Cambridge 14 Listening Test 2 - Answers With Explanation

1. 'Contact phone: ___' asks for a telephone number — a string of digits usually grouped in threes/fours when read aloud. '219 442 9785' is the number to transcribe accurately.

2. 'Date of birth: ___, 1992' needs a day and month to complete a full date, since the year is already given. '10(th) October' follows the day-then-month pattern typical of these forms.

3. 'Occupation: works as a ___' needs a single job-title noun. 'Manager' is a common, easily-tested occupation word.

4. 'Insurance company: ___ Life Insurance' needs the proper name preceding 'Life Insurance' in the company's full name. 'Cawley' is the capitalised name word.

5. 'Type of problem: pain in her left ___' needs a body-part noun. 'Knee' is the single-word answer specifying the location of her pain.

6. 'When it began: ___ ago' needs a time expression combining a number and a unit. '3 weeks' gives both — listen for number-plus-unit pairs in this question type.

7. 'Sports played: belongs to a ___ club' needs the name of a sport used as an adjective before 'club'. 'Tennis' is the one-word sport name.

8. 'Goes ___ regularly' needs an activity noun describing a regular exercise habit. 'Running' completes the phrase.

9. 'Medical history: injured her ___ last year' needs a body-part noun, distinct from the knee mentioned earlier. 'Shoulder' is the single-word answer.

10. 'No regular medication apart from ___' needs a plural noun naming what she does take. 'Vitamins' is the answer — the one exception to 'no regular medication'.

11. The correct completion is B — a new building was constructed ahead of Queen Elizabeth I's 1576 visit — rather than repairs (A) or fire damage (C), which are plausible but incorrect events used as distractors.

12. The 1982 sale went to an entertainment company (C), not back to the government (A) or the original family (B) — the option set tests whether you catch the specific buyer named.

13. The correct activity is seeing moving, talking models of historical figures (C) — an animatronic-style display — rather than live experts (A) or costumed actors (B), which sound similar but describe real people instead of models.

14. The confirmed park attraction is an art exhibition (B), not the tree (A) or a zoo (C) — both plausible park features but not the one the answer key confirms.

15. The visit concludes with afternoon tea in the conservatory (A), rather than meeting the owners (B) or a group photo (C) — both appealing-sounding endings used as distractors.

16. Questions 16–20 are a plan-labelling task matching castle features to lettered points on a map. 'Starting point for walking the walls' corresponds to point H — for this question type, listen for directional language (e.g. 'next to', 'opposite', 'near the entrance') that ties a feature to a labelled spot on the diagram.

17. 'Bow and arrow display' is located at point D on the plan — this type of item tests whether you can track the guide's description of movement around the castle grounds.

18. 'Hunting birds display' corresponds to point F — again, the answer depends on following spatial descriptions relative to the other labelled features on the image.

19. 'Traditional dancing' is located at point A on the plan.

20. 'Shop' corresponds to point E, consistent with where gift shops are typically positioned along a visitor route.

21. They choose to open with a timeline (B) rather than a drawing (A) or video clip (C) — the question tests recognising which specific format they settle on among several discussed.

22. The surprising detail is that the tooth was not as old as mammoth remains found elsewhere (C) — a finding about its age, rather than about the species (B) or its physical condition (A).

23. The animated diagram illustrates how the mammoths became isolated on the island (A) — the process of separation — rather than dispersal (B) or coexistence with other species (C).

24. What Martin finds unusual is the precision of the extinction date (A) — how exact it is — rather than how early it occurred (B) or the method used to establish it (C).

25. For the 'Introduction' section, the plan is E, 'make detailed notes' — fuller notes for this part rather than relying on memory.

26. For 'Discovery of the mammoth tooth', the action is D, 'contact one of the researchers' — going to a primary source for this factual section.

27. For 'Initial questions asked by the researchers', the plan is A, 'make it more interactive' — engaging the audience with the questions the researchers originally asked.

28. For 'Further research carried out on the island', the action is H, 'organise the content more clearly' — restructuring how this material is presented.

29. For 'Findings and possible explanations', the plan is G, 'check timing' — making sure this substantial section doesn't overrun.

30. For 'Relevance to the present day', the action is C, 'add personal opinions' — bringing in the students' own views for this concluding, more subjective section.

31. 'Many cultures invented ___ and other ceremonies to make the weather gods friendly' needs a plural noun naming a type of ceremony. 'Dances' is the one-word answer.

32. 'People needed to observe and interpret the sky to ensure their ___' needs an abstract noun for the ultimate stake involved. 'Survival' is the answer.

33. 'Babylonians started forecasting, using weather phenomena such as ___' needs a plural noun naming a visible weather feature. 'Clouds' is the single-word example given.

34. 'The Chinese had a calendar made up of a number of ___ connected with the weather' needs a plural noun for calendar events. 'Festivals' is the answer.

35. 'Aristotle also described haloes and ___' needs a plural noun for another sky phenomenon, paired with 'haloes'. 'Comets' completes the list.

36. 'Proverbs, e.g. about the significance of the colour of the ___' needs a noun that has a colour. 'Sky' fits — sky colour as a traditional forecasting sign.

37. 'Scientists recognised value of ___ for the first time' needs a plural noun for tools used in measurement. 'Instruments' is the one-word answer.

38. 'Galileo invented the ___' needs a single noun for a measuring device. 'Thermometer' is the device attributed to Galileo here.

39. 'Franklin identified the movement of ___' needs a plural noun for a weather phenomenon that moves. 'Storms' is the answer — tracking how storm systems travel.

40. 'Data from different locations could be sent to the same place by ___' needs a noun for a communication technology. 'Telegraph' is the single-word 19th-century technology named.