CEPT PRACTICE B2 LEVEL LISTENING 1 WITH ANSWER KEY Cambridge English Placement Test B2 Level

CEPT PRACTICE B2 LEVEL LISTENING 1 WITH ANSWER KEY Cambridge English Placement Test B2 Level

Narrator: Question 1. You hear a woman
telling her son about her favourite
school teacher.
Boy: Did you have a favourite teacher at
school, Mum?
Woman: Good question! … I remember we had
this history teacher, Mr Evans, … I was
fascinated by the way he taught. He was
just so into history. I could listen to him
talk for hours and everything he said
would stick with me, even if I didn’t write
anything down. Sometimes he’d read an
account of an event aloud and although
he was no actor, somehow I felt like I’d
gone right back in time, to when the
action was happening. He was pretty
serious – I don’t remember laughing the
way I did in other classes – but I loved
every minute.
Narrator: Now listen again.

Narrator: Question 2. You hear a girl talking
about maths.
Girl: People often ask why I like maths so
much, and if I find it easy. Well, no,
I don’t. But if it wasn’t a challenge, I
wouldn’t be half as excited about it. I
can spend hours working on a single
maths problem – I don’t give up till I’ve
got the right answer. And that’s the
great thing about maths – it’s either
right or wrong. If you work hard enough,
you can always get a hundred per
cent and that’s so satisfying. Some
mathematicians talk about how ‘maths
is everywhere’ – that it’s relevant to
everything you do in life – but I just love
it for its own sake.
Narrator: Now listen again.

Narrator: Question 3. You hear a man telling
a friend about being unable to study
art at school.
Woman: Is there a subject you wish you’d taken
at school, but didn’t?
Man: Yes, art. We didn’t have the option to
take that. The focus tended to be on
more academic subjects then – you
know, science, maths … I’m a bit
annoyed about it now. I’ve always been
into painting– not that I ever considered
making a living from becoming an
artist – I’ve always wanted to be an
engineer … But it would’ve been useful
to learn stuff like knowing how to apply
different paints properly when I was
younger. I love the skill in those amazing
old paintings you can see hanging in
galleries.
Narrator: Now listen again.

Narrator: Question 4. You hear two students
discussing a sports class they have
just attended.
Boy: What did you think of that sports class?
Girl: It made a change from actually playing
sports, didn’t it?
Boy: Yeah, it did. It was interesting to
consider the theoretical side of sport
for once – all that detail about the
psychology of winning was a new angle
on things. Mr Banks is a great teacher.
He’d done tons of research, hadn’t he?
Girl: He had. I’m not sure I’ll put what we
talked about into practice, though. I’m
highly unlikely to become a professional
athlete.
Boy: Me neither – though I could see some
of the others in the class looked pretty
eager to get out there and try some of
the techniques.
Narrator: Now listen again.

Narrator: Question 5. You hear a girl telling a
friend about her brother.
Boy: Hasn’t your brother got a place at
university?
Girl: Yes, he has! He’s going to study physics.
Boy: Is he looking forward to it?
Girl: I think on the whole he’s pretty
enthusiastic about going on to the next
step. ... I get the impression he isn’t
quite as confident as I’d have expected
him to be about getting to know the
others on the course. I don’t think it’s
that he thinks they’ll be better than him
at the subject or anything like that, but
there’s something, … maybe it’s just
nerves. Anyway, once he starts classes,
he’s going to be so busy with work that
I’m sure whatever’s bothering him now
will fade away.
Narrator: Now listen again.

Narrator: Question 6. You hear a student
talking to his teacher about an
assignment.
Boy: Can I have a word about the English
assignment you’ve set us?
Woman: Yes, of course you can.
Boy: We have to write a blog about
something which interests us. I don’t
know much about the ideas you gave
us, so would you mind if I did something
different?
Woman: Not at all. The main thing is that you’ve
got some experience of what you’re
writing about.
Boy: I do, but I need to do some background
reading online. … The other thing is I’ve
never done anything like this, so I don’t
know how formal the language should be.
Woman: OK. Let me give you the address of a
website which will help.
Boy: Great, thanks.
Narrator: Now listen again.

Narrator: Question 7. You hear a science
teacher talking to her class.
Woman: OK, everyone, listen up! Now, I’ve
become aware that there’s been a bit of
a misunderstanding about where we’re
holding our science classes while the
labs are being repainted. They won’t
be in the main hall as some of you
seem to think, but in the school gym.
Obviously, we won’t be able to carry out
any chemistry experiments or practical
work in there, but it’s a temporary
situation. We’ll be able to spend a bit
of time on some theory instead. I’m
optimistic that this will be a good use
of our time as it’ll give you the chance
to clarify anything you’ve been having
difficulties with in class.
Narrator: Now listen again.

Narrator: Question 8. You hear two friends
discussing learning foreign
languages.
Woman: A lot of British people can’t see the
point of learning foreign languages
when people in other countries speak
English, but I think that shows a lack of
understanding.
Man: Me too. You get more out of a language
class than the words themselves – like
understanding other countries’ way of
life, and their history.
Woman: – and their values, even.
Man: Exactly. It’s true people do speak English
around the world, so it’s not strictly
necessary to know other languages, but
you get more out of a trip if you know a
few words.
Woman: Yeah, there’s a limit to how much you
can communicate by trying to act out your ideas!
Narrator: Now listen again.