Progress Test 1 Audio Script

Narrator: Gold Pre-First Progress Test 1. Listening

Narrator: Today’s interview

Interviewer: Today I am talking to Jane Turner, a teacher at King’s School. As well as

teaching, Jane has another job that she does at the school. So, Jane, what is

your second job?

Jane: I think it’s very interesting! I produce an online magazine for the school’s ex-

students, people who used to study at the school. It helps them keep in touch

with old friends. It also has information about things that are happening at the

school and new projects, like building a new swimming pool and things like

that.

Interviewer: How often do the students get the magazine?

Jane: We write one every six months, so that’s twice a year. At the moment we are

working on the one for December which goes out on 11th December.

Interviewer: Do you do all the work on the website yourself?

Jane: Oh no! Four of us work on it regularly, but I must say that it is getting more

and more difficult to finish the magazine on time. Luckily, we are getting two

extra people to help with the next issue.

Interviewer: Is the magazine popular?

Jane: Very. The old students love to get news about their old friends and teachers

and they send in letters about their own work and careers too. I know that the

students who are here now also like to read it, so it’s definitely very popular

indeed.
Progress Test 2 Audio Script

Narrator: Gold Pre-First Progress Test 2. Listening

Interviewer: So, Jessie, you’ve just returned from a big adventure?

Jessie: Yeah. I suppose you could call it that! It was certainly a lot different from

spending a year in the classroom!

Interviewer: It seems a strange thing to do. I mean, why did your parents suddenly decide

to take you and your brothers on a trip round the world?

Jessie: It wasn’t exactly a sudden decision, you know? They’d been planning it for

years and then it just seemed the right time. I think they wanted to give us

first-hand experience of things you can’t get from books or TV programmes.

You know – things like the amazing smells after the rains in Africa, the

incredible light you get in the desert. And the real experience of meeting and

making friends with people from different cultures. That sort of thing.

Interviewer: I see what you mean. And you chose to fly to some places, didn’t you?

Jessie: Well, dad had planned to take a camper van, but then we thought that it would

be more practical to fly between major destinations because a camper van

would take us ages to get anywhere! Then we used different kinds of public

transport. In some places it was cheap, overloaded buses and once it was

camels! Mum panicked a bit on hers, but I thought it was great fun.

Interviewer: I imagine there were a lot of highlights. Can you think of one that the whole

family liked?

Jessie: That’s a tricky one to answer. We all liked different things. For me riding an

elephant was a magical moment! I also really enjoyed finding out about local
 customs – like the Hindu festivals. Matthew – he’s a lot younger than me –

his dream was to swim with dolphins. As for Nathan – he’s only two and I

don’t know how much he’ll remember, but he absolutely loved the Chinese

New Year celebrations – with all the dragons in the streets! In fact, I think

that was a favourite with all of us. The atmosphere was electric!

Interviewer: I’m sure there were some scary moments – any particularly close shaves like

when Matthew went white-water rafting!

Jessie: Yes, that was in New Zealand. We were travelling really fast on the raft and

suddenly it tilted and Matthew fell into the water. It was terrifying. Mum was

screaming and Dad nearly jumped into the water to go after him, but the

water was so rough that we couldn’t see anything. Then we caught sight of

him in calm water ahead. He had been carried past us. Luckily he was

wearing his life jacket and wasn’t hurt. In fact he was quite thrilled by the

whole event! He tells everyone about his narrow escape now!

Interviewer: Quite a lot of people have criticised your parents for taking you out of school

for a year. What do you think was the educational value of the trip?

Jessie: I think it’s been a wonderful opportunity! Matthew and I still had classes with

my parents every week to keep up-to-date with maths and stuff. But what we

learnt during that year will definitely help us in the future and stay with us all

forever.
Progress Test 3 Audio Script

Narrator: Gold Pre-First Progress Test 3. Listening

Narrator: A.

This is an excellent documentary about popular supermarket foods and just

how good or bad they are for us. The students’ favourite, baked beans, are

unsurprisingly top of most supermarket lists. The good news is that they keep

us strong and healthy because incredibly they have more protein than a piece

of steak! And tea – the UK’s most popular drink – has health benefits too. It

can stop us going down with all sorts of bugs! Milk is good for us when

we’ve got aching muscles after exercise, and it’s OK to eat small amounts of

chocolate as part of a balanced diet because it gives us pleasure! Now that’s

what I like to hear! Sunday evening at 8.30, Channel 11.

Narrator: B.

Ever wondered what you’d do if someone had a heart attack? A new

programme on Channel 8 is all about easy first aid. Like giving chest

compressions to the regular beat of a song – the one they choose is the Bee

Gees’ hit, Staying Alive! We learn all about when we need to call a doctor or

an ambulance. Also it tells us when we can give ourselves simple treatment,

like taking painkillers, cough medicine or putting a plaster on a cut. Our

emergency services are great, but they’re overstretched. We need to know

what to do if we’ve picked up a stomach bug or caught a bad cold or even got

a minor injury – like twisting an ankle playing football. And we certainly

don’t need to go to accident and emergency if we’ve got a blocked nose!

Watch the programme. We’ll all learn something from it.

I know how important it is to do regular exercise, but I don’t spend hours

working out at the gym – simply because I don’t have the hours to do that!

So, I love this new series that encourages people to do exercise, keep fit and

improve life expectancy without getting obsessed by it. The programme gives

us tips on how normal everyday activities can keep our bodies in good shape.

Taking the stairs instead of the lift or escalators in the shopping centre,

running upstairs in our homes rather than walking are just two easy things we

can do. There are many more ideas on the programme. Don’t miss it.
Progress Test 4 Audio Script

Narrator: Gold Pre-First Progress Test 4. Listening

Narrator: One.

Well, my uncle had one years ago, but the engines were really basic and they

weren’t very comfortable. It didn’t stop them from becoming an icon, did it?

The new model is great and I like the way it has kept the fun of the original

while bringing it entirely up-to-date. There are comfortable leather seats and

loads of options that you can add. I just don’t understand why someone would

want to drive around in the original model – they must enjoy being

uncomfortable, or maybe it takes them back to when they were young.

Narrator: Two.

Let’s have a look, shall we? How much did you say you paid for them? Forty

euros? Oh dear, well, they can’t possibly be real at that price. Look at the

quality – it simply isn’t there. There’s no real protection for your eyes.

They’re just cheap plastic fakes. I know you’re probably quite happy with

them, because they look like the real thing, but it makes me really cross. The

people who sell these shouldn’t pretend that they’re something they aren’t.

Narrator: Three.

We had a really brilliant time, we dressed up in seventies clothes and danced

to music from that period. It was great. I found a lovely, old, green, velvet

evening dress that my mum had bought in France. Once upon a time, it was

the height of fashion. I wore a pair of ridiculous-looking shoes in rainbow

colours with stupidly high heels! Being fashionable must have been lots of

fun back then and I think people were more adventurous. Nowadays,
 everyone is scared of looking different. It’s a shame. I think that people knew

how to have fun and life was a lot simpler in the seventies!

Narrator: Four.

I’m into gaming and I spend a lot of my time playing online. My favourite

game is The Sword of Evil. When I first started playing at school years ago,

the expressions of the characters were artificial and their movements were

very unnatural, but my friends and I had a great time playing it. I was really

looking forward to the latest version, and it’s true that the characters on the

screen are, you know, virtual. They look very realistic, and their expressions

are so convincing too, just like real actors. The sad thing, though, is that it just

can’t recreate the excitement I felt when I first played ten years ago. I must be

getting old!

Narrator: Five.

Usually I really hate the fashion for reality programmes like this. Everything

is done for the cameras, and you get all these awful people who are only

interested in becoming famous, you know becoming a celebrity – even

though they have no talent for anything. It is hard to believe some of the

things they do just to get noticed. It’s pathetic. I don’t know why people are

so addicted to shows like this. But anyway, as I was saying, this one I saw

was actually quite good. In the show, they made a typical family live the way

people used to live a hundred years ago. It was interesting to see how they

coped – life must have been so much harder in those days.

Narrator: Gold Pre-First Exit Test. Listening

Interviewer: This week we are interviewing famous people about their jobs. Our guest

today is Jenny Gardener, a well-known actress. Jenny has appeared in many

films and we see her very often in a popular soap opera! I imagine you must

be very busy these days, Jenny.

Jenny: Yes. Filming for Three Bridges is a full-time job! But it’s great to have the

chance to come on the programme.

Interviewer: So, do you think you were well prepared for a career in acting?

Jenny: I think it’s difficult to be prepared for any job really! Your working life is so

different from school or college – it’s a real shock to the system! You go from

having very few responsibilities to a life which is well organised and people

have more expectations of you. Most people have a fixed day and they have

to be punctual – you can’t just have a lie-in when you feel like it!

I knew quite a bit about acting before I started ’cos my dad is an actor, so I’d

been to some of his rehearsals and knew about the hard work acting involves.

People think it’s a glamorous job and, yes, it’s fun to dress up and put on

make-up and of course getting out on stage is great – but it’s very hard too. At

school we had this scheme where students in their last year spent two weeks

getting work experience in a real work environment. One of my friends

wanted to be a primary school teacher and she spent two weeks helping in a

class of nine-year-olds. Another wanted to work in the media and so worked

in a newspaper office. During my work experience I got to spend time in a

theatre. It’s an excellent system because you get to see what the reality of the
 job is – the practical side. I was lucky ’cos the actors were putting on a

production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and I spent two weeks with

them while they were getting ready to perform. I helped out a lot backstage! I

learnt all about how they built the set and how the costumes were made, but

the most thrilling part was working with the lighting – that was new for me.

I spent three years at a drama school which I’m very glad to have done. But

after all that, my first job wasn’t very glamorous at all! I had hoped to be

given a part in a film, but instead it was a small part in a TV commercial, not

for anything nice like chocolate, but cheese! I was working on a farm and

they filmed me walking across a muddy field to feed the cows. Oh, and I was

singing a silly song at the same time. That was back in 2009. Since then I’ve

been lucky and had better opportunities! And 2012 was an especially good

year for me.

Interviewer: As we all know! Tell me, Jenny . . .