Cambridge 7 Listening Test 4 - Answers With Explanation

1. Asked for her first name, Keiko spells it out: "It's Keiko. K-E-I-K-O."

2. Checking her passport, the officer reads back the number: "your passport number is JO 6337."

3. Asked how long she plans to stay, Keiko says "About four months... longer if I like it."

4. She explains she has enrolled in "Advanced English Studies" because she needs help with her writing.

5. On family preferences, Keiko says she'd rather live with "someone around my age" than with young children.

6. As a vet, pets are no problem for Keiko, who tells the officer "the more the better."

7. Though she doesn't eat much meat, Keiko says "I really like seafood."

8. After giving up handball, she now plays "tennis on the weekend with my friends."

9. Asked about transport, Keiko says she likes catching the train because "they are much faster."

10. The officer promises to check her records and "give you details this afternoon."

11. Sally hopes everyone is wearing "comfortable shoes" and can "keep up the pace," confirming this is a walking tour (C).

12. Sally explains the site was cleared of derelict buildings that were originally "warehouses and storehouses" (B).

13. Rather than housing or an indoor sports complex, local residents "wanted open space for outdoor activities" (A).

14. The Tower, a tall blue-and-white building, "is the centre point for the formal gardens" (B).

15. Looking down from the Tower near the Olympic site's train lines and station, Sally notes "there is also a car park."

16. To the west, visitors can "sit on a bench to smell the flowers in the rose garden."

17. Looking north through the trees on the island, "you can see the café," with its views across the water.

18. Despite the plant life, the Mangroves boardwalk is "more often used for cycling" by local clubs.

19. The outdoor classroom by the Frog Pond is used by primary schools "for biology lessons."

20. At the Waterbird Refuge, "the park's viewing shelter is a favourite spot for bird watchers."

21. Trevor confirms the format leaves "five minutes for questions" after each fifteen-minute talk.

22. Asked if the presentation will be assessed, Julie says "No... not this time round."

23. Trevor insists they must cover "the geographical location," since not many people know where the islands are (A).

24. Trevor puts off a decision on the economy, telling Julie "let's think about that one later shall we?" (B).

25. The pair agree to include a "general overview of education" in the presentation (A).

26. Julie points out that the role of English "goes in the Language Policy Seminar" instead, so it's dropped (C).

27. For the overhead projector, Trevor says "we'll get that from the media room."

28. The map of West Africa is no problem, since "there's one in the Resources Room."

29. For literacy figures, Julie suggests "why don't we call the embassy?"

30. They agree they can get statistics on school places "from them as well" — the embassy.

31. The lecturer says the real focus today is "more importantly, how does it enhance the flavour of food?" (B).

32. In 1908, the flavour-boosting ingredient in kombu "was actually discovered to be glutamate by scientists" (C).

33. In 1956 the extraction process sped up and "industrial production increased dramatically" (A).

34. MSG is made up of glutamate, sodium, and "nine point six per cent water."

35–36. Glutamate occurs naturally in protein-containing foods, "such as meat and cheese."

37. In 1908, Kikunae Ikeda identified what the lecturer calls a "fifth 'taste.'"

38. Detecting glutamate makes evolutionary sense because it's "the amino acid which is most common in natural foods."

39. John Prescott suggests that "bitterness... alerts us of toxins in the food."

40. Saltiness, he explains, "signals the presence of minerals."