CEPT Practice B1 Level EXTENDED listening about an arts festival

 

You will hear a recorded message about an arts festival.

1 The festival takes place from

A 12 to 8 May.

B 2 to 20 May.

C 12 to 28 May.

2 What is on at the Theatre Royal on 19 May?

A jazz B opera C classical music

3 During lunchtime jazz concerts at the Corn Exchange they sell

A soft drinks and sandwiches.

B wine and sandwiches.

C soft drinks and light meals.

4 What is on at the cathedral?

A music B poetry C films

5 What does the festival programme offer at Ickworth?

A a walk and a book reading

B a concert and a meal

C a walk and a concert

6 You can’t use a credit card if you book

A by post. B by fax. C by telephone.

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Audioscript

Message: This is the Arts Festival Box Office. There is no one here to take your call, but do not hang up, as further information follows.

The Festival begins on the 12th of May and continues to the 28th. There are things happening in several parts of the town itself, and outside it.

At the Theatre Royal, there will be a series of concerts, starting with jazz singer Elaine Delmar on the 12th of May. George Melly brings his own special kind of jazz and fun to the theatre on the 13th of May. On Thursday the 19th of May, there is the opera Faust. For classical music fans, the Brodsky String Quartet appear on the 23rd of May.

There are also concerts at the Corn Exchange. For people who prefer dance music, we have the London All Stars Steel Band on Sunday the 15th of May. On Thursday the 19th of May we welcome back the Viennese Gala Orchestra, who are regular performers at the Festival. Finally, also at the Com Exchange, there will be a series of jazz concerts each Friday at 1 o’clock. During these lunch-time concerts a bar will be open for the sale of wine and we are offering free soft drinks. Sandwiches will also be on sale. Light meals can be bought in the restaurant afterwards.

There are various other musical performances in the cathedral, and poetry readings in one of the town’s churches. The Film Society has arranged to show a film of Mozart's opera Oon Giovanni at the theatre. Our programme has full details.

lckworth House, just outside me town, is joining in the Festival as usual. There is a guided walk around Ickworth Park on Sunday the 15th, which will last about two and a half hours. Also, on the 19th oT May, we have a special concert of piano music, given by Oliver Davies in the beautiful lckworth Library. The price of tickets includes coffee and biscuits and you are advised to book early, as this is always especially popular.

For more information. send for our Festival programme or visit the Box Office from 10.00 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, or 12.00 to 8 p.m. on Saturdays. Bookings can be made in person (cash, cheque or credit card), by post (cheques only), or by telephone (credit cards only). We also accept credit card bookings by fax, on 0284 706035. For these bookings, you must use our booking form.

Thank you for calling.

1 C

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CEPT Practice B1 Level EXTENDED listening about classical music

 

You will hear part of a radio programme about classical music.

1 This week’s prize is

A a music cassette.

B two concert tickets.     

C a classical CD.

2 The person who wrote the music lived in

A Italy. B Spain.   C France.

3 What else shares the title of this music?

A a garden B a play C a park

4 What did people do when they first heard the music?

A Some left before the end.  

B Only a few clapped.   

C Some asked for their money back.

5 This piece of music has been

A played in the cinema.

B used in advertising.      

C used for a TV pay.

6 If you know the competition answer you should ring

A 0108 937 224.

B 0018 739 242.     

C 0018 937 224.

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Presenter: ... and now if you're a regular listener to this programme, you'll know that it’s time for our weekly competition. Last week's prize of two theatre tickets was won by Bill Martins. Congratulations, Bill. I hope you've received your tickets by now.

This week we're offering a classical CD to the first listener who can name the piece oT music and the person who wrote it. I’m going to play the piece in a few minutes, but before I do, you need to get a pencil and a piece of paper, as I’m going to give you some help which should make your job a little easier. Are you ready? Right.

Now, listen carefully, as you might be this week’s lucky winner.

Although the person who wrote this piece of classical music was born in Italy, his parents were French and he spent most of his life in Spain. Have you got that? On to the second point: there is also a famous play which has the same title as mis music and which is usually performed in the open air — in the summer. Any idea yet? I should warn you that it’s not that easy.

Anyway for the next point. When this piece of music was first performed, many people in the audience got up and walked out. At the end they say there was complete silence, which I’m sure wasn’t very pleasant for the writer. People thought the music was terrible and complained about wasting their money. It's amazing really, when you think how popular it is today.

And now for the last point. Part of this music has been used for an advertisement which you can see on television. I'm sure when you hear the music, you’ll know what the advertisement is for. I'm not going to tell you what product it advertises, as that would almost certainly give you the answer! You can also see the advert in a lot of magazines and I think from next month this advert will also be on your cinema screens.

So that's four things to remember. And the phone number to ring if you can give us the title of the music about the name of the man who wrote it is 0018 937 224. And the piece of music is coming up now ...

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B1 Level Listening about Poetry competition for schools

 

You will hear a schoolteacher talking to a group of students about a national poetry competition. For each question, fill in the missing information in the numbered space.

Poetry Competition for Schools

The competition for 11-14s is called the 

(1) _____ Prize.

The topic for this year is (2) ______ .

The tide of last year's winning poem was 

(3) ________ .

This year the prize money available is 

(4) ______ euros.

If successful, the school will spend the money on the (5) _____ .

For further help, see the (6) _____ .

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Audioscript

Teacher: Now could everyone sit down, please. I've got an important announcement to make. As you know, the national school poetry competitions that we usually enter are starting soon. All the competitions are named after animals. One of the competitions, called the Dolphin Prize, is for 15- to 19-year olds. So if you have older brothers and sisters in the school, get them to enter that one. But the one for people of your age, the Tiger Prize, is the one we'd like you to go for. We hope lots of you will try. As some of you may remember, the theme for last year was 'Weather'. This time the judges have chosen the topic 'Change', and that could cover a lot of things, couldn't it? A new school, a different house, for example .. .

So, if you want to enter the competition but you're stuck for ideas, have a look at last year's winner on the competition website. You may know the girl who wrote it - Maria Mason from our school with her poem called 'Trains'. She also got a little book of her poems, called 'Travelling' published as part of her prize. Maria won some money for the school, too - one thousand euros. And this time that's gone up to two thousand, which is very generous. If anyone in the school wins, we'd like to use the money for the library, as we feel that's the right way for it to be spent. Marla's prize money last year was spent on the new computer software. Now, you may feel you'd like to enter the competition but need some more help. If that's the case, you can look at the website. The head of English, Mr Winters, has said you will find it really useful.

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