Cambridge Assessment International Education

Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE 0511/41

Paper 4 Listening (Extended) October/November 2019
TRANSCRIPT
Approx. 50 minutes

This syllabus is regulated for use in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as a Cambridge International Level 1/Level 2 Certificate.

This document consists of 11 printed pages and 1 blank page.

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TRACK 1

R1 This is the Cambridge Assessment International Education, Cambridge IGCSE, November

2019 examination in English as a Second Language.

Paper 4, Listening.

Welcome to the exam.

In a moment, your teacher is going to give out the question papers. When you get your
paper, fill in your name, centre number and candidate number on the front page. Do not
talk to anyone during the exam.

If you would like the recording to be louder or quieter, tell your teacher NOW. The recording
will not be stopped while you are doing the exam.

Teacher: please give out the question papers, and when all the candidates are ready to
start the test, please turn the recording back on.

[BEEP]

TRACK 2

R1 Now you are all ready, here is the exam.

Exercise 1

You will hear four short recordings. Answer each question on the line provided. Write no
more than three words, or a number, for each answer.

You will hear each recording twice.

R1 Question 1

(a) What kind of festival is the girl going to?

(b) What work will the girl do at the festival?

M & F, both late teens

F: * What are you doing this weekend?

M: I’m going to the flower festival with my parents. You’re going to the music festival then, aren’t you?
I heard they’ve got some fantastic bands this year and are expecting thousands of visitors!

F: Yes, that’s right. My friend’s father is organising the event, so we’ve got free tickets.

M: Lucky you!

F: Yes but we’ve both got to help. My friend’s got to check tickets, and he’s asked me to take photos
but I don’t mind doing that. **

PAUSE 00’10”
REPEAT FROM * TO **
PAUSE 00’05”
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R1 Question 2

(a) What surprised the man about the exhibits?

(b) What did the man buy?

M & F, both mid-20s

F: * Was the exhibition interesting, Jack?

M: Sure. There were lots of paintings and sculptures – all created by local artists in the course of the
last year.

F: Interesting!

M: Yes. The variety of exhibits was greater than I’d expected. The prices were very high, of course,
but they always are in that gallery.

F: Were you tempted to buy anything?

M Well there was a beautiful statue of a little dog that I’d have loved, but it was quite expensive so I
just got a poster in the end. I must show you some time. **

PAUSE 00’10”
REPEAT FROM * TO **
PAUSE 00’05”

R1 Question 3

(a) Which type of rubbish is most common on Hilton Island’s beaches?

(b) How many pieces of rubbish were found on the island last year?

Male, 30s, light Australian accent [radio report]

M: * In this programme we’ll be talking about Hilton Island. No one lives there and it is over 5000
kilometres from anywhere. Despite this remote location, the island’s lovely beaches are covered
with soft drink cans and other rubbish - most frequent of all are plastic bags, though bottles and
tyres are also common. Researchers say that there are as many as 4500 pieces per square metre,
and they discovered 38 million items of waste over the last twelve months. The rubbish has all
been carried there by a powerful ocean current. This beautiful island has become one of the most
polluted places on earth. **

PAUSE 00’10”
REPEAT FROM * TO **
PAUSE 00’05”

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R1 Question 4

(a) What do many people say they find hard to get enough of?

(b) What is the purpose of the exercises at the start of the new classes?

M/F, both 20s, F, light US accent

M: * I heard an interesting thing on the news yesterday.

F: Oh, yes?

M: Apparently, more and more people complain that they lack sleep. Parents particularly say that,
what with work and children, they can’t possibly get the recommended eight hours. So a chain
of fitness clubs has had the idea of offering special classes. These consist of fifteen minutes of
exercises to relax people, followed by forty-five minutes lying on a mat covered by a blanket.

F: So is it available in all their clubs?

M: Well, they’re trying it out in one place now, but will introduce it elsewhere if it’s popular. **

PAUSE 00’10”
REPEAT FROM * TO **
PAUSE 00’05”

R1 That is the end of the four short recordings. In a moment you will hear Exercise 2. Now look
at the questions for this part of the exam.

PAUSE 00’20”

TRACK 3

R1 Exercise 2

You will hear a student talking about a science project she has done. Listen to the talk and
complete the details below. Write one word only in each gap.

You will hear the talk twice.

F, late teens

* This term in science we’ve all had to choose an inventor or invention to do a project on. I decided
to do mine about a prize-winning portable fridge that I’d heard mentioned on the radio. Then I
went on the internet and discovered a lot more about the fridge and the person who invented it,
22-year-old Will Broadway.

You might think that Will was motivated by the desire to keep drinks cool on sunny summer picnics,
but that wasn’t the case. His intention was to find a way of preventing medicines from getting too
warm when they had to be transported in hot climates. It’s been claimed that, by making this
possible, his invention could help to save the lives of 1.5 million people across the world.

Will had just finished a degree in industrial design and technology. A study trip to Cambodia had
made him aware of the difficulties that the heat caused – he saw people having to carry so much
ice to keep things fresh when they needed to travel somewhere and decided that there had to be a

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better solution to the problem. But it was only when he was on holiday in Mexico that he came up
with the actual invention.

How does the device work? It is based on a process that was actually invented by Einstein in
1906. It involves heating a chemical called ammonia with water in one section of the fridge to
create a gas which is then released into the main section when cooling is required. It can keep
items at a steady temperature of between two and eight degrees for up to thirty days.

Will says he was also influenced by an invention called the Icyball that was actually first described
in 1929. The Icyball used a similar chemical process but it was extremely heavy and Will’s plan
was to develop it into something that would be more comfortable to carry.

Part of Will’s preliminary research involved finding out how much someone who’s not particularly
strong can carry without difficulty. He discovered this to be 8 kilos and so this was the weight he
wanted his invention to have. The unit has a volume of 1.6 litres and it is small enough in size to fit
easily into a backpack. It’s capable of transporting, for example, two thousand doses of vaccine.

The unit can be used for six days without any need for recharging. It goes without saying that the
invention meets international safety standards. Will hopes that it may have many possible uses
across the world. He sees it as being potentially invaluable, for example, for the safe transportation
of supplies for use by nurses working in isolated tropical regions without the regular support of
doctors.

Will is so convinced of the need for his fridge that he is not motivated by any fame that might result
from it and all profits go back into scientific research. He simply wants to do something that will
have a positive effect on the lives of people who are living in difficult conditions. **

PAUSE 00’30”

R1 Now you will hear the talk again.

REPEAT FROM * TO **
PAUSE 00’30”

R1 That is the end of the talk. In a moment you will hear Exercise 3. Now look at the questions
for this part of the exam.

PAUSE 00’25”

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TRACK 4

R1 Exercise 3

You will hear six people talking about living in a big city. For each of speakers 1 to 6,
choose from the list, A to G, which opinion each speaker expresses. Write the letter in the
appropriate box. Use each letter only once. There is one extra letter which you do not need
to use.

You will hear the recordings twice.

R1 Speaker 1

Female, late teens/early 20s

I’ve lived in a big city all my life so far. I suppose it’s noisy and crowded but I’m so used to that
that I don’t really pay any attention to it. I go to a college just round the corner from our flat so I
don’t have problems using rush hour transport. My parents both complain about the horrors of
commuting. But I think we all enjoy the fact that there’s a wide variety of nationalities living in our
neighbourhood. There are at least ten in our block of flats.

PAUSE 00’10”

R1 Speaker 2

Male, late teens/early 20s

We moved here from a village a few months ago and life’s certainly very different. I can’t say I miss
nature and the fresh air that much – there are plenty of green spaces here too and an exciting
variety of birds. I go to a large college here but actually I don’t think the education was any worse
where I was before. What I miss is just being able to pop round to a mate’s house. No-one I know
lives anywhere near us. But I’m gradually getting used to things.

PAUSE 00’10”

R1 Speaker 3

Female, late teens light US accent

I love city life. We have a roomy apartment looking across the river to the hills on the outskirts.
There’s so much you can do – something for every taste. And it’s not true that you need to be
rich to go out anywhere. There’s lots of music and other shows you can enjoy without spending a
fortune. OK some friends may live at the other end of a bus route but that’s not really a problem as
there’s far better public transport than in the countryside. I certainly wouldn’t want to live anywhere
else.

PAUSE 00’10”

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R1 Speaker 4

Male, 30s light Australian accent

Cities are noisy places with crowds of people hurrying along talking on their mobile phones rather
than to the person next to them. I wouldn’t say that aspect of city life appeals to me, but I know I’d
never be able to take the courses I’m doing this year in a smaller place. That makes it well worth
putting up with the less attractive bits of life here. And when it all gets too much, then I head to a
lovely peaceful park five minutes’ walk from our home.

PAUSE 00’10”

R1 Speaker 5

Female, mid 20s

I’m a law student at a university in the capital, and I share a house with five friends. Sharing saves
us money and we have fun together. It’s a long journey to the campus but I don’t mind that too
much. In fact, I get a lot of reading done when I’m travelling on the bus. Occasionally, though, I
feel I just have to escape from the constant noise of city traffic. I’m just not used to that, having
grown up in a small village.

PAUSE 00’10”

R1 Speaker 6

Male, mid – late teens

We moved to the city because my mum got a job in an engineering college here. I was sorry to
change schools but I’ve made some good friends here now. We spend most of our spare time at
each others’ houses. My friends in the countryside wonder why we don’t go to all the concerts,
films and exhibitions that they think are available in the city, but the truth is that when you’re at
school you just can’t afford to go to that sort of thing. **

PAUSE 00’10”

R1 Now you will hear the six speakers again.

REPEAT FROM * TO **
PAUSE 00’30”

R1 That is the end of Exercise 3. In a moment you will hear Exercise 4. Now look at the
questions for this part of the exam.

PAUSE 00’25”

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TRACK 5

R1 Exercise 4

You will hear an interview with a travel writer called Sandra Marshall. Listen to their
conversation and look at the questions. For each question, choose the correct answer, A, B
or C, and put a tick in the appropriate box.

You will hear the interview twice.

M, 40s; F, 30s, light US accent

M: * Welcome to today’s programme on unusual careers. I’m delighted to have with me Sandra
Marshall, who writes travel articles for a range of newspapers, magazines and websites. Sandra,
how did you get into this kind of work?

F: By accident. I was in graduate school and an uncle, who was quite a successful author himself,
proofread one of my assignments. It was on the history of railway development, I think. Afterwards
he told me he’d found my writing much better than he’d expected. He said I should write stuff that
would reach a wider audience than boring essays. I sent an article to a travel magazine about a
trip I’d recently made to a national park. It wasn’t published, but they replied suggesting I write
about a more unusual place I’d visited.

M: What’s your favourite destination?

F: This is the question I’m always asked by people sitting next to me on airplanes or at parties, and
by my mother’s friends. I’m very keen on Prague. It’s a city with a fascinating history, of course.
And it’s incredibly lovely to look at too. But my standard answer is Vietnam. It’s hard to give a
reason why. I just like the place and keep wanting to go back again and again.

M: Do you think people make false assumptions about travel writers?

F: Absolutely. Particularly when they imagine that you can do a story for a travel magazine just like
that. Sometimes, of course, things magically happen. But a good article tends to need a lot of
preparation. As a writer, you have to research where exactly to head for, who to set up interviews
with, and you have to decide what could be an unusual approach to take to your subject.

M: What’s the most difficult aspect of being a travel writer?

F: Well, at first I missed not being part of a team. But I’ve got used to it now and accept that it’s part
of my life. But I’ll never get accustomed to being turned down. It’s really easy to let it bother you.
I know – I’ve certainly done that. You just have to move on. You have to keep trying, to resist any
temptation to give up.

M: What would you say is your greatest achievement?

F: I was always told at school that I’d have to work hard to get into college so I’d say managing to get
a degree. Doing that even tops having a collection of my articles published by a major publishing
house, which certainly was a personal accomplishment. That they were made into a television
documentary was also quite special, of course.

M: Is there anything you wish now that you’d done when you were younger?

F: I certainly regret not taking more classes— one should never stop learning about writing. It can
also help make you force yourself to write when perhaps you’d rather not bother. I think we can all
learn from each other, and so putting yourself in any kind of learning environment is helpful.
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M: What tips would you give someone who’d like to become a travel writer?

F: I realize this is a hard one, but it helps when you have a personal connection to the place. Editors
love it when you offer them a story that’s got that. It gives you an advantage over other people
who are sending in stories about that place. So living abroad is really helpful. You end up with so
much material and you gain a knowledge of the region that allows you to become an authority on
the area, not as good as if you were born there, but almost.

M: So what are your plans for the coming year?

F: Well, sometimes I feel like locking my suitcase and my passport away and staying at home
catching up on all the painting, repairing and other jobs that need doing there. And in fact, I’ve
been offered a full-time job in the journalism department of a local college. What I’ve actually
decided to do is go and stay in a friend’s beach house and experiment with writing a novel. It’s a
new venture for me and I’m quite excited about the prospect.

M: Sandra, it’s been fascinating talking to you. Thank you. **

PAUSE 00’20”

R1 Now you will hear the interview again.

REPEAT FROM * TO **
PAUSE 00’30”

That is the end of the interview. In a moment you will hear Exercise 5. Now look at the
questions for this part of the exam.

PAUSE 00’30”

TRACK 6

R1 Exercise 5 Part A

You will hear a man giving a talk about humpback whales. Listen to the talk and complete
the notes in Part A. Write one or two words only in each gap.

You will hear the talk twice.

M, mid 30s

M: * Humpback whales spend several months of each year in Arctic or Antarctic waters. However,
every winter, hundreds of these whales migrate long distances to warmer tropical regions where
they breed and give birth. The new born baby humpbacks rely on an incredible milk consumption
of up to 239 litres every day. This enables them to gain the body fat that they need in only a few
months, so that they’ll be able to survive the long journey back to cooler waters in summer.

For a long time scientists have wanted to learn more about how vulnerable whale babies manage
to stay safe from predators during the early months of their lives. Not surprisingly, humans are one
source of danger with their use of fishing nets and ropes, not to mention the pollution they cause.
It’s becoming increasingly apparent though that other whales and sharks pose more of a risk to
baby humpbacks. As well as this, scientists want to learn about the ways in which the babies
communicate with their mothers. Up until now, it has proved hard to find out about the early life
stages of wild whales because they’re an aquatic animal, and it’s virtually impossible to keep them
under observation.
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Researchers from an Australian university have managed to complete some particularly fascinating
work. They’ve found a clever way of tracking eight baby humpbacks and two mothers. Initially, they
planned to use underwater cameras to monitor what the whales were doing, but it was decided
that would be impractical. They eventually developed sound recorders which enabled them to
collect some interesting information.

The researchers were unprepared for what their findings revealed. They found out that, unlike
human babies who often cry or scream, baby humpbacks signal their hunger by making noises
similar to whispers. While an adult whale song can be heard over an area covering several
kilometres, the whales in the study could only hear each other within a distance of less than a
hundred metres. As the water is often dark, the mothers and their young have to swim close
together to ensure they are travelling in the same direction. Mothers often touch their young with
what appear to be signs of affection, and they are often seen leaping right out of the water –
though the reasons for this are still unknown. Understanding whale behaviour is essential to the
future conservation projects aimed at protecting this fascinating species.**

PAUSE 00’25”

R1 Now you will hear the talk again.

REPEAT FROM * TO **
PAUSE 00’30”

R1 Part B

Now listen to a conversation between two students about humpback whales and complete
the sentences in Part B. Write one word only in each gap. You will hear the conversation
twice.

M & F, late 20s

M: * That talk about humpback whales was fascinating, wasn’t it? It made me want to find out more.

F: Me too. I looked them up online and found out about some other bits of research that have been
done on them recently.

M: So did I! What did you discover?

F: Well, the first website I found was discussing the speed at which they travel. But then I found
a fascinating and more detailed report on a study done into the seasonal migration patterns of
the whales. The researchers were curious to learn why humpback whales migrate such a long
distance. They knew that this could be further than any other mammal.

M: And what was their conclusion?

F: They discovered that the whales liked to end up in waters with a temperature of 21 to 29 degrees
regardless of latitude. They believe that warmer waters have a positive impact on the development
of the whales’ young. But they’re not sure yet whether this is because feeding there is easier, or
for some quite different reason.

M: Interesting!

F: So what did you learn?

M: Well, I read a really interesting article where researchers had managed to do some underwater
photography of a male and a female whale moving around each other in a particular way.
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F: Really?

M: Yes, they were doing something that resembled dancing. They were slapping each other from
time to time with their tails, but it looked friendly rather than like fighting. The scientists think this
may be something that the whales do before mating. They want to discover whether that is the
case and, if so, then they will press for there to be restrictions on boat traffic in areas where this is
occurring in order to allow mating to take place undisturbed.

F: Well, anything that helps the species to be preserved would be a good thing.

M: Absolutely. I saw another piece of research reported online about whales. It was focusing on the
so-called ‘music’ that different whales make, analysing their patterns rather than measuring the
levels or trying to work out the purpose of their songs. They discovered that, compared with other
whales, the humpback produces the most complex songs.

F: How amazing!

M: Yes, I didn’t see anything about whether their songs change each year but I was amazed to learn
that they vary with where the creatures are. It seems that, although humpbacks everywhere
construct their songs in a similar way, all oceans feature songs that differ from those recorded
elsewhere.

F: Extraordinary! **

PAUSE 00’25”

R1 Now you will hear the conversation again.

REPEAT FROM * TO **
PAUSE 00’30”

That is the end of Exercise 5, and of the exam.

In a moment your teacher will collect your papers. Please check that you have written
your name, Centre number and candidate number on the front of your question paper.
Remember, you must not talk until all the papers have been collected.

PAUSE 00’10”

R1 Teacher, please collect all the papers.

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