VSTEP 3-5 - TAPESCRIPT

LISTENING TEST 7
Question Scripts
Where will the man and woman meet?
M: I’ll see you outside the cinema at six o’clock.
W: Why can’t you meet me at the station? Or better still, the café? We’re going to eat there
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before the film, aren’t we?
M: Yes, but we need to be at the cinema at six to buy the tickets. Then we can go to the café.
W: Oh OK
What's the date of Emma's birthday party?
Woman: Are you going to Emma’s twentieth birthday party in June?
2 Man: Yes, I am. But it’s in July actually.
Woman: Oh yes, of course. The twenty-first, isn’t it?
Man: That’s right. Her birthday is the day after mine. That’s how I remember it.
Which day will they go to the cinema?
M: I’d love to see that film about the boy who learns to fly. I think I’ll go on Thursday. Do
you want to come too?
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W: I can’t that night – I’m going to play tennis with Dave. How about Tuesday… or if not,
Wednesday?
M: Tuesday night is fine. I can’t on Wednesday. I’ll see you outside the cinema at seven then.
What are the boys going to do?
B: Let’s go fishing. You never want to play football unless there’re a lot of people. And it’s
too hot to play tennis, isn’t it?
4 F: I don’t think so. If we play in the park, we can go and get a drink in the café there
afterwards.
B: Well, all right… but I don’t want to play for long.
F: OK. It’s be fun, you’ll see, and fishing is boring anyway.
How much did the man pay for the camera?
M: I’ve bought a new camera.
W: It looks expensive. Cameras like that cost about a hundred and fifty pounds, don’t they?
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M: This was a hundred and seventy-five pounds but the man in the shop took fifteen pounds
off the price because it was in the shop window and there was no box for it.
W: A hundred and sixty pounds is still a lot of money. I hope it takes good pictures.
What does the boy decide to buy for his grandmother?
Boy: My mum says I’ve got to buy my granny a present because she always gets me one when
she goes on holiday. I thought I’d get her a black T-shirt.
Girl: Don’t be silly, old ladies don’t wear T-shirts. Why not get her some of the local perfume.
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It smells of roses, or one of those little wooden boxes - they’re great for keeping earrings and
stuff in.
Boy: That’s a good idea. She does a lot of travelling, so she can use it to put her jewellery in.
[pause]

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 What time is the man’s appointment?
Woman: Hello. Appointments.
Man: Hello. Could I make an appointment to see Dr. Smith, next Tuesday please? Early
7 evening, if possible - anything after 6 o’clock.
Woman: Well, we open at 6.15 on Tuesday evenings, and there's an appointment at 6.35 or
6.50.
Man: Thanks. I’ll take the earlier one. My name's .. .
What has the woman lost?
Woman: Excuse me, I was sitting over there ten minutes ago making a call on my mobile
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phone. I got a pen out of my bag to write something down and I think my purse fell out. I
can’t find it now. Has anyone handed it to you?

Question Scripts

9-12  I'm talking to Nick Parker, the singer with the band called Crispi, Nick, your system
male plays guitar in the band, too, doesn't she?
 Yeah, Mel’s a year younger than me. We've been playing and singing together since
we were eight nine. Dad is a guitarist and took us to hear the great bands playing live.
Melloni put on shows at school, which was a lot of fun. Mom thought we were good,
but she didn't want us to get too serious about our music because of the hard lives
professional musicians have.
 When did you start writing music?
 I've been writing since I was 10. And later Mel started working with me. We didn't
have the same influences. I liked rock music and she loved world music, especially
bands from Africa. But we found good ways of mixing the styles.
 Your band Crispi has two guys and two girls in it. How was it formed?
 Melloni were playing in a concert at our college. And there were two students from
music school in the audience. They came to see us after the show and asked if we'd like
to form a band with them. We weren't sure at first because we were much younger than
them, but we agreed to try it out and it was brilliant.
 Was the band an immediate success?
 Well, we spent the first year practicing and writing music during that time, we all had
studying to do. We played in local concerts and the audiences enjoyed what we did.
Then during one holiday, we recorded two songs and sent them to a music company.
They offered us a contract, but our parents said we had to finish college first.
 You've been together a few years now, and you're one of the top bands. What's that
like?
 Hard work. We travel to concerts all round the world and are never in one place for
more than a few nights. The others are like an older brother and sister to me and Mel,
which is good. They help us relax on our days off and make sure we eat well. They're
strict about practicing to.
 Have you had any disappointments?
 Everything we've recorded has done well. Three singles have gone to number one on
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 our first album, has sold over a million copies. Our second album was due out this
winter.
13-16  And now if you're a regular listener to this program, you'll know that it's time for our
weekly competition. Last week's prize of two theater tickets was won by Bill Martyn's.
Congratulations, Bill. I hope you've received your tickets by now. This week, we're
offering a classical CD to the first listener who can name the piece of music and the
person who wrote it. I'm going to play the piece in a few minutes, but before I do, you
need to get a pencil and a piece of paper as I'm going to give you some help, which
should make your job a little easier.
 Are you ready? Right. Now, listen carefully, as you might be, this week's lucky winner.
Although the person who wrote this piece of classical music was born in Italy, his
parents were French and he spent most of his life in Spain. Have you got that?
 On to the second point. There is also a famous play which has the same title as this
music and which is usually performed in the open air in the summer. Any idea yet? I
should warn you that it's not that easy. Anyway, for the next point, when this piece of
music was first performed. Many people in the audience got up and walked out. At the
end, they say there was complete silence, which I'm sure wasn't very pleasant for the
writer. People thought the music was terrible and complained about wasting their
money. It's amazing, really, when you think how popular it is today.
17-20 Man: Rachel, tell us how your shows for children started. You studied art at college, didn’t
you?

Woman: That’s right. But I gave up my career as an artist when my twin daughters were born.
Painting took up too much time when I was looking after them. I thought about teaching art
classes part-time, but instead I started making dolls for my daughters.

I love acting, so I often invented little plays for the dolls, doing the voices myself.

Man: And when did you start doing shows for other people?

Woman: When our daughters were five, my husband suggested using the dolls to entertain the
children at their birthday party. I wrote a little show and he built a dolls’ theatre. My daughters
and their friends loved it. As a result, other parents asked me to come and do the show at their
children’s parties. That’s how it all began.

Man: It must be a lot of work for you?

Woman: Yes. I love making the dolls, but I decided that I needed someone to help me with the
shows. Luckily my neighbour, Lena, was keen to perform with me. Her husband records the
music to go with the shows. It would be impossible to do everything on my own.

Man: Have you ever had any problems?

Woman: Only once. I did a show for a group of three-year-olds, and I'd written a story about a
lion. Unfortunately, the children were really afraid of the lion and started crying. I was worried
the parents might complain, but luckily they were all able to laugh about it afterwards.

Man: And what did you learn from that?

Woman: The experience taught me that I had to find out beforehand just what children

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 enjoy….

Question Scripts

21-25 Woman: With us today, to tell us about his trip across Africa, is the biologist Paul Hart.

Man: We started on the east coast and travelled on foot across Africa to Gabon in the west,

collecting plants and flowers along the way. It wasn’t easy, but my route crossed a region rich
in plants and I chose it because it won’t stay that way for long when more roads are built. It
was my only chance to get important information about the natural life of the area.

I had a team of eleven scientists. We walked from six in the morning, but the forest was so
thick it took hours to cut our way through it, and some days we only walked one kilometre
before dark. Fortunately, we carried special equipment that was very light and we took as little
food as possible. But we were always tired when we put the tents up at night.

Sometimes we saw elephants or lions. They were amazing to watch and never attacked us.
Every day, I collected plants and added to my notes. There was so much new information to
write down. There were, of course, some low points, especially when I got anxious about the
team. It was my job to make sure everyone got home safely.

Towards the end of the trip, I suddenly discovered one day that the food had nearly all gone. It
was strange because we’d brought enough dried food with us to last the trip - food that
wouldn’t ever go bad - and we’d stopped at villages for fresh food too. But then I found that
some of the team had eaten much more than they were supposed to.

I was angry with them because it was a silly thing to do.

Then we started walking again. There were no maps for the area, but we had a local guide.
Then one of the team got sick and we couldn’t go any further. We let him rest, but he got much
worse. Thankfully his life was saved by a fisherman who came along the river in a boat and
took him to a doctor in the nearest village.

Finally, I returned home, and I’m back with my family and friends. I really missed them while I
was away. But I learnt so much on the trip and I’m really glad I went. I was asked to go on
another trip - this time to Australia - but! said that I couldn’t because I’m busy here in London.
And I think I’ve done enough travelling.

26-30 Ecotourism is a booming business that many tour operators cite as being helpful to nature.
Every year, millions of people descend on protected and pristine natural areas to observe rare
species. However, a new report casts doubt on the value of this form of tourism. In fact, it
suggests that ecotourism is more damaging than helpful to nature. Details are in a report
published in the journal 'Trends in Ecology and Evolution'. Researchers believe tourists are
disrupting animals in their natural habitat. They pointed to a recent event where sea turtles in
Costa Rica had problems laying their eggs because of the hordes of tourists who had
congregated to watch the turtles' nesting habits.

The report says that ecotourism is making animals bolder and that this could endanger the
animals. A regular human presence might make animals tamer and less cautious about other
animals around them, and this could put them at risk of being attacked by their natural threats.
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 "Then they will suffer higher mortality when they encounter real predators," the report says. It
added: "When animals interact in 'benign' ways with humans, they may let down their guard."
The report said it was essential, "to develop a more comprehensive understanding of how
different species in different situations respond to human visitation and under what precise
conditions human exposure might put them at risk."

30-35 The tomato is a popular vegetable, which figures in the cuisine of many countries around the
world. It is particularly prominent in Italian cooking, but it was unknown in Europe until
Spanish explorers brought it back from the Americas. The tomato originated in the highlands of
Peru. From there, it eventually found its way to Mexico, where it was cultivated by the Aztecs.
The Aztec tomato wasn’t the large red vegetable we know today. Rather, it was small and
yellow. When this small, round fruit arrived in Italy, it was named “golden apple” for its bright
yellow color. You’ll notice I just called it a fruit. That’s because a tomato is botanically a fruit,
even though most everyone calls it a vegetable. The actual word tomato comes from the Aztec
name for the vegetable, meaning “plump thing.”

The tomato arrived in Europe in the 1500s and quickly became a popular food in Spain and
Italy. In the late 1600s, the Italians began publishing recipes that used tomatoes. The British,
however, had a different attitude toward the vegetable. It was grown as an ornamental plant in
Britain in the 1600s, but it wasn’t eaten because it was thought to be poisonous. It wasn’t until
the 1700s that tomatoes became part of the daily diet in Britain.