STATE EXAM PRACTICE TEST Tapescripts

ACTIVITY 1
Narrator: You will hear three different announcements TWICE. After each listening, you must respond to a different item. A.: Passengers waiting on platform 7 for the . ! e"press ser#ice to Edin$urgh are ad#ised that there will $e a twenty%minute delay due to snow on the trac&s north of 'ondon. E#ery effort is $eing made to clear the lines, howe#er, should unsta$le weather conditions continue, there may $e serious delays in many areas. Passengers are therefore ad#ised that they may not $e a$le to ma&e connections later this e#ening. Tic&ets purchased for such connections may $e refunded at local tic&et offices or $e stamped for use on alternati#e routes or at alternati#e times. We apologise for any incon#enience caused. B.: Would the parents of the young girl ( estimated to $e a$out four years old and named )arah ( who has wandered off on her own, please contact the information des& immediately, where she is waiting for them. This is situated on the ground floor of the $uilding near the main entrance, $etween the *deon +a"i cinema and +arathon )porting ,oods, opposite -ational Westminster .an&. Parents are ad#ised to accompany their children at all times. Please remain in eye contact especially in large department stores and supermar&ets. Parents should not permit their children to use pu$lic toilets unaccompanied and playing in the lifts or on escalators is strictly for$idden. C.: 'adies and gentlemen, this is a recorded announcement. In the e#ent of an emergency, all passengers must immediately head for /ec& . and meet at the designated assem$ly point, in the dining room. 0ere you will $e issued with life1ac&ets. To ensure the safe and orderly e#acuation of this #essel, should the situation arise, we urge e#eryone to familiarise themsel#es with the full emergency procedure within the ne"t 23 hours. /etails are posted on the notice$oards on each dec& and in e#ery corridor, $y the pool and at the entrance to the dining room.

ACTIVITY 2
Narrator: )tep 4. 5ead items 7 and ! $elow. Then listen to the two people ha#ing a con#ersation and choose the $est answer A, ., or C. o!a": To $e honest Peter, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It sounds li&e a romantic idea ( going to study at a foreign uni#ersity and I thought *6 why not7 E#eryone told me it would $e a life%changing e"perience and, in fact, it was. *f course, there were times when I thought I8d $e $etter off $ac& home, $ut these were few and far $etween. Ma": It8s funny you should say that, 0elen, $ecause I found that the ma1ority of my friends felt homesic& at times too. There were moments when they 1ust longed to $ac& in England ( particularly around Easter or Christmas. -ot e#eryone went home for the Christmas holidays, though. o!a": I &now I didn8t always manage it. It cost a $om$ ( all the flights $ac& and forth. Ma": 9unnily enough, holidays weren8t a pro$lem for me. I was ha#ing too much fun: o!a": )o, Peter, I8d suppose you8d agree that studying a$road was a positi#e e"perience for you7 Ma": A$solutely. 9or one thing, it forced me to grow up. ;ntil then, I8d $een li#ing at home and all of a sudden I had to start thin&ing a$out what I was going to eat, a$out whether I had clean clothes, where I could get my laundry done. o!a": .ut that would ha#e $een the case e#en if you8d $een at a uni#ersity in your own country. It doesn8t 1ust apply to ,ermany. 'ea#ing home is lea#ing home and that means learning to manage on your own. Ma": True. .ut e#erything was so unfamiliar at first. At home it8s easy to pop into a supermar&et and 1ust pic& up the things you need to ma&e dinner. .ut when you8re a$road, it8s so much more of a challenge ( la$els are different, products are too. .ut then again, I <uic&ly $ecame #ery independent and you &now what, I learned to compromise a lot. )o 0elen, do you thin& the time you spent in )pain changed the way you loo& at life7

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STATE EXAM PRACTICE TEST Tapescripts

o!a": /efinitely. I came away with a new attitude to so many things. 9or e"ample, the pace of life in )pain is more rela"ed than the ;6. I learned to ta&e life in my stride and not get so tense a$out things. 'ife is only stressful if you let it $e. -ow I ta&e each day as it comes. Also, I intentionally mi"ed mainly with )panish students so I could get to &now )pain $etter, its customs, culture and manners. Ma": I $et you learnt to spea& )panish really well too. Narrator: )tep 2. 5ead items =%4>. 'isten A,AI- to the same e"tract and choose the $est answer A, ., or C. o!a": To $e honest Peter, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It sounds li&e a romantic idea ( going to study at a foreign uni#ersity and I thought *6 why not7 E#eryone told me it would $e a life%changing e"perience and, in fact, it was. *f course, there were times when I thought I8d $e $etter off $ac& home, $ut these were few and far $etween. Ma": It8s funny you should say that, 0elen, $ecause I found that the ma1ority of my friends felt homesic& at times too. There were moments when they 1ust longed to $ac& in England ( particularly around Easter or Christmas. -ot e#eryone went home for the Christmas holidays, though. o!a": I &now I didn8t always manage it. It cost a $om$ ( all the flights $ac& and forth. Ma": 9unnily enough, holidays weren8t a pro$lem for me. I was ha#ing too much fun: o!a": )o, Peter, I8d suppose you8d agree that studying a$road was a positi#e e"perience for you7 Ma": A$solutely. 9or one thing, it forced me to grow up. ;ntil then, I8d $een li#ing at home and all of a sudden I had to start thin&ing a$out what I was going to eat, a$out whether I had clean clothes, where I could get my laundry done. o!a": .ut that would ha#e $een the case e#en if you8d $een at a uni#ersity in your own country. It doesn8t 1ust apply to ,ermany. 'ea#ing home is lea#ing home and that means learning to manage on your own. Ma": True. .ut e#erything was so unfamiliar at first. At home it8s easy to pop into a supermar&et and 1ust pic& up the things you need to ma&e dinner. .ut when you8re a$road, it8s so much more of a challenge ( la$els are different, products are too. .ut then again, I <uic&ly $ecame #ery independent and you &now what, I learned to compromise a lot. )o 0elen, do you thin& the time you spent in )pain changed the way you loo& at life7 o!a": /efinitely. I came away with a new attitude to so many things. 9or e"ample, the pace of life in )pain is more rela"ed than the ;6. I learned to ta&e life in my stride and not get so tense a$out things. 'ife is only stressful if you let it $e. -ow I ta&e each day as it comes. Also, I intentionally mi"ed mainly with )panish students so I could get to &now )pain $etter, its customs, culture and manners. Ma": I $et you learnt to spea& )panish really well too.

ACTIVITY #
Narrator: )tep 4. 5ead item 44. Then, listen to an inter#iew and choose the $est answer A, . or C. Ma": Tonight we8ll $e tal&ing to Professor +arion 9o" a$out #ideo games. I8m sure this is something parents will $e interested in hearing a$out. )o, tell us Professor 9o", what8s the #erdict on #ideo games ( are they really as dangerous as some people say7 o!a": Well, I wouldn8t descri$e all #ideo games as dangerous $ut there are indications that some of today8s new games could lead to $eha#iour patterns we associate with an addiction. Ma": 5eally7 What e"actly do you mean7 Why would modern games cause addiction7 o!a": Well, you see, games coming out today in the twenty first century are much more sophisticated than those of fifteen years ago. 6ids who played #ideo games in the 4==>s were intelligent, highly moti#ated students with high mar&s in school, and were #ery familiar with modern technology. .ut today, most of the games are so time% consuming to play that &ids get caught up in them and neglect e#erything else. )o you see, they can $e descri$ed as addicti#e. Ma": /oes this apply to all &ids, then7 o!a": I wouldn8t go that far ... for the ma1ority of players, #ideo games represent a harmless acti#ity. A recent study has shown that e#en though a$out a third of all children do play #ideo games on a daily $asis, the num$er who play for more than thirty hours a wee& is relati#ely low ( a$out se#en per cent. Ma": *#er ?> hours a wee&7 I would imagine there are <uite serious conse<uences. Can parents help7

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STATE EXAM PRACTICE TEST Tapescripts

o!a": *f course. Ma": )o how can a parent tell if his child is o#erdoing it7 o!a": It is usually <uite easy to 1udge whether a child is spending too much time on these games ( they tend to e"hi$it certain signs if not a$le to play for some reason. Irrita$ility is one of these. 6ids get annoyed when you interrupt them. They also suffer pain in the thum$s from using the handset. Ma": I see. You &now, I thin& what worries a lot of people is the #iolent nature of some games. o!a": Yes, we hear parents complaints all the time, $ut I8d li&e to stress that it has yet to $e pro#ed that #iolent games lead to #iolent $eha#iour. Narrator: )tep 2. 'isten to the inter#iew again, and match the <uestions in Column A with the answers in Column . for items 42%4 . There is one answer you won8t need. Ma": Tonight we8ll $e tal&ing to Professor +arion 9o" a$out #ideo games. I8m sure this is something parents will $e interested in hearing a$out. )o, tell us Professor 9o", what8s the #erdict on #ideo games ( are they really as dangerous as some people say7 o!a": Well, I wouldn8t descri$e all #ideo games as dangerous $ut there are indications that some of today8s new games could lead to $eha#iour patterns we associate with an addiction. Ma": 5eally7 What e"actly do you mean7 Why would modern games cause addiction7 o!a": Well, you see, games coming out today in the twenty first century are much more sophisticated than those of fifteen years ago. 6ids who played #ideo games in the 4==>s were intelligent, highly moti#ated students with high mar&s in school, and were #ery familiar with modern technology. .ut today, most of the games are so time% consuming to play that &ids get caught up in them and neglect e#erything else. )o you see, they can $e descri$ed as addicti#e. Ma": /oes this apply to all &ids, then7 o!a": I wouldn8t go that far ... for the ma1ority of players, #ideo games represent a harmless acti#ity. A recent study has shown that e#en though a$out a third of all children do play #ideo games on a daily $asis, the num$er who play for more than thirty hours a wee& is relati#ely low ( a$out se#en per cent. Ma": *#er ?> hours a wee&7 I would imagine there are <uite serious conse<uences. Can parents help7 o!a": *f course. Ma": )o how can a parent tell if his child is o#erdoing it7 o!a": It is usually <uite easy to 1udge whether a child is spending too much time on these games ( they tend to e"hi$it certain signs if not a$le to play for some reason. Irrita$ility is one of these. 6ids get annoyed when you interrupt them. They also suffer pain in the thum$s from using the handset. Ma": I see. You &now, I thin& what worries a lot of people is the #iolent nature of some games. o!a": Yes, we hear parents8 complaints all the time, $ut I8d li&e to stress that it has yet to $e pro#ed that #iolent games lead to #iolent $eha#iour.

ACTIVITY $
Narrator: You will hear part of a lecture only *-CE. As you listen, fill in the missing words in the notes made $y a student $elow, items 4@%2>. Ma": *ne and a half million years ago, people were already eating coo&ed food. It is $elie#ed $y many anthropologists that the shift from the consumption of raw food to coo&ed food was of great importance for human de#elopment. In fact, it may e"plain why human $eings de#eloped differently from apes, ac<uiring a larger $rain and the a$ility to wal& completely upright. We &now that changes in eating ha$its occurred $ecause the remains of $urnt $ones from this period ha#e $een found. This suggests to scientists that people had learnt to coo& their food $y then. This new method of food preparation $enefitted these early human $eings for a num$er of reasons. 9irstly, coo&ed food could $e safely stored for longer periods of time, and, in addition to this, it would ha#e $een easier to digest. These changes in eating ha$its could ha#e $rought a$out changes in the human $rain. -ot only did the human $rain slowly $ecome larger, $ut mental a$ilities increased too.

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