Test 2 answer key with extra explanations

Listening
Part 1
Questions 1–8

1 The correct answer is B: The man says ‘My life is a bit like a holiday’. A is incorrect as he
says he’s ‘really busy all the time’. C is incorrect because, although he says his father told him to
find something he loves and ‘make money out of it’, he says nothing about the level of the salary
he receives.

2 The correct answer is C: The woman says that originally they thought rowing across the
Atlantic was ‘beyond our capabilities’. A is incorrect because she says their age ‘was never an
issue for us’. B is incorrect because she only says that the weather was bad during the trip – ‘we
rowed through a hurricane’ – but not that they were worried in advance about this.

3 The correct answer is C: The woman says that most of the jobs she wanted required a
certificate, so she took a course to get one: ‘I found the perfect course that I could do online
from home.’ A is incorrect because she’s going to start applying for new job now that she
has her certificate. B is incorrect because, although she found it hard to ‘keep on top of [her]
workload’ she didn’t try to do anything about it, but she did a course instead to enable her to
find a new job.

4 The correct answer is B: The man gets an ‘adrenaline rush’ (a feeling of intense excitement)
when he performs on stage. A is incorrect because, although he says ‘When people see me out
and about, they often come up to talk’, he doesn’t say whether he enjoys it or not. C is incorrect
because he doesn’t pretend to be a different person – he just thinks he doesn’t look or sound
the same on TV as in his normal life: ‘It’s odd to watch the edited version of yourself on TV’.

5 The correct answer is A: The man says ‘if I don’t get a phone call from a major studio in the
next six months, I’ll be very disappointed’. B is incorrect because he says this is his third book
in the series. C is incorrect because the writing process was ‘relatively painless. The words just
flew onto the page’ and the book was ‘all done in about six months’.

6 The correct answer is C: The woman says people describe the hotel as ‘smart without being
over the top’ and that ‘that’s a good summary of our whole business model … of everything I
believe in’. A is incorrect because they’re already doing the best they can – providing ‘terrific
showers’ and the best duvets she could find. B is incorrect because she doesn’t say anything
about the time before she started the business.

1
7 The correct answer is A: The man says ‘There’s a real shortage of family accommodation
in the city, and these apartments just don’t address (solve) that’. B is incorrect because the
scheme does contribute to the local area – the apartments ‘add a bit of class … and they do
provide loads of affordable accommodation for single people and couples’. C is incorrect
because he only says that the apartments ‘don’t take up as much space as all those office
blocks’.

8 The correct answer is B: The man says ‘business environments are a lot less formal these
days’ and the woman says ‘the way you look isn’t considered by bosses to be that important
any more’. A is incorrect because it is only the woman who says that ‘only a suit looks
presentable’ (is considered appropriate) in some professions. C is incorrect because, although
the man says ‘it’s only fair that companies should allow you to dress more comfortably’, neither
speaker expresses the opinion that employees work better if they feel more relaxed by wearing
informal clothes.

B2 First 4, Test 2 answer key with extra explanations, Listening 2

Part 2
Questions 9–18

9 The correct answer is ‘February’: Mark says ‘the first year it took place … it was February’.
October is wrong because that is when the festival is held now. April is wrong because the
February to April period was rejected in subsequent years due to possible bad weather,

10 The correct answer is ‘transport’: The businessman who started the festival ‘bought a
balloon for a transport company he owned, thinking it would look good in TV advertisements’.

11 The correct answer is ‘Dreams’: Mark says ‘the name of this year’s festival – Dreams’. ‘Up
and Away’ is incorrect because that was last year’s festival.

12 The correct answer is ‘shapes’: The question is asking about the most popular balloons
with visitors, and Mark says the event that ‘drew the biggest crowds … was … for balloons with
unconventional shapes’.

13 The correct answer is ‘music’: Mark says he ‘loved’ the music event and that it was
‘fabulous’. ‘Flags’ were waved at the event, but this is not what he says he particularly enjoyed.

14 The correct answer is ‘Box’: The quotation marks in the question indicate that a proper
noun (name) is required. Mark introduces this name by saying ‘something called the …’. The
effect of the Albuquerque Box means that ‘the pilot is able to land very near the take-off spot’
(the same place they took off).

15 The correct answer is ‘ropes’: Mark says ‘There are ropes that hold the balloon to the basket’.

16 The correct answer is ‘water’: Mark already knew that ‘bags of sand’ were emptied to
make the balloon lighter (and therefore maintain height) but ‘didn’t realise … they also carry
water which they empty out of the balloon for the same reason’.

17 The correct answer is ‘(rain) curtain’: Mark says ‘Large balloons have a curtain … to stop
the rain coming in.’

18 The correct answer is ‘sunrise’ or ‘dawn’: ‘It takes your breath away to watch the sunrise
as they (the balloons) lift off into the sky’.

B2 First 4, Test 2 answer key with extra explanations, Listening 3

Part 3
Questions 19–23

19 The correct answer is F: ‘I had great faith … the course would be what I’d signed up for’
means that she felt confident in her choice of course. C is incorrect because she was worried
about whether she’d get on with the other students. E is incorrect because the work has been
‘challenging’ but ‘that is what university study is all about’.

20 The correct answer is H: He says that on the first day, ‘what I really wanted to do was get
on with lectures, essays, and things’, rather than getting to know the other people on the course
(C and G).

21 The correct answer is E: She says ‘I didn’t feel confident in my academic ability’. Her
friends had to tell her to believe in herself and ‘stop thinking [she] wouldn’t be able to cope with
all the essays’. A is incorrect. She mentions her school friends but doesn’t say she missed them.
G is incorrect because although she says she was concerned whether enough other people on
the course ‘were also interested in working hard’, she doesn’t mention being disappointed by
the number of students.

22 The correct answer is A: She says ‘I kept wishing I was back with my classmates I grew
up with.’ B is incorrect because she only says they were given maps, and it wasn’t ‘hard finding
[her] way around the campus’. C is incorrect because she found it hard to ‘make new friends’.

23 The correct answer is G: He says ‘I’d expected there to be loads of students on my particular
course, but there weren’t.’ A is incorrect because his university friends eventually ‘became really
good friends … just as close as those [he’d] made at school.’ B is wrong because he was moving
from the countryside to a big city university, but that gave him ‘a real buzz’ (made him feel excited).

B2 First 4, Test 2 answer key with extra explanations, Listening 4

Part 4
Questions 24–30

24 The correct answer is B: Ed describes the area as ‘virtually unspoilt’. A is incorrect because
he thinks that in ‘years to come … this area too will become exposed to these things’ (i.e. the
impacts of global warming and increased levels of CO2). C is incorrect because there are more
varieties of organisms than on other reefs.

25 The correct answer is A: Ed says ‘I was … carrying on with my work documenting the living
things I saw on the reef … how they interact with each other’. B is incorrect because he doesn’t
mention his colleagues. C is incorrect because he says ‘This morning’s dive was fairly standard’
meaning it was similar to his other dives.

26 The correct answer is C: Ed describes cameras as ‘tools … for getting our message across
to the public’. A is incorrect because he only refers to the public’s reaction to ‘astonishing
pictures’. B is incorrect because he says he is learning how to use underwater cameras more
effectively, but he doesn’t say his camera equipment could be improved.

27 The correct answer is A: Ed describes the sea as ‘choppy’ (stormy) and says ‘the strong
currents had me drifting – very scary (frightening)’. B is incorrect because he was glad he had a
safety instrument. C is incorrect because we don’t know if he was close to sharks, and he says
these ‘don’t represent much of a threat’ (are not a big threat).

28 The correct answer is B: Ed says he was happy to follow the ‘classic route’. A is incorrect
because he does not express any regret about risk-taking in his career. He says some (other)
people have to accept there’s ‘a good chance’ (a risk) they might not find the job they want. C is
incorrect because his comment about childhood is that it’s good to start diving at a young age.

29 The correct answer is C: They avoid feeling homesick because time passes quickly and
they are ‘all caught up in the day-to-day stuff’ and ‘there’s always something on the boat that
needs our attention’. A is incorrect because they don’t have time to ‘stay in touch with people
back home’. B is incorrect because although there is always something that needs doing, there
is no mention of planning activities.

30 The correct answer is B: Ed is happiest when he records ‘new types for the first time’,
which he says is ‘always a highlight (something special) in this profession’. A is incorrect
because he has not been down to the deepest areas of the sea – they have dropped cameras
down there. C is incorrect because, although the team have got publicity from journalists’
reports, Ed does not say this has made him happy.

B2 First 4, Test 2 answer key with extra explanations, Listening 5