Cambridge 5 Listening Test 2 - Answers With Explanation

1. "You'll also need to bring two passport photos with you."

2. "Shall I bring a bank statement, would that do?" "That'll be fine."

3. "It's free for students here but otherwise it's £125 per year."

4. Members of the public can borrow twelve items if a student, but "it's only eight items for members of the public."

5. "The minimum fine is £1.50 but it can be much higher for some items — up to £5 per week."

6. "The earliest you can book a computer is forty-eight hours before you need it."

7. "We've also got all the local papers and a wide selection of magazines."

8. "You can get a card from the counter here — it doesn't take coins."

9. "You'll have to speak to John Grantingham about that. He's our resident author" — spelled "G-R-A-N-T-I-N-G-H-A-M."

10. "He's here on Thursday evenings, oh no sorry, Friday — he's just changed it."

11. "I decided to join a voluntary organisation and was sent to Ecuador to carry out land surveys" — Dan went as a voluntary worker, C.

12. "Having a bike meant he could get where he wanted to go without much trouble", while equally skilled carpenters without one "could never do as many jobs" — he could reach customers easily, C.

13. "In order to continue operating we need to have a constant supply of bikes which we send out every six months" — relying on a steady bicycle supply, A.

14. "The local economy has developed so much, you wouldn't recognise it as the same place" — a total transformation, C.

15. In August 2000 the charity "had containers of bikes ready to send, but no money to pay the bills" — sending was delayed, B.

16. "We invested fifteen of the seventy-five-thousand-pound prize money to help secure our future."

17. "We're currently looking to invest in computers so that our office staff can do an even better job."

18-20. The charity welcomes donated "tools, which are expensive to buy" (C), suggestions for "activities you could organise to bring in funds" (E), and tips on "other places that would benefit from receiving a consignment of bikes" (F) — not bike repair, office volunteering, or writing to government.

21. "I also enjoyed visiting one of the British students we filmed. I'd never been inside a British home before."

22. "I've invited three of them to have dinner with me next week."

23. "I also learned some technical words that I hadn't heard before."

24. The British students "speak at natural speed... and they use a lot of slang."

25. "I really learned a lot about working together with other people... we had to find ways of cooperating."

26. "...and compromising, and sometimes persuading people, when they don't agree with you."

27. "I think I learnt a lot about how important editing is."

28. "We didn't decide on dates when we'd complete each separate step of the project."

29. "I think we should have tried to experiment more with the camera. I mean with angles, and the focus."

30. "We tried to do too much, to make a long film. Next time I would make a shorter one."

31. Antarctica is "over fifty-eight times the size of the UK."

32. With "very low snowfall, most of the continent technically falls unbelievably into the category of 'desert'."

33. "Science and technical support have been integrated in a very cost-effective way" at the research stations.

34. Stations have "a kitchen with a huge food store, a small hospital and a well-equipped gym."

35. "Supplies were brought to us on large sledges from a ship fifteen kilometres away at the ice edge."

36. To solve snow build-up, "the buildings are placed on platforms which can be raised above the changing snow level."

37. Against 1,700 kilocalories for a UK adult, "someone in Antarctica will need about 3,500" — just over double.

38. Ice-cap changes "may have profound effects on world sea levels and on ocean currents."

39. Ice bubbles "provide an index of pollution because frozen inside them are samples of previous atmospheres."

40. "There are an increasing number of opportunities for young people to work for a period in Antarctica."