Cambridge FCE Listening Exam - part 1 Hi, in this week's lesson we're going to
look at the Cambridge FCE listening exam, in particular part 1. So, the FCE listening exam or First Certificate has four parts to it with 30 questions in total. Each part is heard twice and it lasts approximately 40
minutes. Each part is a different format varying from multiple-choice, sentence
completion and multiple matching. You listen to a variety of different audio,
ranging from conversations, interviews, discussions, monologues, radio
documentaries, news, stories and anecdotes. You'll also hear a variety of voices,
styles of delivery and accents in each listening paper. This aims to reflect the international backgrounds of all of you taking the test all over the world. You should write your answer on the question paper while listening and then you're given five minutes at the end to copy your answers onto a separate sheet. The instructions for each task are written at the beginning of each question on the question paper and also heard on the recording. Each correct answer receives one point. So, now let's look at listening part one in more detail. This part of the listening test is always a multiple-choice question. It tests your ability to listen for gist that is general meaning or listen for detail and often tests your ability to recognize the feelings, attitudes and opinions of the speakers. You will hear eight short unrelated extracts with either one or two people speaking of approximately 30 seconds each. There is one multiple-choice question per extract each with three options: A, B or C. So here are some tips to help you do well in this part of the exam. One, before you listen, read the sentence which introduces the recording. You're given a short time to do this. Think about the topic and what you know about it this will help you understand and hopefully do better. Watch out for red herrings or distractors as they are there on purpose to catch you out. Listen to the whole clip before making your decision Just because you hear the word or phrase
doesn't mean that that is the right answer. Often it's a paraphrase of one of
the options. Remember that you listen to the extract twice so use the second listening to confirm your answer and if you really are still not sure then have a guess, don't leave any questions unanswered. OK, now I have included a
sample FCE listening part 1 test. The answers will be at the end of the test. Are you ready? So listen carefully. This is the Cambridge First Certificate in
English for Schools listening test, sample test. I'm going to give you the
instructions for this test. I'll introduce each part of the test and give
you time to look at the questions. At the start of each piece, you'll hear this
sound. You'll hear each piece twice. Remember while you're listening write
your answers on the question paper. You'll have five minutes at the end of the test to copy your answers onto the separate answer sheet. There will now be a pause. Please ask any questions now because you must not speak during the test. Now open your question paper and look at part 1. You'll hear people talking in eight different situations for questions one-eight.
Choose the best answer A, B or C. 1. You hear a young singer talking about his childhood. When I was a little kid, my father used to watch a lot of old movies
and I sat with him and loved them too especially the musicals. So you see my
career was inspired by him in a way and these old movies played a big part in my
life. They were the reason I wanted to learn to sing, though my dad never
suggested it to me. There's no musical background in my family, though my mother
could sing but she didn't have much ability really. It was just fun for her. I
think my parents must have looked at me and thought where did that come from? When I was a little kid, my father used
to watch a lot of old movies and I sat with him and loved them too, especially
the musicals. So, you see my career was inspired by him in a way and these old
movies played a big part in my life. They were the reason I wanted to learn to
sing, though my dad never suggested it to me. There's no musical background in my
family, though my mother could sing but she didn't have much ability really. It
was just fun for her. I think my parents must have looked at me and thought where
did that come from? 2. You overhear a girl talking on the phone about a clothes shop Well, I think that new clothes store
called, "Smart Girls" is certainly a place where you can be sure of picking up a
bargain or two, though most of the shops in the mall have them at the moment. The
assistants are friendly and they really know about fashion instead of just
pretending to be cool. They're honest too and don't just tell you that you look
great all the time. I like the music they play because it
sort of puts you in the mood as soon as you walk in. Though I don't think it's
your thing. You might prefer somewhere a bit quieter. Well, I think that new
clothes store called "Smart Girls" is certainly a place where you can be sure
of picking up a bargain or two. though most of the shops in the mall
have them at the moment. The assistants are friendly and they really know about
fashion instead of just pretending to be cool. They're honest too and don't just
tell you that you look great all the time.
I like the music they played because it sort of puts you in the mood as soon as
you walk in. Though I don't think it's your thing. You might prefer somewhere a
bit quieter. 3. You hear part of an interview with
a farmer. So, Josh for our teenage listeners who live in towns and cities,
tell us about what it's like living on a farm. Well, actually you can come along
and experience it for yourself this weekend. There's going to be something
called an open farm day more than 450 farms all over the country will be open
to the public and you can go along and meet the animals, ride on a tractor,
learn about cheese-making and wool spinning all that sort of thing. Who
knows it might even persuade a few to think about farming as a career. It's not
an easy life but it's a good one. So, Josh for our
teenage listeners who live in towns and cities, tell us about what it's like
living on a farm. Well, actually you can come along and experience it for
yourself this weekend. There's going to be something called an Open Farm Day.
More than 450 farms all over the country will be open to the public and you can
go along and meet the animals, ride on a tractor, learn about cheese-making and
wool spinning all that sort of thing. Who knows it might even persuade a few to
think about farming as a career. It's not an easy life but it's a good one. 4. You hear two friends talking about a
school concert. Hi Judy, are you ready for the school concert tomorrow? I've been practicing all week so I think it'll be okay. There are a few tricky bits in that new piece of music we'll be playing. I'm getting my head round it though. My clarinet was making a funny noise but I've got it sorted now. That could have been embarrassing. I'm a bit worried about my solo part
especially with all those people watching. Imagine how awful it would be
to make a mistake with your mum and dad there. I'm not so bothered about strangers though. Just stay cool if you mess up just keep going like nothing's happened. Hi Judy, are you ready for the school concert tomorrow? I've been practicing all week so I think it'll be OK. There are a few tricky bits in that
new piece of music we'll be playing. I'm getting my head round it though. My clarinet was making a funny noise but I've got it sorted now. That could have been embarrassing. I'm a bit worried about my solo part especially with all those people watching. Imagine how awful it would be to make a mistake with your mum and dad there. I'm not so bothered about strangers though. Just stay cool, if you mess up just keep going like nothing's happened. five you hear a news report about a
football club fast-food is off the menu for everyone at part town ranges
Football Club the new manager of the club has coached in many countries
around the world and has picked up some ideas from his travels in Europe and
Asia he has banned the players from eating
meat when they are preparing for important games he thinks this will
strengthen their physical condition and improve the team's results a view shared
by our medical experts in the studio today and now the club have decided to
go a step further and have stopped selling burgers in the stadium a move
which may not be popular with all the young fans fast food is off the menu for
everyone at park town ranges Football Club the new manager of the club has
coached in many countries around the world and has picked up some ideas from
his travels in Europe and Asia he has banned the players from eating
meat when they are preparing for important games he thinks this will
strengthen their physical condition and improve the team's results a view shared
by our medical experts in the studio today and now the club have decided to
go a step further and have stopped selling burgers in the stadium a move
which may not be popular with all the young fans six you hear two friends talking about a
newspaper for teenagers I read this great newspaper the other day a
newspaper isn't it full of dull stuff it's aimed as our age group actually so
it presents the news in a way that's easy to understand so it's a good way to
find out what's going on in the world it's interactive - really yeah you can
write reports for it and they include the best ones in the paper
cool huh if you like writing I suppose not a talent of mine so you don't bother
with the news then oh I wouldn't say that I do follow it just as long as it
doesn't seem too much like schoolwork I read this great newspaper the other day
a newspaper isn't it full of dull stuff it's aimed as our age group actually so
it presents the news in a way that's easy to understand so it's a good way to
find out what's going on in the world it's interactive - really yeah you can
write reports for it and they include the best ones in the paper cool huh
if you like writing I suppose not a talent of mine so you don't bother with
the news then oh I wouldn't say that I do follow it just as long as it doesn't
seem too much like schoolwork sevim you hear a boy telling a friend
about climbing a mountain with his father how often do you go mountain
climbing my dad and I go climbing together a lot which is really cool cuz
I get plenty of time to talk with him I remember the last mountain we climbed
together he was telling me about how you can only really enjoy the wonderful
scenery once you get to the top because when you're just halfway up you're
concentrating on the climb I was really sore and I just wanted to quit but I
carried on to the top so I could admire the beautiful view but my legs were
aching so much I couldn't appreciate it fully or my dad's wise words how often
do you go mountain climbing my dad and I go climbing together a lot which is
really cool cuz I get plenty of time to talk with him I remember the last
mountain we climbed together he was telling me about how you can only really
enjoy the wonderful scenery once you get to the top because when you're just
halfway up you're concentrating on the climb I was really sore and I just
wanted to quit but I carried on to the top so I could admire the beautiful view
but my legs were aching so much I couldn't appreciate it fully or my dad's
wise words eight you hear a teacher talking about an environmental project right everyone I'm sure you'll agree it
was great fun enhancing our school grounds with the butterfly garden and I
hope you all got something out of it and are more aware of your natural
environment now what you've achieved is much appreciated and the project will
continue so I'd like you to keep thinking about things we can do to
maintain the garden the idea is to keep it going for future students at the
school so all suggestions are welcome I think you'll all agree it's been a great
success which I hope we can repeat in the future right everyone I'm sure
you'll agree it was great fun enhancing our school grounds with
the butterfly garden and I hope you all got something out of it and are more
aware of your natural environment now what you've achieved is much appreciated
and the project will continue so I'd like you to keep thinking about things
we can do to maintain the garden the idea is to keep it going for future
students at the school so all suggestions are welcome I think you'll
all agree it's been a great success which I hope we can repeat in the future
that is the end of part 1 ok so let's see how did you do the answers are 1 B 2
a 3 C 4 B 5 C 6 C 7 B and 8 a I hope you did well a link to the transcripts
transcript can be found down below for you to download and listen again and
remember to keep listening as much as possible to English to improve your
understanding and therefore your score so that's it for now remember to like
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