Listening paper

Part 1
You will hear three different extracts. For questions 1 – 6, choose the answer (A, B or C) which fits best
according to what you hear. There are two questions for each extract.

Extract One

You hear a woman telling her friend about a dance class she has been attending.

1 Why did she decide to join the class?

A She thought it would be a good way to get fit.
B She hoped it would help her to relax.
C She wanted to relive childhood memories.

2 What did she find surprising about the first class?

A how much concentration was needed
B how repetitive the movements were
C how satisfied it made her feel

Extract Two

You hear part of an interview with the manager of a football team.

3 What does he think has been his most important achievement this season?
A winning more matches than in the previous season
B introducing young players into the team
C improving the attitude of staff at the club

4 In his opinion, professional footballers these days

A are paid too much money.
B receive too much media exposure.
C need to improve the way they behave.

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 Extract Three

You hear part of a radio discussion in which two people are reviewing a new computer game.

5 What overall opinion does the woman have of the game?

A It encourages players to be imaginative.
B It will appeal to a wide range of people.
C It presents a new idea for a computer game.

6 What do they agree is a weakness of the game?

A Some tasks are not challenging enough.
B The soundtrack does not have enough variety.
C Some visual images are not very interesting.

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 Part 2
You will hear a diver called Coleen Mason talking about visiting a coral reef in a small submarine. For
questions 7 – 14, complete the sentences.

Coleen says that north-east Atlantic coral is similar in shape to a (7) .

Coleen mentions seeing a species of yellow (8)

as well as coral on her trip.

The submarine Coleen went in had a length of 2.5 metres and a width of (9) .

The submarine was put into the water by a (10) .

Coleen found it difficult to know exactly where the submarine would touch down because of the

(11) .

Coleen explains that water depth can be estimated naturally based

on the (12) .

Coleen was particularly impressed by the large numbers of shrimps and (13)

she spotted on the reef.

Coleen says the only sound in the ocean during her dive was that made by the

(14) .

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 Part 3
You will hear a radio interview in which a man called Frank Williams, the presenter of a television series
about archaeology, is talking about his work. For questions 15 – 20, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which
fits best according to what you hear.

15 Frank was chosen to present the television series about archaeology because of
A his experience of difficult environments.
B his knowledge of the subject.
C his ability to communicate.
D his research background.

16 What does Frank say about the way subjects for his programmes are selected?
A He thinks too much attention is paid to the way things look.
B He would like to contribute more to the decision-making.
C He feels that topics are sometimes chosen too quickly.
D He approves of the variety of people involved.

17 What has been the most difficult thing for Frank in making his programmes?
A Keeping fit enough to cope with the type of work he does.
B Learning about a different subject for each programme.
C Writing the book that goes with the television series.
D Travelling long distances on a regular basis.

18 The main difference between Frank’s projects and conventional archaeological research is that they
A have a limited time scale.
B have less scientific value.
C produce definitive answers.
D avoid dealing with difficult ideas.

19 Frank thinks the programmes he presents are so popular because

A they treat audiences as intelligent people.
B they remind people of some well-known films.
C they cater for a growing interest in ancient history.
D they have interesting storylines for viewers to follow.

20 As a result of the success of the series, Frank thinks that in future

A the subjects investigated will have to be more exciting.
B he will be able to present other types of television programmes.
C his archaeology programmes will attract extra financial backing.
D more people will feel encouraged to take up archaeology as a profession.

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 23
Part 4
You will hear five short extracts in which university students are talking about a period of work placement they did as part of their course.

Adv p001-03B Practice Test B.indd 23

TASK ONE TASK TWO

For questions 21 – 25, choose from the list A – H, what For questions 26 – 30, choose from the list A – H, what each
led each speaker to do their particular work placement. speaker gained most from the experience.

While you listen you must complete both tasks.

A the intervention of a tutor A increased confidence
Speaker 1 21 Speaker 1 26
B a family connection B a wider range of skills

C another student’s recommendation Speaker 2 22 C an insight into office procedures Speaker 2 27

CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH: ADVANCED | TEST B

D a chance meeting D useful contacts

Speaker 3 23 Speaker 3 28
E responding to an advertisement E a lucrative job offer

F an online search F ideas for a study assignment

Speaker 4 24 Speaker 4 29
G being approached by the company G seeing how to run training sessions

H using a recruitment agency Speaker 5 25 H observing how colleagues Speaker 5 30

interacted

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 Listening
Answer key
Part 1 Part 2
one mark for each correct answer one mark for each correct answer
1 B 7 cauliflower
2 A 8 sponge
3 C 9 one metre / meter
4 B 10 crane
5 A 11 tidal currents
6 C 12 light levels
13 lobsters
14 propellers (of the sub)

Part 3 Part 4
one mark for each correct answer one mark for each correct answer
15 C 21 D
16 D 22 A
17 A 23 C
18 C 24 E
19 D 25 G
20 B 26 C
27 D
28 A
29 F
30 H

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 Script for Advanced Listening
A1 This is the Cambridge Certificate in Advanced
English Listening test.
Test B
I’m going to give you the instructions for this test.
I’ll introduce each part of the test and give you time
to look at the questions.
At the start of each piece, you’ll hear this sound:
FX *****
A2 You’ll hear each piece twice.
Remember, while you’re listening, write your
answers on the question paper.
You’ll have 5 minutes at the end of the test to copy
your answers onto the separate answer sheet.
There’ll now be a pause. Please ask any questions
now, because you must not speak during the test.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
A3 Now open your question paper and look at Part 1.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
A4 You will hear three different extracts. For questions
1 – 6, choose the answer (A, B or C) which fits best
according to what you hear. There are two questions
for each extract.
A5 Extract one.
You hear a woman telling her friend about a dance
class she has been attending.
Now look at questions one and two.
PAUSE 15 SECONDS
FX *****
M: I’m curious. Do a lot of older people go to your tap
dance class?
F:  ell, there are some. It’s supposed to strengthen
W Now look at questions five and six.
your ankles, knees and hips and the older dancers
there certainly look lean and lively. So, it shouldn’t do
me any harm. But there’s a mix. Quite a few probably
have rather hectic lives and do it to unwind, like me.
Actually, I had some tap dance classes when I was
about 10. But I didn’t get on with the teacher and
that put me off it for ages. This is different though.
M: How many classes have you been to?
F: Six. And I’m just starting to get the hang of it.
You’ve got to focus all the time. I hadn’t realized
how mentally shattered I’d feel after an hour of it.
The teacher makes us do the same steps over and
over again – you have to do it for them to become
automatic. I considered giving it up after a couple of
sessions as I thought I’d never learn, but I stuck at it
and I’m glad I did.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
FX*****
REPEAT EXTRACT 1
PAUSE 3 SECONDS
A6 Extract two.
You hear part of an interview with the manager of a
football team.
Now look at questions three and four.
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Adv p001-03B Practice Test B.indd 25
PAUSE 15 SECONDS
FX*****
Int: How do you feel about the team’s progress this
season?
 ell, in terms of results and where we are in the
Manager: W
league, we’ve advanced a bit on last year, though
we haven’t reached the targets we set ourselves.
It’s been nice to see some youngsters making their
debuts, and though they’ve struggled a bit, the
experience will be good for them. I’d say the biggest
turnaround has been in the general mindset here –
the players, the directors, the junior administrators,
everyone. There’s a sense of togetherness which
was missing before.
Int:  n a different point: professional football has been
O
criticized a lot in the media recently – financial
problems, players getting into trouble, and so on.
What are your views on this?
 ell, football’s only a sport and I honestly think the
Manager: W
focus on it has gone over the top. It’s on TV, the
radio, the internet, the newspapers – you can’t get
away from it. This makes life really difficult for the
players. Like all young men, they’re bound to make
mistakes from time to time. They’re fortunate to
be earning a lot, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t
entitled to a bit of privacy.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
FX*****
REPEAT EXTRACT 2
PAUSE 3 SECONDS
A7 Extract three.
You hear part of a radio discussion in which two
people are reviewing a new computer game.
PAUSE 15 SECONDS
FX*****
M:  he next game we tried out is called Pencil
T
Adventures. The idea is you have a special
multicoloured pencil you can use to draw different
objects which you use to overcome obstacles and
solve puzzles through various levels of difficulty.
F: Yeah, though it says on the box that it’s for anyone
at any age, the likelihood is that it’s kids that will
really go for it. There’s nothing wrong with that
though, and like many other games in this genre
already on the market, it has a lovely focus on
self-expression and invention.
M: I also found I really had to concentrate once I’d
moved up a couple of levels – the puzzles tend to
require quite a bit of thought. I have to say though
that some of the graphics were a bit lame. Also, the
music got rather samey, once I’d been on it for a
while.
F: I thought the tunes were quite amusing actually,
though it’s not usually my kind of thing. I must
admit I wasn’t too inspired by some of the graphics,
especially as it’s a drawing game. I also wondered
whether some of the puzzles were a bit too obvious.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
FX*****
REPEAT EXTRACT 3
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 PAUSE 3 SECONDS
A8 That’s the end of Part 1.
A9 Now turn to Part 2.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
A10 You will hear a diver called Coleen Mason, talking
about visiting a coral reef in a small submarine. For
questions 7 – 14, complete the sentences.
You now have 45 seconds to look at Part 2.
PAUSE 45 SECONDS
FX*****
Colin: I was really excited as I was standing on the deck of
the ship waiting for the moment when I could begin
the descent to see one of the ocean’s best kept
secrets: a giant coral reef complex. These particular
corals in the north-east Atlantic create strange
cauliflower-shaped patterns.
At the end of the last Ice Age, around ten thousand
years ago, the continent was locked under ice and
as the icebergs broke free and scraped their way
across the Norwegian continental shelf, they left their
mark on the seabed, scattering rocks and ploughing
boulders to either side. You can still see this today
and the grooves have become home to these corals
and also a type of sponge. These are yellow, just like
the ones you can get for your bathroom.
We went down to the ocean bed in a tiny sort of
submarine, just 2.5 metres long and one metre wide,
and altogether we were squeezed into that space
for about six hours. As you can imagine, it’s hard to
move at all once you’re inside.
Our sub was launched over the side of the ship. We
checked all our equipment and then a crane finally
let us down into the water. Then we were towed
some distance from the ship and we made our
final communication checks before we made the
descent.
We began to descend at roughly one metre a
second and at that rate it should have taken about
a quarter of an hour to reach the bottom. But with
the tidal currents it was difficult to predict exactly
where you’d touch down. As we descended, it was
hard to appreciate the force of the currents, as we
went past swarms of jellyfish and millions of shrimps
which were darting around in all directions.
The other thing that changed dramatically was the
light level. We knew, even without looking at the
instruments, that we were reaching deeper waters
as the light level dropped. As we approached the
coral reef, we put on the sub’s lights. We had a
sort of plexi glass viewing dome and believe me,
the view was extraordinary. The water was, in fact,
crystal clear and on this particular reef I soon began
to see, amongst the luminous white coral, hundreds
of points of light shine back at me – the reflective
eyes of shrimps and lobsters. A wonderful sight.
Having seen them in their natural habitat, I could
never eat a lobster dinner again.
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We began to cross the reef and we disturbed rabbit
fish and all sorts of exotic creatures, and it was on
the top of the reef that we found the largest and
healthiest corals. Some of them were several metres
in diameter on this top part of the reef. Some corals
can reach a height of one metre. As we floated
through this scene from some sort of wonderland,
the only noise was that of the gentle hum of the
propellers of our sub. Finally, we had to turn back.
Our journey was over, much too soon.
PAUSE 10 SECONDS
A11 Now you’ll hear Part 2 again.
FX*****
REPEAT PART 2
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
A12 That’s the end of Part 2.
A13 Now turn to Part 3.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
A14 You will hear a radio interview in which a man called
Frank Williams, the presenter of a television series
about archaeology is talking about his work. For
questions 15 – 20, choose the answer (A, B, C or D)
which fits best according to what you hear.
You now have 70 seconds to look at Part 3.
PAUSE 70 SECONDS
FX*****
Int: Our guest today is Frank Williams, who hosts the
popular television series about archaeology called
Uncovering The Past. Frank, you travel around the
world exploring archaeological sites and mysteries.
How did you end up doing something so interesting?
Frank: Well, I’ve always been fascinated by ancient cultures
but I’m not a trained archaeologist. My degree’s in
geology and after university I worked for a geological
survey team. Then, I was recruited by a travel
company to lead tours to areas of special geological
interest, like volcanoes, deserts and the Antarctic,
and talk about the geology of places we visited.
On one of the tours, there was a guy who worked
for a TV company which was looking for someone
to front a programme they were planning. He must
have been impressed by the way I explained things
to him because the next thing I knew I was standing
in front of a camera.
Int: How do you decide which topic you’re going to
cover in each programme?
Frank: There’s a team of producers and expert researchers
who do that. They know what they’re doing. I have
my say, but I’m usually too wrapped up in filming
the current episode to worry about what might
be coming up down the line. For any topic to get
the green light, certain criteria must be satisfied. It
should be a genuine archaeological mystery. It also
needs an aesthetically pleasing location. We’ve been
criticized for being over-glossy, but audiences go
for the visually attractive. Another factor is whether
there will be opportunities to film me doing things
like diving or climbing. And everything has to fit in to
a tight schedule.
Int: Your job’s obviously exciting. Is there anything
difficult about it?
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 Frank: Definitely. I need to know what I’m talking about,
so I have to do a lot of background reading for
each episode. That said, I have expert researchers
to help. They’re also doing the groundwork for the
series book. Apart from that, the filming’s often
quite demanding physically – diving to the bottom
of the ocean to explore ancient ruins, for instance.
You need strength and stamina for that, so I have to
stay in shape. That’s probably the biggest challenge
actually, as it’s hard to squeeze it in, with everything
going on, including all the time I spend in planes and
cars going from one location to another.
Int: How closely do the archaeological projects we
see in your programmes resemble the work real
archaeologists do?
Frank: What we do is completely authentic. We usually
film projects on sites where long-term studies
are taking place. Our project may last as long as
any normal study, and our research teams use
standard methods of research, so our findings are
perfectly valid. We can’t show everything in a one-
hour programme – we present the main aspects
of an investigation. But though we leave out some
detail, we don’t shy away from crucial and complex
issues. Our job is to make them accessible. The one
thing we insist on, though, is that any project we
film should produce clear results. For example, in
a recent episode investigating an unusual shape
on the seabed, we wanted to discover whether it
was natural or man-made. The findings had to be
one or the other. Archaeological research often
generates much fuzzie results. That’s fine, but our
viewers would feel frustrated if questions were left
unresolved.
Int: Some people have suggested that the popularity of
your series is down to it being like the Indiana Jones
films. Do you agree?
Frank: Comparing me with a great movie star like Harrison
Ford is flattering, but though the Indiana Jones
character is an archaeologist, the similarity ends
there. We don’t have goodies and baddies. We
concentrate on archaeology. Having said that, each
programme has a plot – a mystery is presented,
followed by various stages of complicated
investigation, and then we eventually come up
with a solution. I suppose that structure is pretty
compelling, and probably distinguishes us from
other archaeology programmes, which have often
been well-made, but rather dry.
Int: Being part of a highly-rated series must be great but
I imagine there’s pressure on you to do even better
in the future.
Frank: Well, I’m hoping there won’t be any more pressure.
I think we’ve found a formula that works. We appeal
to people who are passionate about archaeology,
but we also attract other viewers, especially
younger people. Having said that, now we’ve gained
a strong audience, more doors are likely to open for
us – access to more archaeological sites and even
special deals for hotels, airfares and the like. We
have a limited budget and any savings can be used
to make the show even better. On a personal note,
I’ve been offered the chance to front a new series
about the environment, which looks great.
Int: I look forward to seeing that. Many thanks for talking
to us, Frank.
PAUSE 10 SECONDS
A15 Now you’ll hear Part 3 again.
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Adv p001-03B Practice Test B.indd 27
FX*****
REPEAT PART 3
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
A16 That’s the end of Part 3.
A17 Now turn to Part 4.
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
A18 Part 4 consists of two tasks. You will hear five short
extract in which university students are talking
about a period of work placement they did as part of
their course. Look at Task 1. For questions 21 – 25,
choose from the list (A – H), what led each speaker
to do their work particular placement. Now look at
Task 2. For questions 26 – 30, choose from the list
(A – H), what each speaker gained most from the
experience.
You now have 45 seconds to look at Part 4.
PAUSE 45 SECONDS
FX*****
SPEAKER ONE (M)
PAUSE 2 SECONDS
You had to set up your own work placement on my course.
The tutor made it quite clear it was meant to be part of the
challenge. It was alright for anyone with family connections,
but for most of us it meant knocking on doors. I hated that if
I hadn’t bumped into a guy who worked for the company at a
party, I’d still be looking now. Anyway, it wasn’t the world’s best
placement – the work was dull and I got hardly any training. But
I did see how things get done day-to-day, which you don’t get
on the course. Some classmates took the chance to line up a
job for later, I came away knowing what to avoid!
PAUSE 3 SECONDS
SPEAKER TWO (F)
PAUSE 2 SECONDS
I had a brilliant time on my work placement. The company had
actually approached the university to offer places, which cut
out a lot of the endless emails and internet searches that some
students had to resort to. I was lucky that my tutor put my name
forward, because I could’ve gone into my uncle’s company,
but fortunately another guy in the course picked that one up –
which was better all round. I don’t think I’d have got such good
experience with my uncle breathing down my neck all the time.
As it was, I got to meet lots of people who might come in handy
when I’m job hunting in the future, and that’s a real bonus.
PAUSE 3 SECONDS
SPEAKER THREE (M)
PAUSE 2 SECONDS
I was the last one in my class to fix up a placement. I’d answered
advertisements, done the rounds of the agencies – you name
it I’d tried it, but I couldn’t find the right thing. My tutor was
beginning to lose patience with me! But I was right to hold out
because it really was a positive experience and it was good to
go somewhere endorsed by someone who’d done a placement
there in the past. I feel I’ve really grown as a person as a result of
being there, because I was a bit lacking in self-esteem before.
I’d love to work for the company after I graduate, so I’m keeping
an eye on the recruitment page on their website.
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 PAUSE 3 SECONDS
SPEAKER FOUR (F)
PAUSE 2 SECONDS
The thing about my placement was that it really helped me see
which way my career was heading. I’d never have chosen to do
my dissertation on the subject of ongoing staff development
if I hadn’t seen how it was set up in the company I worked for
that summer. I didn’t get to attend any of the actual sessions,
but I could see from what my workmates said that they’d
really got a lot out of them, both in terms of new skills and
increased confidence in old ones. Thank goodness I’d clicked
on the company’s small ad on the college website. I was in two
minds about it at the time, but I couldn’t have asked for a better
placement.
PAUSE 3 SECONDS
SPEAKER FIVE (M)
PAUSE 2 SECONDS
The thing about my placement was that it was great for
people watching. I mean there were some very talented staff
in that office, but it was pretty cutthroat at times. I loved the
professional development sessions – not because I learnt
much, but because they were all so competitive! It was an eye-
opener for me. I’d ended up there because I’d got fed up with
emailing all the companies thrown up by internet searches and
getting nowhere. I decided that a much better idea would be
to put an advertisement on my social media page and wait for
them to come to me. And, you know, it worked like a dream – in
the end I was spoilt for choice!
PAUSE 10 SECONDS
A19 Now you’ll hear Part 4 again.
FX*****
REPEAT PART 4
PAUSE 5 SECONDS
A20 That’s the end of Part 4.
There’ll now be a pause of 5 minutes for you to copy
your answers onto the separate answer sheet. Be
sure to follow the numbering of all the questions. I’ll
remind you when there’s 1 minute left, so that you’re
sure to finish in time.
PAUSE 4 MINUTES
A21 You have 1 more minute left.
PAUSE 1 MINUTE
A22 That’s the end of the test. Please stop now. Your
supervisor will now collect all the question papers
and answer sheets.

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