Practice Test 55
In the Listening Test 55, you will hear 4 audio recordings and answer questions 1-40 based on them.
Section 1 is a conversation between a travel agent and a customer discussing a holiday.
Section 2 is a man giving an orientation talk to new holidaymakers at the Solaris Hotel and Holiday Village.
Section 3 is a presentation by 2 students giving a seminar to a group at their university.
Section 4 is a lecture on Mad Cow Disease.
Section 1
Questions 1-10
Questions 1-5
Complete the Travel agent’s notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER for each answer.
SUN TOURS TRAVEL AGENTS
Example Answer
Number of people 4
Customer’s Name: Mr. George Collins
Other travelers: Mrs. Jane Collins
(+ ages of children)
1_______ 7 years old
Jennifer 2
_________
Require: 4-star quality hotel + breakfast; safe, warm, quiet, beach; pref. pool; lots of restaurants near the hotel no 3_______________needed
Dates of Holiday: Friday, July 8th TO 4_________Sunday
Pref. Flight Time: Less than 5________________
Questions 6-10
Complete George’s notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer
Possible Holiday Ideas
Top End Prices Italy and France
Bottom End Prices 6__________, Greece and Turkey (Turkey + Cyprus too far)
Crete
Hotel Tropicana
1-mile safe walk on 7______________to beach.
Nice pool; only a few beach bars and restaurants.
Really quiet; not near other tourist destinations.
Palm Hotel
2 miles from the beach but has 8_________________service.
Hotel is quite a busy tourist town: lots of bars, restaurants and discos.
Rhodes
Ocean Hotel
Right on the beach; less than 9…………………………….. from the rooms.
4-star hotel quite far from the main town; eat-in hotel; good meals.
Hotel Spiros
10___________ hotel quite a dose to the beach (5/10 mins walk) in a small village with a small swimming pool.
A few restaurants in a small, quiet village; not much to do.
Section 2
Questions 11-20
Questions 11-15
Complete the food options information sheet below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Solaris Hotel and Holiday Village-Food Options
Meal Times
Breakfast: 6.30 am and 9.30 am every day (Only in Harvest restaurant; English, American an 11____________breakfasts on offer
Lunch 12.00 noon to 2.30 pm
Dinner 7.00 pm to 10.30 pm
Menus same for lunch + dinner: see 12_______________for specials
Food Styles
The Harvest Restaurant Traditional English + popular UK foreign dishes (eg: curry and spaghetti)
The Dene Restaurant 13____________________
The Mekong Restaurant Far Eastern Cuisine
Payment
All restaurants free; 14_________________needed for some specials
All soft drinks free; pay for alcoholic drinks
Pay any bill at the end of meals or put on the main bill – pay at end of holiday
Extras
Bar menu available in 15_______________for pub food
Fast Food available until 2.30 am at the takeaway
Questions 16-20
Complete the activities information sheet below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Solaris Hotel and Holiday Village – Activities
Beaches:
main beach
adult beach (17s or over)
16__________________on duty from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm on the main beach (none on the adult beach)
Decked area with sun loungers in front of Harvest Restaurant with our 25-meter swimming pool
Steps from the pool area to beach – wash feet in foot pool to remove sand
17___________________on beach + in the pool area.
Sports
8 tennis courts + 3 squash courts
Fully equipped gym (No under 18s)
6 full-sized snooker tables + 5 pool tables in the games room adjoining the bar.
(the only charge for hiring any equipment)
Water Sports
water skiing + jet skis available (extra charge)
snorkeling, inflatables, and pedals (free)
(details from 18_________________)
Library & Cinemas
The library contains books, magazines + newspapers. See 19_________________for terms + conditions
2 cinemas show 3 different films every day.
Shows at 2.00 pm, 5.30 pm + 8.30 pm (First 2 shows always have a film for kids)
20____________________not allowed attending 8.30 shows
Section 3
Questions 21-30
Questions 21-26
Complete the three tables below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
World’s Most Spoken Languages by Number of Individual Speakers
| Rank | Language | No. of Speakers |
| 1 | Mandarin Chinese | 836 million |
| 2 | 21_________ | 333 million |
| 3 | Spanish | 332 million |
| 4 | English | 22____________ |
World’s Most Spoken Languages by Number of User Countries
| Rank | Language | No. of Countries |
| 1 | English | 115 |
| 2 | French | 35 |
| 3 | 23___________ | 24 |
| 4 | Spanish | 24___________ |
World’s Most Influential Languages – 6 weighing factors
Number of primary speakers
The number of 25_______________
Number and population of countries where languages are used
Number of major fields using the language internationally
26_________________of countries using the language
Socio-literary prestige of the language
Questions 27-30
Complete the notes below of the second half of Jamie and Rebecca’s presentation.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Jamie and Rebecca’s Presentation
Large countries currently shifting the world’s economic balance of power:
China
Russia
India
27__________________
Reasons for the shift size of the populations
cheap labour
prices of 28______________
Big growing demand for people knowing languages of above countries + for teachers and English language training
China could be less important than possibly India or 29______________due to their population increase. English will probably remain important though
The number of spoken languages between approx. 30_________________Hardly any of these studied by non-native speakers.
English taught in most countries with a structured education program. This trend is getting stronger.
Section 4
Questions 31-40
Questions 31-35
Complete the sentences below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
31 Mad cow disease attacks the_____________of the affected cows’ brains.
32 BSE is thought to be caused by infectious forms of ________________known as prions.
33 Abnormal prions in BSE infected cattle are found in the small intestines, ______________ and the central nervous tissues.
34 Humans can take in the abnormal prions when they eat infected beef as the prions are resistant to the usual________________ such as heat.
35 The one American case of CJD was a woman who caught it in________________before going to the US.
Questions 36-40
Complete the summary below of the second half of the humanities lecture on BSE.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
SUMMARY
CJD causes gradual loss of mental function and movement due to brain damage from abnormal prions or it can be possible 36__________________CJD usually affects younger people (between ages 20 to 70) usually showing symptoms In patients’ 37___________. Symptoms include personality changes and problems with 38_____________ Once symptoms appear, the disorder progresses quickly to disability and death.
The exact causes of 8SE are unknown but the first UK cases have indicated that it could come from a prion disease in 39_____________called scrapie that was fed to cattle. Dead cattle with scrapie were then fed to 40_______________making them cannibals. So, we are in turn infected by the disease that we created when we eat infected beef.