Cambridge 8 Listening Test 3 - Answers With Explanation

1. Asked about location, the man says: "It'd be nice to be central," ruling out the suburbs where most four-bedroom houses are found.

2. Their rent limit is flexible: "we'd like something around £500 a month, but we could go up to £600 if we have to."

3. They need somewhere stable for their course: "we're at college here for two years, and we don't want to have to move during that time."

4. The Oakington Avenue house "doesn't have a garage, though you can park in the road," which disappoints the man since he'd prefer one.

5. The Mead Street house has "a big garden," but the man decides they'll be "too busy to look after it."

6. The older Hamilton Road house has a living room, kitchen-diner, and "it has a study," for £550 a month.

7. Told the house is towards the western end of Hamilton Road, the man says: "Oh, that'll be very noisy. I know the area."

8. The Devon Close house hasn't been decorated for a few years, keeping the rent down, and "it's 595 a month."

9–10. Two facilities near Devon Close are already in use: "the swimming pool's already opened, ahead of schedule" (E), and there's only a plan to replace "the existing concert hall" with a larger one, meaning the current one (B) is still operating.

11. Introducing the Centre, the host says it's "famous throughout the world as one of the major venues for classical music."

12. Besides theatres and cinemas, the complex includes "three restaurants and a bookshop."

13. The project took time to get going: "it was planned in the 60s, built in the 70s."

14. After years of construction, it "eventually opened to the public in 1983."

15. It's not privately owned: "it's run by the City Council."

16. With performances scheduled almost every day, "the Centre is open 363 days of the year."

17. 'The Magic Flute' plays on Monday and Tuesday evenings, and "it's in the Garden Hall."

18. Wednesday's Canadian film is "called 'Three Lives.'"

19. Tickets for the film "cost just £4.50, which is a reduction on the usual price of £5.50."

20. The weekend's main attraction is a Chinese art exhibition "called 'Faces of China.'"

21. Paul explains his main idea in going to South America was "to find out more about the way people lived there" (C), rather than to practise his already-good Spanish.

22. Among the project options, he says "there was tourism – taking tourists for walks around the volcanoes – which I actually chose to do" (C).

23. He left that project because he "wanted to do something that had more of a proper structure to it," showing the job lacked organisation (A).

24. He was struck that "when people became more comfortable with me and less suspicious, we really connected," showing the value of building trust (B).

25. Of his project manager, Paul says "he gave me lots of advice and guidance" — he was supportive (C).

26. He was surprised the project even gave him "a laptop" among the equipment he needed (A).

27. Since the Gender Studies module deals with "people in the public sphere" rather than villagers, Paul indicates he won't take it (C).

28. Told he has relevant practical experience, Paul says of Second Language Acquisition: "I'll put that down as a definite, then" (A).

29. The tutor suggests they "talk about it again later" after Paul consults other students about Indigenous Women's Lives — still undecided (B).

30. Warned that Spanish can interfere with learning Portuguese, Paul says: "I'd much sooner do something else, then" (C).

31. Copying an existing process is less glamorous than innovation, but "it actually happens more often" (B).

32. "A host of studies confirm this, covering a wide range of business settings," showing consistent findings across many industries (B).

33. Consulting an expert "can be used if you want to gain a rough understanding of a particular system, or understand smaller, isolated problems" (B).

34. Some details of a system are "difficult to describe," even by the workers who know them well (A).

35. One common mistake is trying to use the best parts of several systems "in the hope of creating the perfect combination."

36. Overlooked disadvantages can be serious, since "the modifications might compromise safety in some way."

37. The first part of the solution involves "adjusting attitudes, first of all," being more realistic and cautious.

38. Secondly, managers should exert "strict controls on the organisational and operational systems."

39. A close copy should duplicate "the physical characteristics of the factory," not just the process.

40. It should also duplicate "the skills that the original employees had," not merely the physical setup.