B1 PRELIMINARY Audio scripts
TEST 5
Preliminary English Test. Listening. Test 5.
There are four parts to the test. You will hear each
part twice. For each part of the test there will be
time for you to look through the questions and
time for you to check your answers.
Write your answers on the question paper. You will
have six minutes at the end of the test to copy your
answers onto the answer sheet. The recording will
now be stopped.
Please ask any questions now, because you must
not speak during the test.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now open your question paper and look at Part 1.
PART 1
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now we are ready to start. For each question,
choose the correct answer.
1 Where is the woman’s new house?
Woman: Hi, James. You must come and see our new
house!
Man: Oh, you’ve moved. Congratulations! Do you
know I always thought you’d stay in your place
near the mountains?
Woman: I know. It was beautiful there.
Man: So, are you still in the countryside?
Woman: Oh yes, actually not too far from the mountains
– the opposite side of the lake, though, from
where we were before.
Man: Oh. Are you by the water? Lovely.
Woman: We’re a bit further on actually. It’s one of the
new houses on the edge of the forest. It’s really
peaceful.
Man: Sounds great!
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
2 What are the people having for dinner?
Man: So, what shall we have for dinner?
Woman: Well, I had chicken for lunch today at work, but
there’s some in the fridge, isn’t there? I don’t
mind having it again.
Man: OK, it’d be quick. Or we could have burgers? I
could make a salad to go with them or with the
chicken.
Woman: Actually, just that on its own will be enough for
me, without any meat. We’ve got that nice fresh
lettuce and tomatoes. That’ll be much better for
us.
Man: Very true. Let’s do that then.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
3 What did the man forget to bring to the picnic?
Woman: This looks like a good place for a picnic, don’t
you think?
Man: It does, yes! Now, do you want to put out the
food? I’m glad you offered to bring a blanket.
I didn’t think we’d need it, but the ground’s not
very dry.
Woman: It’s not. I’ll pour drinks, shall I?
Man: Yes. The cups are there, in the car – can you
see?
Woman: Oh yes. Now, I brought a knife too, for the
bread.
Man: Well done. I got one out, ready to bring, but it’s
still on the table at home!
Woman: No problem!
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
4 Where did the friends go for a walk?
Woman 1: That was a lovely walk, wasn’t it? It was nice
looking across the bay at the boats.
Woman 2: Yes, because the park’s on the top of a hill,
you really can see for miles.
Woman 1: Although it’s a bit of a shame the town’s so
big. It does spoil the view a bit!
Woman 2: Oh, I don’t know, I quite like being able to
see the old buildings. I think they’re rather
lovely. I wouldn’t mind spending a few hours
exploring them, if that’s OK with you?
Woman 1: Sure. Let’s do that tomorrow.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
5 What kind of exercise is the man going to do
this weekend?
Woman: I’m so glad it’s Friday! It’s been a busy week. Are
you doing anything nice this weekend, Ben?
Man: Well, my daughter’s running in her first long-
distance race quite soon, so I’m helping her
train!
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B1 PRELIMINARY Audio scripts
Woman: Oh right. I knew you played badminton a lot, but
I didn’t know you were a runner too. Good for
you!
Man: Ah, well, actually I’m training her from my bike.
I can’t run and shout advice to her at the same
time and to be honest, she’s faster than me!
Woman: Ha ha! Good for her! It still sounds exhausting
though.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
6 Who does the woman have an appointment
with tomorrow?
Man: Hi, Jayne. You look worried. What’s up?
Woman: I want to leave early for an appointment
tomorrow, and I haven’t asked for time off yet.
Man: Don’t worry. I mean, we’re allowed time off
for things like going to the doctor’s. And the
manager let you go to the dentist’s that time
before, didn’t she? I’m sure it’s not like you’re
just going off to get your hair cut!
Woman: Well, actually, I’m going out on Saturday,
and tomorrow afternoon’s the only available
appointment, so yes, I am!
Man: Oh! Well, er, good luck!
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
7 Where does the man think he has left his coat?
Man: Hi, Sandra, thanks for a great party.
Woman: I’m glad you and your wife could come.
Man: Now, I’ve left my coat somewhere …
Woman: OK, where is it?
Man: When we arrived, we went into the living room.
I took it off there, but I’m sure I was carrying it
after that.
Woman: You didn’t hang it in the hall, did you?
Man: You’re right. I remember putting it on a chair
outside later in the evening. That’s the last time
I remember having it.
Woman: I’ll check the garden, sitting room, and hall for
you.
Man: Thanks!
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
That is the end of Part 1.
PAUSE 10 SECONDS
PART 2
Now turn to Part 2, questions 8 to 13. For each
question, choose the correct answer.
8 You will hear a woman talking to a friend about
a painting course she is doing.
PAUSE 8 SECONDS
Man: How’s the painting course going?
Woman: Oh, OK thanks. But it’s quite hard. I’ve been
working on the same thing now for weeks!
Man: Oh dear. Aren’t you getting any help?
Woman: It’s not that. The teacher does her best to get
round to everyone. But I just look at everyone
else’s work and feel really disappointed in mine.
Man: It can’t be that bad. Why don’t you just start
again with something new?
Woman: Well, it’s a picture for my dad’s birthday, of
his favourite place, so I’m really keen to get it
finished for him.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
9 You will hear two friends talking about local
transport.
PAUSE 8 SECONDS
Man: How should we get home from town tomorrow?
Woman: What about the train? At least we know what
time it’ll leave – not like the bus. I waited 45
minutes yesterday!
Man: The bus I get is usually on time – although it
costs as much as the train. What about a taxi? It
wouldn’t be too much between us.
Woman: Well, unless you book one in advance, you’ve
got no chance of getting one on the street.
There aren’t enough around!
Man: True. And we don’t know what time we’ll want
one, so we can’t book. So the train’s the best
option.
Woman: Yes, OK.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
10 You will hear a man talking about a special
museum exhibition.
PAUSE 8 SECONDS
Woman: I hear you went to the special exhibition at the
museum. What was it like?
Man: Not bad. I liked the way you first see the earliest
things – pots and bowls mostly – and work your
way around the room.
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Woman: Uh-huh.
Man: And you finish with the most modern things
near the end. It meant you could see really
clearly how styles have changed.
Woman: Sounds good.
Man: And there were notes on the walls about each
item. It’s a shame there weren’t more things on
display though. I finished in hardly any time, but
there’s plenty more to do in other parts of the
museum.
Woman: Yes.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
11 You will hear two friends talking about doing
exercise at a sports centre.
PAUSE 8 SECONDS
Man: Hi, Hanna, you look happy!
Woman: Well, I’ve just signed up for that new yoga class.
Man: Oh yes, you were talking about that before.
Woman: I find yoga such fantastic exercise. You use the
gym, don’t you?
Man: Yes – nearly every day!
Woman: Wow! Well, there are still a couple of places
left in my class if you want to try something
different. Actually, I haven’t used the gym yet. I’d
like to do an introduction class for it first.
Man: Good idea. I did that and it was really useful.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
12 You will hear a woman telling her friend about
a holiday.
PAUSE 8 SECONDS
Man: So how was your holiday?
Woman: Really relaxing, thanks. We spent a lot of the
time by the pool, to be honest.
Man: Nice.
Woman: Yes, it was great. Most of the other guests swam
in the sea, so that was good. And the people
working there were great – never too busy
to chat, and they made everyone feel really
welcome. We ate out in the town for dinner
– the choice in the hotel was the same every
evening. The receptionist told us about a little
place by the beach, where I had loads of dishes
I’d never tried before.
Man: Lovely.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
13 You will hear two friends talking about going to
a café.
PAUSE 8 SECONDS
Woman 1: I’m looking forward to this evening. Shall we
meet at the Central Café before the film? Or
the one in the square?
Woman 2: Oh the Central Café. The music in the other
one’s so loud. There’s usually a band playing,
and I won’t be able to hear you properly. We’ll
be able to get a table easily in the Central Café
too.
Woman 1: We will. I can’t believe more people don’t go
there really. It’s great!
Woman 2: I guess it’s because it’s new. It’s such good
value compared to other places. I’m sure more
people will come when they hear about it.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
That is the end of Part 2.
PAUSE 10 SECONDS
PART 3
Now turn to Part 3, questions 14 to 19. For each
question, write the correct answer in the gap.
Write one or two words or a number or a date or a
time. You have 20 seconds to look at Part 3.
PAUSE 20 SECONDS
You will hear a man called Alex giving some
information about a race to a small group of
runners.
Alex: Hello, and welcome to the running club! I’ve got
some information for you about next month’s race.
Now, to enter, you need to register online on our
website. I’ll give you the address. It’s WWW dot
hawkthorne – that’s H-A-W-K-T-H-O-R-N-E – dot
run dot org. It’s easy to find, and doesn’t take long.
When you register, you’ll need to pay straight away
to enter. The prices are £3.50 for under-18s, and
for everyone else it’s £7.30. If you’re running with a
group, there’s a special price of £6.50 each for 10
or more people.
Once you’ve registered online, print out your number,
which you’ll need on the day to attach to your back.
There’ll be people checking it when you finish to
work out your race time. We’ll be handing out water
along the route, so you don’t have to carry any.
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B1 PRELIMINARY Audio scripts
Please make sure you arrive in time to start at
11.30. If you’ve run our races before, you’ll know
we usually have lockers for your sports bags, but
that building’s currently closed for repairs. There’ll
be a hut where you can put your things – just don’t
leave anything valuable.
Now, you might have family watching. The race
goes through town but starts and finishes in the
park. People like to be there to support the runners,
but the view’s pretty limited. There’s space outside
the library for a few people, or I’d suggest the area
around the museum. You’ll be able to see all the
runners most easily there.
Finally, there’ll be photographers from the paper
taking pictures during the race. They’ll be published
the next day, and you can buy copies of any ones
you like. There’s a T-shirt for each competitor, and
we’ll be selling burgers and drinks on the day. You’ll
probably be ready for those after you’ve finished
the race.
So, any questions?
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
That is the end of Part 3.
PAUSE 10 SECONDS
PART 4
Now turn to Part 4, questions 20 to 25. For each
question, choose the correct answer. You have 45
seconds to look at the questions for Part 4.
PAUSE 45 SECONDS
You will hear a radio interview with a scientist
called Vanessa Hyde, who has worked in the Arctic.
PAUSE 8 SECONDS
Interviewer: I’m talking to scientist Vanessa Hyde, who’s
spent a year working in a research centre
in the Arctic. Vanessa, tell us why you were
there.
Vanessa: Well, scientists from all over the world do
projects there, from looking at growing
plants in cold conditions to seeing how
global warming’s affecting animals there.
So, there are people spending months in
difficult situations, and I was interested in
how they cope with stressful environments.
Interviewer: It sounds difficult. What was the most
challenging part of the experience for you?
Vanessa: The work was the same as I’d done
previously, although in harder conditions.
For example, we had over 100 days where
the sun didn’t rise at all. This impacts on
sleep, which certainly caused me the most
problems. I wondered how I’d understand all
the different languages, but actually we used
English when we were working.
Interviewer: How easy was it to get to know the other
people on the base?
Vanessa: Well, we tended to work with the same
people every day, and you wouldn’t
necessarily meet many others. So having set
mealtimes for everyone gave us a chance
to talk about something other than our
research for a couple of hours a day. It
became a social activity really.
Interviewer: What about when you’d finished work for
the day? What did you do in the evenings?
Vanessa: There was a games room, with a big selection
of books – most of which I’d already read!
I had my camera with me. It was too
dangerously cold to take pictures outside,
so I focused on people relaxing after work,
playing computer games, that sort of thing,
as a record of my time there.
Interviewer: What about your family? Could you keep in
contact with them?
Vanessa: Yeah. We had a satellite phone. But because
there was only one, we had to limit the
length of our calls. When it was my turn, it
was like my mom was standing in the next
room – her voice was so clear! And it was
fantastic hearing about home life. Rather
than talking about myself, I wanted to know
what my sister was up to, how the dog was
– you know, the important stuff.
Interviewer: Mm, I can imagine. And now, what are your
next plans?
Vanessa: I’d love to go back again – it’s just that at
the moment, the centre’s closed. But that
gives me time to prepare some lectures
I’ve been asked to give at my old university.
It’ll be strange being there again, but I’m
looking forward to helping other students
understand why my work’s important.
Interviewer: Vanessa – thank you.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
Now listen again.
REPEAT
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
That is the end of Part 4.
PAUSE 10 SECONDS
You now have six minutes to check and copy your
answers on to the answer sheet.
PAUSE 5 MINUTES
Sound effect
You have one more minute.
PAUSE 1 MINUTE
Sound effect
That is the end of the test.
Test 5