LISTENING PRACTICE (NATIONAL TEAM - 11/11/2021)

NAME: ………………………………………………..

Part 1. For questions 1-5, listen to the news and fill in the missing information. Write NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS and/or A NUMBER taken from the recording for each answer in the spaces provided.

1. The __________________________________________ was due to fly past the icy massive Ultima
Thule.

2. Dr. Carly Howett thinks that we're waiting ___________________________________ for the data to
come down.

3. Mr. Kim said that if Washington misjudged his country's patience, then he would have no choice but
to seek a new ___________________________________.

4. Many of Brazilian politicians have been embroiled in ______________________________________

in the past few years.

5. people fear the new president’s conservative politics and ___________________________________

will only worsen the lives of poorer and more vulnerable Brazilians

Part 2. For questions 1-8, listen to the news and fill in the missing information. Write NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS and/or A NUMBER taken from the recording for each answer in the spaces provided.

1. Google employees are protesting how Google has been handling accusations of
_____________________________ against its executives

2. These employees feel that the company has been too _____________________________ with these
executives who've been accused.

3. The allegations are that Google not only kept the real reasons for its executives’ dismissal secret but
even paid the _____________________________.

4. The employees who were organizing the walkout say they are
________________________________.

5. Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent out an email this week suggesting that it
___________________________ in its decision-making relating to Rubin.

6. One change that Google employees are demanding involves ending a forced
_________________________ in their employment agreements.

7. Another change is there's a commitment to pay equity and opportunity and sort of
______________________________ regarding how they handle sexual harassment.

8. The employees say this is basically _______________________________ of a broader problem with

culture at Google.
Part 3. For questions 11-15, listen to part of a radio programme about education in which two
experts, Fred Murray and Mary Wilson, discuss literacy levels and choose the correct answer A, B,
C, or D which fits best according to what you hear. Write your answers in the corresponding
numbered boxes provided.
1. Mary says that under the previous government
A. official policies weren’t being implemented.
B. overall, teachers were very demoralised.
C. literacy levels were the lowest they had ever been.
D. teachers were making a lot of unfair complaints.
2. Fred seems to believe that
A. Mary isn’t presenting an accurate picture of the situation in primary schools.
B. the government’s policy will lead to lower adult literacy rates in the future.
C. government spending in school is wasteful.
D. not enough emphasis is being put on adult literacy.
3. Why does Fred mention the country’s GDP?
A. He believes that raising adult literacy levels will make the country more prosperous.
B. As a result of increasing GDP, adults with literacy problems will be able to find better jobs.
C. He wants to prove that the country can afford to spend more on fighting illiteracy.
D. He thinks the government is overlooking some important research.
4. What do Fred and Mary agree about?
A. It is surprising how many people are taking part in the government’s basic literacy programme.
B. The government hasn’t really started to deal with the problem of illiteracy yet.
C. Mary’s department is likely to make significant progress in the near future.
D. The situation is better now than it was under the last government.
5. Overall, what does Fred’s attitude seem to be?
A. angry that previous successes aren’t being repeated
B. understanding of how difficult it is to make progress in this area
C. disappointed that the government isn’t doing more
D. confused about why Mary doesn’t see things the way he does

Your answers
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Part 4. For questions 6-14, listen to a report on a scandal in education and supply the blanks with the
missing information. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the recording for each
answer in the space provided.
- At least 50 people, including wealthy parents, college sports coaches and administrators have been
charged with participating in (1)______________________ to influence undergraduate admissions
decisions at several top American universities. The scheme involved either cheating on standardized
tests or (2)______________________ college coaches to accept students as college athletes.

- U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling called this the largest (3)____________________ ever prosecuted by
the Justice Department. The offences are also described as (4)___________________, selfish and
shameful.

- Parents are reported to have paid more than $25 million to Rick Singer, who orchestrated the whole
scheme. Singer disguised bribe payments as charitable contributions to a purported nonprofit that was,
in fact, a (5)_________________ he used to launder the illegal money.

- Fabrication of sports credentials was carried out in different ways. Firstly, bribed coaches labelled
students as (6)_________________, which gave their applications an advantage. Secondly, Singer
helped parents take (7)_________________ photographs of their children engaged in particular sports.
Finally, Photoshop was used to insert a photograph of a student's face onto a photograph of another
person participating in the sport to document purported athletic activity.

- College admissions counselors believe (8)_________________ are the main sufferers of the fraud.
The institutions involved in the scandal took steps to punish the offenders, with Standford’s
(9)_________________ being dismissed.