Rubric: Cambridge Assessment English, Preliminary for Schools Listening,

Sample Test 03.

There are four parts to the test. You will hear each part twice.

We will now stop for a moment.

Please ask any questions now, because you must not speak during the test.

Rubric: Now open your question papers and look at part one.

PAUSE 00'05"

For each question, choose the correct answer.

Rubric: Look at question one.

Rubric: 1 – What has the boy just bought?

F: Hey did you go to that sports sale I told you about?

M: Yeah, I went this morning. Do you know, they only had one bike left like the one
you got, so you were lucky. The boards they had weren’t really what I was looking
for, and I was going to buy some basketball stuff instead, but then I found a board
just like the one we saw in that place last week. Lucky I was with dad in the car
rather than on the bike.

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: 2 – Which band does the girl want to see?

M: Is your mum letting you go to the Cat Girls concert?

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F: Yes… but I’m not sure I want to, now. I’m getting bored with them – there are only
two singers, and they don’t play any instruments. But have you heard about the
Ringlets’ concert? All three girls in that band play the guitar, like me…

M: Yes, they’re good… but there’s also the Rulers concert on soon, too. Three men all
playing guitars, and they’re great singers.

F: Really? ... Oh, I’d rather go to the Ringlets concert. You could come too, if you
want.

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: 3 – Which friend was the girl surprised to see at the party?

M: The party was great, wasn’t it?

F: It was. I couldn’t believe Jessica was there – I’ve never seen her at a party before.

M: I don’t know her. Was she the one with shoulder length dark hair and glasses?

F: You’re right about the glasses and the long hair – hers is blonde though.

M: Oh right. It’s not the person I was thinking of then. Was she wearing a striped T-
shirt?

F: I did see someone wearing one like that, but Jessica had a white one on.

M: Oh, yes – I know who you mean now!

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00'05"

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Rubric: 4 – What must the boy do to improve his fitness?

F: Have you started training for the athletics competition?

M: Yes, and the coach says I’ve got to improve my diet to make me fitter.

F: Poor thing! But you eat healthy food. You always have salad or vegetables at
lunch time.

M: Vegetables aren’t a problem. I’ve got to stop drinking sugary drinks, I’m only
allowed plain water – two litres a day.

F: That’s hard. What about milk?

M: Milk’s OK, I always have it on my cereal at breakfast anyway.

F: It’ll be worth doing what your coach says if you win.

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: 5 – Where will the boy meet his friend?

M: Hi Sam, it’s Marco. I’ve just got to the swimming pool and I’m a bit early – we
arranged to meet here, didn’t we? Anyway, I’m going to walk down to the café that
we always go to and have a drink, so when you’ve finished can you come find me
there? I guess you’re still studying in the library! We can have a lemonade, and
then walk back to the swimming pool together.

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00'05"

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Rubric: 6 – Which prize did the girl win?

F: Hey Dad, I’ve got some good news. I won a prize in the photography competition. I
came third, but I didn’t mind that because the first prize was a camera, and I’ve
already got a very good one. What I won was a book about movie photography, the
techniques of filming. What I really wanted was the money, which was the second
prize, so I could get some of the equipment I need. Never mind, I’m really pleased
that I won anything at all.

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: 7 – What form of transport will the group take first?

[announcement]

M: I’ve had a great time being your team leader on this trip, and I’m sad we’re going
home tomorrow. Unfortunately our flight has been cancelled. Don’t worry, though,
there’s a boat service from the island to the town just ten kilometres across the
water. So we’ll wait outside the hotel tomorrow morning, and a bus will take us to
the harbour. On the other side there’s a short walk to the station, where we can
catch a train the rest of the way.

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: That is the end of part 1.

PAUSE 00ʹ10ʺ

Rubric: Now look at part 2. For each question, choose the correct answer.

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Rubric: 8 – You will hear two friends talking about a new sports centre in their town.

PAUSE 00ʹ08ʺ

M: I’ve just been to the new sports centre. Have you been yet?

F: Yeah, it’s cool. In the old one, there was never anyone around if you needed help –
apart from in the swimming pool.

M: Well, that’s probably because there weren’t many other sports going on – unlike
the new place. I’d really like to try the gym there, and some of the other things.

F: I wasn’t sure about the facilities – there wasn’t as much space to get changed as I
expected. Still, there’s badminton courts, and basketball, and the indoor
skateboarding looks brilliant.

M: Especially for rainy days! We should go together soon.

F: Great!

PAUSE 00ʹ05ʺ

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00ʹ05ʺ

Rubric: 9 – You will hear two friends talking about the weekend.

PAUSE 00ʹ08ʺ

M: Hi. I’m having a barbecue on Saturday for everyone in our class. Everyone’s
coming about one o’clock.

F: Oh, that’d be brilliant! But Mum’s just told me that my uncle, aunt and cousins are
coming to lunch with us on Saturday.

M: Oh, well, never mind if you can’t make it.

F: Your barbecues are fun. But I’ve already promised Mum. What a shame it’s on the
same day.

M: Well, come round later and bring your cousins with you, if you like.

F: They’re too young. I love playing with them, but we often get together – so seeing
them’s nothing special.

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M: That’s too bad.

PAUSE 00ʹ05ʺ

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00ʹ05ʺ

Rubric: 10 – You will hear a girl talking to her friend about an arrangement.

PAUSE 00ʹ08ʺ

M: Are you alright?

F: Yeah, fine.

M: I was wondering why you weren’t at the football? You missed a really good match.
Were you caught in that heavy rain?

F: I heard some of the buses had to be cancelled because of flooding but, no, I didn’t
get that far. My brother said he was going to come with me cos he wanted to see
the match so I waited for him.

M: Was he going to give you a lift?

F: Actually, we were going to walk together. But then he couldn’t find his wallet and
we spent the evening trying to find it.

PAUSE 00ʹ05ʺ

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00ʹ05ʺ

Rubric: 11 – You will hear two friends talking about a television quiz show.

PAUSE 00ʹ08ʺ

F: Have you seen the new series of that quiz show?

M: Yeah, a couple of times.

F: I wonder who writes the questions? I used to get a few of the answers – I can’t

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 anymore.

M: To be honest, I’ve never been able to answer any of them. But the new presenter
makes it different. She has far better jokes than the old one ever did.

F: They’re both amusing in their own way, though. But I’ll tell you something - you
hear the audience shouting and cheering really loudly all the time now.

M: I’ve noticed that too.

F: I don’t remember that in the past.

PAUSE 00ʹ05ʺ

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00ʹ05ʺ

Rubric: 12 – You will hear a boy telling his friend about a hockey match.

PAUSE 00ʹ08ʺ

F: How was the big match? You look like you’re having trouble walking – are you
injured?

M: That wasn’t at the match – I twisted my ankle coming downstairs this morning! But
I’m surprised there were no injuries cos the other team are much stronger than us
and they play hard. And the weather was so bad we had to begin late.

F: It was a terrible storm!

M: Yeah – but eventually we got going. In the end, neither team scored, but when you
think of how bad we were last season, I think we did really well.

PAUSE 00ʹ05ʺ

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00ʹ05ʺ

Rubric: 13 – You will hear two friends talking about acting in a play.

PAUSE 00ʹ08ʺ

F: I was trying to learn my words for the play at drama club. My character says loads,

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 but it’s not staying in my head.

M: I’ll practise with you later, when I’ve chosen what to wear.

F: At least we can choose our own clothes. That’s better than wearing those heavy
wool costumes like we did in the last play.

M: I was so hot in mine. It’ll be nice to wear something cooler!

F: I know. I can’t wait to see how the audience reacts to the ending – it’ll be such a
shock after the rest of the story.

M: Do you think so?

PAUSE 00ʹ05ʺ

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00ʹ05ʺ

Rubric: That is the end of part 2

PAUSE 00ʹ10ʺ

Rubric: Now look at part 3.

For each question, write the correct answer in the gap. Write one or two
words or a number or a date or a time.

Look at questions 14 to 19 now. You have 20 seconds.

141516171819
PAUSE 00ʹ20ʺ

Rubric: You will hear some information about a new computer game.

F: If you love computer games and animals, there’s a new game on sale that’s worth
buying - it’s called Wildlife Explorer.

At some point you’ve probably been to see animals in a zoo, or maybe you’ve
visited a safari park, but Wildlife Explorer sends you on a journey to Africa, and lets
you explore the beauty of the natural world there. The first game in this series took

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 us to the Rainforest in South America, and if this latest game is as good, it will sell
out fast.

There are thirty types of wild animal to see, with eight locations to visit, and each
time you go back there you will see something different. You can visit one location
and get up close to a family of twenty elephants, and return the next day and see
dozens of lions.

The game sets you different challenges or projects in the various locations,
beginning with a visit to a beautiful valley, which is far from the nearest proper road
and therefore not known about by locals or visitors. Another location is a rushing
river, where you watch wild birds.

As well as allowing you to study animals and collect information on them, the game
has something called a ‘gamekeeper tool’. This means that when you’ve seen and
learnt enough, you can store photographs of wildlife in your own folder.

One thing to mention is the choice of vehicle for your journey. If you want to cover
a large area, then you get to ride in a plane. To get really close to the animals, you
can drive a truck. But unfortunately that’s all you can choose – it’s a shame you
can’t go in a boat, for example.

And then finally, after learning lots of facts about the wildlife you’ve seen on your
journey, you’ll be able to impress your friends by producing a magazine for them –
if you’ve never done this before, the game has easy steps to help you achieve this.

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: That is the end of part 3.

PAUSE 00ʹ10ʺ

Rubric: Now look at part 4. For each question, choose the correct answer.

Look at questions 20 to 25 now. You have 45 seconds.

202122232425
PAUSE 00ʹ45ʺ

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Rubric: You will hear an interview with Billy Lucas, who runs a restaurant
called Burger Days with his brother Jimmy.

F: I’m talking to Billy Lucas, who runs a restaurant called Burger Days with his
brother whose name’s Jimmy. Billy, why is Burger Days so popular with
teenagers?

M: Our burgers are fantastic! Everyone loves our fries too! You know, from the
day we opened, under-twenties loved to hang out at our place. It was the
cool atmosphere we created – the sounds – hip-hop, rap, stuff like that. I
guess that’s it. It’s hard getting them to leave when we need tables.

F: So, how did you and Jimmy start Burger Days?

M: We always loved cooking. Neither of us had much idea what job we hoped
to do. Friends wanted to be engineers, bankers, accountants, but we’re both
terrible at being told what to do. We have to be in charge, and luckily our
grandparents agreed to help us with money to set up Burger Days.

F: Why do people love eating at Burger Days?

M: At some fast-food restaurants, the food’s all from the freezer, but at our
place, everything that goes into a burger is put in by our own cooks. We buy
it all locally so nothing has to travel far. People know quality. There’s talk
about burgers and stuff being bad for you, but so long as it’s just
occasionally, they’re as good for you as any food.

F: It got into the news recently that the dancer Olivia Kay came to Burger
Days!

M: Yeah! I was behind the counter, and other customers were so shocked to
see her standing there ordering food. I couldn’t believe how nice she was –
smiling and cheerful. She took no notice of everyone looking at her. I
thought about taking a photo. But if I was famous, that’d get me a bit angry–
so I didn’t bother.

F: Do you and Jimmy ever argue about things?

M: Sure! We’re brothers! But not much, luckily. Though we do disagree about
the appearance of things from time to time – like whether tomatoes should
be on top of the burger or under it, things like that. We pretty much share
views about different ways to prepare food, or what it should cost.

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F: Burger Days is in a scene in a movie. And will we see you in it?

M: You will! It must be a tough job being an actor – they were there all day. I
was just meant to be in the background – you know looking all serious just
doing my job, but whatever happened I just couldn’t stop myself laughing.
They started to get fed up with me in the end.

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: Now listen again.

REPEAT

PAUSE 00'05"

Rubric: That is the end of part 4.

PAUSE 00ʹ10ʺ

Rubric: You now have six minutes to write your answers on the answer sheet.

PAUSE 05ʹ00ʺ

[ Ping ]

Rubric: You have one more minute.

PAUSE 01ʹ00ʺ

[ Ping ]

Rubric: That is the end of the test.

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