Tapescripts
Test 1 get an audition, I feel proud and thrilled. At the
Ex. A
Batman first appeared in comic books in 1939
and some of the old comics are now worth a lot
of money. Hollywood has made a TV series and
many films about this well-known character.
Today, there are Batman comics, toys and
computer games to buy.
In the stories, Batman is really Bruce Wayne; a
rich businessman who lives in a large house in
Gotham City, America. He is polite, kind and
offers his help to those who need it. When Bruce
was eight years old, two important things
happened to him; the first experience, when he
fell into a cave full of bats, frightened him very
much. The second experience was worse than
the first; Bruce saw his parents die in front of
him. A villain, Joe Chill, was responsible for their
deaths and from that moment, Bruce decided to
fight crime and get over his fear of bats.
Unlike other super heroes, Batman uses natural
abilities such as his strength, brain and love of
science to defeat criminals. But most
importantly, Batman thinks like a detective and
this helps him understand his enemies’
weaknesses so he can defeat villains like The
Joker and Mr Freeze.
Batman is a good example to children because
he uses his brain more than his strength, and
this has helped make him one of the most
popular crime fighters of all time.
Ex. B
My name is Mark Turner and I want to be a
professional actor. I’d like to be well-known and
perform in films. I have to be very patient,
because acting jobs are not easy to find. I live in
the city of Manchester and even though there
are a few jobs here, there are many more
options in London. The problem is that I like
living in Manchester and this means I have to try
very hard to find work as an actor!
Every day I apply for auditions by post or by
telephone and I sometimes call into a theatre in
person to give them my portfolio and curriculum
vitae. Then, all I can do is wait for a reply. This is
really exciting, and I try not to get impatient. I
also try not to be too disappointed when I don't
get an audition I was hoping for. But when I do
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same time, though, I feel scared that I won’t do
what I have to do correctly; that I’ll make a terrible
mistake! However, I try to keep calm and tell myself
that I’ll do well, so I take care over my appearance
and I’m always on time. Sometimes the auditions go
well and I am called back for a casting call; that is
when I get really nervous. The casting calls are
more difficult and even terrifying but I actually learn
a lot from them.
I am very ambitious and I’m optimistic that I will get
an acting job soon. I try to take advice from the
actors I meet and attend as many performances as
I can. I admire the actors that spend many hours
rehearsing and performing.
Apart from looking for a role, I am a waiter in a local
restaurant, I don’t like the job much but it gives me
enough money to buy what I need. Right now I’m
saving my money to buy a computer so I can find
jobs online. When I have the time I go to an Internet
café nearby to look for jobs and to find out what my
favourite actors are doing. I hope that one day
people will be reading about my acting career
online!
Test 2
Ex. A
Woman: Hello. Is this Oxford train station?
Clerk: Yes, it is. How can I help you?
Woman: Could you tell me what time the earliest
train to Manchester leaves? I have to be at a
meeting at 8 am.
Clerk: Let’s see. The earliest train to Manchester
leaves at 6:30 am and arrives in Manchester at 8:00
exactly.
Woman: No. That’s too late. The meeting is in the
city centre. It will take me another half hour to get
there from the station. No, I’ll have to take a bus. Do
you know the number for the bus station?
Clerk: It will be closed at this time, but I have a
timetable here if you’re interested.
Woman: Is there anything that arrives in
Manchester at around 7:30?
Clerk: You’re in luck. A bus leaves Oxford at 5:30
and reaches Manchester at a quarter past seven.
As far as I know, the station in Manchester is in the
city centre, but you’ll have to check that.
Woman: Perfect. Could you tell me where the bus
station in Oxford is? I’m sorry – I’ve just moved into
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a new flat in the area and I don't know my way it halfway or take a shower instead. A short shower
around yet. uses from 95 to195 litres.
Clerk: It’s at the top of Main Street - across from Water is not running out. The problem is that every
the post office. You’ll see a line of taxis parked day there are more of us to share it. This is why it is
right outside. up to all of us to make sure that there is enough
Woman: Oh, yes. It’s quite near my flat - I’ll go water for everyone in the world.
there on foot.
Clerk: You won’t have a problem, then. Test 3
Woman: Thank you very much, you’ve been a
Ex. A
big help.
Alan: Hi, Robert. It’s me, Alan. I’m phoning to see if
Clerk: My pleasure.
you’re coming on Saturday. I’m really looking
forward to it.
Ex. B
Robert: Oh, you mean the trip to the cinema? No, I
Water is all around us – and inside us! It makes
can’t. I’m staying at my uncle’s on Friday and by the
up around 70% of our bodies and 71% of the
time I get back on Saturday, it’ll be too late to go.
Earth’s surface. However, 97.5% of it is salty
Alan: Why do you have to go to your uncle’s?
and undrinkable. This only leaves a small
Come on, everyone else is going. It’s going to be a
amount of useable water for everybody on
great laugh.
Earth. Humans need around 7 glasses of water
Robert: I know, Alan. But I have to go with my
a day to stay healthy, and could not survive
parents. My uncle is having a barbecue and all the
without any water for more than 4 days. In
family will be there. It’s a special occasion - my
comparison, some people could survive without
grandfather will be eighty.
food for 60 days. But water is not only used for
Alan: Oh, right. Wait a minute, though. If it’s not too
drinking. We clean our bodies with water to stop
far away, couldn’t you get someone to give you a lift
the spread of diseases and also use water for
to the cinema on Saturday? We’re not meeting up
cooking. What's more, 70% of the water used in
until two o’clock, after all.
the world is used for farming.
Robert: I’ll try. Some of my cousins have cars now,
Currently, around 2 of the 7 billion people in the
so maybe one of them won’t mind driving me there.
world are not getting enough water. The world
Alan: Why don’t you bring them along, too? Nobody
population will increase by another 3 billion by
will mind, in fact it’ll be even better with more
2050, so the problem could get worse. Some
people!
countries have introduced ways to save water.
For example, in most countries in the world the
Ex. B
water people use in their homes is not free.
No English high street would be complete without
Some countries in the Middle East, where there
the timeless charity shop – a shop selling second-
is very little rain, have built factories that take the
hand clothes and household items. Charity shops
salt out of ocean water so people can drink it
were first set up as a new way of raising money for
and use it for farming.
the big charities in England. Shoppers could drop
However, we can still do more. One way we can
off some unwanted clothes or buy some second-
save water is by changing our eating habits. You
hand bargains while helping people in need.
may think that what we eat doesn’t affect our
Nowadays, though, there are often new goods on
water supplies, but did you know that producing
sale as charity shops try to increase their profits.
1 kilo of beef requires 13,000 litres of water? Yet
The Imperial Cancer Research Shop in Westgate
growing 1 kilo of potatoes needs only 100 litres.
Street is one of these shops trying to do something
We can also make a difference in our own
different. A person speaking for the charity said that
homes. Take the bathroom for example. When
they had found it more difficult to make money
we brush our teeth, we use about 7.5 litres, so
when times were hard. When people don’t have
turn off the tap while brushing your teeth. A full
enough money, they don’t buy new clothes and
bath uses around 270 litres of water. So only fill
wear their old clothes for longer. When the clothes

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finally make it to the charity shop, they are often
in very bad condition and difficult to sell. So it’s
out with the old and in with the new. Charities
believe they attract other customers by selling
new goods rather than second-hand ones. New
goods get people into the shop and this means
more money. Some people even go into these
shops and offer to do volunteer work there. Not
all charity shops are selling new, though. At
PDSA, a charity that helps sick and injured
animals, the staff discovered that the public
didn’t want to buy new goods from them. They
were making more money from good old
second-hand items. After one year, they
removed most of the new items and went back
to selling second-hand. Barnados in Shaftesbury
Road made £26,000 last year, but only £2,500
of that figure came from the sale of new goods.
Whatever happens in the future, one thing is
certain and that is the fact that these high street
charity shops and other charities across the
world, always need that little extra help.
Test 4
Ex. A
Tony: Congratulations on passing your exams,
Anna!
Anna: Thanks, Tony. I’m sure your results will
be good, too.
Tony: We’ll see. For the moment, though, let’s
celebrate your success. How about going to a
restaurant this weekend?
Anna: Oh, yes. What about the Silver Service?
The prices are reasonable, they serve great
traditional English food and they also have a
fantastic chocolate pudding for dessert.
Tony: I know the food there is really good, but I
was thinking about somewhere different. Have
you been to the new Spanish restaurant that
opened last month?
Anna: My brother went last week and he said
they put garlic in the food and I love garlic!
Tony: I can’t stand it. I tried it once and that was
enough for me. Do they put it in every dish?
Anna: No. You tell the chef how you want your
food and he’ll do it the way you want. You don’t
have to eat garlic if you don’t want.
Tony: The other option is that seafood
restaurant by the river.
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Anna: Oh, no! The last time I went there, the
service was slow and the waiter brought the wrong
order to our table. I waited more than an hour for
my lobster! The food was worth the wait, but the
staff were terrible.
Tony: Really? I’ve always heard good things about
the place. I’ve never eaten there, though. OK then.
I’ll book a table at the Spanish restaurant for
Saturday evening, then.
Ex. B
The new Wembley Stadium in London is amazing. It
is the home of England’s national football team. All
England’s international football and rugby matches
are held there every year. There are also plans to
hold American football matches and to build an ice-
skating rink for the public there.
The old Wembley Stadium was closed in 2000 and
the new one was opened in 2007. It cost eight
hundred million pounds to build. It is one of
London’s most famous landmarks and a favourite
with tourists and visitors. The stadium can be
reached by underground train from central London
stations.
Incredibly, this new stadium is the second largest in
Europe and the tallest in the world, with every seat
under the roof. This stadium is unique because it’s
the only one in the world that has a red light on the
highest part of the roof to warn any aeroplanes
which may fly too low. The roof opens and closes
so that ninety thousand sports fans are protected
from bad weather.
But Wembley isn’t all about football. Inside, it is like
a small town with a range of excellent facilities.
There are five floors to explore and if you want
some help, there are ten information desks. Sports
fans will love the clothes shops and there are
almost seven hundred smaller shops which sell
food, so if you want something to eat, you’ll be
spoilt for choice. Fans have already attended
concerts and sporting events at the stadium and
there are many more planned for the future.
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Test 5 Ex. B
The Gorilla Organisation works in Africa to educate
Ex. A
local people and show them how to protect gorillas
Anna: This gallery is wonderful, I love it. The
in a very simple way - by not going into the forest.
room with the English photography was great
Gorillas are an endangered species, their natural
and I loved the Greek sculptures. Let’s go and
habitat is the forests of central Africa and each time
see the Van Gogh paintings before we have
humans go into the forests the gorillas are in
coffee.
danger. People cut down the trees that gorillas live
Julie: That’s a good idea, let’s go!
in for firewood and take food and water that the
Anna: Oh look, they have Van Gogh’s ‘Starry
gorillas need to survive. The organisation teaches
Night’ painting; it’s one of my favourites. I really
people to grow their own food, it has provided taps
like the colours he uses and the way the clouds
from wells that give them fresh, clean water and
in the night sky look like they are moving.
they are shown how to live without any risk to the
Julie: Yes, I know what you mean, the stars in
gorillas or their habitat.
the sky look real too, they are so bright against
All this education and help is expensive so the
the dark sky.
Gorilla Organisation holds charity events to raise
Anna: This painting makes me feel very relaxed
money. It’s most famous fund raising event is ‘The
and calm. What about you?
Gorilla Race’ and it has been held in London every
Julie: I agree; it makes me want to be there.
September for the last six years. During that time
See the little town below the hills? It looks so
thousands of people have dressed up in gorilla
peaceful, I can see a church in the middle of the
costumes and run or walked the seven kilometre
town and the light from the windows make the
course. Last year, 750 people took part; they raised
houses look warm and inviting.
nearly two hundred thousand pounds and broke the
Anna: It is strange that Van Gogh painted such
world record for the largest amount of people
a relaxing picture because he had so many
wearing gorilla suits. The director of the
problems in his life.
organisation said that the event had got bigger each
Julie: Really, I didn’t know that. I do know that
year. Bill Oddie, a TV star and conservationist,
this painting is one of the most well-known in the
started the race and gave out medals to the runners
world.
at the end. He said how great it was that people
Anna: But did you know that Van Gogh only
were prepared to help the gorillas and the people
sold one painting when he was alive? It’s a real
who live near them. The winner of last year’s race,
pity he wasn’t more successful in his lifetime.
James Burton, runs regularly and really enjoyed the
Julie: You are well-informed about Van Gogh.
experience despite it being “much harder with a hot
Come on, let’s go and see his other paintings.
and heavy costume”.

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