File Tests Audioscript

File 1
Listening 1
Tom So, Irena, we’d like you to take several different photos because there are so many of us here
today.
Irena Of course. Is it Solomon’s birthday today?
Tom Yes! I can’t believe grandad’s eighty!
Irena Well, I suggest we do the largest photo first, with all the friends and relatives. Then we can do
some smaller groups with just immediate family.
Tom OK, that sounds like a good idea.
Irena So, Solomon can sit here in the middle, with his son and daughters on each side.
Tom Actually, sorry Irena. Could grandad sit next to his best friend Darius for the first photo? Grandad
had a row with my dad yesterday and they’re still a little angry with each other.
Irena Of course. It’s important that everyone is relaxed and happy.
Tom That might be difficult with baby Otis. He’s been crying all afternoon. My sister was anxious about
bringing him, but we all said he had to come. I’ve got one sister and two brothers but so far my
sister is the only one with a child. Umm … Otis sometimes smiles if he sees his favourite toy.
Irena It’s not important that he smiles, really. But it would be good if he stopped crying. If he can have
some food now, that might help.
Tom OK. I’ll speak to my sister in a minute. She’s with Aunt Tahlia right now. We’ve been planning this
get-together for over a year. People have come from all over the world. My aunt came all the way
from Miami, but her daughter Melissa lives in Australia now and she couldn’t come.
Irena That’s a shame.
Tom But we’ve got a birthday card from her and we’ll give it to grandad this evening before the meal.
Hopefully, baby Otis will be asleep by then. A reggae band is coming to play later. That’s
grandad’s favourite. I’m sure he’ll be dancing with all his grandchildren!
Irena It sounds fabulous! OK, if you can go and speak to your sister about little Otis, and then let’s call
everyone and get started…

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File 1
Listening 2

1 Keith Can I get you a hot drink, James? A coffee?

James Umm … I’d love a cup of tea.
Keith No problem. So … how are you? How’s the diet going?
James Oh, it’s going well, thanks. And it’s not really a diet to lose weight. I’m eating sensibly, that’s
all.
Keith Are you buying low-fat milk and yoghurt, that sort of thing?
James No. But I’m not eating so much sugar. It’s not easy to cut down on sweet snacks!

2 Mum Tabitha, do you want to play with Mina in your bedroom before we eat? Dinner will be ready
in half an hour.
Tabitha OK, mum. What’s for dinner?
Mum We’re having your favourite – fried rice with egg, prawns and vegetables.
Tabitha But mum! Mina’s allergic to seafood!
Mum Oh no!
Mina It’s OK, Mrs Jenkins. I’m intolerant, not allergic. I can take the prawns out of the meal and
eat the rest.

3 Phil Do you want to go out to get some lunch?

Lisa Sorry, I need to eat at my desk today! Tomorrow?
Phil No, it’s Gary’s birthday. He’s going to bring cake and cookies to the office. What about
Wednesday?
Lisa Yes, that works for me.

4 Abbey Hi Luke. Can I call you back? I’m eating my dinner.

Luke At 9 o’clock! That’s not a good time to eat a meal, Abbey.
Abbey I know, I know. But I go to the gym after college on Fridays. And it’s impossible to eat earlier
in the day. I normally get home at around 6.30 and eat about an hour later. Anyway, I’ll call
you back.
Luke OK, bye!

5 Waiter Here is your table, sir. And here is the menu. We have two special dishes this evening:
goat’s cheese salad, and also ravioli pasta with a crab filling.
Customer I love pasta, but I’ve never eaten crab.
Waiter It’s very good. The crab is caught locally and very fresh. It almost tastes sweet.
Customer OK, I’ll try the ravioli.

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File 2
Listening 1

Interviewer In this week’s edition of Life Changes, I’m talking to Jo Woodford. Jo, can you start by telling us
why you changed your career? You were a successful banker, I think.
Jo Yes. People were really surprised when I left. It was a good job, and I had a great salary, but it
wasn’t very satisfying. I’ve been working for myself for 3 years now. To start with, I taught
financial skills to young adults at university, but for the last year I’ve been going into schools to
give advice to younger teenagers and their parents.
Interviewer And do you find this new career more satisfying?
Jo Definitely. I earn less, but I feel as though I’m making a real difference. It’s incredible how many
young people leave home with almost no money skills at all. Imagine, you’ve just moved out of
your parents’ house, you’ve arrived at university or you’ve started your first job, and you’ve
never had control of money before. You’ve never paid a bill or had a credit card. What are you
going to do?
Interviewer Umm… I think I’m going to spend too much.
Jo Exactly. I can’t completely stop people getting into debt, of course. After all, bank loans to
students are very important and a mortgage is a loan too. But I can give young people vital
skills. In some schools, I teach five or six classes or workshops to different ages. I can show
them how to create a budget for each month. Also, and this is important, I give their parents
advice too.
Interviewer What do parents worry about the most?
Jo That’s easy: online security. But I’ve always advised people to use banking apps as long as
they follow some simple guidelines.
Interviewer For example?
Jo For example, make sure you need a password to use your phone. That way, if you’ve lost your
phone or someone has stolen it, you still have some protection. Don’t follow any links from an
email or text from your bank. It might be a scam that sends you to a fake site. And don’t log into
your banking app using public wi-fi. So, if you’re in a coffee shop or at a train station and you
think ‘I’ll just check my account’, make sure you’re not connected to a public network. It’s much
easier for someone to steal your information that way. Instead, just go online using the normal
phone network.
Interviewer I didn’t know that, Jo. Thanks!

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File 2
Listening 2

1 Mark Daniella, have you ever inherited any money?

Daniella No, I’ve never inherited anything. But a friend of mine recently inherited an enormous table
from a great-uncle.
Mark Was it worth a lot of money?
Daniella Not really. And it was too big for his kitchen so it’s been in his garden for ages. He thought
about selling it on eBay but last week he gave it to a charity and they collected it with a huge
lorry.
Mark I’m glad someone wanted it.

2 Asha Lauren, are you selling those shoes?

Lauren Yes. I’ve just taken photos of them and I’m putting them online this afternoon. I’m starting
each pair of shoes at £1! What a bargain!
Asha But they’re good shoes. I’d charge more. At least £20 for those office shoes.
Lauren I’ve no interest in making money from them. It’s an experiment. I’ve never sold anything on
eBay before. If it works well, I’ll sell something more valuable like my old guitar. I never play
it any more.

3 Ellen Tony, have you ever done any voluntary work?

Tony Actually, I’ve helped at the charity Shine for over a year now.
Ellen Shine? I haven’t heard of it. What does it do?
Tony It’s for disadvantaged children who live in this region. They come to Shine after school so
that they’re not alone until their parents come home from work. The volunteers do all sorts of
activities with them: paintings, board games, tennis, music lessons.
Ellen That sounds great. But I thought you worked in the evenings?
Tony I’ve been answering the phones in their office one morning a week, and calling local
businesses to ask for their help. Last week, I found a shop that gave us 25 tennis rackets!
Ellen Good work!

4 Wendy Hi, Carlotta. What’s the matter?

Carlotta Oh, hi! I’ve lost my wallet.
Wendy Oh no! OK. Where have you looked?
Carlotta It’s not in my bag. I’ve just been in the post office but that’s when I realized I didn’t have it
any more.
Wendy And before that?
Carlotta I’ve been shopping all morning. Umm … I paid for a coffee in the market about an hour ago
but then I used my credit card to buy a jumper in Zara. It must be there.
Wendy I’ll come with you. And don’t worry. If we don’t find it, I can lend you some money to get
home.
Carlotta Thanks so much, Wendy!

5 Hilda I’ve never been the victim of a scam. Have you, Richard?
Richard Yes. It was awful. I wanted to change my bank and I’d been visiting different bank websites.
I was on a site … it looked like the real bank website, but when I clicked on a page,
suddenly a message appeared. It said that I had to send the scammers £1,000 or they’d
delete everything on my computer.
Hilda No!
Richard It was obvious this was a scam but what could I do? All my files were locked: my work, my
pictures. I had to co-operate. I was furious but I transferred the money to them.
Hilda That’s terrible.

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File 3
Listening 1

Presenter Picture a scientist in your head … a scientist at work. Have you done it? Now, and be honest
with yourself here, was the scientist a man or a woman? Today, we’re discussing a long-
running scientific study which explores stereotypes about scientists. Georgia Holloway, you’ve
used the Draw-A-Scientist Test in your research. Can you tell us about its history?
Georgia Thank you. Well, the Draw-A-Scientist Test was first used just over fifty years ago. Researchers
asked a group of young children in the United States and Canada to draw a scientist. And then
they analysed the results. The same test has been used ever since. It gives reliable results
across different countries and that’s something that all academic researchers like.
Presenter And what does the test show?
Georgia It tells us a great deal about gender stereotypes in terms of the presentation of scientists. In
that earliest study, just zero point nine six percent of the children drew a female scientist. And
over time, that stereotype has not been removed. Today, young boys tend to draw male
scientists and around half of young girls draw female scientists. So it’s nowhere near equality.
And, generally speaking, the situation gets worse as the children get older. By the time the
children are sixteen, only 25% of girls draw a female scientist.
Presenter And these drawings show the stereotypes that are present in wider society?
Georgia Well, that’s harder to answer. Across the decades and across the world, the same items are
drawn over and over again. In America, in Singapore, in Turkey, the stereotype of a scientist is
an older man wearing a lab coat, working in a laboratory with lots of bottles and equipment
around him. There has been very little change in the details of the stereotype since the project
began.
Presenter So can we see the influence of the media here?
Georgia Oh definitely. We need more variety in the presentation of science and scientists in TV drama
and in the news and other factual programmes. If boys and girls think that ‘only men are
scientists’ then that leads to the message ‘only boys can do science’, or ‘girls don’t do science’.
And that affects educational and professional choices.
Presenter Thank you, Georgia. It’s been fascinating talking to you. And in our next episode, we will be
exploring ways to encourage all children to continue studying mathematics at school.

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File 3
Listening 2

1 Interviewer Excuse me, what do you think of the new parking rules in Oslo?
Nathan It’s complicated. They’re building more cycle lanes and I’m happy that it’s easier to cycle
in the city centre now. But what about the shops? If they remove most of the parking
spaces, people will decide to stop shopping here.
Interviewer According to the city council, making things more difficult for drivers is the best way to
get cleaner air in the city centre.
Nathan I agree. But, like I said: it’s complicated.

2 Nico Excuse me. Sorry, but I’ve never seen an electric motorbike before. Can I ask how it feels to
drive one?
James It’s great! It was a little strange at first because it’s much quieter than a normal bike. But it’s
certainly as fast as yours.
Nico That sounds good. How much did it cost?
James Ah … yes, unfortunately they’re still much more expensive than petrol bikes. But I’m sure
the price will come down in the next two or three years.
Nico Oh dear. I think I’ll have to keep my old motorbike for now.

3 José What’s your favourite city, Jess?

Jess Well, one of the most interesting places I’ve been to is Melbourne.
José I haven’t been there. Isn’t it famous for street art?
Jess It does have amazing street art. Personally, I think it’s one of the best cities in the world for
culture. There are music concerts and art shows everywhere. I even went to a gig on a tram!
The band played during the tram journey. I’ll send you a video. It was the coolest thing!
José Thanks. It doesn’t sound very relaxing though.
Jess OK. What’s your favourite city to relax in?

4 Ben Are you enjoying your new journey to work?

Maggie Well, walking to work during the rush hour can be frustrating. But I’m saving a lot of money
and driving was stressful. Actually, by the time I get to work I’ve done a good amount of
exercise. On the whole, I think it’s had a positive effect on my work day.
Ben Isn’t it a bit dirty and smelly walking next to all those cars and lorries?
Maggie The traffic can be noisy, but the most annoying thing is the people. There are too many
people trying to walk and text at the same time. They don’t look where they’re going.
Ben Did you know, there’s a city in China with a ‘mobile phone lane’ for people to walk more
safely when they use their phones.
Maggie That’s funny. But it makes sense!

5 Mum Did you have a lovely day at the London Transport Museum?
Jody Yes! We drove a bus!
Mike It didn’t move, mum. But you could move the steering wheel. They had some really old
buses and you could go inside them.
Jody And old trams.
Mike The buses were better than the trams.
Jody No, they weren’t.
Mike I thought they were. And even the café looked like a Tube train.
Jody Mum, it showed you how they built the Tube. There was a model with little men, and little
tunnels. It was amazing.
Mike They said it was one of the most dangerous jobs at that time. That bit was really interesting.
Mum I’m glad you enjoyed it.

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File 4
Listening 1

Aaron Well done, Francesca. That was a great concert, I really enjoyed it. The children are so lucky to
have this singing group after school. Oliver loves it!
Francesca Thanks. Oliver did really well. They all did. I know they were nervous about performing in front
of all these people but they’ve worked hard and they’ve really improved in the last couple of
weeks. I love playing the piano for them and seeing the confidence they get from a
performance.
Aaron Have you played the piano for a long time?
Francesca Not at all. I’m a singer really, not a musician. I only started playing the piano three or four years
ago.
Aaron Can you give me the name of your piano teacher? I’d love to be able to play, but I don’t even
know how to read music. I’d have to start right at the very beginning.
Francesca Actually, I taught myself. It was surprisingly easy, using online tutors and watching videos.
Even learning to read music wasn’t that difficult.
Aaron That’s incredible! I tried to learn Russian online but it was a disaster. If things got too difficult, I
would just stop and do something else. I need a teacher to stop me getting distracted.
Francesca Well, you do need discipline to succeed with the piano. You’d probably have to practise three or
four times a week. But you don’t have to read music to make good progress.
Aaron I wish you could teach me. I promise I’d practise.
Francesca I don’t think I’d be a very good piano teacher. But do you enjoy singing?
Aaron Oh yes. Well … I can sing in tune and I’m definitely loud. Why?
Francesca The children’s choir has been such a success that I’m starting a singing group for adults once a
week. Are you free on Thursday evenings?
Aaron That sounds like fun. I’ll give it a go! But please don’t make me sing in front of Oliver. He’d be
so embarrassed!

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File 4
Listening 2

1 Millie Is it rude to listen to music on a bus in the UK? When I was coming to meet you, the woman in
front of me kept turning around and staring at me. I had my headphones on.
Zak Listening to music isn’t rude. Were you sitting in the seat for elderly or disabled passengers?
Millie No, of course not! And I didn’t have my feet or my rucksack on the seat next to me.
Zak Perhaps your music was just a bit loud. Don’t worry. It’s very easy to offend some people. And
the woman shouldn’t have been staring at you. It’s rude!

2 Pavel Cath, I’ve been invited to a colleague’s wedding next month. Is it polite to give money as a gift
at a British wedding?
Cath Well, it’s a little impersonal but no-one would complain. Do check the invitation carefully though.
Pavel Why?
Cath Well, if you’re invited for the wedding ceremony you will probably need to dress very formally.
But if you’re only invited for the evening party you can dress more casually.
Pavel OK…
Cath And if you do dress formally, don’t take off your jacket straight away. You’re not allowed to take
your jacket off until the bride’s father takes his jacket off. Usually when everyone sits down to
eat.
Pavel How confusing!

3 Tourist Can you explain the rules for tipping in the UK? Should we always leave something?
Tour guide Good question. Well, if you’re in a restaurant, check to see whether it’s included in the
bill. If it isn’t, then your waiter will help you add something — usually between 10 and
15% — to your card payment. But in lots of smaller UK shops, like cafés and most pubs,
you will see a jar for cash tips.
Tourist So if there’s a jar, we leave cash there?
Tour guide Yes, that’s right. It’s not common but you do occasionally see them in taxis too.

4 Ryan George, turn your phone off, the concert is about to start.
George I’m just waiting for Harry to email me about the work agenda for tomorrow.
Ryan Check it later.
George It’s OK, the auditorium lights are still on. And I want to video the conductor coming out and
bowing.
Ryan George, you are so embarrassing, turn your phone off now!
George OK, OK.

5 Prisha Michael, are you happy with your mobile network?

Michael Err … I guess. I have a pay as you go contract, and the networks are all quite similar for
those.
Prisha I want to change network because I’ve seen a really good deal. But I have a monthly
contract that lasts for twelve months. Do you think I’ll be allowed to keep my number?
Michael Oh yes, the phone company has to let you do that. But it will be very expensive to leave the
contract early. You ought to wait until the end of the year and then shop around for the best
deal.
Prisha OK. I’ll just have to wait for another three months.

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File 5
Listening 1

Interviewer I’m in rural Scotland at the end of the UK’s first Starman triathlon. Evie, it’s 2.30 a.m. How did
you find swimming, cycling and running at night?
Evie Scary! I’ve done five triathlons before and I was looking for my next challenge. Scotland is
hours from where I live. But the idea of a race that started at midnight was very exciting.
Interviewer How did you prepare?
Evie Well, I’m from a flat part of England and I don’t usually run in hills or mountains. So I did some
hill training. To be honest, when I was preparing for the race my biggest concern was getting
lost. But I should have thought more about the mental preparation needed to race in the dark.
There were moments, especially during the swim and the run, when I felt quite scared. Can I
just say a huge thank you to all the marshals?
Interviewer Ah yes, there were over a hundred volunteers working as marshals.
Evie Yes, their main job was to keep us on the course. The running section was out in the
countryside, so it was very easy to get lost. All of the racers and marshals were wearing head
torches — you know, little lights around our heads to help us see the way. But the marshals
also had first-aid equipment. I saw one racer who had tripped and injured his knee. The nearest
marshal helped him straight away and called for a race car to collect him.
Interviewer And how did your race go? Did you manage to finish in a good time?
Evie Well, I was hoping for around one and a half hours. But swimming in the dark was so
frightening and exciting that I completed the swim in 25 minutes! That’s my personal best. But
of course, that was way too fast and then my run was dreadful. My final time was one hour
forty-two minutes.
Interviewer Are you disappointed?
Evie Not at all! The atmosphere here has been amazing. Lots of the competitors were actually
teams, with three racers in each team, and they’ve all been having so much fun. Some of the
team times were great because they could use all of their energy on just the swim, or the cycle,
or the run. Maybe I’ll join a team next year and concentrate on improving my run time.
Interviewer Well done, Evie! Go and get some rest.
Evie Thanks.

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File 5
Listening 2

1 Chip Hi Mark. Can you give me Rosie’s phone number?

Mark Rosie Shah? Well, I do have a number but it’s quite old. I haven’t spoken to her for over a
year.
Chip I thought she was your flatmate?
Mark No, she was going out with Damon, from the flat, for a while. But they broke up and I haven’t
seen her since then. She started going out with someone from her work, I think.

2 Miles Wow, that was a really fast finish.

Jessica Oh, thanks. I’m Jessica. Nice to meet you.
Miles Hi, I’m Miles. Are you training for the 10 kilometre run next month?
Jessica Um … I didn’t know about that. Actually, I’ve just moved here from York. I heard about this
running group, and it sounded like a good way to get to know new people.
Miles Oh, it’s a really nice group. We usually go to the café now or just sit and talk for a while.
Come on, I can introduce you to some people.
Jessica Great! Tell me more about the race next month.

3 Woman How well do Hayley and Roman know each other? They look close.
Man It’s a funny story. They’ve worked in the same company for 3 years but they didn’t know
each other well until quite recently. Then one day, they got stuck in the office lift together for
an hour. When they finally reached the ground floor, Hayley asked Roman to go out with
her. And now they’re engaged!
Woman That’s brilliant!

4 Lewis Hi, Mum. Happy birthday!

Mum Thanks Lewis. I’ve just spoken to your brother too. Do you remember when you used to
bring me breakfast in bed for my birthday when you were little boys?
Lewis Of course. We used to argue about who would carry your present. In fact, we fought and
argued all the time.
Mum I remember. Sometimes I used to feel like a referee not a mother! I’m so glad you both get
on now.
Lewis Me too. But we’re 22 and 24 now, not little boys. And we do have a lot in common. You, for
example!

5 Leo Hi guys. Where are you watching the match later?

Tomas We’re not watching the match.
Albert No. Definitely not.
Leo What’s going on? No, football? Is this a superstition that you guys have?
Tomas No, we’ve made a decision. Football on TV is too dangerous.
Albert We shout at the TV. We shout at each other. It isn’t fun at all.
Tomas When our team played last month, we had an argument about a referee’s decision and
didn’t speak to each other for two days.
Albert This is the right thing to do, for our friendship.
Leo OK … Do you want me to text you when anyone scores?
Albert and Tomas Yes, Yes please.

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File 6
Listening 1
Presenter Now, if your partner or a friend changed their hair style, would you recognize them? Of course
you would. But would you recognize the last person who served you in a shop if you saw them
in a photo? That’s not so easy. In fact, although most people are very good at recognizing
people they know well, we’re not so successful with the faces of strangers.

Researchers recently completed a study where people were shown two photos. The photos
showed two people who looked similar. But were they the same person? Well, eighty percent of
the time people gave the correct answer. You might think that’s fine. But there are some
locations where ‘fine’ isn’t good enough.

Let’s think about airport security. If 20% of fake passport photos managed to beat the security
system, there would be serious problems. Of course, technology can help us here. We know
that humans tend to focus on particular facial features—we usually concentrate on the eyes
and mouth but not the nose. And we’re better at observing details, like the eyes, rather than the
whole face. Recognition software does not have this focus. But members of the public will
always feel safer if airport security checks are completed by humans.

And we can’t rely on technology as the only solution. Software that was installed two years or
even one year ago will soon be out of date. And the criminals are innovative. As early as 2010,
one man successfully boarded a flight wearing a realistic face mask. In the past, the biggest
challenge came from plastic surgery. Today the threat comes from image software which
blends, or mixes, two faces together: one face belongs to the criminal and one face does not,
but when they’re mixed together the result is completely realistic and can allow the criminal to
obtain a real passport using the other person’s name. Security software finds these very hard to
detect. On the other hand, when human workers were trained to notice the mixed photos, they
had more success.

One more potential solution is the use of so-called ‘super’ recognizers. Super-recognizers are
people who are far better than average at recognizing faces. Police in London already employ a
team of super-recognizers and researchers are optimistic about using ‘super’ recognizers at
airports too. But if only 1% of people around the world have this ability, personally I don’t see
how they can all be persuaded to work in airports. Do you?

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File 6
Listening 2

1 Mel Is this picture of you?

Lars Yes, that’s me.
Mel Why are you wearing that crazy costume? Was it for a party?
Lars No, I was an extra in a science-fiction film!
Mel Wow! Did you get paid?
Lars Not much, but yes. Actually, I worked in a few films while I was at university. That one was
really hard work because of the make-up.

2 Darcy Look at this picture from the Oscars.

Jenna Oh my goodness. She looks amazing, doesn’t she?
Darcy And she must be in her sixties.
Jenna At least. I hope I look that confident and cool when I’m her age.

3 Jez Come and see this picture from the new Mission Impossible film.
George I don’t think that’s real, do you?
Jez I do, yes! I know the films use a lot of special effects but Tom Cruise always does a lot of the
action scenes himself.
George No way. I expect the scene was shot with someone else and then they used a computer to
add him in.
Jez I’m going to check online.

4 Abi Do you recognize this ballet dancer? I think she dances with the English Royal Ballet.
Mai Yes, she looks familiar. Didn’t we see her in The Nutcracker when it was on at the cinema?
Abi Oh yes. So she’s English.
Mai No she’s English and Kenyan. Her name’s Francesca something.
Abi Of course! Francesca Hayward, and she dances in London but she was born in Nairobi.

5 Justin Do you know anything about this film?

Noah No, but the poster doesn’t look very exciting. Is it a historical film? The picture’s in black and
white.
Justin No, it’s a thriller.
Noah Really? The man’s body language is really negative. It looks sad.
Justin Apparently he’s the hero. It’s had very good reviews. Would you like to go and see it?
Noah OK, let’s try a moody thriller.

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File 7
Listening 1

Cara Here’s an interesting question for you, Sachin. If you were the head teacher of a primary school,
what new lessons would you introduce?
Sachin Oh … err … anything at all?
Cara Sure. But remember, we’re talking about children between five and eleven.
Sachin Well, lots of different subjects. I think children get bored of studying the same things all the time.
Why should they only study maths and history, and that sort of thing? They could do music editing,
or engineering, or cookery — more practical things like that. And no homework at all.
Cara Oh come on, Sachin, that’s ridiculous. If they don’t have homework, they won’t practise what
they’ve learned. And the parents would be really unhappy. They like to know how their children are
progressing.
Sachin Ah. But that’s only because parents like to compare their children: ‘my son is cleverer than that
child’. In fact, if I was head teacher I wouldn’t have any exams either. Too much competition is bad
for young children.
Cara Perhaps. But I have to say, I completely agree with you on the topic of cookery classes. That’s
something I’d add if I were in charge of a school. I think cooking’s a vital, practical skill that even
very young children can learn and enjoy. If everyone learned to cook at school, that would give us
healthier adults I’m sure.
Sachin I agree. What was the food like at your primary school?
Cara Oh, well, the lunches for vegetarians weren’t great. If I was at primary school now, I expect the
food would be better.
Sachin I know! The school could have one day each week when all the food is vegetarian. That’s a great
idea, don’t you think? If I were a head teacher, the kids would love me!

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File 7
Listening 2

1 Ben Alistair, this is amazing. It’s much bigger than your last flat.
Alistair Yes, and if I lived on the top floor I’d have a view out to the countryside. It only takes five
minutes to cycle out of town. I’m going to visit all the little villages. Come out into the garden.
Ben Oh this is lovely. You only had a tiny patio in your old place. And it was so noisy from the
traffic.
Alistair Yes, this is much better. So the old flat is that way, to the south. And if you stand on this
bench and look west…
Ben …you can see hills and green fields. I love it!
Alistair Thanks.

2 Janis What’s wrong Kat?

Kat I really love living with you guys, but look at this kitchen!
Janis It’s fine. There are a few dirty plates and mugs…
Kat If I didn’t do the washing up every day, it would still be there next week! We have very
different ideas about cleaning.
Janis But you don’t want to move in with your parents while you save money for a mortgage?
Kat No, you’re right. I prefer to pay rent here and have a space that’s my own, where I can have
my own style and do what I want. But the downside is this kitchen!
Janis Come on. Let’s do it together.

3 Martina If you could live anywhere you liked, Josh, where would you choose?
Josh Well, my dream house would be in the countryside. How about you?
Martina Yes, I think I’d like that too. I grew up in the suburbs, so I’d like to live somewhere either
very busy or very quiet. If I lived in the countryside, I’d like a cosy cottage with view of the
sea.
Josh That sounds nice. But if I lived in a small cottage, I’d soon want more space. I’d like a
modern house, but in the countryside.

4 Annie Does this old table belong to the person who rents here now?
Lettings agent Yes, it does. The current resident is a student and she will take all the furniture with
her.
Annie That’s good. I have my own furniture. I’m only renting a flat for 6 months while I get to know
the city. Then I’ll buy my own place.
Lettings agent I understand. Well if I moved here, I’d live on this street. Some of the ground-floor
flats, like this one, have basements.
Annie Is that usual for this town?
Lettings agent Actually, no. But several of the houses in this street have them. The student is using
it as a gym area but I’d have a bedroom down there.
Annie That sounds wonderful. Can we go and see it now?

5 Cary Honestly, if I stay living at home any longer, I’ll go crazy.

Becky I thought you got on well with your parents.
Carly I do. And I used to love being at home, but I need more privacy now. If my mum walks into
my room without knocking one more time, I think I’ll argue with her.
Becky That’s not good.
Carly But I can’t afford to rent my own flat. Can I sleep here for a few weeks while I decide what to
do?
Becky You can stay here for as long as you like. I have a spare room and you can pay me rent.
We’ll be flatmates.

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File 8
Listening 1

Interviewer Today, on The Career Path, I’m talking to Aidan Cumiskey. Aidan designs beautiful wedding
rings and has just opened his first shop. Congratulations, Aidan!
Aidan Thank you.
Interviewer Designing jewellery is a new career for you. Please can you tell us how you got started?
Aidan Well, I’ve always worked in the fashion industry. My previous job was at Kelly’s, the chain of
department stores. I’d been with them for eight years and I’d been promoted several times.
Finally, I was in charge of choosing the women’s clothing in all of the stores.
Interviewer That’s a job with plenty of responsibility.
Aidan Certainly, and with a good, steady salary. But I wanted to really express myself. Designing
jewellery was a hobby of mine but I didn’t have any business qualifications or any experience of
running my own company. On the other hand, I did have the support of my wife, Mikaela. We
both like taking risks, and Mikaela said I should follow my dream. So, one day, I told my boss I
was leaving and that was it. I was an entrepreneur!
Interviewer So you resigned … and then what? What did you do next?
Aidan Luckily, I soon found an investor who put £10,000 into the business.
Interviewer That’s interesting. What did you spend that money on?
Aidan Oh, mostly on metal and small diamonds for the wedding rings. That was three years ago. I
began selling on my own website two years ago, and now here we are in my first actual store!
I’m so proud of how the company has grown.
Interviewer One final question. Who in business inspires you?
Aidan I’ve always admired Vera Wang, the wedding dress designer. She was a highly successful
fashion journalist but she decided to change career. She only started designing dresses when
she was 40. She used her experience in one area to go in a completely new direction. Standing
still is never a good idea in business … or in life, I think.

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File 8
Listening 2

1 Tanya Excuse me, Kris, can I speak to you for a moment?

Boss Tanya, yes, come in. Is there a problem?
Tanya That’s what I wanted to ask you. I asked to work longer hours over the next couple of
months, but my manager said ‘no’.
Boss I’m sorry Tanya, but we don’t have the budget to offer anyone extra work at the moment. It’s
not your fault, it’s a decision across the whole company.
Tanya I see.
Boss It’s not an ideal situation and I hope things will improve next year.

2 Interviewer What would you say has been your greatest achievement in your current job?
Sam Well, I helped to set up a new IT system when we moved to a larger office. It was a
complex project.
Interviewer Did anything go wrong?
Sam I think that’s always likely to happen with a large project, and the details did change over
time. But I’m good at listening to people and I’m not afraid of improvising. It’s something
I’d love to do again, actually.

3 Business owner After 5 years, our international sales will be worth one million pounds. But we need
your knowledge of the beauty market to get us started.
Dragon I like your idea, but I’d want 50% of the shares in exchange for the money.
Business owner That simply isn’t possible.
Dragon Then I’m out.

4 Tom Have you found an investor yet, Eva?

Eva Er, no, not yet. But actually I like keeping the business small. I can be more creative and I’m
very happy working by myself. How’s your job going?
Tom Oh, I have the opposite problem, actually. There are too many people in my company. I
don’t mind meetings but we can’t agree on anything. Then I have to do overtime in the
evenings so I can finish the real work.
Eva Hmm. It’s not easy to make decisions in large groups. Can you make a list of what you’re
responsible for, and what you’re not? Then ask your boss if you can miss the meetings that
aren’t in your main area.

5 Clyde Hello. Who can I speak to about applying for a job here?
Shop manager I can help you. Are you looking for a permanent position?
Clyde No, just over the summer.
Shop manager We do look for more workers during July and August. Please follow me, I’ll give
you a form to fill out.
Clyde Do you need my CV?
Shop manager No, you can write all the information on the application form. And we might ask
you to come in for a short interview.

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File 9
Listening 1

Nadia Hiya Rashed.

Rashed Oh there you are, Nadia. Wow! You’ve got a lot of bags.
Nadia I know! Are you finished? I’d really like to go back to the hotel. There are so many shops here,
there’s almost too much choice. And if I don’t get some rest I won’t give a good presentation
tomorrow. I’m exhausted!
Rashed Actually, can we wait another 10 minutes? My phone is inside one of those ChargeBoxes over
there. I want to wait for it to have a full battery.
Nadia Oh look! I’ve never seen one of those before. I’ve heard of them, because we have them in the
UK, and I think they’re in other European cities too. But there aren’t many of them. How long does
it take to charge up your phone?
Rashed Oh, it’s the same as at home. My phone has been plugged in for 20 minutes, so it should be fully
charged soon. There are quite a few of these ChargeBoxes in Dubai, particularly in shopping
centres. They’re very simple to use. You just plug your device in, take a key, and carry on
shopping. And it’s completely free, so … why not?
Nadia It’s free? That’s surprising in a shopping centre! I suppose the boxes encourage shoppers to
spend more time here — and more money, of course. Well, if I’d known you were going to need
ten more minutes I’d have stayed in that shoe shop on the second floor.
Rashed OK, you go back there. I’ll go outside by the fountain for a few minutes. I’ll collect my phone and
then meet you back here in, say, 15 minutes.
Nadia OK. See you shortly.

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File 9
Listening 2

1 Receptionist Reception, can I help you?

Patrick Hi. Does the hotel have any spare computer equipment for guests?
Receptionist Is there a problem with the wi-fi in your room, sir?
Patrick No, I’ve just tried to plug in my laptop and I’ve forgotten my charger.
Receptionist I’m sorry, sir. We have lots of adaptors but no chargers. If you come down to
reception, I can direct you to the nearest computer store.

2 Nisha What’s wrong?

Dave I can’t work out how to change this photo.
Nisha Give me the mouse, let me show you. Have you uploaded the photo to your desktop?
Dave Yes. It’s just there, see.
Nisha OK, so now we go to System Preferences, here. And we click here. There you go!
Dave Ah! Now my son’s drawing is the background for my computer. Thanks.

3 Said Carla?
Carla Yes?
Said This train journey is 45 minutes long. Are you going to play that game for the whole time?
Carla Oh. Ummm. OK, I’ve stopped. Actually, you’re lucky. I had too many games on my phone
before, but now I only have one or two. I deleted most of them because it was annoying my
boyfriend.
Said I can see why!

4 Nell Gus, have you ever used a password manager?

Gus I don’t really like the idea of keeping all my passwords online. What if someone got through
the security of the password manager site? They’d have everything: my bank details, my
photos …
Nell So how do you remember your passwords? Please don’t tell me you only have one simple
password that you use for everything.
Gus On no, they’re complicated, with lots of different numbers and letters. They’re all on the
second page of my work diary.
Nell You wrote them down? You’re crazy!

5 Wei How was the presentation in Geneva, Kate?

Kate Good, in the end. But there was a problem at the venue, which was a bit stressful.
Wei What happened?
Kate The internet wasn’t working and the latest version of my talk was stored online. I did have an
earlier version on a memory stick, so I used that.
Wei Well done. But I’m sure you’d have been fine even without the memory stick.
Kate Yes, I agree. If I hadn’t brought the earlier version, I’d have given the presentation anyway. I
don’t mind speaking without notes.

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File 10
Listening 1

Interviewer Please welcome to the stage, Goran Magnusson. Goran, this is your fourth crime novel set in
Reykjavik, Iceland. Detective Bjornson has plenty of experience, but he’s up against a different
sort of killer this time, isn’t he?
Goran Yes. I wanted to set Bjornson a new challenge. He’s solved murders before, of course, but this
story involves a group of wealthier suspects than he usually deals with. That brings new
problems for him to overcome.
Interviewer I was interested in the setting for this story, which is in the sailing community of Reykjavik. The
victim’s body is found inside a yacht in a sailing club. Did you have to do much research?
Goran Yes, I liked the idea of the sailing club. It’s a place where lots of different types of people mix:
wealthy business people, athletic adventurers. And there are lots of murder weapons! It was a
good opportunity. The victim, and possibly the murderer, are expert sailors but I know very little
about boats. I spent quite a lot of time finding out more before I could plan the evidence and the
clues for my story.
Interviewer I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, but Detective Bjornson quickly identifies a main
suspect, doesn’t he?
Goran Yes — too quickly. Bjornson realizes that the murderer is someone who knows about sailing
because of the way the victim was killed. To begin with, he suspects the victim’s business
partner. But then he finds a hidden photograph and letters at the victim’s house and discovers
the victim had a secret relationship. So then this unknown woman becomes a main suspect
too.
Interviewer Hmmm. Your stories don’t tend to involve emails and online histories, do they?
Goran Ha! No, I prefer more physical clues. I suppose my stories don’t accurately copy modern police
techniques. My readers want to escape from everyday life.
Interviewer I was certain that the secret girlfriend was the killer but … the murder remains unsolved at the
end of the story. When is part 2 going to be in our bookshops?
Goran You’ll have to wait until next year, I’m afraid.
Interviewer Well, we’re looking forward to it, aren’t we everyone? Many thanks, Goran Magnusson.

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File 10
Listening 2

1 Philippa What do you think is the most iconic book cover?

José That’s a really difficult question. There are so many great covers. The book cover for The
Godfather was so successful that it was used as the poster for the film too.
Philippa I didn’t know that.
José Yes. It’s by the artist Neil Fujita. What do you call people who draw letters and pictures
using computers?
Philippa They’re called graphic designers, aren’t they?
José That sounds right. I’d quite like to be a graphic designer.

2 Arjun Here we are, Chloë. This is the Great Court in the British Museum. It’s my favourite place in
London.
Chloë Wow! The glass ceiling is even bigger than I imagined. There’s so much light even though
we’re inside.
Arjun I know. The Reading Room is over there. And through all of these other doors are
collections of objects from around the world.
Chloë Can we visit the other rooms later? I want to stay here in the Great Court.
Arjun Of course. The roof was only built in 2000. There are over three thousand panes of glass
above our heads. And every single one is different. That’s incredible, isn’t it?
Chloë Yes. I love the way the modern part of the building and the old part of the building go
together.
Arjun Me too.

3 Saliyah Guess what! We won the prize!

Milo That’s such great news. My wife is a world-famous chef!
Saliyah Not yet! Perhaps in a few years’ time. But the restaurant is widely considered to serve the
best Arabic food in town. For a chef who didn’t go to cookery school and learned everything
on the job, that’s something to celebrate, isn’t it?
Milo Yes, it is! Congratulations!

4 Sam Do you remember the news story about the thief who stole a bucket of gold from a van in
New York?
Cora Yes, he was a professional thief, wasn’t he?
Sam That’s right. He took things from cars and vans but he never used a weapon or hurt anyone.
The video of the robbery was everywhere on social media. But the police soon identified him
and released his picture.
Cora And they never caught him, did they?
Sam Not in New York. The New York police thought the suspect had returned home to Ecuador
— and they were right. Local police arrested him there. But he was only sent to prison for a
few months and the gold was never found.

5 Bella I love shopping in second-hand shops, don’t you?

Louise Yes, but you have to know what you’re doing. I don’t expect to find designer dresses and
handbags, for example.
Bella My aunt found a Mary Quant mini skirt in a second-hand shop once. Imagine that!
Louise I’m not sure I would want to wear a skirt that short. But the story of Quant’s career is
fascinating.
Bella I agree. Quant was one of the first people to make designs especially for younger people.
Those girls must have felt so rebellious and free. And she taught herself to sew, didn’t she?
Louise I think you’re right. I know that her shop used to play loud music and stay open late. People
went there to have fun as well as to shop for clothes.
Bella And her designs were worn by the coolest female musicians of the 1960s.
Louise Fashion and music. My two favourite things.

20