A sample Listening paper, including tapescript and suggested answers, is given on the following pages. The audio recording for the sample paper can be found on the CD which accompanies this Handbook.
Situation
You are going to hear a recording divided into three parts. Each part deals with a different topic.
The first part is a webcast on English language learning. The second is a radio chat show in which participants discuss the issue of spoiled children. The last part is a talk by a British writer living in America about differences between American and British English. Before each part begins, you will be given time to go through the questions and think about the topics. When the recording finishes, you will have 10 minutes to complete the last part of the test and to tidy up your answers.
In the recording, pauses are included before and after certain questions to allow you to read the upcoming questions, or to complete your answers before you continue. Please follow carefully the instructions in the Question-Answer Book and in this recording.
You are expected to write your answers while you listen, and there is no need to take notes for most questions. Any notes that you do write will not be marked. Please also be aware that some questions may have a word limit.
Your answers to the questions must be drawn from the recording and can be expressed in your own words or in the words used in the recording. When writing, please use a pencil. Complete sentences are not required, but the answers you provide should be full, in English, and coherent enough for the assessor to understand.
Listen to the recording and write your answers to the questions in the Question–Answer Book.
Where there are tables, you should fill in the missing information.
You now have 5 minutes to read through the questions to gain a general idea about the topics that the recording covers.
[5-minute pause]
English. The first voice you hear is that of Colin.
1. What aspects of William Shakespeare does Colin say the programme will be focusing on?
(2 marks)
(a) and (b)
2. One of Colin’s guests is Nina Murphy. What will she be doing for the listeners during the webcast?
(1 mark)
3. Colin’s other guest is the actor David Trent. Complete the table below which gives details of the productions that David is acting in at the moment.
(3 marks)
Title of production Type of production
Death of a Salesman (a)
(b) TV series
(c) Movie
4. According to David, why do actors call one of Shakespeare’s plays, ‘the Scottish play’?
(1 mark)
45 5. What can listeners vote on during the webcast?
(1 mark)
6. According to David, what three kinds of plays did Shakespeare write?
(3 marks)
(a) (b) (c)
7. According to Nina, who paid for the construction of the Globe Theatre?
(1 mark)
8. What happened at the Globe Theatre in 1613? Blacken one circle to indicate your answer.
(1 mark)
A. It became the leading theatre in London.
B. King Henry VIII went to the theatre.
A B C D
C. A cannon blew off the roof.
D. The theatre burnt down.
PAUSE
9. David describes a special effects sequence. What went wrong with it? Blacken one circle to indicate your answer.
(1 mark)
A. Some terrorists blew up the set.
B. The director got shot.
A B C D
C. The producer’s car was destroyed.
D. The computer effects did not work.
10. David gives two examples of metaphors used by Shakespeare. Name the two plays which the metaphors he mentions come from.
(2 marks)
(a) (b)
11. Write two metaphors from everyday life that Nina mentions.
(2 marks)
47 Part 2 Are we Spoiling our Children?
What follows is part of a radio chat show. Mark Rollinson and his guests discuss the issue of whether we are spoiling our children. As well as the guests in the studio, there will be other people phoning in to give their opinions. The first voice you will hear is that of Mark.
12. Mark introduces his two guests for the show. Complete the missing information.
(4 marks)
Dr Wong Chi-kung is (a) in
(b) at the University of Kowloon.
Nancy Fletcher is (c) of the group
(d) .
13. Why, according to Nancy, are some children self-absorbed and selfish?
(1 mark)
14. What does Nancy do which might make people think she is a ‘crazy woman’?
(1 mark)
15. The speakers talk about the role that domestic helpers play in the raising of children.
Complete the table below which summarises their views.
(6 marks)
Mark (a) His wife thinks that helpers should
Nancy (b) Some helpers tend to
(c) even though
Dr Wong (d) Parents believe that because they
(e) the helper should
(f) He agrees with Nancy that parents should tell their helper to
49 PAUSE
16. Blacken one circle to indicate your answer. Dr Wong believes that the problem of spoilt children is worse now than when he was a child because parents nowadays
(1 mark)
A. work harder.
B. have more time.
A B C D
C. don’t care about their children.
D. have more money.
17. Complete the following sentence.
(2 marks)
According to Nancy, child psychologists believe that parents and children should
(a) and that the children should be
given an increasing amount of (b) as they get older.
18. Explain Nancy’s use of the term ‘cold turkey’ in this context.
(2 marks)
19. According to Dr Wong, being spoiled as a child can lead to problems in adult life. What are the two problems he identifies?
(2 marks) (a)
(b)
20. The participants discuss rewarding children. Complete the summary of their discussion below.
Use ONE WORD only in each space.
(5 marks)
Nancy believes that children should (a) any rewards that they get for doing work, though she herself was not rewarded for doing school work, only
for doing (b) . She gives her son money so as to
(c) him.
Dr Wong thinks that parents in Hong Kong do not pay their children for
(d) learning, as they already have enough money. Instead,
they prefer to give them a (e) .
21. A caller to the programme, Janet, expresses the view that in western countries there are similar problems with children. Complete the following flow-chart which illustrates her views.
(3 marks)
In western countries, children don’t
play outside any more
because (a)
Therefore, they don’t
(b) with other children
and learn how to (c)
51
22. What is Janet’s view of child safety in western countries? Blacken one circle to indicate your answer.
(1 mark)
A. There are bad men on every corner.
B. More children are taken away than were in the past.
A B C D
C. The press exaggerates the problem.
D. The parks are the most dangerous places.
23. Dr Wong uses three verbs that have the pre-fix ‘over’ when describing the safety of children in Hong Kong. Complete each of these verbs to match with a corresponding noun as used by Dr Wong.
(3 marks)
(a) over risks
(b) over children
(c) over dangers
24. What are the participants’ views on rewarding children for academic success? Blacken one circle for each participant to indicate their views.
(3 marks)
Agree Disagree
(a) Janet:
(b) Nancy:
(c) Mark:
PAUSE
25. (a) Another caller to the show, Lucy, makes a point about how children in Hong Kong are spoiled. What is her point?
(1 mark)
(b) What is Mark’s response to Lucy’s point? (1 mark)
26. According to Dr Wong, what do the following two groups feel about children being independent?
(4 marks)
Children (a) They (b) but
Parents (c) They (d) because
53 Part 3 Whose English?
In the last part of the test, Richard Crane, a British writer and broadcaster who lived in America for many years, talks about differences between British and American English.
27. Why were Richard and others in Britain shocked when they first watched Hollywood films?
(1 mark)
28. Why, according to Richard, did the Englishmen who settled in America have to develop new words?
(1 mark)
29. Richard mentions a number of languages that have influenced American English. Write three of the languages he mentions.
(2 marks)
30. What does Richard’s friend say is the reason that British and American English are ‘practically indistinguishable’?
(1 mark)
31. Explain why Richard was convinced that the writer of a story about wine in the New Yorker magazine must have been British.
(1 mark)
32. (a) If an American says that a book has ‘bombed’, what does he/she mean?
(1 mark)
(b) What did Richard’s daughter mean when she said ‘Daddy, your book is a bomb’?
(1 mark)
End of paper
55 Sample Listening Paper – Tapescript
Announcer: Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers English Language Listening test Situation: You are going to hear a recording divided into three parts. Each part deals with a different topic. The first part is a webcast on English language learning. The second is a radio chat show in which participants discuss the issue of spoiled children. The last part is a talk by a British writer living in America about differences between American and British English. Before each part begins, you will be given time to go through the questions and think about the topics. When the recording finishes, you will have 10 minutes to complete the last part of the test and to tidy up your answers.
In the recording, pauses are included before and after certain questions to allow you to read the upcoming questions, or to complete your answers before you continue. Please follow carefully the instructions in the Question-Answer Book and in this recording.
Please note that you are expected to write your answers while you listen, and there is no need to take notes for most questions. Any notes that you do write will not be marked. Please also note that some questions may have a word limit.
Your answers to the questions must be drawn from the recording and can be expressed in your own words or in the words used in the recording. When writing, please use a pencil. Complete sentences are not required, but the answers you provide should be full, in English, and coherent enough for the assessor to understand.
Listen to the recording and write your answers to the questions in the Question–
Answer Book. Where there are tables, you should fill in the missing information.
You now have 5 minutes to read through the questions to gain a general idea about the topics that the recording covers.
[Pause 5 minutes]
Announcer: Part 1
In the webcast to follow, Colin Richardson and his guests talk about different aspects of learning English. The first voice you hear is that of Colin.
Please take a minute now to study questions 1 to 11. The webcast will begin after 60 seconds.
[Pause 60 seconds]
Colin Hello, I'm Colin Richardson and this is the Learn English With Us webcast coming live from London.
In the programme today English language and literature. We hear about William Shakespeare, his theatre and his language. And we'll also be answering some of your questions about English.
Joining me today, our guests are Nina Murphy, who'll be looking at some of the language used by Shakespeare, and also answering some of your questions on the English language, hello Nina.
Nina Hello Colin, it’s great to be here.
Colin And also joining us is actor, David Trent.
David Hello.
Colin Thanks for coming in David and taking time out from what must be a very busy schedule. You’re currently playing in the West End production of the play, Death of a Salesman and I believe you have a new series of your popular detective series, Hard Evidence, starting soon on TV?
David That’s right Colin, and I’ve just signed a contract to appear in a remake of the movie Summer Holiday. Filming starts in April in France.
Colin So you are busy.
So listeners, If you would like to ask David a question about being an actor, or if you would like to talk to us about your experiences of acting or Shakespeare then send us an email to questions@learnenglish.co.uk.
And David, you have the question for this week's competition.
David This is a question about Shakespeare and superstition – for actors in the theatre it is said to be bad luck to say the name of this play. It is usually called the Scottish Play instead. What is this play?
Colin You will hear the answer later in the programme. And when you think you know the answer send it to us at questions@learnenglish.co.uk. David will pick out the winner at the end of the programme.
We're also running a vote during this webcast. How would you prefer to experience a Shakespeare play – by reading it, by seeing a play, by seeing a film or not at all! Vote now on the website and we'll give you the result also at the end of the programme.
David, just how important is Shakespeare to English literature?
David Shakespeare is regarded as perhaps the greatest English writer ever. He was as popular in his lifetime as after and he has had a huge influence on the English language. He lived from 1564 – 1616. He wrote about 38 plays – comedies, tragedies and histories, also a large number of sonnets …
Colin What’s a sonnet, David?
57
David A sonnet is a kind of poem with a particular structure – 14 lines and a fixed rhyme scheme.
Colin I see, so he was playwright and a poet.
Now … in London Shakespeare was closely associated with the Globe Theatre. Nina, you’ve been doing some research into the history of the theatre. When was it built and what happened to it in 1613?
Nina Well it was built in 1599 and Shakespeare and a group of actors put the money together to build the theatre. It was the first time ever in England actors had paid to build a theatre. So that was very special. And it became the number one theatre in London and certainly the number one venue for Shakespeare's plays until 1613.
And in 1613 they put on a play about Henry VIII and they had a cannon effect to announce the arrival of the king on stage. But it was a special effect that went badly wrong because a spark from the cannon flew up and hit the roof which is made of thatch. It caught fire and the theatre burnt to the ground during a performance.
Colin So the Globe was destroyed by fire in 1613 after a special effect went wrong and set fire to the thatch roof – thatch is a kind of dried grass that was used for roofs in those days – and in fact can still be seen in some parts of the country – David have you ever experienced any special effects going wrong (or other mishaps?)
David Well, one time we were filming a complicated action sequence in which a car was supposed to explode because some terrorists had planted a bomb underneath it. We filmed it at the studio in Hollywood, where they have very large sets with a lot of space for that kind of shot. Everything seemed to go well – the car exploded and the director got the shots he wanted – until one of the executive producers suddenly realized that it had been his car that had been blown up! Instead of the dummy car! It wasn’t much consolation to him that it was a great movie and went on to be really successful. Nowadays that couldn’t happen because all the effects are computer-generated.
Colin Goodness me.
Okay, we have a question about English from our listeners Sarah and Aimee … Nina?
Nina Yes, they ask, I wonder if you could help to clarify the actual meanings of the word metaphor. My daughter is seven and the word metaphor came up in a book she is reading. She asked me to explain it so she could enter it into her vocabulary book, and I did, but when she went to school the next day, her teacher told her I'd incorrectly defined it. Any help would be much appreciated.
Colin Well this is a very interesting question and one which I think we can use examples from Shakespeare to help. David – what is a metaphor?
David Well it's a way of comparing one thing to another, to provide an image that helps to explain something or provide a dramatic feeling – Shakespeare's writings are full of metaphors – some famous examples are “All the world’s a stage” from As You Like It and “Juliet is the sun” from Romeo and Juliet.
Nina But it's, it’s not just in Shakespeare, we use metaphors in our everyday speech all the time – the mouth of a river, a table-leg, eye of a storm, he's an angel! Raining cats
and dogs.
Colin Absolutely, English is full of imagery and all all of us use it every day.
Well, I’m afraid that's about all we have time for today – before we go though, David can you give us the answer to this week's competition and tell us who the winner is?
David Yes … the winner is Katie Ho from Hong Kong who was amongst many who gave the correct answer, which was of course … Macbeth.
Colin Well done Katie. You’ll receive two tickets to see the Hong Kong Repertory Company’s production of Macbeth as part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival. Thank you very much to David Trent and Nina Murphy – join us again next week for more Talk about English. Goodbye.
All Goodbye.
Announcer: That is the end of Part 1. You now have 2 minutes to complete your answers to questions 1 to 11.
[Pause 2 minutes]
Announcer: Part 2
What follows is part of a radio chat show. Mark Rollinson and his guests discuss the issue of whether we are spoiling our children. As well as the guests in the studio, there will be other people phoning in to give their opinions. The first voice you will hear is that of Mark.
Please take a minute now to study questions 12 to 19. The show will begin after 60 seconds.
[Pause 60 seconds]
Mark Joining us for the first part of the programme is Dr Wong Chi Kung, he’s Principal Lecturer in Social Studies at the Kowloon University and Nancy Fletcher, who’s the coordinator of the concern group, Help for Parents. I think we’ll start with you Nancy … good morning and thanks for joining us once again.
Nancy Good morning.
Mark You certainly have a lot to say on the subject of spoilt children – do you think it’s a big problem, do you see a lot of them around?
Nancy Yes … but I don’t think it’s just Hong Kong, I think it’s everywhere … and … I think when they’re very young I don’t really blame the children, I blame the parents.
Mark What are the signs of a spoilt child?
Nancy Well, before I had my own kid, I used to think it was the child who was screaming and yelling in public for not getting the candy in the shop. Now I just think that’s their way of communicating because we all speak out when we don’t get what we want. Even as adults we do it in some way … I just think it’s children who are
self-59
absorbed and selfish because they just haven’t been taught how to care about other people.
Mark So you wouldn’t necessarily recognize them by the noise they make or …
Nancy You can recognize them when you get into a relationship with them … yeah … especially when you see them as young adults and you think, why is that person so selfish, and it’s because probably their parents spoilt them … you know … they haven’t been taught how to consider other people … and you see a lot of that. If any parents are listening, I’m the crazy woman who often tells children not to disrespect their helpers in public. I can’t bear that. I can’t bear a child disrespecting an adult no matter what level of society they are. And often I see it and I say to the child … very nicely … I say, can you please talk nicely to your helper?
Mark That’s interesting because my wife has one pet complaint about children and helpers and that is when the helpers carry the child’s schoolbag home from school for them and I agree with that. It’s one piece of responsibility … it’s your possession, it’s your bag …
Nancy And that’s another problem … some of the helpers indulge the children even when the parents say, don’t. I told my helper when my son was born, teach him to help himself, don’t do things for him, but it really often doesn’t work that way.
Mark But Dr Wong, isn’t that one of the problems in Hong Kong – the role of the helper, the role of the maid – because the helper is there to do a number of different jobs within the house and outside the house, to do a number of jobs for the children – the child doesn’t really know what to do and what not to do. So how do you see the role of the maid?
Dr Wong Yes, many of the parents spend more than $3000 a month to hire a maid so they want to use the maid to the greatest extent. So if the child wants to do something by themselves then the parents will think this is not good because I paid for the maid so let’s use them. So as a result, the children may not be able to do things by themselves.
They become very dependent.
Mark So what should the parents do about the maid and about the maid’s role, what advice do you have for parents?
Dr Wong I think Nancy is right that we should tell the children to respect their maids and tell the maids that they should guide the children and not do everything on their behalf.
But it will take time for the children to get used to this.
Mark So, as an expert, so you think this is more of a problem now than it was when you were a child?
Dr Wong Yes … I think it was not so bad when we were young because we were from the working class families … we wouldn’t be spoiled because parents weren’t so affluent.
But nowadays, many of the parents are from the middle class so they can afford to hire a maid … they want their children to have a better life … I think this is related to the conception of what constitutes a good life in the mind of the parents.
Nancy Talking with experts in child psychology, they say that it is important for children to do chores … that what parents should be doing when the child is two or three years old is getting them to help you with jobs … so they can help you to make the bed or