5

I’d really been looking forward togoing there and I wasn’tdisappointed. Not in the least. Fromthe moment you arrive there you feelimmersed in its history. It’s thebirthplace of civilisation after all, andevery street you walk down remindsyou of this. I know some peoplewouldn’t find it much fun, to be goingfrom boring museum to boringmuseum, but it wasn’t like that.When you see some of thecollections they have in themuseums, and you see it in contextto the city itself, well, it’s anextraordinary feeling. The weatherwasn’t great but I don’t think thatspoiled it for us at all. It’s not like yougo to a place like that just to sit onthe beach and get a tan. We had aweek there, but really you’d need amonth just to see everything.


CD 1 – TRACK 5

You will hear an interview with amember of a sporting association.For questions 24-30, choose thebest answer A, B or C. You nowhave one minute to look at Partfour.

F It’s been described as thefastest ball game in the world,and is played in places as faraway as Australia and SouthAfrica but it actually comes fromour western neighbours over inIreland. Many of us know nextto nothing about this sport so itwill come as a surprise to learnthat it has been playedcompetitively all over ourcountry since the 19th century.Sean McGinn of the BritishGaelic Athletic Association ishere to tell us a bit about thesport of hurling. Hi, Sean,thanks for coming. Could yougive us a brief description ofhurling?

M Sure. Well, it’s played on a pitchof around 140 metres long and85 metres wide, although foryouth matches it’s considerablysmaller. There are two teams of15 people and each player hasa slim bat called a hurley whichis made from ash wood. Playersuse the hurley to propel a smallleather ball, which is slightlybigger than a tennis ball. Thereare two ways to score pointsduring a match – by scoring intothe goal and past thegoalkeeper, whose hurley isslightly bigger than the outfieldplayers’... just to give him achance… or you can score byhitting the ball over the bar butbetween two long posts. A goalscored past the goalkeeper isworth 3 points while putting itover the bar is worth 1.

F Well that all sounds relativelyeasy. Is it?

M Not so easy as all that I’m afraid.As you said earlier, it is thefastest ball game in the world. Agood hurler can hit the ball up to150 kilometres an hour and theball can travel as much as 110metres. There are also a fewrules that make the whole thingtrickier for the players. You can’tjust pick up the ball from thefloor, you have to flick it up usingthe hurley. You can’t carry theball in your hand for more than 4steps, so you have to run whilebalancing the ball on the hurley,which is no easy thing. Thereare also restrictions on the wayyou can tackle another player,so all in all it’s a sport thatrequires a high level of skill andyears of practice.

F And tell us how popular thesport is outside Ireland.

M Well the history of Ireland isdominated by emigration. Whilethe country itself has apopulation of less than 7million, it’s often claimed thatthere are over 70 million peoplearound the world with Irishancestry. Nearly 11% ofAmericans see themselves asIrish-Americans. My ownparents came over to Britainfrom Galway in the West ofIreland in the 1930s. Whereverthese emigrants went, they tooktheir sport with them. So now


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hurling is played in places suchas Britain, the USA, Canada,Argentina, Australia, NewZealand, South Africa, as wellas places in continental Europe– for example there are teamsfrom Brussels, fromLuxembourg, from Munich,Paris and Zurich.

F And what would you say theappeal of the sport is?

M As well as the cultural aspect:keeping in touch with yourroots, the game itself is so fastmoving and so skilful that it’shard to take your eyes awayfrom the action for even asecond. Also in these days ofthe commercialisation of sportwhen you have footballers orformula one drivers earningmore in a week than most of uswill see in a lifetime, it’simportant to remember thateven at the very highest level,hurling players are amateurs.That and the absence ofviolence between supporters…even in the most importantmatches there’s no segregationbetween rival fans… gives thesport a purity and nobility that Idon’t think you get in othersports.

F Thanks, Sean. I think we allknow a little more about whatsounds like a fascinating sport.That was Sean McGinn of theBritish Gaelic AthleticAssociation talking about thesport of hurling.

That is the end of part 4.

CD 1 – TRACK 6

TEST 2

Now open your question paperand look at Part 1. You’ll hearpeople talking in eight differentsituations. For questions 1-8,choose the best answer, A, B or C.

One. You hear a woman talkingabout a young man. What is herrelationship to him?

A his mother

B his teacher

C his neighbour

I don’t know what’s got into him. Heused to be such a sweet boy. He’dcome round to the house atChristmas time and sing such lovelycarols. My husband used to take himfishing on Sunday mornings… if youcould get him out of bed on time ofcourse. Now he hardly says a wordto either of us and he’s been gettinginto terrible trouble in the classroom.The headmaster has asked them allto come in for a meeting. We’re allworried he’s going to be expelledfrom school.

REPEAT

Two. You hear a man talking abouta house. Why did he decide not tobuy it?

A It was too expensive.

B It wasn’t big enough.

C It was too far away.

In the end I just decided it wasn’treally what I was looking for. Sure, ifyou compare it to places in the centreof town, it certainly wasn’t bad valuefor money. But, at the end of the day,it’s just me, no wife, no kids, whywould I need two extra bedrooms? Iknow it’s more expensive to stay herein town, but I don’t really want tospend an hour or more commutingfrom the outskirts rather than justwalking half an hour to work.

REPEAT

Three. You hear someone talkingabout a concert they went to. Howdid they feel about the concert?

A It was too short.

B She enjoyed it.

C The music was disappointing.

All my friends laughed when I toldthem I’d bought tickets. ‘How old areyou?’ they asked, and I supposethey’ve got a point – I think the leadsinger is only a couple of yearsyounger than my granddad. But I’vealways loved their music... well…their early stuff from the 60s and70s… that’s why I felt really let downwhen they spent 40 minutes playingsongs from their new album, which Ihave to say, isn’t great. But once thatwas out of the way they went on toplay just about every song they’veever written. You’ve got to admire

their energy… I can’t imagine mygranddad running around on stagefor that long.

REPEAT

Four. You hear somebody talkingabout a trip they are about to take.Why are they going?

A on business

B on holiday

C for a family wedding

I’ve been there before, I went therewith my wife to celebrate our thirdanniversary, which was five yearsago now. We had a great time justsitting around in the squares, gettinga tan and seeing the sights. I don’timagine I’ll get to see many sightsthis time, unless you count a hotelroom, the inside of a taxi and aconference centre as sights. Luckilyit’s only 4 days and I’ll be back onSaturday… I’d better be, mybrother’s getting married and I’m thebest man!

REPEAT

Five. You hear a television quizprogramme.How much does the contestantwin?

A nothing

B ten thousand pounds

C two thousand pounds

M So Brian, this is it... here comesthe final question. Let meremind you, you’ve used allthree life lines and if youchoose to play and get theanswer wrong you’ll walk homewith nothing. If, after hearingthe question, you decide not toplay, you keep the twothousand pounds you’vealready won. But… if you getthe answer right… you win thejackpot of ten thousand pounds.OK? Here it is… who won theEuropean Football Cup in 1979and 1980? Was it A: RealMadrid B: Liverpool or C:Nottingham Forest

M Well… I think it was NottinghamForest but I’m not absolutelysure… so I think I’ll keep whatI’ve already won. I’ve had a


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lovely day, thanks foreverything.

M Well, Brian, you’re a cautiousman… and you were right... itwas answer C: NottinghamForest. A round of applauseeverybody for Brian Smith, aworthy winner.

REPEAT

Six. You hear somebody buying atrain ticket. What kind of ticket dothey buy?

A a single

B a fixed return

C an open return

M Hello Scottish Rail, how can Ihelp you?

F Hi, I’d like to buy a return ticketto Glasgow please.

M When were you thinking oftravelling back?

F I’m not exactly sure, maybenext Monday but it’s not reallydefinite.

M Well, an open return is £67.20which means you can comeback any time before the end ofnext month. If you decide tobuy a fixed return for nextMonday that’s £43.50. But youknow, a single is £25… so ifyou buy a single and thenanother single when you decideto come back, you’re onlyspending £6.50 more than thefixed return.

F Ah… that’s what I’ll do then.Can I have one of those please.

M Sure. That’s £25 please.

REPEAT

Seven. You hear a young womantalking about her decision to leavehome. Why did she decide toleave home?

A because of her relationshipwith her parents

B to be nearer to work

C because she wanted to livewith a friend

I’ve been really surprised by theirreaction to be honest. They’ve beenreally supportive, Dad even lent methe money for the deposit and helpedme move all my stuff in. That’s theodd thing, they have such an oldfashioned attitude I thought thatnever in a million years would theylet me. I think that’s what made medecide to leave really, we neverseemed to see eye to eye onanything and would get on eachother’s nerves and row about almosteverything.

My new place is a little nearer to theoffice, but only about another 10minutes on the bus. What’s great isthat now I have my own space and Ican just invite a friend round, cookdinner, watch a DVD, that sort ofthing, without having to check withmum and dad if it’s OK… andpossibly having a blazing row aboutit.

REPEAT

Eight. You hear a radioadvertisement. What is itadvertising?

A a soft drink

B a holiday

C a pizza restaurant

Wellco Supermarkets are offeringanother sensational summer savingssizzler. In our East Park, ChurchStreet and North Road branches, buy2 one and a half litre bottles ofpremiocola for just £1.40, that’s asaving of nearly 50%... and that’s notall. Collect the tokens on each bottletop and for every 6 you’ll get a freemargherita or tex mex pizza atPizzaNation in the high street. Enterour free draw to win a holiday for twoin Punta Cana, Mexico when youspend over £25 on any Wellco own-brand products.

REPEAT


CD 1 – TRACK 7

You will hear a radio news itemabout a hot air balloonmanufacturer. For Questions 9-18complete the sentences.

Douglas Finch is to be awarded theHonorary Degree of Doctor ofBusiness Administration inrecognition of his outstandingscientific, design, and entrepreneurialachievements and their importantcontribution to the history andreputation of Bristol.

Douglas Finch was born nearGlasgow and attended Allan Glen’sSchool before reading aeronauticalengineering at Glasgow University,from which he graduated in 1961. Hegained a Master’s Degree in IndustrialEngineering at Cornell University,USA in 1963 before returning to theUnited Kingdom and joining the BristolAeroplane Company.

He joined the Bristol Gliding Cluband in 1965 received the Silver ‘C’Gliding Badge. In 1967 he helpedbuild the ‘Bristol Belle’, a red andwhite striped balloon which made itsfirst flights at Weston-on-the-Greennear Oxford. It was the first modernhot air balloon in Western Europe. In1968 Doug Finch was issued withthe first ever Private Pilot’s Licencefor Hot Air Balloons.

The success of Doug Finch intranslating his ballooning expertiseinto a commercial concern isreflected in the birth and success ofhis company, Finch Balloons ofBristol, which was formed by Finch in1971 – five years after heconstructed his first balloon. The newcompany was based in Dutton,Bristol, where a total of twenty-nineballoons were made in the basementof the property. 1971 also saw Finchbuild Golden Falcon, a balloondesigned specifically to fly across theSahara.

In 1972 Doug Finch received theRoyal Aeronautical Club BronzeMedal, the first awarded for hot airairships. A year later he wasawarded the Royal Aeronautical ClubSilver Medal for the first balloon flightover the Alps. In the same year hereceived the Lighter Than Air Society(USA) Achievement Award for thedevelopment of the first hot air ship.Five years later he attempted the firstAtlantic crossing by balloon for whichhe received the Royal AeronauticalClub Gold Medal. In 1978 his attemptto make the premier Atlantic crossingby balloon ended when bad weatherforced his heated helium balloon‘Zanussi’ down after a 2,000 mileflight from Canada.


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Speaker 2

There was a time around here thatyou could leave your front door openmorning, noon and night. Kids justplayed in the street unsupervisedand only came home when it gotdark or their dinner was on the table.Everybody knew everybody else…and their business… so it wasn’t allgreat! … But over the last few yearsit’s got worse and worse and I’ve noidea why, I really don’t. Mrs Peters atnumber 36, she was mugged justlast Thursday, 50 pounds and hermobile phone she lost.

Speaker 3

When we saw it we just fell in lovewith it. The old wooden floors, theheavy oak doors, the delightful baywindows… and the garden… thegarden’s going to be glorious inspring. We’ll have picnics, maybeeven barbecues. Of course there’slots of work to be done before it’sperfect, if it ever will be… But weseem to be settling in. Most of thelocal shopkeepers seem to know ournames now and most people sayhello in the street. It’s such a changefrom living in the city. And when thekids go back to school there’s areally good one at the other end ofthe village. I’ll probably have to walkthem there though… the high streetis very busy with cars and I don’twant to risk them crossing a busyroad on their own.

Speaker 4

Well, with the kids now, there’s justnot enough room for all of us. Wehad to do it really. Obviously, I wouldhave liked to have stayed here, butit’s for the best. It was justimpractical really. And now we’ll havea lovely place. I’ve lived here since Ileft home. I never imagined then howmuch my life would change. Look outof the window, see that shop, that’swhere I bought my first suit for myfirst day of work, and there’s the caféwhere I met Karen, my wife. Theidea of moving was hard at first,leaving all these memories behind.Still, it’s for the best and it’s not likewe’re moving to the other side of theworld. It’s only a ten minute drive andI can pop back whenever I like.

Speaker 5

I realise now it wasn’t the right thingto do. We jumped in too quick; we

just took one look at the cottage andthe village and we fell in love. Wedidn’t really think about thepracticalities. It all seemed so idyllicreally. Country houses with beautifulgardens, cricket on the village green,the village fete, the duck pond... itseemed like we were going back intime. But once you’re used to all that,spent a year or so here… well…that’s when the realities kick in.There’s not really much to do. If wewant to go to the cinema it’s a halfhour drive to the multiplex on the ringroad. If we want to eat in a goodrestaurant or see an exhibition wehave to go into town, which withtraffic can take over an hour and ahalf. And while the kids don’t mind itnow, I dread to think what they’ll belike when they’re a bit older... there’sliterally nothing for teenagers to dohere. I guess we should have given ita bit more practical thought beforewe dived in and moved.


CD 1 – TRACK 9

You will hear an interview with anathlete talking about his sport. Forquestions 24-30, choose the bestanswer A, B or C.

M We’ve all heard of fun-runs andhalf marathons, maybe we’veeven competed in them… buthow many of us have heard ofultra-marathons? My guesttoday is Stan Woodcock who isgoing to tell us all aboutultramarathons. Hi, Stan,thanks for coming. Maybe Icould start by asking you theobvious question... what exactlyis an ultra marathon?

M Hello Roy, thanks for invitingme onto the programme. Well,you know there’s nostraightforward answer to yourquestion. Not all ultramarathons are the same. Thesimplest answer I can give youis that it involves running furtherthan a normal marathon, whichis 42.195 kilometres. Basicallyyou could divide them into twotypes as well, those that covera specific distance and thosethat take place within a specifictime period, with the winnerbeing the runner who hascovered the most distance.

The Finch company moved to itspresent site in Gellingborough in1983 and in the following years all ofthe records for distance and durationwere taken by pilots flying Finchballoons. In 1989 Finch BalloonsLimited received the Queen’s Awardfor Export, confirmation that DougFinch had made Bristol theundisputed balloon manufacturingcapital of the world.

During the 1990s interest inbecoming the first to fly around theworld by balloon became intense andalmost all the contenders have usedFinch helium/hot air balloons.

Doug Finch has advanced thescience, technology and art ofballoon flight to the highest level. Hisfactory in Bristol is the world’s largestand last year he was awarded thePrince Philip Design Award.

Doug Finch will receive his HonoraryDegree of Doctor of BusinessAdministration at the awardceremony at Bristol Business Schoolon Tuesday 20 November at 11.30am at Bristol Cathedral.


CD 1 – TRACK 8

You will hear five different peopletalking about the place where theylive. For questions 19-23 choosefrom the list A-F to say what eachperson feels about where theylive. Use the letters only once.There is one extra letter which youdo not need to use.

Speaker 1

People tell me I should cash in on it,sell up and move out to the country.Prices have gone up so mucharound here that I could get a lovelyplace somewhere rural. I don’t knowthough, it had never really occurredto me before. I’ve lived half my lifehere and don’t really see muchreason for a change. But while youmight say the area has gone up-market and improved, with these newbistros and shops, well it’s lostsomething too. A lot of the characterit used to have… I mean, now I don’teven know my neighbours’ namesand they don’t know mine. So I’m notsure if I should stick around now.Moving… well, it’s food for thought.


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M What sort of distances and timeperiods are we talking abouthere?

M Well, the timed events rangefrom 6, 12 and 24 hours to 3and 6 days. In terms of thedistance races, the mostcommon distances are 50 and100 kilometres.

M 6 days? Surely here in Britain,we’d run out of anywhere to runto!

M No – timed events are generallyrun on a track or a short roadcourse, usually about akilometre in length.

M And how popular are ultramarathons?

M More popular than you’d think.In Europe alone there weremore than 200 ultra-marathonslast year. There are a few inAfrica, including the world’soldest, the 89 kilometre‘comrades marathon’ in SouthAfrica which attracts about12,000 runners a year and a250 kilometre race in Namibiacalled ‘racing the planet’… it’sbecoming more popular in Asia.Taiwan, Japan and Korea haveall hosted ultra-marathons, andIndia held its first in Bangalorein 2007. There’s even an ultra-marathon held in Antarctica!

M And I believe you’ve justreturned from the United States;tell us about that. From what youtold me before the programme, itsounds impossible!

M Well, I took part in the BadwaterUltra-marathon. Which is aterrific test of your personalendurance. It’s a 215 km coursewhich starts at 85 metres belowsea level and ends at the top ofMount Whitney in Death Valley,California… 2,548 metres abovesea level. What makes itparticularly tricky is that it’s heldin July, when temperatures canreach 49 degrees in the shade.A guy called Al Arnold pioneeredthe course, first attempting it in1974, but he failed to finish dueto dehydration. He tried againthe following year but sustaineda knee injury, but in 1977 hewas the first to finish it, with atime of eighty hours.

M That sounds like quite a trial,Stan. Can I ask you just onelast question, and I hope itdoesn’t sound rude… but, whydo you do it, it sounds crazy?

M Don’t worry, I’m asked that allthe time. Maybe I used to askmyself too. But I can tell youthis… it has taught me how Ican take responsibility for mylife and thereby guide my owndestiny instead of blaming otherpeople and being victimised bymy own imperfections. Itconfirmed that the anger andrage that exists in most of us isbased on our inability to acceptour own inadequacies. It hastaught me that we all have thestrength and conviction to dealwith adversity – if we can justtap into it. But more thananything, it has left me feelingprofoundly grateful for myfamily and friends, appreciationof what I have, who I am, andwhere I am going in my life.

M Stan Woodcock, thanks forcoming in and speaking to us.


CD 1 – TRACK 10

TEST 3


One. You hear someone talkingabout something he saw ontelevision. What did he see?

A a magic trick

B a drama

C a sporting event

It was one of those ‘must-see’moments. Everybody I knew watchedit, and everybody at work the nextday was talking about it. It was justlike that soap opera years ago whenthe guy got shot and all you couldhear the next day was peoplediscussing who shot him. There wereeven t-shirts printed ‘Who shot BJ?’they said. Or like that world cup finalwhere the England player used hishand to score a goal and the referee

said the goal was valid. I’m surethere must be something to explainhow she did it though, you can’t justmake Buckingham Palace disappearinto thin air. But it was really dramaticto say the least.

REPEAT

Two. You hear a womancomplaining about something.What is she complaining about?

A types of mobile phones

B teenagers

C the public transport system

I just don’t see the point of them. Youget on the tube and some adolescentsits next to you and all you hear isthis tinny repetitive beat. Why can’tthey just put headphones on? Whydo they imagine that the rest of uswant to hear their music? It’s not as ifI’ve ever heard anybody using themto play decent music. I used to thinktheir ringtones were annoying, but it’snothing compared to these. It reallyruins my journey to work sometimes.Not that it was ever really a pleasure.

REPEAT

Three. You hear somebody talkingon the phone. What is the purposeof their phone call?

A to complain

B to arrange to meet someone

C to apologise

I know exactly how you must feel.But just let me explain… I know, Iknow… I got the two thirty train and Iwas supposed to get the connectingtrain at two fifteen, but there was adelay at the train station and wedidn’t get there until half past twoand I’d missed it. The next onewasn’t until 5. Can you believe it?I’ve a good mind to write a letter ofcomplaint to the company and tellthem how angry I am; it’s not as ifthe tickets are cheap either. Youknow how much I wanted to meetyou, how can I make it up to you?What? Yes, I know… of course I hadit with me… just that I forgot tocharge it last night and it ran out ofbatteries, so I couldn’t call you.Hello? Hello?

REPEAT


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Four. You hear somebody talkingin a shop. What kind of shop is it?

A a health food shop

B a greengrocer’s

C a chemist’s

It’s because I have these allergies.I’ve tried everything. Creams, pills…you name it. The doctor told me hewasn’t sure what was causing it, heeven suggested it was all in myhead. But surely I’m not imaginingthe rashes I get when I eat them. Itjust started a couple of years ago, Iused to eat plenty of them with noproblem. I suppose it must besomething to do with the fertilizersand pesticides they use these days.So, no, those look nice and I’m surethey’re fine but I don’t want to risk it,I’ll have the organic ones instead. Akilo should be enough.

REPEAT

Five. You hear a man talking abouthis sister. What is his sister’sbiggest fault?

A She talks too much.

B She’s too serious.

C She gets easily annoyed.

Seriously, there are times when Ithink I just can’t take any more. I loveher to bits of course, but at times,well, you can imagine, I just have totake a deep breath and count to 20or I’ll just explode or end up walkingout. She’s always been the same,ever since we were little kids. Youjust can’t get a word in edgeways.She’d kill me if she knew, butsometimes when she calls I just putthe phone on the table, go away andmake a cup of coffee and when Icome back she’s still going on andon and none the wiser.

REPEAT

Six. You hear 2 people talking.What is their relationship?

A They’re related.

B They go to college together.

C They go to the same gym.

F John! I haven’t seen you forages. How are you?

M Sara! Hi! You look great. Isuppose you must still be takingthose classes.

F I sure am! I’ve lost 5 kilos sinceI last saw you. Anna’s a realdictator in her classes; shereally makes you work andsweat. But I have plenty of timethese days since I finished atuniversity. What about you?How come I haven’t seen youthere for so long?

M Well, time is the big problemreally. I’ve got so much work todo, I ended up finishing so lateand then taking work home withme. There just don’t seem to beenough hours in the day. But Ido seem to be putting on a bitof weight, so maybe I’ll try toget down there at least oncenext week.

REPEAT

Seven. You hear a man talking tohis partner on the phone. When ishe going to leave work?

A 8.30

B 8

C 9.30

I know I said I’d be home by 8 but itjust can’t be done. I’ve got a hugestack of work on my desk and Ipromised my boss I’d have it done byWednesday. I’m going to have tocome in early before he gets here ateight thirty tomorrow and get somemore of it done. Look, it’s half pasteight now, I’ll just put in another hourand then I’ll finish, OK? Do we needanything from the shops on my wayhome?

REPEAT

Eight. What is the speakerdescribing?

A a documentary

B a visit to a national park

C a friend’s holiday

It’s quite breathtaking really. Youcould almost be there. It’s such abeautiful park, the valley looksgorgeous. You can see why itattracts so many visitors. Only lastweek John was asking me if I fancied

going camping with him there for along weekend. But that’s why theymade it really, to highlight how somany visitors going there every yearis eroding a lot of the naturalvegetation that the wildlife there relyon for food and shelter. Really didmake me think. And the music theyused is great, really complimentedthe images. You should see it.

REPEAT


CD 1 – TRACK 11

You’ll hear an informationannouncement about facilitiesoffered at Blackpool Airport. Forquestions 9-18, complete thesentences.

Checking in at Blackpool airportcouldn’t be easier. The majority ofcheck-in desks at Blackpool Airportare located on the first floor of theterminal building. Air UK operates itsUK, London and German flights fromcheck-in Area 14, which is located ona level beneath the Arrivals Hall. Tosave time, have your tickets andpassport ready, and ensure yourhand luggage contains only the itemsyou may need during your journey.Ensure that carryon luggage doesnot contain any liquids, gels orpastes that exceed 100 ml. You canalso use the self-service check indesks. Self-service check-in isavailable to passengers departingfrom the Airport travelling with certainairlines. A number of scheduledairlines offer self service check-inand internet check-in technologies inorder to facilitate their passengerswith early check-in, seat selectionand issue of boarding passes.Please select from the airline linksbelow to see if this service applies toyour destination. Airline staff are onhand should you require anyassistance. Sit back and relax in theEric Morecambe Departure lounge.Enjoy the comfort and relaxingatmosphere of the Eric MorecambeLounge for up to three hours – foronly €25 per person. We offer anexcellent service to all passengersregardless of airline or class of ticket.And there’s a 20% discount for theover 60’s who can take advantage ofour facilities for only 20 euros perperson. Facilities include:complementary refreshments;


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newspapers and magazines; FreeWi-Fi access throughout the loungeand notification of delays and flighttimes. A left luggage facility isavailable in the Car Park Atrium,directly across the road from theTerminal, for short and long termstorage of luggage. The facility isopen from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily andrates vary depending on the size ofbaggage. A car key holding facilityexists for passengers, at a charge,with Greencaps, in the Car ParkAtrium. The keys must be collectedby the person nominated to do so.This person must have photographicidentification when collecting thekeys. Those leaving keys must alsoprovide a reference of where theircar is parked.Blackpool airport boasts a variety ofcafés and restaurants, such as theCosy Café located on the mezzaninefloor. Relax in this modern light filledrestaurant and choose from awonderful selection of modern Irishclassics such as; Pan fried Chickenwith creamy smoked bacon and Leeksauce, freshly cooked pasta dishes,or Pan Asian delights such as Thaistyle prawns. Full English breakfastis served from 4 a.m. The airport isconveniently located approximately10 km north of Blackpool city centre.It is served by a large number ofbuses, coaches and taxis all allowingyou to get to and from the airportwith ease. Over 21 millionpassengers travelled throughBlackpool Airport last year.


CD 1 – TRACK 12

You will hear five different actorstalking about their first stageperformance. For questions 19-23choose from the list A-F to saywhat each person felt during theperformance. Use the letters onlyonce. There is one extra letterwhich you do not need to use.

Speaker 1

I thought I’d be a lot more anxiousthan I was. I couldn’t sleep for a fewdays before it. I kept going over theworst possible scenarios in my head.Everything from forgetting my lines,to throwing up all over the stage… Ieven imagined a fire in the theatre. Isuppose it’s only natural really. Imean it’s your very first time in front

of an audience, how are youexpected to feel? There werehundreds of people there! But at theend of the day, you’ve done yourpreparation. You’ve spent monthswith the play, living the part… sowhen I stepped out on the stage Iwas surprised at myself. I didn’t evennotice the audience; I just went outand played my part as though it wasthe most natural thing in the world.And that’s how it felt, it wasn’t me upthere on stage, I was the characterand every line was my own.

Speaker 2

I couldn’t wait to get out there.Seriously. We’d rehearsed it so oftenI was eager to show people whatwe’d done, what a classic play itwas. The play was set during the firstworld war and was about a group ofsoldiers all from the same villagewho all get killed on the same day.We’d read so many letters, plays andbooks from the men who wereactually there and what we noticedwas that in the early days of the war,how so many men were so keen togo out and fight, even if it meantcertain death. At the time I rememberthinking they were crazy… but it’sstrange, the more we practiced onour own in an empty theatre… themore we just wanted to go out anddo the real thing in front of a realaudience… even if it proved to be atotal disaster. Which it wasn’t, I’mpleased to say. We got very goodreviews in the following week’s localpaper.

Speaker 3

It was maybe the most frighteningmoment of my life. I was waiting inthe wings, I knew my cue wascoming up any minute. My mind wentblank. I started hyperventilating. Mystomach was in knots. I started tosweat. I nearly ran away there andthen. I just wanted to hide andwished I’d never put myself in thisposition. I couldn’t though, I couldn’tlet all those people down. Thepeople who’d bought tickets but moreimportantly all my fellow actors andthe director… we’d all worked sovery hard to make this production.So I took a few deep breaths andwhen the time came I went onto thestage. I’d like to say I delivered abreathtaking performance but thetruth is I was terrible. It did get betterafter that first performance though,thankfully.

Speaker 4

I wasn’t supposed to be appearingthat day. I was the understudy toJake Collins, the Hollywood film star.He was in London to perform in thisplay and the publicity it got wasastonishing, you couldn’t turn on thetelevision or open a newspaperwithout seeing his picture or anarticle about the play. So a lot ofexcitement had been created in thecity. I imagine a lot of the audiencehad bought tickets simply to see aHollywood star up close. They musthave been rather disappointed whenit was announced that he wouldn’t beperforming due to food poisoning.But for me it was a wonderfulopportunity, and you can’t imaginehow great standing in for such afamous actor made me feel.Especially as when the play finishednobody I saw leaving the theatrelooked in the least bit disappointed.

Speaker 5

It was a nightmare from thebeginning to the end. I couldn’tfocus, I had trouble remembering mylines, I could barely move. Honestly, Iwas shattered. I had given up my jobas a teacher just 9 months before topursue my dream of being aprofessional actor, and as luck wouldhave it my wife announced that shewas pregnant just a week later. I’llhave to make a decent job of this Ithought, I’ve now got moreresponsibility than I’ve ever had. Wewere both so happy when I got thispart, it was quite a prestigiousproduction and it looked like I mighthave a future. Of course, fate hadother ideas. My wife went into thehospital the day before the firstperformance. I was up for 30 hoursstraight that day, pacing up anddown the corridors. She gave birth toour daughter, Chloe, just 2 hoursbefore curtains up. I literally had torun all the way from the hospital tothe theatre. Luckily everybodyunderstood and I actually receivedan award for that role.


CD 2 – TRACK 1

You will hear an interview with thecreator of a web-based musicservice. For questions 24-30,choose the best answer A, B or C.


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F Go on, give us a quick look intoyour music collection. Who areyou listening to right now?

M There are some fantastic artistscoming through, such as Weare Scientists, VampireWeekend, Bats for lashes, FleetFoxes and The Black Keys.Leonard Cohen’s latest isawesome and I’ve just startedlistening to Little Feet’s newalbum, which just hit MusicFlowtoday.

F MusicFlow was yours andMarta Pirez’s brainchild, did itcome about quickly from a chatyou both had or was the idea along process development?

M It’s something we’d beenthinking about for a while. Onething that became obvious to usabout person to person filesharing was the fact that peopleconsumed more music thanever from a bigger diversity ofartists. The influences in termsof what they were listening towere coming more from friendsthan from radio stations. Theywere consuming music likecrazy but weren’t necessarilypaying for that music. Theunderlying demand for musicwas bigger than ever. Thereason we set up MusicFlowwas to cater for that demandbut to also, at the same time,create a functioning revenuestream.

F What has been MusicFlow'sbiggest challenge since start-up?

M Well obviously signing thevarious record deals was ahuge step for us. We want to bethe alternative to music piracyand to have the support of therecord labels, both the majorsand independents, to allow usto realise that aim. Since then,probably dealing with the surgein users has been one of ourbiggest challenges, as well asadding on average 10,000tracks a day to the MusicFlowcatalogue. Putting all theworld’s music in one place is abig job.

F Who do you see as yourbiggest competition?

M Depending on who you speakto, we will be compared todifferent services. In the UK, weget compared to First.fm; inFrance a lot of people compareus to Geezer, while in the US alot of people see us as similarto Phapster. I honestly believethat we don’t have a maincompetitor on that level as noone is currently offering whatwe are offering in terms of anad-supported model and asubscription model as one.

F What have you got planned fornext year?

M Lots of stuff. We’ve got someunbelievably cool exclusivecontent available for our userscoming up over the next fewmonths, plus we’re also goingto provide our MusicFlowPremium subscribers with somespecial extra services.


CD 2 – TRACK 2

TEST 4


One. You hear a woman talkingabout her pet. What is the problemwith it?

A Her neighbours have complained about it.

B It is sick.

C It is noisy.

I can’t get a wink of sleep and I’m sosleepy at work. Even my boss hasnoticed it. I’m worried sick. Really, Idon’t know what’s got into her. Shenever used to be like this. OK, whenthe postman came she used to do it,but not at night, not every night atleast. I’m amazed the people nextdoor haven’t come round and saidanything about it, I know I would haveif it was me. A car or a motorbikedrives past the house and she’s off,barking for hours. I don’t know ifthere’s something they can do at theclinic, some pills or something. I’llphone them, see what they suggest.

F Steven Pride is a difficult manto track down. The co-founderand CEO of MusicFlow is busytravelling around Europe onbusiness. Founded in 2008,MusicFlow is quickly gaining alegion of loyal fans and it iseasy to understand why. Themusicstreaming program givesusers instant access to a hugecatalogue of music from all overthe world, free of charge.Unlike the majority of similarwebsites, MusicFlow’s beautylies in the fact that it works withmusic companies and rightsholders so that its operationsare wholly legitimate. Thisexplains why MusicFlow hasbeen welcomed with open armsby both producers andconsumers of music alike. Justthis past Wednesday sawSteven Pride attending the BritAwards in London, minglingwith the crème de la crème ofthe music industry. This wouldnever have been the case forthe likes of Phapster or PirateShip.So it was with great satisfactionthat Steven Pride, very muchthe man of the moment, tooksome time out to answer ourquestions.You are often described as ahardnosed businessman, arethere any other things you arealso guilty of?

M Right now, with all the travellingI’m doing, I’m not gettingenough sleep at night, so I’dhave to say falling asleep inmeetings. My wife might tell youI work too hard, but I don’t thinkthat’s true. I’m just doing what Ilove.

F Who has most inspired you?

M In terms of music I would haveto say The Beatles. I don’t thinkwe’ll ever see any groupproduce such a body of workever again. Almost every songis a classic. In terms ofbusiness, I think my father hasbeen my biggest influence, healways told me I should just dowhat makes me happy. And foreverything else, my wife. She’sbeen my rock, my inspiration,an oasis of stability over thelast few years, which have beencrazy.


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REPEAT

Two. You hear someone talkingabout their job. What do they do?

A a nurse

B a firefighter

C a police officer

It is rewarding I must say, but it doestake it out of you. Not just physicallybut emotionally as well. You see themost terrible things. Usually peoplewho’ve been involved in trafficaccidents, but also house fires andindustrial accidents. Of course,there’s sometimes very little we cando except try to make them ascomfortable as possible. It would bea crime not to do whatever we could.There are lots of success stories too.A lot of people are saying we’re thebest burns unit in the whole country.

REPEAT

Three. You hear a man talking onthe radio about a local school.Why is the school being pulleddown?

A There aren’t enough students.

B It has become dangerous.

C A new school is being built.

Residents of Eddington were sad tohear of the local council’s decision todemolish Saint Xavier’s secondaryschool. While it is acknowledged thatstudent numbers had steadily beendeclining over the past few years, itwas still felt that there was sufficientneed for a secondary school in thevillage.

Unfortunately, after carefulassessment by the ministry of publicworks and their surveyors, it wasdecided that the building hadbecome structurally unsafe andshould be closed with immediateeffect.

A local action committee has beenpressuring the council to construct anew school on the same site.However, a spokesman for EastRidingshire council has declared thatthere are insufficient funds in thebudget for such a project, for theforeseeable future at least. Theyhave, however, agreed to fund a

special bus service for pupils whowill now need to travel to school innearby Mettingborough.

REPEAT

Four. You hear someone talkingabout a famous actor. How doesshe know him?

A they went to drama school together.

B They went to university together.

C They went to school together.

People ask me that all the time… didI know how famous he wouldbecome? Well, of course not. Howcould I? He was very good lookingobviously, but that’s not everything isit? I suppose you have to have thetalent, oh and some luck too. I thinkhe’s worked very hard to get wherehe is today. We actually appeared ina few plays together at that time, wewere both members of the dramagroup. Funnily enough it was me thateverybody thought would become astar. We hadn’t seen each other foryears actually. I went off to studytheatre and drama at college, andI’m not sure where he went, we justsort of fell out of touch. But then oneday, oh I don’t know how many yearsago now, and there he was on thetelevision playing a young universityprofessor who is being blackmailedby his student. I was amazed, hewas incredible… so charismatic andconvincing. And guess what I’mdoing now? Yes, I’m a dramateacher, I just never seemed to getthat part to launch my career, so Igave up after a few years. I enjoy myjob now of course, but you can’t helpthinking back to when we were kidsand how things might have turnedout differently.

REPEAT

Five. You hear someone orderinga meal in a restaurant. Which dishdoesn’t have salad included?

A the burger

B the fish and chips

C the fried chicken

M Are you ready to order,madam?

F Yes, we are. We’ll have thebeef half pounder burger withtexas sauce, the fried cod andchips with tartare sauce, andthe southern rancher friedchicken with lemon dressing,please.

M Very good, madam. And whatwould you like to drink?

F Just a bottle of mineral water,please.

M Of course.

F Oh and could we have 3 sidesalads please?

M You realise the half pounderand the southern rancher areserved with salad, madam?

F Oh, in that case just one saladthen please.

REPEAT

Six. You hear a tour guide talkingto a group of visitors in a gallery.What does he tell them about thegallery?

A Large groups aren’t allowed in certain areas of it.

B It’s advisable just to visit one section of it.

C They could get lost in it.

Well that’s enough about the historyof the building itself. Now it’s time foryou to have a look at what you reallycame here to see, the picturesthemselves. We’ll meet back here at12 and then proceed back to thecoach.

If you look in your guide packs you’llfind a map of the gallery. It’s quiteclear and colour coded so it makes iteasy to find exactly what you’relooking for. I would warn you though,that in a building this size and withso many different sections dedicatedto different art movements it wouldbe impossible to see it all in just onemorning. You’d have to be here fordays really. It’s best to decide onwhich parts you’d really like to seeand then just concentrate on those.Otherwise you’ll have to run aroundthe gallery and not really have achance to really look at any of thepictures properly. Also it’s best todivide yourselves into smaller


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groups, otherwise I’m sure nobodywill be able to agree what you allwant to see. Also, it gets verycrowded around this time of day, so itwouldn’t be very practical if you alljust stuck together. OK, see you hereat 12.

REPEAT

Seven. You hear a televisionweather forecast. What is theweather going to be like today inthe east of the country?

A rainy

B sunny

C snowy

Well for much of the country it’sgoing to be a lovely day, withtemperatures reaching as much as28 degrees. Not bad at all after allthat wintery weather we’ve beenhaving lately. Leeds was reported tohave received as much as 6 inchesof snow in the last month. But thatlooks to be behind us now as a beltof high pressure comes in from thewest, spreading eastwards as theweek goes on. It looks a bit bleakeron the east coast until tonight, I’mafraid, as you’re set for a day of greyclouds and showers, sometimesheavy. It might be a good idea totake your washing in but don’t worry.By tomorrow afternoon you’ll be outin the garden barbecuing with therest of us.

REPEAT

Eight. You hear a girl talking to hermother. Why does she want hermother’s hat?

A to wear it to a party

B It’s fashionable.

C She needs a new hat.

F Why on earth would you wantthis? I must’ve bought it 30years ago. It’s ancient. Besides,surely you have enough hats,there are at least 10 in yourwardrobe.

F But I love it, mum, it’sgorgeous.

F You’re not going to a Halloweenparty and dressing up as ahippy, are you?

F Retro is all the rage now –everybody’s wearing things likethis. Anyone who knows how todress at least.

F OK, take it. But don’t say Ididn’t warn you if people giveyou funny looks.

F Don’t worry, mum. I’m going tobe the coolest girl in my class.

REPEAT


CD 2 – TRACK 3

You’ll hear a radio interview with aplastic surgeon. For questions 9-18, complete the sentences. Younow have 45 seconds to look atpart 2.

F Mediwatch recently caught upwith Dr Nigel Bryan, founder ofthe Bryan Plastic SurgeryMedical Center in Tarantino,New Mexico. Dr Bryan is anaccomplished plastic surgeonand has been on the Board ofDirectors for the AmericanAcademy of Facial Plastic andReconstructive Surgery and onthe surgery credentialscommittee of the AmericanBoard of Facial Plastic andReconstructive Surgery. DrBryan, thank you for taking thetime to speak to Mediwatch.You have been practicing facialplastic surgery since 1977 andhave over 30 years ofexperience in this field. That’s agreat track record! How did youdecide to become a plasticsurgeon and choose facialplastic surgery as yourspecialisation?

M I first became interested infacial plastic surgery when Iwas in residency training atUCLA. My major inspirationcame from Michael Howish, MDwho was an extraordinaryteacher and surgeon.

F Where did you receive yourplastic surgery training?

M I attended Medical School atIdaho University in Springton,followed by general surgery atthe University of Eastern Idaho

and finally my fundamentaltraining came from the divisionof Head and Neck surgery atUCLA.

F What changes have you seenin your long career, in terms oftechniques, technology andtrends? Was plastic surgery aspopular 30 years ago?

M There have been manychanges in plastic surgery overthe years. There is a tendencyto swing from radical and exoticto minimal and less invasiveand then back again. Many ofthe fundamental surgicaltechniques have not reallychanged because they arebased on solid surgicalprincipals. On the other hand,new procedures and materialsare almost a daily occurrence.Perhaps, the most impressiveof the trends is the widespreaduse of Botox and the fillersubstances available today. Thepopularity of plastic surgery isincreasing daily. 30 years ago,the general consensus amongthose who could afford it, wasto get a facelift at 50. Today,there is something foreveryone, from Botox to fillersubstances, to facelifts. Moreimportantly, the generalpopulation of women and menconsidering cosmeticprocedures is closer to 35.

F You are a specialist in facialplastic surgery. Facial plasticsurgery includes severalprocedures – face lifts,rhinoplasty, otoplasty, brow liftand many others. Whichprocedure in facial plasticsurgery is the most difficult toperform? And, which proceduredo you find the mostinteresting?

M There is no question thatrhinoplasty is the most difficultplastic surgical procedure fromhead to toe. Therefore, it isclearly the most interesting andmost challenging to perform.

F Is there any procedure that ismore popular than the others?

M Botox is by far the most popularcosmetic procedure today. It isaffordable with no downtimeand patients love the results.


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F You’ve mentioned in yourwebsite that cosmetic surgerycan help a person with poorself-esteem. To what extentdoes having cosmetic surgeryhelp improve a person’spsychological health? Wouldyou like to tell us about anyincident where surgery hashelped a person immensely?

M Plastic surgery is not at allabout what your spouse orfriends think. It is about howyou feel about yourself whenyou look in the mirror. There isno question that people wholook good and feel good aboutthemselves are generally moresuccessful than those whodon’t.

F Do you also perform facialplastic surgery on accidentvictims or patients with birthdefects?

M Yes I do, but my son NigelBryan Jr. just returned from atrip to Columbia where hehelped treat 50 patients withcleft palates and cleft lipdeformities in less than a week.

F As with any surgery, plasticsurgery entails some risks –reaction to anesthesia,infection, hematoma, seroma,embolism and necrosis. Is thereany particular procedure thathas more risks than the others?How do you minimise theserisks?

M As a facial plastic surgeon risksreally come in two categories.The risks are the anticipation ofthe patient and real medicalrisks. Serious medicalcomplications rarely if everoccur in competent hands.Patients’ anticipation andexpectation is much harder tojudge. We minimise theexpectation risks by fullyexplaining all procedures andtheir results to each individualpatient. On the medical side,our operating room facilities arefully certified by AAAASF and Ihave had experience in over10,000 cases.

F What kind of follow-upmeasures need to be taken infacial plastic surgery?

M All patients need to be treatedpostoperatively as any othersurgery patient would be.Photographic records need tobe kept and frankly, there is alot of hand holding for theemotional issues that occur. Ingeneral, most patients arethrilled, happy and requireminimal care.

F How important is it for a patientto feel comfortable with thesurgeon? What kind of rapportdo you share with yourpatients?

M Being comfortable with thesurgeon and his team, includingeveryone in the office isessential. Our rapport isexcellent, the support of thestaff is excellent. We try tolisten to each patient andaddress that patient’s individualneeds.

F Your son, Dr Nigel Bryan, Jr.has joined your practice. Howdoes it feel to work with him?

M It is a thrill and a privilege to beable to work with my own son.It was easy to assess hiseducation, but you never reallyknow how well another surgeoncan operate. He is a gifted andmeticulous surgeon.

F Thank you, Dr Bryan, for takingthe time to answer thesequestions.


CD 2 – TRACK 4

You will hear five different peopletalking about what they like aboutLondon. For questions 19-23,choose from the list A-F thereason each speaker gives for whythey like the city so much. Thereis one extra letter which you don’tneed to use.

Speaker 1

I remember the first time I went thereit was the thing that struck me most,and it still does to this day, and I’velived here nearly 10 years now. Youcan just walk down the street andthere’s an Indian restaurant, next to aLebanese restaurant, next to a

Turkish restaurant… you name it. It’slike the whole world is here. I was inthe butcher’s the other day and theguy behind the counter was speakingto me in English, to an elderlywoman in Arabic and to some youngSenegalese guys in French. Now, I’mfrom a small village up north andmost people there have lived therefor generations, I mean, my teacherat school also taught my dad, so it’sa real contrast and something I thinkgives the place its verve.

Speaker 2

Never a dull moment, that’s all I cansay. If you have the time and themoney, you’ll never be bored. OnMonday I can go to the South Bankand see an exhibition. On Tuesday Ican pop into the British Museum.Wednesday, maybe catch an opera.Thursday go out for a meal. Fridaygo and see a film in one of themassive cinemas in LeicesterSquare. Saturday, go to a footballmatch and then on Sunday just havea walk in Regent’s Park – it’sbeautiful there, so many trees andflowers, so relaxing.

Speaker 3

There’s just this buzz about theplace. Walking down the street yousee a famous singer, you might be inthe newsagent’s and an actor fromsome famous TV series pops in tobuy his copy of the Guardian. Thereare always new restaurants or clubsopening. All the different parts of thecity have their own special feeling.North London with its Irishcommunity, and the West Indianparade in Notting Hill. I know somepeople get annoyed with how peoplerush about and the general mayhemon the tube, but for me it’s whatLondon is all about, its electric.

Speaker 4

Well, I have heard there are moregreen spaces in London per capitathan anywhere else. I’m not sure ifthat’s true, but it’s certainly animprovement on the city I grew up in.In our local park you could walkevery inch of it in about half an hour.In London though, you’re spoilt forchoice. I’m not sure which park Iwould say was my favourite, it woulddepend on my mood. I do have asoft spot for Primrose Hill, you knowthe one you often see in films, thathas a view all over London.


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sure were cute’ and oh, ‘let's have afew more’. We get calls fromneighbours about people letting theirllamas starve and actually havingdead llamas lying around theirpastures. We get calls about llamasbeing tied to a post and beaten, orlassoed, or kids being allowed to ridethem and harass them until thellamas scream. These are the direcases.We have one llama called Cybil. Shewas attacked by a cougar and foundnear death. Those are the worst ofher wounds, partially healed. Herbody was covered in scratches andbites. Her owner was out of town, butfortunately his caretakers nursed heruntil he returned. Her owner felt thathe could no longer guarantee hersafety, so gave her to LlamaCare tocomplete her recovery and spend herretirement in a quiet, peacefulenvironment. During 2004 we madethe decision to become a ‘forever’sanctuary. The llamas who come tous, stay with us. After working to findgood new homes for many llamas,we have come to the conclusion thatvirtually all who come to us have hadenough of moving around and beingseparated from their companions andfamilies and will be much happierjoining a herd that they never have toleave. We are however, still willing tohelp people find someone who offersthe service of placing their animals ifthat is what they want for them. Allllamas who come to us are examinedby a vet, receive all necessary shots,and any other veterinary attentionneeded. They are then evaluated forpersonality traits, level of trainingrequired, and where they might fitbest in the herd. We are not in thebusiness of making more llamas forthe market. We are here to save thelives of those who find themselves insituations where their lives – or thequality of their lives are in danger.Like any rescue, we are in constantneed of monetary donations.Volunteers range from mentors andveterinarians, to those who spend aday interacting with the animals andcleaning barns – great exercise andfun for those city dwellers who can'town llamas, but enjoy them. Therewill always be a llama here whowants to be the centre of your loveand attention.


CD 2 – TRACK 6

TEST 5

You’ll hear people talking in eightdifferent situations. For questions1-8, choose the best answer, A, Bor C.

One. You hear someone talkingabout a new road. What is heropinion of the road?

A She thinks it will make her journey to the shops longer.

B She is in favour of it.

A She's worried it will harm local wildlife.

Of course I can understand theirconcerns, it's bound to have an effecton some of the wildlife there, but atthe end of the day you've got tobalance that out with the positive effectit will have on the village. It will be a lotmore pleasant for all of us here whenwe don't have to wait an hour just tocross the road to get to the post office.

REPEAT

Two. You hear someone talkingabout their degree. What did theystudy?

A Medicine

B Fine arts

C Science

My parents tried to convince me tostudy Medicine, and I went alongwith them right up until the finalmoment when I had to submit myuniversity application. Although I'dalways been quite good at scienceI'd never really enjoyed it that muchand I couldn't see how medicinewould be that different. Of course, atthat age I never fully appreciatedhow hard it would be to get a degreein Fine Arts... but sometimes you'vejust got to follow your heart.

REPEAT

Three. You hear a man speaking tosomeone. Who is he speaking to?

A a customer

B a student

C his cleaner

Speaker 5

I remember people saying it was amonstrosity. I can’t believe they reallythink that, it just matches the skylineso beautifully. They call it the Gherkinand I can see how it might be a bitmodern for some tastes, but really, tocall it ugly is insane. But I read thatpeople complained about the EiffelTower when that was first built, andcan anybody think of Paris nowwithout it? I’m sure people will cometo think of it in the same way as theydo Saint Paul’s cathedral or theTower of London – as a beautifulbuilding that could only be in London.


CD 2 – TRACK 5

You will hear a talk from thedirector of an animal sanctuary .For questions 24-30, choose thebest answer A, B or C.

‘Why do Llamas need to be rescued?I thought they were worth lots ofmoney...’ That's usually the firstquestion we hear when someonefinds out about the work ofLlamaCare. It's a difficult question toanswer because the reasons aremany and some very complex. Thesimple answer to the first part of it isthat they need rescuing, becausethere are too many... now. To thesecond part, they used to be, butaren’t now.About 25 years ago, give or take,llamas came upon the scene in theUnited States as unique, ‘exotic’animals. No one really knew whatthey were ‘for’, but lots of peoplethought they wanted one... or a herd.They were beautiful, different fromyour usual farm animal, hadwonderful long eyelashes, big eyes,and an air of mystery.What we are seeing now is primarilythe result of over breeding. Simplyput, the supply began to outweighthe demand. Indiscriminate breeding,along with the fact that these animalscan live 18 to 25 years or more – afact none of us paid much attentionto when either buying or sellingthem, during those days – hasbrought a lot of llamas to needrescuing. There were certainlyresponsible, caring breeders andthere still are, but many peoplebought llamas not knowing a thingabout them except that ‘the babies


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So, if you look closely you can see thatjust by applying a small quantity of it tothe surface and rubbing it ever sogently in a circular motion with akitchen cloth, the final result is as cleanas if you'd been scrubbing it for hours.It's a marvel of modern science, itreally is. And at just under two poundsa bottle, you can’t say fairer than that.So how many bottles would you like?

REPEAT

Four. You hear a woman talking toher neighbour. What does shewant her neighbour to do?

A Look after her cat.

B Feed her son.

C Water her plants.

If it's no trouble... oh that's great...thanks ever so much. You just haveto check there's enough water in thebowl. I'll be back by Monday, so youonly need to go round there twice.And if you leave him some food inthe bowl every other day, that'll begreat. Is there anything you'd like meto bring you back? (pause) Sure noproblem. Bye.

REPEAT

Five. You hear a woman talkingabout going to a beauty salon.What is she going to have done?

A Get a new hairstyle.

B Have a manicure.

C Have a massage.

I'd had my hair done there before andI loved it. They really take care of youin there. I had a lovely cup of coffeewhile I was waiting and they evengave me a head massage before thestyling. So, as it's my birthday and I'llbe going out this evening I thoughtwhy not get my nails done there...then go home, put on my best dressand some make up and hit the town.

REPEAT

Six. You hear someone talking toher colleague. Why is she upset?

A Something is missing.

B Something got wet.

C Something is broken.

I'd put it in my drawer because Ididn't want to take it outside with meand risk it getting wet if it suddenlystarted raining. I thought it would befine if I just left it there... but when Igot back after lunch there was nosign of it. I haven't got a clue whocould've done something like that. It'sreally put me in a fix, it really has.

REPEAT

Seven. You are in a computerrepair shop.When will your computer beready?

A Friday

B Monday

C Tuesday

Well, leave it with us. We'll have alook at it as soon as we can. Itdoesn't sound like it's anything tooserious. We're a bit busy at themoment but we can definitely getround to it by Friday. So if you comearound on Monday then I'm surewe'll have it up and running for youby then. Oh, hang on, Monday is aholiday and we're closed, so popround the next day then.

REPEAT

Eight. You hear someone talkingabout his journey to work. Howdoes he feel about it?

A It's relaxing.

B It's stressful.

C It takes too long.

I know most people hate it... it'sstressful, it takes too long... it's hellthey say. But for me... well... it's theonly time I get to myself really. WhenI'm at work the phone's ringingnonstop... at home the kids are eitherscreaming or wanting help with theirhomework. So it's a time I can justslip on some good music and sort ofswitch off. Actually I wish it took twohours instead of one!


CD 2 – TRACK 7

You’ll hear part of a radiodocumentary about a dessert. For

questions 9-18, complete thesentences.

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessertnamed after the Russian balletdancer Anna Pavlova. It is a cakesimilar to meringue with a crispycrust and soft, light inner. Thedessert is believed to have beencreated to honour the dancer duringor after one of her tours to Australiaand New Zealand in the 1920s.Where it was created and thenationality of its creator has been asource of argument between the twonations for many years, but researchindicates New Zealand as thesource. The dessert is a popular dishand an important part of the nationalcuisine of both countries, and isfrequently served during celebratoryor holiday meals such as Christmaslunch. All currently available researchsuggests the recipe originated inNew Zealand. Keith Money, abiographer of Anna Pavlova, wrotethat a chef in a hotel in Wellington,created the dish when Pavlovavisited there in 1926 on her worldtour. Professor Helen Leach, aculinary anthropologist at theUniversity of Otago in New Zealand,has researched the pavlova, and hascompiled a library of cookbookscontaining 667 pavlova recipes frommore than 300 sources. Her book,The Pavlova Story: A Slice of NewZealand’s Culinary History, containsa timeline of pavlova history whichgives 1935 for the first Australianpavlova recipe and 1929 for therecipe in the rural magazine NZDairy Exporter Annual. It has beenclaimed that Bert Sachse originatedthe dish at the Esplanade Hotel inPerth, Australia in 1935. A relative ofSachse's wrote to Leach suggestingthat Sachse possibly got the yearwrong when dating the recipe, butLeach replied they wouldn't findevidence for that, ‘simply because it'sjust not showing up in the cookbooksuntil really the 1940s in Australia.’ Ofsuch arguments Matthew Evans, arestaurant critic for the SydneyMorning Herald said it was unlikely adefinitive answer about the pavlova'sorigins would ever be found. ‘Peoplehave been doing meringue withcream for a long time, I don't thinkAustralia or New Zealand were thefirst to think of doing that,’ he said.Pavlova is made by beating eggwhites to a very stiff consistencybefore folding in caster sugar, whitevinegar, cornstarch, and sometimesvanilla, and slow-baking the mixture


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similarly to meringue. This makes theoutside of the pavlova a crispcrunchy shell, while the interiorremains soft and moist. Thepavlova's internal consistency is thuscompletely different from thatnormally associated with meringue,having more of a soft marshmallowtexture. This difference is due to theaddition of cornstarch, the use ofwhich is the defining feature of apavlova recipe. Pavlova istraditionally decorated with a toppingof whipped cream and fresh fruit,such as strawberries and kiwifruit.Raspberry is a popular topping in theUnited Kingdom, with the tartness ofraspberries contrasting with thesweetness of sugar. Factory-madepavlovas can be purchased atsupermarkets and decorated asdesired. A commercial product isavailable that includes pre-mixedingredients for baking the meringueshell, requiring only the addition ofwater and sugar. Te Papa, NewZealand's national museum inWellington, celebrated its firstbirthday in February 1999 with thecreation of the world’s largestpavlova, named ‘Pavzilla’, cut by thePrime Minister of New Zealand of thetime, Jenny Shipley.


CD 2 – TRACK 8

You will hear five different peopletalking about their first job. Forquestions 19-23 choose from thelist A-F to say what each personsays about it. Use the letters onlyonce. There is one extra letterwhich you do not need to use.

Speaker 1

It was only a summer job when I wasat university; just a couple of monthswork and the pay was awful. Isuppose I was just young, I didn'ttake it seriously... I think if I'm honest,I thought it was beneath me… I wasan academic after all… I thought Icould do it with my eyes closed.Anyway, one day the boss came overand told me that if I didn't improve hewould have no choice but to sackme. I think I was so embarrassedthat I began to take it seriously andeverything turned out OK. I spent themoney I'd earned on a holiday inGreece.

Speaker 2

I suppose it was a bit of a silly thingto do really. I put it on my CV that Ispoke fluent French. Ratherstretching the truth, to say the least. Icould just about order a coffee if Ihad to. Well, I didn't think muchabout it, doubted I'd ever have toprove it, but one day the boss calledme over and said he had animportant new client with a Frenchwife who didn't speak a word ofEnglish, and would I show heraround the city for the day while herhusband was in a company meeting.There was nothing I could do aboutit. I couldn't just tell him the truth. SoI spent the day with her. Luckily shedidn't let me get a word in edgewaysand I just smiled and nodded atappropriate moments. The next day Iwas sure my boss would ask to seeme and that would be it; I'd behistory. But he never did – I don'tthink the wife even noticed I hardlyspoke a word.

Speaker 3

It was a work placement really, butI'd still consider it my first job. Imean, I worked the same hours aseverybody else, mucked in witheverybody else. I'd never reallythought about the work they didbefore, but that time really openedmy eyes. By the time the placementended and I had to leave, I'd madeup my mind. There was no way I wasgoing into a boring 9 to 5 office jobjust for the money. I was going tospend my life helping people. Andthat's why I became a paramedic.

Speaker 4

Some friends and I went to France tospend the summer picking fruit, justmoving from place to place whereverthe work was. I suppose we had anover-romantic idea about the wholething. We had no idea just how backbreaking the work would be. Theamount of different things we picked– strawberries, grapes, apples,raspberries, pears – it didn't matterwhat it was – at the end of the dayyou could hardly move. Anyway wehad to cut the whole thing short andcome back to Scotland. I got a twigcaught in my eye while we werepicking pears and the pain wasunbearable, there was no way Icould carry on working after that.

Speaker 5

A dogsbody, that's the word! Isuppose you have to expect it at thatage and in your first job, but at thetime it really got to me. I don't know ifI expected to be doing moreimportant things or what, but I'd comehome boiling with rage thinking ‘that'sit! Tomorrow I quit!’ ‘Cup of tea,Darren, fill up the photocopier withpaper, Darren, clean the shelves,Darren.’ It was non-stop and I'd neverknow from one day to the next whatI'd be spending my day doing.


CD 2 – TRACK 9

You will hear an author talkingabout his time at school. Forquestions 24-30, choose the bestanswer A, B or C.

When I was 8 years old my familyfollowed the ancient family traditionand packed me off to a moderatelyexpensive public school in Cumbria. Ihated almost every day that I spentthere. My very first term was adisaster and I found it very difficult tosettle in. Life in a boarding school canbe almost impossible, especially ifyou aren't that happy at home, whichI wasn't at the time. I did miss a nicehome-cooked meal though; the foodat the school was dreadful. Apartfrom having to follow all the rules andtime-honoured customs, you werenever left alone, even for a minute –you were always with another boy atall times. I have always enjoyed myown company and a bit of solitude,so day-to-day life at school was veryhard for me, although the other boysdidn't seem to mind it. In the first termthere I developed a nasty cough. Theschool nurse said it was nothing andgave me some pills to take. However,a short time afterwards, playing rugbyin a snowstorm, I suddenly felt Icouldn't breathe properly and wastaken to hospital with a nasty dose ofbronchitis and pneumonia. As soonas I arrived at the hospital they putme into a small room with anotherboy who was also very ill. Heeventually died and I'm told, so did Inearly. My main memory of my timein hospital was that the nurses onduty in the evening used to gettogether in my room and playscrabble and chat. That they werekeeping me awake with the light on


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and their talk didn't seem to worrythem in the slightest. When I hadrecovered I was sent home for a fewweeks to convalesce and so missedalmost all the school term. When Ieventually returned to school, I wassent to bed early because of myillness… and so finally I got to have abrief period to myself every day. Laterin the term I was allowed to go to theschool library alone which wasanother great improvement. The day Ileft school the headmaster came upto me to say goodbye and asked if itwas a sad day for me. I told him thatin fact it was the happiest day of mylife. He said that he was sure that Iwould come to think of my time at theschool in a completely different light. Itold him that I was sure I would not.Although of course over the last thirtyyears I have had dreadfully unhappydays in my life, I found that myconclusions then – that there wasnothing that could ever be so bad asmy time in boarding school – wereindeed proved to be quite correct.


CD 2 – TRACK 10

TEST 6

Now open your question paperand look at Part 1. You’ll hearpeople talking in eight differentsituations. For questions 1–8,choose the best answer A,B or C.

One. You hear part of a natureprogramme on television. Whatdoes it say about the Scarlet KingSnake?

A It’s not poisonous.

B It’s poisonous.

C They are very big.

The Scarlet King snake is a type ofking snake that is found in theEastern portion of the United States,particularly Florida. It is a subspeciesof the milk snake. They are found inpine flatwoods, hardwoodhammocks, prairies, cultivated fields,and suburban areas. It is significantlysmaller than some of the other kingsnakes, usually well under 20 incheslong. The maximum recorded lengthwas 68.5cm (27 inches). Neonates(newborns) can be as small as 3 anda half inches. The snake has a tri-colour pattern of black, red, and

yellow bands that imitate thevenomous coral snake. A method tohelp differentiate between venomousand non venomous tricolour snakesin North America is found in thepopular phrases ‘red on yellow, kill afellow; red on black venom lack’ or ‘Ifred touches yellow, you're a deadfellow; if red touches black, you're allright, Jack’ and ‘Red and black is afriend of Jack’. Juvenile specimens ofthis snake usually have the samecolours as adults, but often haverings that look more ‘off white’ thanyellow. As they become mature, theirrings turn more yellow.

REPEAT

Two. You hear two friendsmeeting. Where are they?

A at the cinema

B in a restaurant

C in a shop

M Hi Tony, I didn’t expect to bumpinto you here. How’s it going?

M Fine thanks. Well, I just readabout it in the local paper, Ithought it sounded interesting.

M Me too. From the review I didn’texpect to be able to get a table.

M Me neither, but if you look atthese prices, I can see whypeople were put off.

M You reckon? it doesn’t seemunreasonable to me. And lookover there, that’s Brett Flick. It’snot every day you can say youspent the evening in the sameplace as a Hollywood star.

M I suppose not. Anyway, I’dbetter be getting back. We’resitting over there, near theentrance.

REPEAT

Three. You hear someone talkingabout buying clothes. How doeshe choose his clothes?

A He chooses the most fashionable.

B He chooses the most expensive brands.

C He buys comfortable clothes.

Well, people often say to me that Imust be a dedicated follower offashion. They say I always buy fancydesigner stuff. But that’s not reallythe case. OK some of them mighthappen to be all the rage at themoment, but that’s not why. I’m notthrowing my money around on awhim. Over the years I’ve come totrust certain brands. I’m quitecomfortable paying a hundredpounds on a pair of jeans if I knowthey’re going to last me for years. If Igot some supermarket own brandjeans, they’d be falling apart in 6months, so it’s not really saving youany money in the long run. They costmore because they’re better quality,you get what you pay for really, andthat’s the reason they might havebecome fashionable.

REPEAT

Four. You hear a traffic report onthe radio. Which road is closed?

A the A613

B the B403

C the A614

And now traffic news for motoriststravelling in North Nottinghamshire.Due to a building fire at a farm closeto the B403 High Street in Repton,traffic is closed both ways on theA613. Police are directing traffic.Motorists travelling betweenNottingham and Worksop areadvised to take the A614 oralternatively leave the B403 atCollymore before joining the A630 atSheringham. Now for rail news…

REPEAT

Five. You hear a young womantalking about a man she has justmet. What does she think of him?

A He’s fascinating.

B He’s intelligent.

C He’s boring.

Well, I didn’t really know much abouthim. I’d seen him around the office ofcourse, you couldn’t help noticinghim… those piercing blue eyes andlong, dark hair... honestly he lookslike a film star. So I was thrilled whenhe asked me to dinner. All the girls inmy department were envious. But asit turns out, you can’t judge a book


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running the risk of damage tothe skin. If you were asleep formore than 40 minutes, youwere bound to burn.

F It really hurts, and I lookridiculous. What’s Nigel going tosay when he comes round, I’msupposed to be meeting all hisnew friends from medicalschool tonight at a party. I justcan’t go, he’ll be so ashamed ofme.

M There, there, don’t be silly, I’msure he won’t be in theslightest. Listen, I’ll have arummage around in thebathroom, see if we’ve got anycream we can put on it for you.

REPEAT

Eight. You hear someone talkingto their friend about dreams. Whathappens in her dreams?

A She flies.

B She falls.

C She loses her teeth.

I was reading about it in a magazine,apparently it’s really common. One ofthe big three. There’s the one inwhich you can fly, just zoom off intothe air… this means you’re contentwith life and feel you have thepotential to succeed, then there’s theother side of the coin, where youplunge down from the sky, whichexpresses fear of failure or lack ofself esteem. Now mine isconsiderably worse. I wake up withsuch a fright and have to go to themirror to make sure they haven’t allfallen out. Apparently it reveals greatanxiety and the fear of getting older.

REPEAT


CD 3 – TRACK 1

You will hear a promotional talkabout a language school. Forquestions 9-18, complete thesentences.

Learn Hungarian in beautiful Budapest.

Come to our office and we will behappy to assist you in any way we

can during your stay in Budapest.Here is some information about us.Our two-week courses of Hungarianlanguage and culture were firstoffered in 1997. Initially, we offeredone two-week session during winter1997 and one during summer 1997.They met with broad interest andwere very well received. Wetherefore scheduled two two-weeksessions during both winter andsummer 1998. Since then thenumber of sessions and the numbersof groups and language levels inevery session have continued togrow, and we now offer 5-6 sessionsin winter/spring (February to April)and 8-9 sessions in summer/autumn(July to October).In the period from February 1997 toOctober 2008 over 2,500 peopleparticipated in our Bulgarian courses.Our courses continue to attract moreand more interest, and the number ofparticipants (who have been between18 and 71 years of age) is constantlyrising. The high standard of ourcourses and their attractiveness areshown not only by the fact that manyparticipants have returned toBudapest several times to continuestudying Hungarian with us (returningparticipants constitute 15-20% of allcourse participants), but also by theresults of surveys which areconducted at the end of everysession. The surveys assess allcomponents of the course, and theaverage overall mark given to thecourse by the participants is usuallyaround 4.5 on our 5-point gradingscale. Both Hungarian and Russianlanguage courses are conducted byqualified native speakers. The levelof instruction is adjusted to yourneeds or those of the group. We arealso open to your suggestionsconcerning vocabulary and subjectscovered; here, too we are willing toaccommodate your needs andexpectations. You are free to choosedates, duration and intensity (numberof lessons per day) of an individuallyarranged course. Lessons can starton any working day. The onlylimitation: the minimum length of anindividualised course is five days ofclasses (not necessarily onconsecutive days) and the minimumnumber of classes per day is 2, eachlasting 45 minutes. The fee perlesson (of 45 minutes) depends onthe length and intensity of the courseand on the number of people in agroup. For a typical individual courseof 20 lessons (5 days, 4 lessons aday) the fee per lesson is 14 Euros,

by its cover. I thought he’d be reallyinteresting, that we’d hit it off reallywell… then we’d get married andhave children...[laughing]. Well fromthe moment we arrived at therestaurant, the only thing he talkedabout was his ex-girlfriend andfootball. Do I look like I’m going to bethat interested in football? Really, Icouldn’t wait for the evening to end.

REPEAT

Six. You hear a theatre directortalking to an actor. How does shewant him to do the scene?

A in the same way as before

B very differently

C like a famous actor did it before

It’s just... well… too reminiscent ofSir Larry Guilgood really. I know hemade this part his own. It’s thetouchstone performance, one wecan’t really forget about. The imageof him as Hamlet is probably the onewe all think of when we think ofHamlet on stage. But it was over 50years ago, we can’t just go on doingit in the same way. You’re your ownman, John, a great actor in your ownright. I believe you can go all theway, so you’re just shooting yourselfin the foot really if you mimic SirLarry. I want to see more of you inHamlet and less Guilgood. OK.That’s it for today, rehearsals start at7 tomorrow, everybody. And don’t belate.

REPEAT

Seven. You hear a conversationbetween a man and a youngwoman. Who is the man?

A a doctor

B a chemist

C her father

M Well, I must say that doesn’tlook very comfortable, younglady. How did that happen?

F I was out in the garden and Imust have just fallen asleep. Ihad sunblock on as well, factor20.

M That just means how long youcan spend in the sun without


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or a total of 280 Euros. For a muchlonger and more intensive course,the fee per lesson may be somewhatlower, and for group lessons it maybe somewhat higher (the fee isunderstood as per lesson per group;the fee for the individual participantwill then be substantially lower). Theexact fee will be negotiatedindividually, depending on thespecific circumstances. (Forexample, if you wish to register andstart a course at short notice, or for atime when demand is especially high,it may be difficult or impossible for usto offer you the price quoted above.)Please consult the Cultural programpage on our website for the regulartwo-week sessions (and the websitesmentioned there). We can offer mostof the components listed there, andother options depending on yourinterest, but since the individuallyarranged courses do not constitute apackage (as regular two-weeksessions do), there will be additionalcharges.If you participate in an individuallyarranged course during a time periodwhen our regular sessions takeplace, you will be able to participatein the regular cultural program at amodest fee. We will also gladlyadvise you on cultural events inBudapest and help you plan yourfree time in Budapest. Please consultthe Accommodation page on ourwebsite for the regular two-weeksessions. We can offer you the samethree kinds of accommodation whenyou participate in an individuallyarranged course. In this case theprice for lodgings is not included inthe course price. Charges will thenbe as follows:

For the first week in a single room ina private flat or house, 80 euros aweek and 50 euros for additionalweeks. Or for a separate,selfcontained flat, 130 euros for thefirst week and 100 euros for everyadditional week.


CD 3 – TRACK 2

You will hear five different peopletalking about cosmetic surgery. Forquestions 19-23 choose from thelist A-F to say how each personfeels about it. Use the letters onlyonce. There is one extra letterwhich you do not need to use.

Speaker 1

If you wake up after surgery with theface of a 20-year-old, where does itstop? What’s wrong with growing oldgracefully? The lines around my eyescome from years of laughter. And themarks on my tummy are the result ofmy two beautiful daughters. I'mhappy, healthy and, in my 50s, morecomfortable in my skin than ever.Why would I want to risk that? I am a50-year-old woman and nothing'sgoing to change that. I admit I like tolook good, but I believe you put in toget out. I go to the gym three times aweek and I'm training for a 10K race.I believe being outdoors is good forthe mind, body and soul and thatshows in your face.

Speaker 2

I was confident about my body in my20s and with good reason. I had agreat figure and worked as a part-time model. I didn't worry aboutlosing my looks – I just neverimagined it would happen. Sixmonths after marrying John I becamean air hostess. Then, eight yearslater, I became pregnant and gaveup flying. Free of the pressures fromwork to stay slim, I indulged in all myfavourite treats. In my mid-40s Ididn't turn heads any more and I nolonger felt attractive. I got talking to afriend who'd had a facelift anddecided I wanted surgery. Theresults were lifechanging. I felt like Ihad rolled back 20 years and havinga smooth neck and tighter skin mademe feel like the old Libby I knew andloved. I felt like I had turned the clockback.

Speaker 3

If you ask me, having plastic surgerydoesn’t address the heart of thematter. Obviously people who gothrough it are insecure aboutsomething - lacking in self-esteem. Iknow we live in a society obsessedwith how you look, but giving yourselfa smaller nose or a larger chest, Idon’t see how that can make you feelany better about yourself in the longterm. It all seems a bit shallow to me.I think as long as you value yourselfand love yourself for who you are,that’s the most important thing. Therest is just trivial. I mean, we neverfall in love with people just for theirlooks, do we? We fall in love with theperson themselves.

Speaker 4

Plastic surgery can and often doesimprove one’s appearance –rhinoplasty, for example, hasimproved many a big nose or bumpin a nose. If you are having plasticsurgery to correct a flaw or defectthat has seriously affected your life,then as long as you are fullyinformed of all the risks, then by allmeans go for it... Here’s anotherthing to consider about any surgery –I was born with several deformitiesand congenital defects that wereoperated on numerous times duringmy life (I’m 56 now) ... there are longterm affects of these surgeries... Ihave severe problems with my heartand my lungs now, and have beentold that if I need another operationwhere they use general anesthetics, Icould die... so, if you are havingplastic surgery, I would really thinkseriously of the long term affects... allthose people who are on that TVshow where they go into it lookingold, fat or with big noses and comeout beautiful... well no one knowswhat the effects of this surgery willhave on them 30 years from now.

Speaker 5

We’ve been doing it as long as therehave been humans. People useddyes on their faces, piercings onvarious parts of their bodies. Youname it. In certain parts of the wordpeople elongate their necks, inothers they put plates in their lips tomake them bigger. And I know in theeast it was very common to bind thelegs of children so that the feetwouldn’t grown big. We all want tolook good and if the technology is inplace to achieve that, then we’rebound to seriously consider it. I don’treally see it as any different togetting a tattoo or having your earspierced. I wouldn’t consider it myselfthough, but that’s because I’mscared of needles and surgery. But Ifully understand why people do it.


CD 3 – TRACK 3

You will hear an interview with anexpert on maritime disasters, JuneHarmann. For questions 24-30,choose the best answer A, B or C.

M I think if we thought of a


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maritime disaster, June, most ofus would tend to think of theTitanic, why is that, was it theworst such tragedy?

F Well, it was a terrible tragedy,Keith, there’s no denying that. Itclaimed the lives of more than1,500 people, but in terms ofthe number of fatalities, thereare far worse disasters. TheTek Sing in China in 1822 left1,600 dead; more recently theLe Joola in Senegal with 1,800deaths and a few others untilyou get to the worst peacetimemaritime disaster in history, theDoña Paz in 1987 which left anestimated 4,341 dead. I thinkthe reason we all think of theTitanic is of course becausewe’ve all seen the films andread about it, but moreoverbecause we’re rather parochialand often are more concernedwith things closer to home, afterall, it was a British shiptravelling to New York, than weare with events which aresomewhat off our radar,occurring on the other side ofthe world.

M You might be right there, June, Ican’t say I’ve heard much aboutthe disasters you mentioned.Tell us more about the DoñaPaz, how could so many peoplehave been on the ship, andhow could so many have died?

F In terms of the number ofpeople on the ship, that’s anissue of some dispute. Theoriginal passenger capacity ofthe ferry when it was built andcalled the Ryukyu KaiunKaisha, was 608 people. Butafter it had been sold to a ferrycompany in the Philipines, itwas renamed the Doña Pazand officially had a capacity of1,492 passengers and 60 crew.But a revised passengermanifest showed 1,583passengers and 58 crew, with675 more passengers gettingon at Tacloban City and another908 at Catbalogan. There havealso been claims that it wasquite common for the crew tosell further places aboard theship. Why so many of thesepeople lost their lives is due toa combination of reasons. Whathappened was this: during thenight, as passengers slept,

many on the floor of thecorridors and the decks, theDoña Paz collided with an oiltanker on its way from Bataanto Masbate. The Vector wascarrying 8,800 barrels ofgasoline and other petroleumproducts. Upon the collision,the tanker’s cargo ignited andcaused a fire that spread ontothe Doña Paz. Survivorsclaimed that the lights onboardthe Doña Paz had gone out,that there were no life jacketson board the ferry and thatnone of the crew were givingany orders. People whosurvived the fire had to jumpinto the shark infested waterbelow.

M You said earlier that these werethe worst peacetime disasters.What about wartime?

F Well for the worst disaster, interms of loss of life, you’dprobably have to look at thefailed Spanish Armada in 1588.Spain lost between 15 and 20thousand soldiers and sailors.Some were sunk by Englishships but the majority of lossescame about due to unusuallystrong Atlantic storms which ledmany of the Spanish to drown,while many others died fromstarvation and disease as theirships were unable to anchoralong the coasts of Scotland orIreland. As the Spanish Kingsaid in the aftermath ‘I sent thearmada against men, not God’swinds’.

M So just how safe are we at sea,June?

F Oh I’d say pretty safe, relativelyspeaking. If you’re travellingwith a reputable company andin a boat equipped for theenvironment it’s in, you’restatistically safe. Look at it thisway, an estimated 1.5 millionpeople in the UK travelled oncruise ships last year alone.And we’re no longer so much atthe mercy of bad weather.

M And one last thing, June. Itseems a strange thing to havewritten a book about, can youtell us why exactly you becameinterested in this field?

F It’s difficult to say, I suppose

I’ve always had a bit of amorbid fascination with the sea.It always seemed a bit of adangerous, mysterious place tome. And I do remember seeingan old black and white filmabout the Titanic when I was akid, which I remember I foundspellbinding. But to be honestI’d say the truth is much moremundane, simply, I wascontracted to write the book bythe publisher’s, so I did myresearch and here you are... AHistory of Maritime Disasters byJune Harmann.


CD 3 – TRACK 4

TEST 7

Now open your question paperand look at Part 1. You’ll hearpeople talking in eight differentsituations. For questions 1–8,choose the best answer A, B or C.

One. You hear a man talking abouta sport. Why did he stop playingthe sport?

A Because of injury.

B He no longer enjoyed it.

C He doesn't have enough time.

Well, I've got to say, much as I likedtaking part, it got a bit too much inthe end. What with training twice aweek and then the match onSunday... and I'm not getting anyyounger. I found I needed Mondayand Tuesday just to recover from allthe aches and pains. And I've got somuch on my plate at the moment...I've found that since I stopped it hasreally freed up my week and I cansee a lot more of the family than Idid.

REPEAT

Two. You hear a woman talkingabout a recent purchase. Wheredid she buy it?

A in a shop

B on the Internet

C at a local market

I just browsed their catalogue on


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their website, made a note of themodel number and drove into theirout-of-town place to pay for it andpick it up. I must say they're certainlydoing good business... queues likeyou wouldn't believe. You can seewhy the local furniture market issuffering; the whole town must havebeen in there buying things for thehouse or garden.

REPEAT

Three. You hear somebody talkingabout a new school. What doesthe person think about it?

A It is needed.

B It isn't needed.

C It's too far away.

About time too, we've been cryingout for this for years. Kids have hadto travel into Nottcaster. It took mynephew close to an hour to get inthere by bus and after his varioussports teams he wasn't getting homeuntil nearly nine o'clock. Finally itlooks like they're doing something forthis community instead of spendingmoney on things there's no real needfor. I mean, that procession lastyear… what was that for? A waste ofmoney if you ask me.

REPEAT

Four. You a hear woman talkingabout her job. What is she worriedabout?

A She doesn't have the necessary skills.

B She has too much work to do.

C She might lose her job.

Well, there have been rumours flyingaround for months. You just hopethat it's not going to be you. I know itsounds selfish but our department isone of the most productive in thewhole company; we don't get amoment's peace. But... it turns outthat the whole company is sufferingand there'll be large scaleredundancies. Hopefully if they letme go I can find something similar;I'm too old now to retrain and dosomething completely different.

REPEAT

Five. You hear an advertisementfor a holiday. What kind of holidayis being advertised?

A a cruise

B a safari

C an activity holiday

How would you like to sleep on thebanks of majestic Lake Victoria,listening to the gentle lapping of thelake on the shore, and the wildlife ofthe nearby National Reserve Park?Just what you need after an action-packed day of canoeing, rockclimbing or scuba diving. LakeVictoria Hotel offers 2 weeks in itsluxury compound, where you can doas much or as little as your heartdesires. See our website for furtherdetails.

REPEAT

Six. You hear somebodydiscussing a radio programme.What kind of programme was it?

A a political debate

B a quiz programme

C a comedy

It's a joke really, they were putting somany questions to him and he didn'thave a clue. I really don't think hestands a chance of winning the nextelection if he carries on like this. Ihad to laugh when they asked himabout his foreign policy... his answerjust seemed to make no sense at all.He came over as a bit of a clown.

REPEAT

Seven. You hear somebody talkingabout a piece of furniture. Howdoes he feel about it?

A It's too big.

B It was difficult to assemble.

C It was too expensive.

Well, I thought that at that price youcan't go wrong. But I started to regretit once I saw the size of the box, itonly just fit into the car. The thingwith these flat pack things... there'sjust so many bits and pieces. When Igot home and started looking at theinstructions... well... I didn't knowwhich was up and which was down.

Finally I got it all together and it fitsquite well next to the sofa. Hopefullyit will stay upright for a while,although I can't be certain it will.

REPEAT

Eight. You hear somebody talkingabout their plans for the weekend.What are they going to see?

A a concert

B a film

C a football match

Well, when I saw the adverts fortickets, I jumped at the chance. It'syears since they've played here. Isuppose it's all down to their newmanager, he's really got them playingwell. What an atmosphere it will be...the lights, the singing, the drama of itall.... I can't wait. It's great that thistown can stage an event like this.And they've got a really good chanceof going all the way and winning thecup this year.

REPEAT


CD 3 – TRACK 5

You’ll hear a talk about an artsfestival. For questions 9-18,complete the sentences.

Brian Daniels, co-founder of TheWentworth Art Fair, has announcedthat a controversial collection ofPhillipa West will be the subject ofthis year's Wentworth art festivalsymposium. The two-day event willbring together an international panelof experts to view the Marta CostelloCollection made up of approximately1,200 drawings, journals, letters,paintings and other items whoseowners maintain are made byPhillipa West. Some experts on theartist’s work have questioned theauthenticity of the collection. Thepanel will present an overview of themethods and challenges ofauthenticating newly revealed artworks. Of particular interest, inconjunction with the Wentworth ArtFair symposium, a group of thedisputed objects will be on view forthe first time in the United Kingdom.The symposium will take placeSaturday, February 6 and Sunday,


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challenged their publication. TheWentworth Art Fair Symposium willlook into the issues surrounding thecollection and its still unresolvedstatus.


CD 3 – TRACK 6

You will hear five different peopletalking about a televisionprogramme. For questions 19-23choose from the list A-F what eachperson says about it. Use theletters only once. There is oneextra letter which you do not needto use.

Speaker 1

It's a bit of a guilty pleasure really. It'snot the sort of thing I would normallyhave any interest in. I just happenedto be browsing through one of thetabloids when I was at the dentist'sand I noticed that one of the peoplein it went to my old school. Not that Iknew her of course, I must be atleast ten years older than her. Butthat evening I switched it on and I'vebeen hooked ever since. I don't thinkI'd ever really understood the appealbefore... but the thing is, they've putordinary people in an unreal situationand you can't help but wonder howyou'd react in the same situation. It'squite compulsive, it really is.

Speaker 2

Don't get me started on that... I can'ttell you the amount of arguments I'vehad with my flatmates about it. Theyhave it on for hours every day. Day inday out. I think it's ludicrous. Whaton earth people find so fascinatingabout it, I'll never know. They justspend hours sitting around chatteringabout the most trivial things. And thepeople they get to go on it... Iwouldn't want to have to spend halfan hour sitting next to them on thebus, let alone choose to watch themon television. They just want to befamous without actually having anysort of talent. No, why it's become sopopular is beyond me.

Speaker 3

These days I can't say I watch it. Iused to when it first started. Then itseemed to have some sort of

intellectual facade... like it was asocial experiment. They'd have apsychologist analysing each of thehousemates' behaviour and I foundthat really interesting. What's moreI'd notice some of that behaviour inmy everyday life and I'd be able torelate what I'd learnt... I've alwaysbeen fascinated in body languageand things like that. But the last fewseries they seem to have justforgotten about that side of thingsand it's just entertainment, a circusact for people desperate for their 15minutes of fame.

Speaker 4

The first couple of series, I nevermissed an episode but I must saythat my interest has faded a bit. Ihave it on every now and again but Ican't say I could even tell you all thenames of the contestants. Thoughthere's one guy called Tony ofcourse. I remember him because helooks like my boyfriend's brother andthey even have the same name. He'srather embarrassed about itactually... people keep coming up tohim and asking him if he's Tony...and what can he say? He is Tony.We were all at the cinema with himlast week when somebody asked himfor his autograph... I thought he'd justexplode!

Speaker 5

I couldn't tell you a thing about it I'mafraid. I know it's tremendouslypopular and I'm always hearingpeople at work or on the train talkingabout the people who are on it... andthe way they talk about them... you'dthink they were friends orneighbours. I've got nothing against itreally, and there must be somethingto it if so many people are addictedto it... it's just that I've been going topilates classes three times a weekand by the time I get home it's nearlyover... and besides, my favouritedetective show... McCallister is justabout to start on the other side, so Isit down and watch that, I never missit. It's great!


CD 3 – TRACK 7

You will hear an interview with apsychologist about sharinghouses. For questions 24-30,

February 7, from 10:00 am to 12:00noon at the Cheeseman Gallery atDame Doris Brown High School forthe Performing and Visual Arts, 13Church Street. Admission is includedin the purchase of an Art Fair ticket.Daily tickets are 10 pounds and athree-day pass is 25 pounds. Doorswill open at 9:30 a.m., seating islimited and is on a first come, firstserved basis. Visitwww.wentworthartfestival.com forfurther details. Approximately 20objects from the Marta CostelloCollection, including paintings,drawings, journal pages and otheritems, will be exhibited, and for thefirst time will provide experts theopportunity to examine thecontroversial material. TheWentworth Art Fair Symposiumpanels will bring together the ownersof the Costello material, experts theyhave enlisted to examine thematerial, the publisher of a recentlyreleased book on the collection, plusscholars and art dealers who havefollowed the controversy since itbegan. The moderator will beMichael Edward Hall, art historian,critic and correspondent for ArtNewspaper. Moderator and journalistMichael Edward Hall says, ‘Thediscussion will range from thespecific – a description of theCostello archive – to generalquestions about how newlydiscovered artworks are receivedand evaluated by the scholarlycommunity and the market.’ Welshartist Philipa West is among the mostpopular and beloved women paintersof the 20th century. Her paintings,which can command large sums,describe a life full of joy and love forher husband, the painter DonaldRivers. Today she is an icon, andeven scraps of paper associated withher are valued not only financially butalso as relics of a legendaryhistorical figure. Her reputation issuch that the Welsh Arts Council hasdesignated her work ‘NationalPatrimony’ and restricted its tradeand export. Little wonder that theCostello collection of Phillipa Westmaterial has come under suchintense scrutiny. Even before theworks became widely known with theApril release of the illustrated bookFinding Phillipa West the collectionbecame the focus of numerousarticles in major publications inEurope. Some reports celebrated thediscovery of new material related toWest while others questioned theauthenticity of the objects and


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choose the best answer A, B or C.

M Moving away from home is abig step and one most of usmake when we go off to collegeor university. The chances areyou'll find yourself sharing ahouse or a flat. We've invitedDr. Victoria Millington into thestudio to discuss problems withsharing accommodation andstrategies for anticipating anddealing with them.

F Sharing a house or a flat canbe daunting, but it can be fun,too. One of the most rewardingthings about living in a sharedhousehold is the social side.There's always someone to talkto; you never have to be aloneunless you wish to be. Amongthe best times you'll have livingwith others is when you sharewith friends. Also, it's veryhandy to share if you want tomove out of home, but can'tafford your own flat. And aslong as the basic rules androutines are clear, it's muchmore interesting than living onyour own.

M What's the most commonproblem people face whensharing?

F One of the most contentiousareas when living in a sharedhousehold has got to becleanliness, or lack thereof.Some people are, frankly, lazy.At the other end of the scale,some flatmates hover over youwhile you're eating your dinnerand when you pause at the endof your meal, they demand youwash up your plateimmediately. There are severalapproaches to this problem andyou and your flatmates willhave to decide which is thebest approach for you. Maybethe best and most obvious ideais to make a rota. Some peoplefind this restrictive, but it's a fairsystem and if you work it outwell beforehand, it can reallypay off. It's up to you how youarrange it: you could make sureeach person takes responsibilityfor one room or alternate all thejobs that need to be done.However, it is essential thateveryone sticks to the plan,otherwise half of you will feelresentful and the others will feel

guilty. Sometimes it can bedifficult to keep up with the rotadue to changing circumstances,so factor in some flexibility –think about taking turns forhaving a week off, for example.

M What are other commonproblems?

F Space is another seriousmatter. In order to get on wellwith your flatmates, communalspace is important. Just thinkabout it. Living in a flat with nomeeting place other than asmall kitchen, say, will meanthat you'll never get friendlierthan just saying hello politelyand exchanging a few words.It's a bit sad when everyonegoes back to their own room.So when you're choosingsomewhere to live, think aboutwhether or not you want to besociable. Your own space isimportant too. In the beginning,if you're finding it tough to livewith other people, your ownspace is a haven. It'ssomewhere where you canrelax. In your own room, youcan calm down if you're feelingrather 'frazzled', which willmake you better company forwhen you meet up with yourflatmates. It also means thatyou're not always getting undereach other's feet.

M And what kind of people is itbest to live with?

F Once you've made friends andhave been living with them for awhile, you'll come to realise thatgroup dynamics are important.There are two options asregards living arrangements:you can live with friends or youcan live with strangers. Somepeople couldn't share a placewith someone they don't know.For one thing, you can be moreaccommodating to people youalready know and like. Foranother, you might not knowhow much you can trust them.However, moving in with friendscomes with a warning. What ifyou fall out over the washingup? Realising that you couldeasily destroy a great friendshipas housemates, and preparingfor that, is one step towardsharmony. But you might notwant to risk the cost of a

friendship and you could decidethat living with strangers is thebest thing to do. After all, itcould be fun, you never knowwho you might meet. It's just aswell to meet up with your newflatmates before you signanything though. Think aboutgoing out with them for theevening. Or at least chat tothem while you're lookingaround the place. Sometimesfate throws you together withpeople and you get onfamously. However, it can be ashock when you have to livewith people who you havenothing in common with or whodo things that you consider tobe anti-social or odd. If youhave a choice, try to choosepeople to live with whosebehaviour you think you canbear. If you don't like peopleplaying heavy rock or acidhouse music all day and night,don't live with them. If you thinkit's fine to leave dirty socks outin the sitting room, then makesure that you choose peoplewho are similarly untidy. Beingconsiderate is one of thefundamentals to living withother people, but it helps if youhave a similar outlook andattitude to life. It's no good ifjust one of you likes partying allnight. Much better that you alldo. If you're all into hiking orcycling, you'll understand betterthat equipment left all over thehall is a fact of life.


CD 3 – TRACK 8

TEST 8

Now open your question paperand look at Part 1.

You’ll hear people talking in eightdifferent situations. For questions1-8, choose the best answer, A, Bor C.

One. You hear someone talkingabout something he has given up.What has he given up?

A coffee

B sweets

C a hobby


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I wouldn't say I lead a particularlyunhealthy lifestyle, but on the otherhand I wouldn't say it's particularlyhealthy either. I've never really eatenenough fresh fruit or vegetables, butthen I've never really had much of asweet tooth either so I've neverfound it particularly hard to avoidchocolate or candy. I play tennisalmost every week and I can't seemyself stopping for any reason. It'sjust that I think I was drinking toomuch of it and I've heard it can bebad for your liver as well as stainingyour teeth, so I just decided to stop.

REPEAT

Two. You hear a woman talkingabout a place she went to. Whydid she visit it?

A to meet a friend

B for work

C to go shopping

Well, Joan who I went to school with,was always raving about it – shelived there for a couple of years afteruniversity. So, when I heard theannual company general meetingwas going to be there, I couldn't wait.Not that we got much free time to gosightseeing or anything. I'd reallywanted to hit the shops; Joan saidthey were great with all sorts ofbargains. But in the end the onlything I managed to buy was a T-shirtat the airport.

REPEAT

Three. You hear somebody talkingabout a song. What does theperson think about the song?

A He prefers the original.

B He prefers the current version.

C He likes the film it comes from.

I'd say it's quite a rare thing. Coverversions are usually awful. So, I wasa bit sceptical at first, but I have toadmit they've done a great job and I'drather listen to this new interpretation.It's like films and film sequels... everyso often a sequel comes along thatoutshines the original... likeSeaChase 2 is a much better moviethan the first one. I love it.

REPEAT

Four. You hear two peoplediscussing a restaurant. What dothey agree on?

A It's expensive.

B The service isn't good.

C The food isn't very good.

M Really? I thought it wasdelicious... a real culinaryexperience.

F Maybe I went on a bad nightthen! I thought it was verydisappointing – especially attheir prices.

M Well, it's certainly not cheap...but every so often you have tosplash out... push the boat out.I certainly couldn't afford to eatthere every week.

F You can say that again! Icouldn't believe the bill when itarrived. And the waiters wereso snooty. You'd think it was toomuch trouble just to bring me aclean spoon.

M Are you sure we went to thesame place? They couldn't doenough for us when we went.

REPEAT

Five. You hear a weather forecaston the radio. What will the weatherbe like on Sunday?

A cloudy

B sunny

C rainy

The weekend will start out chilly andovercast for much of the region butby Saturday lunchtime the cloudsshould give way and temperatureswill begin to rise, leaving us with alovely bright weekend… and thegood weather should stay with usuntil the middle of the week. FromWednesday, pressure moving in fromthe west will see a drop intemperatures from mid-afternoonbringing with it the threat of winteryshowers.

REPEAT

Six. You hear an announcement ata train station. What time will thetrain leave?

A 4.40

B 4.20

C 3.50

The delayed 15.13 service toRocheston will now arrive at platform4b, 20 minutes later than scheduled,departing at the later than advertisedtime of ten to four.On behalf of RailTime UK we'd like totake this opportunity to apologise forany inconvenience this may havecaused our clients.

REPEAT

Seven. You hear two peoplediscussing their new languageclass. How do they feel about it?

A The teacher is boring.

B It is too difficult.

C They like the teacher.

F Yes, I agree... She's muchbetter than Riccardo.

M Well that wouldn't be hard... allhe did was drone on and onabout grammar points... Ithought I'd fall asleepsometimes.

F Ha! Me too! But I suppose itmust be difficult to make someof that material interesting.

M Sure! But Ana seems to be ableto do it. I really enjoyed thatactivity we did using the oldpaintings.

F Yeah! Come on, we'd better getback... the break is nearly over.

REPEAT

Eight. You hear somebody talkingabout a dress. What does she sayabout it?

A It's fashionable.

B It doesn't fit her.

C She wears it regularly.

I'm always thinking... when will I getto put it on, but there's not muchchance of it these days... it's not as ifwe go to fancy places all that often...especially with the kids being the agethey are. I think I was just so thrilled


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that I could still get into it after 20years. I dug it out of the attic when Isaw that style had made acomeback. Every stylish young ladyis wearing them these days. Thoughof course I'm not sure if I count as ayoung lady any more.


CD 3 – TRACK 9

You will hear a lecture aboutcheese-making. For questions 9-18complete the sentences.

Cheddar cheese is one of the greatcheeses of the world. It is usuallymade with cow’s milk, but I frequentlymake it from goat’s milk. Goat’s andewe’s milk both produce a slightlysofter curd than cow’s milk, and theyrequire slightly reducedtemperatures. The curds from thesemilks also need slightly lesspressing. Sterilise all the equipmentin hot water and ensure that theroom is not subject to cold draughts.Give yourself plenty of time, withoutthe possibility of interruptions. Tomakes approximately half a kilo ofCheddar you will need 5 litres of fullcream milk, 5ml of liquid starter, 3mlof rennet and 10g of salt. Pasteurisethe milk to destroy unwantedbacteria. Cool to 21 degrees. Stir inthe starter and leave the milk,covered in a warm place for about anhour so that it can acidify. Don’tleave it for much longer than thisotherwise the cheese may be too dryand crumbly. Increase thetemperature to 28 degrees for goat’sor ewe’s milk, or to 30 for cow’s milk.Mix the rennet with two teaspoonfulsof previously boiled and cooled waterand then stir it in. Give it another stir5 minutes later to stop the creamcollecting at the top. Cover thecontainer and then leave the milk toset in a warm place. The curd isnormally ready when it is firm to thetouch. The curd is cut in order torelease the liquid whey. Cut downinto the curd, from top to bottom oneway then cut it at right angles to formsquare columns. Stir gently with thehand for a couple of minutes.Gradually increase the temperatureover the next 30-40 minutes. Thecurds then gradually sink to thebottom and collect at a central point.Turn off the heat and leave the panuntil all movement has ceased in theliquid. Using a spoon take out as

much of the liquid whey as possible,then place a sterilised cloth over astainless steel bucket or large basinand pour in the curds. Make the clothinto a bundle by winding one corneraround the other three. Place thebundle on a tray which is tilted at anangle to let the whey drain away.Leave for about 15 minutes. Untiethe bundle and the curds will be seento have formed into a mass. Cut thisinto four slices and place one on topof the other then cover with the cloth.After about fifteen minutes place theouter slices of the curd on the insideof the stack, and vice versa. Repeatthis process several times. Sprinkle10g salt onto the milled curds, rollingthem gently without breaking themfurther. You then need to press thecheese. Pressing cheese isessentially a process of compactingthe curds while extracting the liquidwhey. For the first hour, apply a lightpressure so that the fats are not lostwith the whey then increase it to themaximum and leave until thefollowing day. Remove the cheesefrom the press and cloth, and dip it inhot water for one minute in order toconsolidate and smooth the surface.Place it in a protected area and leaveit to dry for a day or two until a rindbegins to form. Once the rind hasformed, the cheese can be sealed toprevent it becoming undulydesiccated while it is maturing. Thelast stage is often the all-importantone. A cheese, which is tastelessand bland when freshly made, is fullof flavour and body after being leftlong enough. Leave to mature in acool, dry place.


CD 3 – TRACK 10

You will hear five different peopletalking about an internet website.For questions 19-23 choose fromthe list A-F to say what eachperson feels about it. Use theletters only once. There is oneextra letter which you do not needto use.

Speaker 1

If you ask me, if something is inunlimited supply then it can't bestolen. These music companies willjust have to adapt their businessmodel... move with the times. In factin the long run I would say that it

helps the artists themselves ratherthan hindering them... the people thatuse this website and listen to newmusic on it are far more likely to forkout for concert tickets or T-shirts orwhatever. I don't think it's the artiststhemselves who are complaining,more their record companies who areafraid sooner or later the artists andthe public are just going to cut outthe middleman.

Speaker 2

I can see why so many artists areagainst it... I mean... it's their jobafter all... how they make a living.People shouldn't be allowed to justhelp themselves whenever they like.It doesn't matter how much moneythey have now, how many cars orhow many houses. People justwouldn't drive off in some popsinger's car, or walk into one of theirhouses and help themselves to achair or a lamp, would they? Istopped using it really when I sawone of my favourite singers talkingabout it on TV and he said he wasthinking of retiring... it wasn't worth itany more… he'd be better offopening a café he said.

Speaker 3

If I use the website and listen tosomething from it, I can't see howthat could be considered theft. I'mnot depriving anybody of anything.Whoever owns – if that's the rightword – the music he or she still hasit. I haven't taken it away from him orher, and, to be honest, I'd be farmore likely to go out and buysomething if I hear it and enjoy it –which I generally do – more oftenthan not in fact – especially with myfavourite artists. And it's a great wayto discover new favourites.

Speaker 4

My nephew was telling me all aboutit. I'm not sure if he was in favour ofit or not. He sort of lost me halfwaythrough to be honest. But from what Igather – and you can laugh at me – Iam a former history teacher after all– far reaching changes often occur inthe commercial world. Look at acouple of hundred years ago – onlythe local nobility had the right to ownan oven and everybody had to pay touse it – and at that time, that wasconsidered perfectly natural. Still...what do I know? I wouldn't evenknow how to go about using it.


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Recording scripts

Speaker 5

I'm dead against it. It's not so muchthe artists themselves or the recordcompanies I'm concerned about, it'sthe retailers. There used to be agreat little record store on the HighStreet. I'd spend hours just riflingthrough the old albums and 45sthere... I'd been going there eversince I was 17 or 18. But it shutdown about 6 months ago. What'shappened to the guy who owned it orthe three others who worked there? Ican only think it's websites like thisthat are to blame... and it's a shamereally.


CD 3 – TRACK 11

You will hear an interview with arock singer, Michael Michaels. Forquestions 24-30, choose the bestanswer A, B or C.

F So, what sort of things do youenjoy doing if you're not on theroad or in the studio?

M When I'm not working I likedoing the things that everybodyelse does. I like potteringaround in the garden, cookingup a storm in the kitchen, goingout to the shops. When I'm atmy holiday home in Palma deMallorca, I like nothing betterthan getting up really early andnipping down to the localbakery just as it's opening andbuying some of their freshpastries and then wanderingaround the local craft fair andpicking up the odd piece.

F I've heard you're quite agourmet, Michael, is that true?

M I don't know if I would callmyself a gourmet exactly, but Ilove my food. Unfortunately I'mone of those people who has tobe careful about what theyeat... I just have to smellbiscuits and I've put on half akilo. If you see pictures of methroughout the twenty years I'vebeen in the business, you'll seethere's been quite a fewoccasions when I've been morethan a little overweight. I don'tworry so much about it now;you don't when you get a little

older... but when I was youngerit would really get me down...and ironically, when I wasdepressed, I'd just eat moreand it became a vicious circlereally. But these days I'm happywith myself really. If you dosome sport or exercise three orfour times a week, you don'tfind yourself putting on theweight.

F How do you keep in shapethen?

M Nothing too strenuous. I tend toget up very early in the morningand do a few kilometres on anexercise machine called a crosstrainer. The early mornings arewhen I'm at my best and I'm fullof get up and go and if I get onthe cross trainer for about 45minutes, I can burn up quite alot of calories. I suppose myregime is rather differentdepending on whether I'm athome or on tour. If I'm on tour Ihardly get a chance to eat a lot,but if I'm at home or the studiothere's always the temptation ofthe fridge... but as I say, if youdo enough exercise during theday, you can forgive yourselfthe occasional indiscretion.

F You've been a well-knownfigure in the public eye foralmost a generation now. Hassuccess changed you? Do youeven remember what it's like tobe a normal person?

M I don't think I need to rememberbeing a normal person; it's whatI'd consider myself to be now. Itdoesn't matter how manypeople know who you are orhow many people buy youralbums or go to your concerts...you still have to do the samethings everybody else does...you have to put your legs intoyour trousers one after theother like anybody else. You stillhave to go down the shops tobuy a pint of milk or a loaf ofbread, just like anybody else. IfI'm down the supermarket andsomebody recognizes me, 99times out of a hundred they'rereally nice, pleasant andpolite… they just ask for anautograph or tell me they lovemy albums... usually my earlierones though; nobody has toldme they like my new one yet....

so if anybody is listening... takeheed... I need to hear someonesay something nice about mylast album... the newspaperscertainly didn't give it anypositive reviews...

F And finally... as I said, you'vebeen in the industry for nearly20 years. Are you ever going tostop?

M Well, I must say, I realise that Ican't go on forever. Touring andrecording certainly take it out ofyou. I guess I'll have to thinkabout retiring from that side ofthings sooner or later, probablyin about 5 years or so. I don'tthink I'll ever completely stopworking. For instance, I've hada project on the back burner forabout ten years now. I've beenwriting a musical. But to behonest I think it's just a bit of apipe dream, I can't see it everreally being staged. But younever know.



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Recording Scripts - Fce Practice Tests