Listening Practice for CPE Part 3 Type Questions

Look at the following phrases or word which are used in the listening you are going to be tested on. If you like you can scroll down to do the test first, and see how you do before yoy look at these phrases/words. Then go through the phrases/words below and gp through the interactive listening transcript further below. Then you can see how you do the second time round.

to honour a promise/ contract/ agreement etc…

to do what you have agreed to do

Examples from Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English:

Once again, the government has failed to honour its promises.

We pray that both sides will continue to honour their commitment to the peace agreement.

in somebody’s name/in the name of somebody

if something is in someone’s name, it officially belongs to them or is for them to use

The house is in my husband’s name.

I’ve booked a table in the name of Steinmann.

Entry (in a competition)

something that you write, make, do etc in order to try and win a competition

The winning entry will be published in our April issue.

What’s the closing date for entries.

submit /səbˈmɪt/ verb [transitive] (submitted, submitting)

submit

to give a plan, piece of writing etc to someone in authority for them to consider or approve

submit a/an application/claim/proposal/competition entry. etc

All applications must be submitted by Monday.

inevitable /ɪˈnevətəbəl/ adjective

inevitable

certain to happen and impossible to avoid

A further escalation of the crisis now seems inevitable

point-blank adverb

Point-Blank

if you say or refuse something point-blank, you do it directly and without trying to explain your reasons

He refused point-blank to identify his accomplices.

told him point-blank that I didn’t want to get involved.

not the faintest/slightest chance/doubt/difference etc

no chance, doubt, idea etc at all

I didn’t have the slightest idea who that man was.

I don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talking about.

evade /ɪˈveɪd/ verb [transitive]

to not do or deal with something that you should do

You can’t go on evading your responsibilities in this way.

You’re simply trying to evade the problem.

cost somebody their job/life/marriage etc

when something makes you lose your job etc

Joe’s brave action cost him his life.

His strong stand on the issue could have cost him his job.

Bad management could be costing this club a chance at the title.

not have a leg to stand on

informal to be in a situation where you cannot prove or legally support what you say

If you didn’t sign a contract, you won’t have a leg to stand on.

draw up phrasal verb

draw something ↔ up to prepare a written document, such as a list or contract

Draw up a list of all the things you want to do.

erstwhile /ˈɜːstwaɪl/ adjective [only before noun]

erstwhile

formal former, or in the past

She found herself ostracized by erstwhile friends.

blacklist /ˈblæklɪst/ noun [countable]

blacklist

a list of people, countries, products etc that are disapproved of, and should therefore be avoided or punished

Friends of the Earth have produced a blacklist of environmentally damaging products.

spell noun /spel/ [countable]

spell

a period of a particular kind of activity, weather, illness etc, usually a short period

After a brief spell in the army, I returned to teaching.

spell of

a spell of bad luck

cold/wet/dry/dizzy/winning/winless spell

Water the young plants carefully during dry spells.

He began to suffer from dizzy spells.

reputable /ˈrepjətəbəl/ adjective

reputable

respected for being honest or for doing good work SYN reliable OPP disreputable

reputable firm/company

If you have a burglar alarm fitted, make sure it is done by a reputable company.

contemplate /ˈkɒntəmpleɪt $ ˈkɑːn-/ verb

contemplate

[transitive] to think about something that you might do in the future SYN consider

He had even contemplated suicide.

contemplate doing something

Did you ever contemplate resigning?

mainstream /ˈmeɪnstriːm/ adjective [only before noun]

mainstream

accepted by or involving most people in a society

Deaf children can often be included in mainstream education.

the mainstream political parties

phoney (also phony American English) /ˈfəʊni $ ˈfoʊ-/ adjective informal

phoney

false or not real, and intended to deceive someone SYN fake

a phoney American accent

estimate /ˈestɪmeɪt/ verb [transitive]

estimate

to try to judge the value, size, speed, cost etc of something, without calculating it exactly

be estimated to be/have/cost etc

The tree is estimated to be at least 700 years old.

estimate something at something

Organizers estimated the crowd at 50,000.

[plural] a good reason for doing, believing, or saying something

Grounds Noun [plural]

a good reason for doing, believing, or saying something

grounds for (doing/saying/believing) something

Mental cruelty can be grounds for divorce.

have grounds to do something

Did the police have reasonable grounds to arrest him?

abide by something phrasal verb

to accept and obey a decision, rule, agreement etc, even though you may not agree with it

You have to abide by the referee’s decision.

You can now go through the listening with the interactive transcript below (SCROLL DOWN TO PAUSE, STOP or RE-PLAY):

Cambridge Proficiency Listening Test 2 Part 3

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You will hear part of a radio phone-in programme about consumer competitions that appear in magazines or are run by shops, in which advice is given to people who regularly enter them. For each question, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what you hear.

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Your answers are highlighted below.

Question 1

Diana has phoned because she

A	feels that she is the victim of an injustice.
B	is reluctant to consult a lawyer yet.
C	fears she misunderstood an agreement she made.
D	wants to avoid falling out with her best friend.

Question 1 Explanation:

Diana clearly feels that her friend should have honoured the agreement that they made and that her refusal to give Diana the washing machine is not fair to Diana. Her friend has broken the agreement, by which Diana used her name in order to put two entries into the competition (one with her name on it, the other with her friend's name on it) and her friend agreed to give Diana the prize if the entry with her name on it won. Diana feels that this is wrong and unfair to her. She wonders too whether it may be legally wrong and whether consulting a lawyer would result in her getting what she regards as fair treatment.

Question 2

Kathy tells Diana that

A	her problem is a rather unusual one.
B	she should have been more careful when dealing with her friend.
C	it is unfortunate that her friend has the attitude that she has.
D	she would regret taking legal action.

Question 2 Explanation:

Kathy says that if she went to a lawyer, she wouldn't have even the faintest chance of forcing her friend to give her the prize and that legally she doesn't have a leg to stand on (she is completely in the wrong, there is nothing at all to support her case). She says that the law would take a very dim view (disapprove very strongly) of her situation because she has tried to evade the rules (break them by doing something that does not conform with the official requirements) of the competition and in doing so she has acted with premeditated fraudulent intent (these are legal terms meaning 'the crime of deliberate, planned in advance intention to cheat for financial or material gain'). In other words, she could get into trouble if she took legal action because she has herself done something illegal.

Question 3

What does Kathy tell Ron about using different names when entering competitions?

A	People who do so are regularly caught out.
B	It may affect the quality of a competitor's entries.
C	There are rarely occasions when it might be justified.
D	It is unusual for competitors to decide to do so.

Question 3 Explanation:

Ron asks whether people who run competitions keep a blacklist (a list of people not allowed to do something, that is kept by an organization) containing the names of people who often win competitions and who the organization will not allow to win any more competitions. He wonders whether, if they do keep such lists, people like him should use aliases (false names) when entering competitions. Kathy says that it is natural for people who often win competitions but then go through a period of not winning any to get paranoid (wrongly believing that they are being intentionally badly treated) and suspect that such lists exist. However, she says that no reputable (respected, considered honourable) firm would even contemplate (consider) such a measure (action). The only exception to this is competitions run by shops, where there is a faint (very small) risk of the manager of a particular shop deciding to deliberately disregard (intentionally ignore) an entry from someone who he knows often wins competitions. But in mainstream (conventional, available to people in general) competitions, she says such worries (that blacklists are kept) are groundless (without foundation, not based on good reasons), and there is no reason for someone to use false names when entering them. In other words, she is saying that it is rare for the organizers of a competition to have a blacklist and therefore it is rare for the idea of using an alias to be logical.

Question 4

What has led Stan to phone in?

A	an inadequate response to a complaint he has made
B	a feeling of confusion as to the rules of a competition
C	a belief that he has been sent inaccurate information
D	a desire for more openness about the results of competitions

Question 4 Explanation:

Stan knows his answer was correct, but the answer sent to him by the organizers when he sent for it (wrote to them and asked for it) was completely different from his and therefore wrong. He has phoned to ask whether he has grounds (good reasons) to make a formal objection (complain formally).

Question 5

What does Kathy tell Stan about the competition he entered?

A	Some of the phrasing of the instructions is ambiguous.
B	The rules allow for results that may appear unfair.
C	A deliberate attempt has been made to mislead competitors.
D	It is the sort of competition that it is best not to enter.

Question 5 Explanation:

Kathy says that in this competition, the key (most important) word is 'estimate' because people have been asked to give an approximate figure not an accurate one. She says that it is therefore likely that the answer given by the people running the competition is also a guess, not an accurate figure. Their answer is therefore factually incorrect, but it has to be accepted as the right answer because the rules of the competition state that 'the judges' decision is final' (it cannot be disputed). People entering the competition have agree to abide by (accept and obey) the rules and so they have to accept the answer given, even if it is wrong, as it is in this case. Her point therefore is that, although it might seem unfair that a wrong answer has to be accepted as right and therefore a correct answer does not win, this situation is covered by the rules and no rules have been broken.

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