Modelo examen 8 – Listening

LanguageCert C1 Listening Model 8 audioscript

Part 1: 

Number one:

• I honestly just think it’s time for a change. 

• Well, you sound like you’ve made up your mind 

• I have yeah I mean, obviously I’ll miss some of the friends I’ve made there.

Number two:

• I don’t know if I told you but we went to look at a flat last month. 

• Yes, I remember you saying. 

• Well, we really liked it but I’ve just heard that we didn’t get it. 

• Seriously? what a pain! 

• I know.

• So, what happened? 

Number three:

• So, how are you feeling about the World Cup, what do you think our chances are?

• Not great, to be honest, did you say that Kane has injured his knee quite badly?

Number four: 

• Hi, this is Thomas from Package Power. I’m just ringing to say I’m afraid we won’t be able to deliver your new fridge today. 

• You’re joking, I took the day off work!

• I’m terribly sorry but there’s been a road accident so our driver’s late.

Number five: 

• You’re in a good mood today 

• I am, yeah with good reason.

• Yeah, what’s going on then? 

• I don’t know if I mentioned it or not but I’ve been studying part-time to become a fitness coach.

Number six: 

• So, what seems to be the problem?

• It’s my leg doctor, I was reading about it online and I think I must have strained a muscle or something. 

• Well, let’s have a look at it, shall we? Can you just try to bend your leg, Yeah, like that… good… and how does that feel?

Part 2

Conversation one: 

R: I can’t understand it, the warehouse dispatched that order last Tuesday, so they’ll definitely have received it by last Friday, as promised. 

J: Yes, well they should have, but they haven’t. It’s now Monday and we’ve got no idea where it is. I’ve had our main client on the phone this morning and they’re not happy. Since this isn’t the first time this has happened, I think we need to seriously consider changing distributor. Especially as we’ve got that big order coming up in a couple of weeks. 

F: The problem is, though, we get a really good deal with that distributor, in that they give us an extra 10% off orders over 50,000. 

J: Yes, but at the risk of stating the obvious – it doesn’t matter how cheap they are if they don’t deliver the product. I don’t think we should stick with a bad supplier for fear of losing a few quid in the short term. 

F: Well, what exactly would the costs be if we switched supplier? We need to know all the facts here. 

R: Ah, always with the facts, Fatima! 

F: Ha, indeed. 

R: Well I couldn’t say off the top of my head, but I can get Marsha to run up some figures. 

J: That sounds like a good idea to me. Fatima’s right. As we don’t know all the facts yet, let’s wait until we do before we make the final decision. 

R: Agreed. 

F: Good idea.

Conversation two:

T: I see you posted that story about the nursing home that was closed down on social media, Matt. 

M: Yes, that’s right. It’s absolutely disgusting! Can you believe that they served dog food to old people in their care? 

T: Hmm, to be perfectly honest, I don’t think I can. 

M: I know, horrible wasn’t it? 

T: No, I mean I don’t think I can believe it. I think that’s a fake story. 

M: What do you mean? It seems perfectly credible to me. It’s from a big news website. 

T: Well, my first impression was that it sounded just too ridiculous, you know? It’s good that you looked at the source, though. 

M: Well, how else can you fact-check a story like that? 

T: There are a few different things you can try. Firstly, look at the picture. It looks like it’s from a stock photo site. And if you do a reverse image search, it takes you to one. 

M: Yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s false. 

T: No, you’re totally right. But try searching the title plus the word ‘fake’. 

M: OK, let me try on my phone … Oh, I see. All of these results report on it being a fake story. 

T: You see?

M: Ah, my bad. I’d better delete my post then.

Conversation three:

A: Hi, Rafa! 

R: Oh, that’s it, I’m done, I’m finished with him! 

A: Whoa! Hold your horses! What are you talking about? 

R: I’ve quit, he’s impossible to work with, he’s the boss from hell!

A: You’ve quit? What’s he done this time?

R: Oh, nothing and everything. You know, it’s just a buildup of irritating things 

A: Like? 

R: Well today, for example, I was supposed to have my appraisal.

A: The annual one?

R: Yeah that, so I spent the whole evening, preparing, and guess what? he canceled it at the last minute.

A: Why? 

R: He says he’s got an important lunch meeting that he can’t miss, but you know what? We share an online calendar so I know exactly who he’s got a lunch meeting with. 

A: Who? 

R: His friend, Darren! 

A: No, that’s awful! 

R: It’s bordering on criminal, honestly.

A: So, you’ve really quit? 

R: Well, not exactly, but I was this close you know, this close! 

A: So, what? Are you going to quit? 

R: Well, I don’t know, I mean Mary and Hasten saw all that I just needed to let off some steam so I thought I’d call you. 

A: Oh I see, well you want my advice? 

R: I know what you’ll say. 

A: I mean, who knows how long he’ll stick around? 

R: Yeah, you’ve got a point. 

A: And you’re building up a lot of experience there. 

R: Yeah look, thanks for listening, I should get back.

A: Are you on a break? 

R: Yeah, an impromptu break, I thought I either take a break or I’d throw a chair out the window. 

A: Yeah I get it, look, just take a moment, decompress a little you know, and you’ll feel…

Part 3:

My name is Sarah Willis and I’m a food historian. Have you ever wondered what our lives would be like without cooking and how easy it would be to survive in the wild eating only raw food? Well, the answer is that humans are not very good at eating food that hasn’t been cooked and would find it almost impossible to survive on the diet of a chimpanzee, for example. Chimpanzees do eat a lot of fruit, which would be OK for us, not just bananas but all sorts of berries too, and this accounts for 60 percent of their diet. But the remaining 40 percent is made up of other plant food, which wouldn’t really be suitable for human consumption. These plants don’t contain sugar so they taste very bitter. 

The other problem with the chimpanzee diet is that human teeth aren’t strong enough to chew the huge quantities of plants and we’d also need a bigger stomach to digest it all. But long ago, before people discovered cooking, our human ancestors must have had a diet that was quite similar to a chimpanzee’s. They would have spent an awful lot of time chewing in order to digest the raw food properly. They might spend eight hours a day finding food to eat and then about six hours actually eating it. Which didn’t leave them much time for any leisure activities. So when people started cooking, life began to get a lot better. They had more time for other things and the food also tasted much better. But as well as that, cooking made it possible to preserve meat for longer, which meant they could save some for the next day – in case they didn’t manage to find any.

No one knows exactly when people started cooking. But a lot of scientists believe the discovery of cooking was a really important development. They think that because of cooking, our mouths gradually became smaller and the brain became much bigger. These changes happened over thousands of years, of course. And as well as bringing about physical changes, some scientists believe the activity of cooking also introduced significant social change. They say that cooking food meant that everyone in the family ate at the same time, so it’s where the tradition of sitting down together and having a family meal may have begun. But there were new risks involved too. For the first time, people couldn’t eat their food immediately because it had to be cooked first. 

The long wait between catching or finding the food and then eating it meant there was always the possibility someone might take it. So the female cooks had to be protected against any thieves by the men who were also responsible for the hunting and gathering of food. Until a few years ago, it was thought that cooking was a relatively recent development but now tests indicate that our ancestors started cooking in Africa a very long time ago. Scientists have discovered that fire may have been used for this purpose over one million years ago, which is far earlier than was previously thought. 

Scientists do know that people began cooking routinely during the last ice age around twelve thousand years ago. Cooking food was a good idea in the extreme cold because it gives more energy than raw food so cooking helped people survive this harsh environment

Part 4:

I: Good morning. Today we’re talking about networking events, and I’m joined by Giorgio Esposito, who coaches people in the skills of socialising. Giorgio, do people really need a coach to teach them how to have conversations with strangers? 

G: Absolutely. For a surprisingly large number of people, including plenty of experienced businesspeople and even some super-confident celebrities, networking and socialising are a source of intense anxiety. But the good news is it’s something you can learn, with a few simple techniques, and it gets much easier with practice. And that’s all it is: techniques and practice. The biggest barrier to successful networking is in your head. It’s like there’s a little voice telling you that you can’t just walk up to people and start a conversation. But you absolutely can. It’s a networking event, after all! People expect you to talk to them! 

I: OK. So where do we start? 

G: Well, if there’s a central guiding philosophy to it all, it’s probably ‘Be curious’. Take an interest in the people around you, and see the event as a genuine opportunity to learn things and establish relationships, rather than an ordeal to be ‘survived’. 

I: Well, that makes sense. How do you actually get involved in a conversation though? 

G: I think it’s really important to show sensitivity to the people around you when you’re networking. When you join a group, spend a few minutes listening attentively, smiling, nodding your head, making eye contact, and so on, to demonstrate that you’re paying attention and showing some respect for the other participants. It’s also a good chance to make sure you’re not intruding in a personal or confidential conversation. You could say something like ‘Do you mind if I join you?’, or ‘Don’t mind me, I’m just listening’ when they notice you. 

I: OK, I see how that could work. Then how do I get into the chat? 

G: Well, you can react. You can respond to whatever the previous person was saying in the conversation: ‘Wow! That’s a great story’ or ‘Oh, that’s so unlucky’, or whatever, with lots of emotion to show you’re engaged. You can also relate your own experiences to those of the previous speaker, and say something like ‘A similar thing happened to me’ or ‘I had a rather different experience.’ 

I: ‘That’s really interesting!’ I was using your technique, Giorgio. OK, so I’m in the conversation, it’s my turn to speak, I go blank. What do I do? 

G: You could tell a story. 

I: OK, can you give us an example of a story you’ve used at a networking event? 

G: Sure. ‘I once lost a car in a forest.’ 

I: What? You lost a car in a forest? How? When? Why? Whose car? 

G: Er … well, it was just an example. But it got you asking questions, didn’t it? It allows other people to be curious and ask you questions. 

I: Should I plan the stories beforehand? 

G: Absolutely. The secret to successful communication is preparation and practice. Plan a few great stories before the event – things that you think will work well with that particular audience. And then when you’re put on the spot and expected to entertain a circle of strangers, you’re ready. 

I: OK, I’ve got a great one about a dolphin in Cancun, I’ll tell you later, Giorgio. That’s good advice, but what if I’m stuck holding the baby, as it were? What if no one else speaks? 

G: It comes back to being curious. Ask another participant a question – ‘What brings you here’ or ‘What are you hoping to get out of the event?’ or show sensitivity by returning the conversation to a previous theme. – ‘Ah, Donald, you were saying something about the bank crisis before I interrupted.’ 

I: All good advice I’m sure, Giorgio, thank you so much. But what about the car? Did you ever find it? 

G: Oh, well, if you insist. But I warn you, it’s a long story.