CAMBRIDGE IGCSE™ ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: PRACTICE EXAM-STYLE PAPER: LISTENING

Practice exam-style
paper: Listening
Maximum mark: 40

21
Task 1
You will hear six short recordings. For each question, choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D, and put a
tick (ü) in the appropriate box.
You will hear each recording twice.
1 What does the boy decide to do on Sunday afternoon?

A B C D

[1]
2 Which TV interview did the boy most enjoy watching?

A B C D

[1]

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3 What did the girl do in the garden today?

A B C D

[1]
4 What did the boy do to help prepare for the party?

A B C D

[1]
5 What was the weather like during the boy’s visit to the coast last weekend?

A B C D

[1]

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6 What cartoon character has the girl just created?

A B C D

[1]
7 Where did the man stay when he visited his friend?

A B C D

[1]
8 What career is the young woman interested in?

A B C D

[1]
[Total: 8]

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Task 2
You will hear five short recordings. For each question, choose the correct answer, A, B or C,
and put a tick (ü) in the appropriate box.
You will hear each recording twice.
You will hear a girl talking about doing dancing lessons.
9 Why did the girl decide to take ballroom dancing lessons?

A She was under pressure to try something new.

B She wanted to improve her fitness.

C She was inspired by a TV programme.

[1]
10 How does she feel after her first few lessons?

A confused by some of the teacher’s explanations

B surprised at the skills of other students

C annoyed she makes so many mistakes

[1]
You will hear two friends talking about a visit to a castle.
11 The boy was most impressed by

A what he could see from the tower.

B the good condition of the building.

C what facilities were on offer.

[1]
12 The girl says she was disappointed by

A how crowded it was.

B how expensive everything was.

C how inaccurate the information was.

[1]

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You will hear a man giving a review of a concert given by a famous singer.
13 What was he surprised by?

A the singer’s relationship with the audience

B the focus on completely new songs

C the special effects used on stage

[1]
14 What did the singer announce at the end of the show?

A She is going to do more concerts abroad

B She is going to work with another singer.

C She is going to stop performing.

[1]
You will hear a girl talking about her family moving to a new area.
15 Why did her family move to a new area?

A They wanted to be in a more pleasant environment.

B Her mother got promoted at work.

C She wanted the chance of a better education.

[1]
16 What does she feel about the new house?

A bored by the colours

B relieved she will have more space

C unsure about her parents’ plan

[1]

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You will hear a boy and a girl talking about a presentation they are giving on an animal called a
red panda.
17 What do they agree is most interesting about the red panda?

A its varied diet

B its preference for particular conditions

C its unique skills

[1]
18 What point about the animal does the girl think they should end their presentation with?

A the protection it is now getting

B the reasons for it being

C the difficulties in doing research on it

[1]
[Total: 10]

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Task 3
You will hear a student called Martina Prior giving a talk about coffee. For each question,
choose the correct answer, A, B or C, and put a tick (ü) in the appropriate box.
You will hear the talk twice.

Now look at questions 19–26.

19 Martina says that that according to legend, coffee was discovered in . . .

A Yemen.

B Turkey.

C Ethiopia.
[1]
20 The last country in Europe to try to forbid coffee drinking was . . .

A the Republic of Venice.

B Prussia.

C Sweden.
[1]

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21 Martina didn’t realise that the most popular type of coffee, Arabica, grows in . . .

A south-western Ethiopia.

B northern Kenya.

C south-eastern Sudan.
[1]
22 In the past, most coffee berries were harvested when they were . . .

A red.

B yellow.

C black.
[1]
23 Martina was fascinated to find that Robusta coffee . . .

A is used in Italian espresso coffee.

B has much more caffeine in it.

C is less likely to be affected by disease.

[1]
24 In the 1970s, many farmers changed to growing coffee . . .

A in the shade.

B near to forests.

C in direct sunlight.
[1]
25 Some experts believe that . . . can be made worse by drinking coffee.

A indigestion

B anxiety

C liver disease
[1]

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26 . . . kilos of coffee per person are drunk every year in Finland.

A 11.9

B 9.8

C 4.2
[1]
[Total: 8]

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Task 4
You will hear six people talking about special relationships in their lives.
For questions 27–32, choose from the list (A–H) which main idea each speaker expresses.
Write the correct letter (A–H) on the answer line. Use each letter only once. There are two
extra letters which you do not need to use.
You will hear the recording twice.
Now read statements A–H.

A This person didn’t seem to like me at first.

B This person knows how to have fun.

C This person inspires me with their positive attitude.

D This person has changed my life completely.

E This person has so much in common with me.

F This person is close to me even though we don’t see each other often.

G This person tells me things that I don’t always want to hear.

H This person always helps me when I’m in difficult situations.

27 Speaker 1 ………. [1]

28 Speaker 2 ………. [1]
29 Speaker 3 ………. [1]
30 Speaker 4 ………. [1]
31 Speaker 5 ………. [1]
32 Speaker 6 ………. [1]
[Total: 6]

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Task 5
You will hear an interview with a woman called Adriana Barton, who is a long-distance runner.
For each question, choose the correct answer, A, B or C, and put a tick (ü) in the appropriate box.
You will hear the interview twice.
Now look at questions 33–40.
33 Adriana says that when she was a child

A she didn’t get much encouragement from others.

B she showed little obvious talent for athletics.

C she lacked the determination to win.

[1]
34 When Adriana joined her local athletics club, she realised that

A running required a level of fitness she didn’t have.

B there were races where she had to be clever.

C success depended on setting herself targets.

[1]
35 When Adriana ran the marathon with her mother, she

A was happy to be part of such a famous event.

B discovered qualities she didn’t know she had.

C had doubts that her mother would complete the race.

[1]
36 When Adriana made her uncle her coach, she was worried that

A he would find it difficult to be critical.

B he would insist on her changing her diet.

C he wouldn’t have the time to do the job properly.

[1]

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37 After her first big race in a national competition, she

A felt unsure whether she should be satisfied.

B wasted some time regretting her decisions.

C found it difficult to recover physically.

[1]
38 How did she feel when she got injured?

A frustrated she would miss training

B confident it was nothing serious

C surprised it had happened to her

[1]
39 What affected her performance at her first international athletics event?

A the intense media interest in her

B the unexpected weather conditions

C the amount of noise in the stadium

[1]
40 What does Adriana say about her relationship with her biggest competitor?

A They sometimes give each other advice.

B They get on well when they don’t talk about their sport.

C They have very different personalities.

[1]
[Total: 8]

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