Listening answers final

Answer key and tapescript for
Paper 4: Listening
3.
For all the questions in the Listening paper, you
get one mark for each correct answer. In the real
exam, we adjust your total score to give you a
mark out of 40.

Woman A:

The food here’s excellent. Typical of
the area, too.

Woman B:

Hope it’s better than the service.
We’ve been waiting ages. Is it noted
for cooking round here?

Woman A:

I like it. Anyway, what do you think of
the place, in general?

Woman B:

Oh it’s so old! If some of those houses
could talk, what a story they’d tell!

Woman A:

I know what you mean. But, do you
agree with me about it?

Woman B:

Yes, you were right. Street after street,
perfectly preserved.

Woman A:

I’m glad I brought you here before it
got ruined by crowds of tourists.

Woman B:

As it will. Oh is that our waiter?

Part 1
Answers
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

C
B

C
C
A
B
C
B

Tapescript
1. Man:

I’ve had quite a lot of experience in information
technology, most recently two years working for a
company that produced software for racing cars. And
I learnt a lot from that, both technically and about
how to work in a team. But then I started to find the
work repetitive, and felt it was time to move on,
which is when I saw that you were recruiting. And I’m
sure that with my experience, I could make a success
of it, if you gave me the chance, although I know the
work is a bit different.
2. Woman:

From an early age I pestered my parents for harp
lessons, but they just laughed. I’d given up piano and
violin in tears and hate after very few lessons so how
could I expect them to spend several thousand
pounds on my next craze? But the craze didn’t go
away. I listened to a lot of music and quietly wished
to be playing. Halfway through university I was still
feeling the same way. It was my roommate who gave

me the push I needed. We were at a harp concert
listening to a soloist. I was on the edge of my chair,
and she whispered in my ear, ‘Go and ask her if she’ll
give you lessons!’ As simple as that.

4. Man:

It was so exciting; the best game I’ve ever played and
I still think that I would have won. The weather was
just perfect, not too windy or hot. This new graphite
racket I’ve got is just superb; it’s light but really
strong and there’s less impact on your hand and arm. I
mean I just couldn’t believe it when I broke my wrist.
I think I must have slipped on some loose stones or
something. The next thing I knew I was down. I was
winning at that point too!
5. Woman:

It was great to work at this department store. I only
had a couple of days’ training, because I’d worked in
shops before so I didn’t need much of that. I was then
sent to the Gift department, where I had to prepare
gift boxes for lots of important companies. This was
Christmas time, their busiest time, so no two days
were alike, the pressure was enormous and I became
quite good at solving the variety of problems that
would come up, things that I was quite unprepared
for! Mind you, it also showed me how weak my
computer skills were, so I’m now determined to go on
a course and improve them.

6.
Man:

… and she’s been having these awful
headaches.

Part 2

Woman:

When did they start?

Answers

Man:

Well, she had the first bad one soon
after the holiday in the USA.

Woman:

Has she …

Man:

She loved it, by the way, though she
didn’t want to go at first.

Woman:

But what about the headaches?

Man:

Yes. The doctor thinks it’s something
to do with worry. Who knows?
Workload, maybe.

9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

1903/nineteen hundred and three
zoo
army/military/armed forces
poor children
chair
arms [and] legs (in either order)
cry (for you)
face
box

(a) hat [and] shoes (in either order)

Tapescript
Interviewer: This summer, a huge sale of teddy bears

Woman:

Perhaps it’s in the family?

Man:

Possibly. Her mother had several like it
when we moved house. That was
worry. She certainly doesn’t get them
from me – no. I never have headaches
…

and dolls was held at a famous London
sale room. Some of the rarer toys were
sold for hundreds or even thousands of
pounds. But they weren't destined for
children's presents – the lucky new
owners are adults. Linda Banks has
been a toy expert since the 1970s.
What are the most popular bears sold
at these auctions?

7. Woman:

Yes, yes, when I phoned they said she'd had the baby

and both mother and baby were doing fine. Oh, I can't
believe I'm a grandmother and, actually, I didn't
really listen to what the nurse was saying on the
phone and then I realised I didn't know whether it was
a boy or girl. When she told me it was a girl, I was over
the moon. I'd only had sons myself. Imagine. Just wait
till I tell everybody at work.

Linda:

Interviewer: And what are they like?
Linda:

8. Woman:

I do mind litter. We all pay to keep the environment
clean. It’s selfish and annoying when people drop
things. Even though the streets are cleaned every day,
it’s got worse. You can’t help noticing it – there’re
very few places you don’t see litter any more.
Mind you, it’s not just the young. I think older people
are just as much to blame for dropping litter. Young
people notice older ones and think, ‘Why should I
bother?’
If people don’t respect the environment by keeping it
clean, what kind of a world will we end up in?

Oh, the hand-made Steiff bears,
everyone wants one. Steiff is a German
manufacturer who made the very first

teddy bear in 1903.

Most Steiff bears are brown, the colour
of honey, so Steiff bears in other
colours are obviously rarer and
therefore more expensive. He did
make a few in red and black but they're
not often found nowadays. They're
also very life-like, because Richard
Steiff himself spent many hours
sketching bears in his local zoo in order
to get the details exactly right.

Interviewer: Is there anything else that might make

a teddy bear more valuable?
Linda:

Yes, if a bear has an interesting story
to go with it.


Interviewer: What do you mean?
Linda:

Well, for example, a bear called Teddy
Girl is one of the most expensive bears
ever sold. It made £110,000 – largely
due to its life-story. Its owner was in
the army and he liked to take the bear

everywhere with him. Its picture later
became the symbol of the club he set
up called Good Bears of the World,
which aims to give poor children a
teddy bear to play with. So, you see,
all that increased the bear's value
considerably.

it afterwards. Of course a doll also
needs to be in good condition.
Interviewer: Difficult if it's been played with a lot.
Linda:

Yes, and of course the most valuable
dolls are the ones which are still in the
box they originally came in.
Interviewer: Really?
Linda:

Interviewer: Now what about dolls? I mean, many

of the dolls sold at auctions are much
older than even the oldest teddy bear,
aren't they?
Linda:

Yes, in the recent sale, an 18th-century
wooden doll was sold and it had a chair
to go with it.

Yes, that applies to modern dolls too.
A particular type of doll, like a Barbie
or a Sindy doll from the 1960's, can
sell for over a thousand pounds. And
some people like to collect the
clothes that were designed particularly
for them. But it has to be complete,
you know – the right dress must go
with the right hat and the right shoes.

Interviewer: Well Linda, I shall go home and see

what I can find in my attic. Thanks very
much for talking to us.

Interviewer: Were all dolls made of wood, Linda?
Linda:

At first yes. You see at that time only
rich children had dolls but by the 19th
century more and more children went
to school, instead of going to work in
factories and mines. They had time to
play, and cheaper dolls were made. So
dolls from this time were made out of
wax or paper.

Interviewer: And were these dolls like modern dolls

you get today?

Linda:

No, they were quite different. You
could only move their arms and legs.
By the 20th century, people wanted
their dolls to be more like real people.
Nowadays you can do things like feed a
doll and it will even cry for you.

Interviewer: What is it that people look for at an

auction?
Linda:

Well, for the early examples, a doll's
face is really her fortune. If it's really
appealing, you can get a high price for
it. Some people will even buy one
separately, and find a body to go with

Part 3
Answers
19
20
21
22
23

B
D

A
F
C

Tapescript
SPEAKER 1

One of my colleagues had sailed round the Greek
Islands the year before, and really enjoyed it. Well,
I’d never sailed before, but I thought it sounded like a
great idea. Every little detail had been thought of –
even for a beginner like myself. I had a great time, but
I suspect the crew were a little disappointed with my
progress – I think maybe I’m not cut out to be a
sailor! Anyway, it was just as well it went so smoothly
as it wasn’t cheap.


SPEAKER 2

It was my birthday and my wife had booked for us to
go to Venice on a luxury train. I don’t know where she
found the money as it costs a fortune, but after all it’s
a once in a lifetime experience, isn’t it? We
eventually got to Venice, where we spent a couple of
days wandering around. It was delightful – the only
thing is, I wish that we had come back on the same
train, rather than going there on it. It was a bit of an
anti-climax coming home on an ordinary train after all
that luxury!

Part 4
Answers
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

C
A
B
C
A
B
B

SPEAKER 3

Every year I go on a biking holiday and this year I
persuaded some friends to come with me to Holland
for a couple of days. We planned to bike round the
countryside looking at the windmills and canals. The
scenery was brilliant, and of course, everywhere was
perfect for biking because it’s so flat there. We had
such a short time there that I imagined it would pass in
a flash. However, we never felt rushed and managed
to see everything we wanted to. We all decided we’d

go on holiday together again next year, to another
country, maybe skiing instead, for a change.

Tapescript

SPEAKER 4

Ally:

We decided to spend our holiday camping last year.
We had all the stuff – you know the tent, the cooker,
the sleeping bags – for some time, but hadn’t got
round to using it, apart, that is, from letting the
children play at camping in the garden. Anyway, we
were a bit short of cash but we felt we needed a break
so off we went to a site by the coast. It’s not my
ideal kind of holiday but the site was so good that
we’ve decided to camp there on a regular basis from
now on.
SPEAKER 5

When I was at university, one of my friends suggested
we go to Spain for Christmas. This sounded great but
we were really hard up at the time. Anyway, he
eventually convinced me to go from London by nonstop coach – it was really cheap. You only had an
ordinary seat to yourself and it was quite difficult to
get any sleep, but then I was young and I didn’t need
much. It was worth it though, as we had a wonderful
holiday and the weather was so much better than it
was in London.

Interviewer: To find a young, glamorous woman

who has made her own fortune is rare:
it's stranger still to find that she's made
this money by selling American coffee
to the traditionally tea-drinking British
public. My guest today is Ally
Stevenson who runs the Express Coffee
Company which now has over fifty
stores throughout Britain. Hello Ally.
Hello

Interviewer: Now Ally, you run this company with

your husband Scott, so tell me how did
it all start?
Ally:

Well, I've known Scott since I was
fifteen and after we'd both finished
college in the States, he came to
England because he'd got a job in a
bank. We weren't married then but I
decided to follow him over here. I had
a degree in Media Studies, so I got a job
in magazine publishing very quickly.
The coffee thing started when on my
first morning here I told Scott I'd walk
him to work and we'd stop for a latte,

that's a milky coffee, on the way.
Scott looked at me blankly, and I just
assumed he'd been working too hard
and hadn't discovered where you could
get great latte coffees in London. I
couldn't believe they weren't
available! (Sound surprised) (laughs)
Anyway, weeks, months eventually
years passed. I brought up the subject
everywhere we went and people's eyes
would light up. I even wrote to US
coffee operators to say what a huge


opportunity there was here. But they
took ages to reply to my letters and
we were getting impatient. Eventually,
we couldn't wait any longer and
decided to open a coffee bar
ourselves.

Ally:

Interviewer: Was it a problem getting the money to

start your own business?
Ally:

Not really. We were lucky that with
Scott's investment experience at the

bank we managed to find a lot of
people interested in helping us. I gave
up my job and we opened our first
store during the hottest summer in
England for 200 years.

Interviewer: Was that difficult?
Ally:

A little uncomfortable. You see
because the building was very old we
weren't allowed to put any air
conditioning in and there was this huge
coffee machine pumping out the heat.
But it still worked
cos we got so
many customers we knew that it
proved we were doing the right thing.
The next year Scott gave up his job and
we opened six more stores.

Well, the only thing Scott and I might
say to people who want to know how
to start a successful business is make
sure it's something you desperately
want for yourself. I think that's the
key. I'd never have the courage to do
something like this again just because I
thought it was a big financial business
opportunity. You need to want it so
badly. You must have a real purpose

for doing it.

Interviewer: It hasn't all been easy though has it?
Ally:

I'd be lying if I said it was
straightforward. Everywhere we turned
there were problems. We couldn't find
things like cups and lids to sell the
coffee with, because nobody sold
them in this country, so we decided to
import them. There were lots of
annoying things like that, but the best
thing about running your own business
is that you find out that the world of
business isn't as mysterious and grand
as you thought. Suddenly you feel that
you too have power. Parents and
friends often tell you that you can do
anything, but when you've done
something on such a grand scale, you
start to believe it and it's fun.

Interviewer: It was more than your love of coffee

that made you want to run your own
business though, wasn't it?
Ally:

Yeah, Scott and I have always wanted

to work together. You see, one day it
suddenly occurred to me that it was
really stupid that every day we woke
up early, worked late, came home, and
knew we'd given all our attention and
commitment to the people we worked
with instead of to each other. I mean,
we cared for those people. But not as
much as the person we'd chosen to
marry. We always thought that being
in business was something that other
people did and that you needed lots of
experience or particular skills to make
a success of it, but that’s just not true.

Interviewer: Have you any advice for other people

who'd like to go into business?

Interviewer: Ally, we wish you success and thanks

for being with us today...