Cambridge 5 Listening Test 3 - Answers With Explanation

1. "I'd like a bit more power this time... a 1.4 should do, I don't think I need a 1.6."

2. "I'd want automatic — I've never driven a car with manual gears."

3. The colour chart shows "Royal" blue, but "actually, I think I prefer this lighter shade here — 'Sky'."

4. "I'd like credit provided the terms are reasonable."

5. "Wendy Harries, that's H-A-double R-I-E-S."

6. Asked Mrs, Miss or Ms, she says "It's Doctor, actually."

7. Her address is 20 Green Banks, Alton — spelled "A-L-T-O-N", beginning with an A, not O.

8. "I work at the hospital but it's a bit difficult to get hold of me. I can give you a number just for messages."

9. Her current car's model "is called a Lion — like the animal."

10. Asked its condition, she says "I'd probably describe it as reasonable."

11-12. "Rexford is just 35 minutes from London Airport" (C) and the science/engineering departments have "unusually close relationships with industry in the area" (E).

13. The hold-up in processing applications is "most often... caused by references — the people you give as referees... take their time to reply."

14. The university tries "to put you in contact with... a student from your own country who is at present studying with us."

15. That contact student can advise on "important details like what the leisure facilities are like and whether the English weather and food are really as awful as everybody says."

16. "At a UK university... you will be in an environment where independent learning is the norm" — C.

17. Residence priority goes to "visiting students, exchange students and new postgraduate students" — a limited number of places for new postgraduates, C.

18. "If you're planning to live off-campus... if you're starting in October you need to be thinking about it in June or at the very latest July" — several months in advance, A.

19. The accommodation officer "has got plenty of contacts in the town and will deal with the agencies on your behalf" — B.

20. "Some extra practice before you arrive is worth more than... private lessons afterwards" — practise spoken English before arriving, C.

21. "My birthday's on May 4th and it was the day after, it must have been May 5th."

22. Annie guesses "July 15th" for the finish date, but Ben corrects her: "Er 16th, Monday was the 12th" — with Monday the 12th, Friday that week falls on the 16th.

23. "I think the organisation was clear" — asked about course organisation.

24. "It was a good thing he gave us the course outline at the beginning, in the first session, that was useful."

25. "All of a sudden in the second half of the course we got a whole load of work" — the workload wasn't evenly spread.

26. "What I thought was really good on this course was the standard of teaching... much better than other courses I've been on."

27. "I didn't think it was all that wonderful when we had great long group discussion sessions that went on for hours and hours."

28. "What was good about some sessions was the handouts... all the handouts were good actually, and some were great."

29. "I'm not so sure about the written work. One thing I think is that there's just too much, it's really stressful."

30. "I thought student support was excellent" — under other comments.

31. "By 2008 we must reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 12.5%, compared with 1990."

32. Recycling "reduces greenhouse gas emissions from landfill sites and incineration plants."

33. "There aren't enough 'drop-off' sites, that is, the places where the public are supposed to take their waste."

34. "Toughened glass used for cooking doesn't fully melt at the temperature required for other glass" and has to be picked out by hand.

35. "Two million tons of glass is thrown away each year... but only 500,000 tons of that is collected and recycled."

36. "A company called CLF Aggregates makes a product for roads, and 30% of the material is crushed glass."

37. Papersave "currently sells [surplus waste paper] to farmers as a soil conditioner."

38. Pacrite recycles "plastic bottles to make containers which are used all over the country to collect waste."

39. Waterford "turns [used polycups] into pencils."

40. Johnson & Jones "developed a wide variety of items, including business cards" from recycled polycups.