Cambridge C2 Proficiency Listening practice test 2

You will hear three different extracts. For questions 1 to 6, choose the answer (A, B or C) which fits best according to what you hear. There are two questions for each extract.

1. You hear a travel writer talking about her visit to a small Mediterranean island that once housed a high-security prison. What is her attitude to the way the island has been opened to visitors?

A) She is uneasy that its grim past is being turned into entertainment

B) She admires the restraint shown in how visitors experience it

C) She feels the limits on access make the journey hardly worthwhile

2. According to the writer, the island's unspoilt landscape is

A) an unintended consequence of its years as a prison

B) the result of careful conservation since the prison closed

C) part of a deliberate effort to improve the island's reputation

3. You hear two architects discussing the conversion of a former railway station into a public library. How does the woman feel about the conversion now that it is complete?

A) regretful that so many original features were removed

B) relieved that the building has been given a genuine purpose

C) doubtful that it will draw many regular readers

4. What do the two architects agree about?

A) The lighting in the main reading room works well

B) Too much of the budget went on the exterior

C) Local residents were brought into the process too late

5. You hear a former chess champion talking about giving up competitive play. Why does she mention her first tournament?

A) to illustrate how her reasons for playing have changed

B) to explain why she came to distrust formal coaching

C) to contrast her own early ability with that of her rivals

6. How does she feel about her decision to stop playing competitively?

A) defensive about the way others have reacted to it

B) relieved to have escaped the pressure of competition

C) content with it, though not entirely without regret

You will hear {speaker_line}. For questions 7 to 15, complete the sentences with a word or short phrase.

7. The speaker says that the earliest attempts at anonymity relied on filming witnesses in {{7}}.

8. In her view, the digital voice distortion of the 1990s gave witnesses a {{8}} quality that put audiences off.

9. Nowadays her team prefers to have witnesses' words re-recorded by {{9}}.

10. According to the speaker, the detail that most often gives away a witness's identity is their {{10}}.

11. The member of the review panel whose contribution she values most is a {{11}}.

12. She uses the term {{12}} for the risk that small details from different sources can be pieced together to identify someone.

13. The speaker believes that representing witnesses through animation can make their testimony seem {{13}}.

14. Her team once had to remove {{14}} from a film weeks before its premiere because a witness changed her mind.

15. She ends by suggesting that viewers should regard anonymity as an act of {{15}} rather than concealment.

You will hear a discussion in which two founders of small sports equipment companies, Harriet Oduya and Callum Brennan, talk about setting up a network for independent sports manufacturers in Britain. For questions 16 to 20, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what you hear.

16. What first prompted Harriet to propose setting up the network?

A) losing a lucrative supply contract to a larger rival

B) discovering that small firms were each paying for identical work

C) being turned down for support by a public funding body

D) realising how little foreign buyers knew about British brands

17. How did Callum feel when Harriet first suggested the idea to him?

A) wary that the commitment would eat into time his own firm needed

B) irritated that someone else had seized on an idea he had been considering

C) doubtful that competitors would ever be candid with one another

D) anxious that larger manufacturers would regard it as provocative

18. According to Harriet, the network's joint stand at an overseas trade show

A) owed its success largely to how modest it was

B) brought in more press coverage than actual orders

C) proved considerably more costly than members had budgeted for

D) brought to light how far members' commercial aims diverged

19. What is Harriet's view on letting larger companies join the network?

A) It would inevitably compromise the network's independence

B) It would be welcome on condition that their say in decisions was restricted

C) It would chiefly serve the interests of the larger firms themselves

D) It should be deferred until the network is on a sounder financial footing

20. What does Callum conclude about the network's real value?

A) It hinges on members' readiness to set aside old rivalries

B) It will only be realised once a paid coordinator is in post

C) It would be enhanced by affiliation with an established trade body

D) It lies more in informal contact between members than in official schemes

You will hear five short extracts in which {extracts_line}. For questions 21 to 25, choose from the list (A to H) {task_one}. For questions 26 to 30, choose from the list (A to H) {task_two}. You will hear the recording twice. While you listen, you must complete both tasks.

21. Speaker 1

A) rescued someone from danger

B) won a national competition

C) was mistaken for a celebrity

D) made a remark that was widely shared online

E) made a discovery of historical interest

F) led a campaign to save a local amenity

G) appeared by chance in a news photograph

H) captured a dramatic weather event on camera

22. Speaker 2

A) rescued someone from danger

B) won a national competition

C) was mistaken for a celebrity

D) made a remark that was widely shared online

E) made a discovery of historical interest

F) led a campaign to save a local amenity

G) appeared by chance in a news photograph

H) captured a dramatic weather event on camera

23. Speaker 3

A) rescued someone from danger

B) won a national competition

C) was mistaken for a celebrity

D) made a remark that was widely shared online

E) made a discovery of historical interest

F) led a campaign to save a local amenity

G) appeared by chance in a news photograph

H) captured a dramatic weather event on camera

24. Speaker 4

A) rescued someone from danger

B) won a national competition

C) was mistaken for a celebrity

D) made a remark that was widely shared online

E) made a discovery of historical interest

F) led a campaign to save a local amenity

G) appeared by chance in a news photograph

H) captured a dramatic weather event on camera

25. Speaker 5

A) rescued someone from danger

B) won a national competition

C) was mistaken for a celebrity

D) made a remark that was widely shared online

E) made a discovery of historical interest

F) led a campaign to save a local amenity

G) appeared by chance in a news photograph

H) captured a dramatic weather event on camera

26. Speaker 1

A) wary of the way stories get simplified

B) regretful at having courted publicity

C) grateful for the support of family

D) amused at how quickly interest waned

E) resentful that others profited from it

F) uneasy about a lasting loss of privacy

G) pleased to have turned it to good use

H) embarrassed by how they came across

27. Speaker 2

A) wary of the way stories get simplified

B) regretful at having courted publicity

C) grateful for the support of family

D) amused at how quickly interest waned

E) resentful that others profited from it

F) uneasy about a lasting loss of privacy

G) pleased to have turned it to good use

H) embarrassed by how they came across

28. Speaker 3

A) wary of the way stories get simplified

B) regretful at having courted publicity

C) grateful for the support of family

D) amused at how quickly interest waned

E) resentful that others profited from it

F) uneasy about a lasting loss of privacy

G) pleased to have turned it to good use

H) embarrassed by how they came across

29. Speaker 4

A) wary of the way stories get simplified

B) regretful at having courted publicity

C) grateful for the support of family

D) amused at how quickly interest waned

E) resentful that others profited from it

F) uneasy about a lasting loss of privacy

G) pleased to have turned it to good use

H) embarrassed by how they came across

30. Speaker 5

A) wary of the way stories get simplified

B) regretful at having courted publicity

C) grateful for the support of family

D) amused at how quickly interest waned

E) resentful that others profited from it

F) uneasy about a lasting loss of privacy

G) pleased to have turned it to good use

H) embarrassed by how they came across