Cambridge 8 Listening Test 1 - Answers With Explanation

1. George explains he learned about the group Guitarrini after watching "a video with all the highlights of the festival" at a stand in the library lobby (C).

2. George suggests sitting at the back because, as he puts it, "you can actually hear the whole thing better" (B).

3. Filling in the booking form, George gives his address as "48 North Avenue," Westsea.

4. Nina reads out the postcode she has written down: "WS6 2YH."

5. Asked for the phone number, Nina reads it out: "01674 553242."

6. The ticket for the singer on 17 June turns out to include "drinks in the garden" — free refreshments.

7. Nina suggests going to see "the pianist on the 22nd of June," Anna Ventura.

8. George is startled by the price for the dance and guitar concert: "£10.50 a ticket!"

9. Since Tom and Kieran will join them too, George says "we'll need to book four!"

10. Nina notices that "Children, Students and Senior Citizens get a 50% discount on everything."

11. The museum is "open every day of the week from 9.00 am to 8.00 pm except on Mondays when we close at 1.30 pm."

12. "The only day in the year when we're closed is on the 25th of December," the guide explains.

13. On arrival, groups are asked to "remain with your group in the car park" until a tour guide meets them.

14. Of the 90-minute visit, "45 minutes" is set aside for the guided tour itself.

15. Students who bring their own lunch can eat it outside, where "at the back there are tables."

16–18. The museum provides groups with "handouts with questions and quizzes" to work through (C), students "need to bring something to write with" to complete them (F), and visitors are told "we do allow students to take photographs" (G).

19–20. After the tour, students can enjoy "continuous screenings of short documentaries about dinosaurs" in the theatrette (B), or play "a range of dinosaur games" on CD-ROM in the IT centre (E).

21. The tutor's notes on Sandra's proposal flag "things which could have been better sequenced" — an issue with the order of its sections (A).

22. Criticising Sandra's overuse of "complex structures and long sentences," the tutor tells her to "cut them down a bit" (C).

23. The tutor stresses that "listing ideas clearly is important," recommending numbering or bullet points (A).

24. Sandra explains her personal connection to the site: "my father was a great fan of cowboy films," many of them filmed there (B).

25–27. The tutor agrees the proposal should keep its focus on "the sandstone plateaux and cliffs themselves" (B), wants a section on "what the students on the trip could actually do" (C), and asks for something on "the local wildlife, and vegetation too" (F).

28. Sandra tells the tutor the park covers "12,000 hectares."

29. For getting around the park, Sandra recommends visitors "hire horses instead and trek around on those."

30. Asked what else is worth seeing, Sandra mentions "there are several caves," though she hasn't researched them yet.

31. Studying geography teaches us about "all the processes that have affected and that continue to affect the earth's surface."

32. Geography also covers "the different kinds of relationships that develop between a particular environment and the people that live there."

33. One main branch studies "the ways in which we choose to live and of the impact of those on our planet."

34. The lecturer says urban geography, which he finds most interesting, focuses on "the location of cities."

35. Without geographical knowledge, he explains, "we wouldn't be able to identify all the problems that relate to" our surroundings.

36. Geographers gather "images of the earth's surface" using computer-generation technology or satellite relays.

37. After collecting data, geographers "need to look for patterns," especially of cause and consequence.

38. Because paper is flat, maps unavoidably involve "a certain degree of distortion."

39. Aerial photographs can easily show "how much traffic is on the roads at a given time."

40. Landsats give geographers information "you'll all be familiar with," for example about "the weather."