Cambridge 3 Listening Test 1 - Answers With Explanation

1. The agent says "the main areas we deal with, are the city centre itself" before adding the north suburbs, so the first area named is the city centre.

2. The agent says rent "really ranges from £250 per month ... to about £500", giving the full range asked for.

3. Asked what price depends on, the agent lists the quality of the area and "whether there's a garden".

4. The agent quotes the West Park Road property as "£325 a month".

5. Asked if bills are included on West Park Road, the agent replies "that one just includes the water bill".

6. For the £380 Tithe Road property the agent clarifies water isn't included "but it does include the telephone rental".

7. Thursday isn't available, so the agent offers "Wednesday afternoon" instead, which the caller accepts.

8. After the bank letter, the agent adds that they also need "a reference letter from your employer".

9. The agent explains "we would need you to give 2 weeks' notice of moving in".

10. Asked about the deposit, the agent says "that's one month's rent, whatever the amount is".

11. Mrs Sutton explains she's worried because "our daughter, Anna, isn't very well this morning", so it's Anna she needs a doctor for.

12. Mrs Smith explains family doctors "work in things called practices" — small groups of family doctors sharing a building.

13. Mrs Smith says "there are about six doctors in our practice", the Dean End centre they're registered at.

14. She adds "four in the other", meaning the South Hay practice has about four doctors.

15. South Hay's weakness is that "they don't have a proper appointment system" and patients "wait for ages", implying Dean End's system is the better, faster one by comparison.

16. Of Dean End's Dr Jones, Mrs Smith says "they say he's very good with elderly people", though he's less patient with children.

17. At South Hay, Dr Williams is recommended because "he holds special clinics for people with back trouble".

18. Mrs Smith says the health centre surgeries run "between 9 and 11.30 every weekday", so patients are seen from 9 am.

19. Free medication applies to children under 16 and, as Mrs Smith says, "the same thing goes if you're unemployed or retired, or if you're pregnant" — so unemployed people (B) and pregnant women (E).

20. Mrs Smith states "at the moment it's something like £5 per item" for prescription charges.

21. Asked about his first degree, Jonathan says "I also did Politics as a major strand" alongside Economics.

22. He says "I worked as a volunteer teacher in West Africa", giving the location of his teaching post.

23. He specifies he was there "in total from 1990 to ... 1992".

24. Asked which organisation it was with, he says "it's called Teach South".

25. Asked what kind of school it was, he simply answers "a rural co-operative".

26. He taught "with Forms 1 to 3 mainly Geography", so Geography is the main subject with the younger forms.

27. He also did "some English with Form 5", giving the form for the English teaching.

28. Explaining why he nearly left after year one, he says "I was very homesick at first and missed my family".

29. He says he chose Geography "because it is my favourite subject".

30. He adds a second reason: he thinks Geography "has so many useful applications".

31. Paula says "about a quarter of a million people are incapacitated with back pain every day", which is 250,000 — matching column A on the chart.

32. She says most patients are women, vulnerable to pregnancy but also to "osteoporosis, which I personally believe to be the major cause of problems for women".

33. She says "at our clinic we are beginning to realise the unique benefits of relaxation therapy", identifying it as the clinic's main recommended treatment.

34. She explains that unlike other injuries which "generally resolve themselves", the back's response can be counter-productive: muscles tense and "go into spasm, which causes further twisting of the spine" — more damage, option C.

35. She says "a short rest in bed can be helpful ... up to two days ... any longer" weakens the back muscles, so bed rest is advised for a maximum of two days (A).

36. She says being overweight "won't actually set it off in the first place" but "will increase the strain and make things worse" for someone who already has back pain — it worsens existing pain (B), rather than being a major cause.

37. She says orthopaedic chairs "can be useful" but stresses "the most important improvement should be in OUR posture", making them a circumstantial recommendation (B) rather than the main solution.

38. She calls the shock-absorbing shoe insert "a real find for our patients" and "a cheap but very effective solution", which is strong endorsement (A).

39. She says flat shoes "can be a solution for some", but "others find their posture suffers", making it recommended only in certain circumstances (B).

40. On the TENS machine she concludes "our experience indicates that your money is better spent on the more old-fashioned remedies", meaning it is not recommended (C).