Cambridge 15 Listening Test 2 - Answers With Explanation

1. 'A ballet, company called ___' needs a proper noun naming a dance company. 'Eustatis' is a capitalised name that would be given directly by the speaker when describing that day's event.

2. 'The comedy Jemima has had a good ___' needs a noun for critical reception. 'Review' fits — describing positive press/critical response to the play.

3. 'A ___ show' needs an adjective/noun describing the performance type on the evening of the 20th. 'Dance' fits, distinct from the ballet and comedy already mentioned for other days.

4. 'Show is called ___' needs a proper noun — the title of the evening show. 'Chat' is a short, capitalised title, the kind of one-word show name that could be misheard if not listened for carefully.

5. 'Workshops — making ___ food' needs an adjective describing the type of food being cooked. 'Healthy' fits as a common workshop theme (nutrition-focused cooking).

6. 'Workshops (children only) — making ___' needs a plural noun for a craft item. 'Posters' fits as a typical children's activity distinct from the adult woodworking workshop.

7. 'Workshops (adults only) — making toys from ___ using various tools' needs a material noun. 'Wood' fits, explaining why tools are needed for this particular workshop.

8. 'Outdoor activities — swimming in the ___' needs a noun for a body of water. 'Lake' fits as the natural swimming venue for an outdoor festival activity.

9. 'Walking in the woods, led by an expert on ___' needs a plural noun for the guide's specialism. 'Insects' fits as a nature-walk topic, paired with the woodland setting.

10. 'See the festival organiser's ___ for more information' needs a noun for an online source of updates. 'Blog' fits as the modern way festival organisers share extra details.

11. The stem asks how the park was originally established. Option C ('a shared area set up by the local community') is correct, distinguishing it from A (a council amenity) and B (private land) — both plausible origin stories for an urban park, offered as distractors.

12. The stem asks why there's a statue of Diane Gosforth. Option A ('a resident who helped to lead a campaign') is correct; B and C offer alternative, official-sounding roles (council member, park employee) as distractors, testing whether you catch that she was a community campaigner, not a staff member.

13. The stem asks about the park's main WWI-era use. Option B ('growing vegetables') is correct — a well-known historical use of public parks during wartime (a 'dig for victory' theme) — versus the distractors of troop exercises or public meetings.

14. This is a number-distractor question among three close years: 2013, 2015, 2016. The correct start date for the park's physical transformation is 2016 (C) — expect nearby years to be mentioned as red herrings before the true date is confirmed.

15. Questions 15–20 are a map-labelling task: each park feature is matched to a letter (A–I) marking its position on the accompanying plan. The statue of Diane Gosforth is at E — for these questions, listen for spatial/directional language (entrance, opposite, at the far end, near the lake, etc.) as the guide walks the group around the park, and mark each feature as it's mentioned.

16. Map-labelling: the wooden sculptures are at C. Since letters are assigned as the guide describes the route through the park, cross-reference each feature's position relative to features already placed (e.g. the statue at E) to help pin down the remaining ones.

17. Map-labelling: the playground is at B.

18. Map-labelling: the maze is at A.

19. Map-labelling: the tennis courts are at G.

20. Map-labelling: the fitness area is at D, completing the set of six features (E, C, B, A, G, D) placed across questions 15–20.

21–22. Questions 21 and 22 together ask for TWO letters (A–E) naming who the display is intended for. The correct pair is B ('residents of the local area') and D ('potential new students'); A, C and E name other plausible campus groups (English students, staff, other-department students) that serve as distractors — both correct letters must come from the same short exchange.

23–24. Questions 23 and 24 ask for TWO reasons Cathy and Graham chose Dickens, from options A–E. The correct pair is B ('he used his publications to draw attention to social problems') and C ('his novels are well-known now'); A, D and E describe plausible but incorrect claims about speeches, being consulted on issues, and changing reputation.

25. This matching task links six Dickens novels to one of eight topics (A–H: poverty, education, Dickens's travels, entertainment, crime and the law, wealth, medicine, a woman's life), each topic used once. The Pickwick Papers is matched to G ('medicine') in this set — track each novel-topic pairing as the students discuss them in turn, since with eight options for six answers, two topics are never used.

26. Oliver Twist is matched to B ('education') — one of six novel/topic pairings drawn from the shared eight-item list used across questions 25–30.

27. Nicholas Nickleby is matched to D ('entertainment').

28. Martin Chuzzlewit is matched to C ('Dickens's travels').

29. Bleak House is matched to H ('a woman's life').

30. Little Dorrit is matched to F ('wealth'), completing the six novel/topic pairings; two of the eight listed topics are not used for any novel in this set, so don't force every option to appear.

31. 'Main priority for ensuring the water supply was ___' needs a capitalised noun naming a farming technique. 'Irrigation' fits as the key water-management method for the programme.

32. 'Most of the work organised by farmers' associations was done by ___' needs a noun for who did the work. 'Women' fits, a common point made in development-programme talks about labour contribution.

33. 'The programme provided ___ for the fences' needs a plural/uncountable noun for a fencing material. 'Wire(s)' fits as the material the programme itself supplied.

34. 'The programme also provided ___ for suitable crops' needs a plural/uncountable noun. 'Seed(s)' fits, paired with the wire in Q33 as another input the programme itself supplied (versus what farmers supplied in Q35).

35. 'The farmers provided ___ for the fences on their land' needs a plural noun contrasting with what the programme supplied. 'Posts' fits — the farmers' own contribution (wooden posts) to complete the fencing, alongside the programme's wire.

36. 'Marketing of produce was sometimes difficult due to lack of ___' needs an uncountable noun for a logistics problem. 'Transport' fits as a common barrier to selling farm produce.

37. 'Training was therefore provided in methods of food ___' needs a noun for a technique to stop food spoiling. 'Preservation' fits, following logically from the transport problem in Q36 — since produce couldn't always reach markets quickly, preserving it became necessary.

38. 'Farmers made special places where ___ could be kept' needs a plural noun for what's stored. 'Fish(es)' fits as a specific preservation/storage measure.

39. 'Local people later suggested keeping ___' needs a plural noun for livestock/insects kept for produce. 'Bees' fits as a natural extension of the agricultural diversification theme.

40. 'Enough time must be allowed for the ___ phase of the programme' needs a noun for a stage of project planning. 'Design' fits as a standard project-management term, closing the talk with an evaluation point.