Cambridge 16 Listening Test 1 - Answers With Explanation

1. The note reads "Create a cover for an ___ so they can drop it from a height without breaking it." Something dropped from a height that needs protecting from breaking is an egg — the article "an" also signals the word starts with a vowel sound. Instruction is ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER.

2. "Take part in a competition to build the tallest ___." The missing noun names what's built in a height competition: a tower.

3. "Make a ___ powered by a balloon." A vehicle powered by a balloon is a (balloon) car — a concrete noun naming the thing built.

4. "Build model cars, trucks and ___." The list of vehicles/models continues with a plural noun to match "cars" and "trucks": animals.

5. "Take part in a competition to build the longest ___ using card and wood." A structure built from card and wood that can be measured for length is a bridge.

6. "Create a short ___ with special software." Software used to make something short points to a movie / film — either single-word form is accepted.

7. "Build, ___ and program a humanoid robot." The blank is a verb sitting between "Build" and "program" in a list — decorating the robot fits logically between assembling it and coding it.

8. "Cost for a five-week block: £50. Held on ___ from 10 am to 11 am." A day of the week is needed, and the plural form ("Wednesdays") signals the class recurs weekly on that day.

9. "Location: Building 10A, ___ Industrial Estate, Grasford." The blank is a proper noun naming the estate — place names like this are a common spelling trap, so expect it said clearly or spelled out.

10. "Plenty of ___ is available." A practical amenity described as plentiful near the venue — parking is a standard closing detail in a Section 1 phone call.

11. The stem asks for the exact founding year, with three close options (1923, 1924, 1926). This is a classic "similar numbers" trap in mcq — expect at least one wrong year to be mentioned before the guide corrects to the true one, 1926 (C).

12. The stem asks which industry the company originally made goods for. Of the three options (healthcare, automotive, machine tools), the answer is A, healthcare — expect a plausible but wrong industry to be named first.

13. This asks what's said about the premises. B ("no plans to move") is correct; the other two options both involve an actual move, so listen for a negation rather than confirmation of relocation.

14. The stem lists what the work-experience programme "includes." C (talks by staff) is correct, as opposed to independent research or meetings with a teacher.

15. On the site plan, "coffee room" is labelled H. Map-labelling questions rely on spoken directions (next to, opposite, between) given in sequence around the site, so work through the letters in the order they're introduced.

16. "Warehouse" is labelled C, likely one of the buildings named early in the tour near the entrance.

17. "Staff canteen" is labelled G, distinct from the coffee room (H) — the two are easy to confuse if directions aren't tracked carefully.

18. "Meeting room" is labelled B.

19. "Human resources" is labelled I, plausibly placed away from the production/warehouse areas of the site.

20. "Boardroom" is labelled A, likely one of the locations named near the start or end of the guided tour.

21–22. The question asks which TWO parts of the introductory stage both students agree were useful, from five options (Bird Park visit, workshop sessions, Natural History Museum visit, previous years' projects, handouts with research sources). The agreed pair is C (Natural History Museum visit) and E (handouts with research sources) — in this discussion format, expect one speaker to raise an option and the other to explicitly agree only for the two that count, while the rest are mentioned but only helped one of them or are dismissed.

23–24. The two ways both students decide to change their proposals are B (being less specific about the outcome) and E (making their notes more evaluative). Listen for decision language ("let's..."/"I think we should...") since this is about a planned future change, not what they already did.

25. Falcon (Landseer) is matched to "a potential threat" (D). With eight possible meanings offered for six pictures, two are distractors, so working through all six items by elimination is needed since each meaning is used only once.

26. Fish hawk (Audubon) is matched to "fast movement" (C), fitting a bird of prey associated with swift flight.

27. Kingfisher (van Gogh) is matched to "a childhood memory" (A).

28. Portrait of William Wells is matched to "a confused attitude to nature" (H), the more abstract/interpretive meaning among the options.

29. Vairumati (Gauguin) is matched to "the continuity of life" (F).

30. Portrait of Giovanni de Medici is matched to "protection of nature" (G).

31. "Stoicism is still relevant today because of its ___ appeal." The lecture's opening point is that Stoicism appeals for everyday, practical reasons rather than abstract ones. Instruction is ONE WORD ONLY.

32. "The Stoics' ideas are surprisingly well known, despite not being intended for ___." The ideas survived even though the original writings weren't meant to be published — publication.

33. "External events cannot be controlled but the ___ people make in response can be controlled." This restates the core Stoic idea (attributed to Epictetus) that we control our responses, or choices, not events themselves.

34. "A different view on experiences which others would consider as ___." The word needed is how most people would label such experiences: negative.

35. "George Washington organised a ___ about Cato to motivate his men." The item performed to inspire troops was a play, referencing the Roman Stoic figure Cato.

36. "Adam Smith's ideas on ___ were influenced by Stoicism." The economic theory associated with Adam Smith is capitalism.

37. "The treatment for ___ is based on ideas from Stoicism." This links Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) to the condition it treats: depression.

38. "People learn to base their thinking on ___." The noun for rational, structured thinking is logic.

39. "In business, people benefit from Stoicism by identifying obstacles as ___." Reframing problems positively, obstacles become seen as opportunity.

40. "It requires a lot of ___ but Stoicism can help people to lead a good life." Living by Stoic principles takes repeated effort — practice (or practise as the verb form; both accepted).