CAMBRIDGE IGCSE™ ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: UNIT 3 TEST: AUDIOSCRIPT

Unit 3 test: Audioscript

03
Listening exercise
You will hear two friends talking about their experience of making a pie.
M: So, what did you make yesterday?
F: I’d hoped to do this dish that my favourite chef cooked on his last show, though I realised it was
too ambitious. I opted for something simpler: a vegetable pie that was like one I’d had in this
wonderful restaurant during my summer break. My grandmother offered to lend me a hand,
but I was keen to do everything on my own!
M: And what was your pie like?
F: Although I tried hard to get hold of everything that would make it a perfect pie, including seasonal
vegetables, I forgot about the importance of throwing in some herbs to give the whole thing
flavour. I was also worried that I’d cooked it for more than the recommended time. In fact, it
was just about fine.
You will hear part of a lecture on healthy food.
I think most people are familiar with the five basic food groups and know that a balanced diet involves
having food from each of these groups each day, if at all possible. People understand the fact that
dairy foods should ideally be low-fat and that when it comes to protein like meat and fish, chicken
is preferable to lamb. But people tend to ignore the importance of trying to include whole grains,
such as brown rice, and treat it as if it’s just a detail. It’s true that the advice we get today contrasts
quite sharply with what we were told decades ago. But nobody should be unsure about what is
recommended nowadays, because it’s generally clear and there’s a much greater public awareness
of what’s unhealthy.
You will hear two students discussing a class presentation they are doing about the history of pasta.
F: I’ve got so many facts about pasta, like there are 300 types, which I’d heard before. I was unsure
about when pasta was first created. I thought it was introduced to Italy from China in the 13th
century, but apparently the ancient Romans made pasta, which I had no idea about. The stuff
about how people don’t know how to prepare pasta was funny: you should never boil it for
too long!
M: Yeah, all of that’s good material to include. I’ll cut the stuff about how they make pasta in
factories, and I’ll limit myself to Italian pasta rather than discuss what they eat elsewhere.
For me, the time when tomato sauce became part of a pasta dish is worth mentioning. I want
to tell people how initially this fruit was thought to be poisonous!

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CAMBRIDGE IGCSE™ ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: UNIT 3 TEST: AUDIOSCRIPT

You will hear a girl talking to a friend about a new restaurant.

M: So, what did you think of that new restaurant in Green Street?
F: Well, my first impression was that it was like a lot of other chain restaurants. It’s bright and
colourful but also noisy and chaotic. The waiters are charming, though rather relaxed, and I had to
wait for my main course longer than I’d have liked. I appreciated the long menu, although it took
me ages to pick what I wanted!
M: Do you think it’s going to be a big success?
F: Because it’s offering something different and unusual that most places can’t match, you’d expect
it to do well. It’s certainly had good publicity in the local press. My worry is that it’s nowhere near
the city centre and I just think people might feel it’s inconvenient to get there.
You will hear an interview with a young man who has just qualified as a chef.
F: So, did you enjoy your training course?
M: Well, it made me think again about just about everything I knew about food, but that was
necessary! It was stressful cooking in a top restaurant because I had to prepare food so fast,
especially at the weekends! Fortunately, my tutor gave lots of support, though sometimes I
wanted her to be more critical. I just want to be the best!
F: What are you planning to do next?
M: I’m hoping to travel around Japan and Malaysia to do research on how they cook there. On top
of that, I’ve got so many other projects at the moment. For example, people can see me cooking
amazing recipes online and I’ll keep doing that. One day I’ll open my own restaurant too, but
there’s no hurry with that.

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