Shadowing Practice: Cambridge 11 Listening test 1 Full clear Audio with answers | Full Screen HD | Comment your Score - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
You will hear a number of different recordings and you will have to answer questions on what you hear.
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There will be time for you to read the instructions and questions and you will have a chance to check your work.
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All the recordings will be played once only.
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The test is in four sections.
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At the end of the test, you will be given ten minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet.
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Now turn to section one.
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Section one.
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You will hear a telephone conversation between an official at a village hall
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and a woman who wants to hire a public room.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 6.
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You will see that there is an example that has been done for you.
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On this occasion only, the conversation relating to this will be played first.
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Hello.
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Oh, hello.
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I wanted to inquire about hiring a room in the village
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hall for the evening of September the 1st. Let me just see.
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Yes, we have both rooms available that evening.
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There's our main hall that's got seating for 200 people.
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Or there's the Charlton room.
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The main hall seats 200, so 200 has been written in the space.
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Now we shall begin.
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You should answer the questions as you listen because you will not hear the recording a second time.
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Listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 6.
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Hello?
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Oh, hello.
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I wanted to enquire about hiring a room in the village
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hall for the evening of September the 1st. Let me just see...
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Yes, we have both rooms available that evening.
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There's our main hall that's got seating for two hundred people.
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Or there's the Charlton room.
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Sorry?
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The Charlton Room.
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C-H-A-R-L-T-O-N.
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That's got seating for up to one hundred.
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Well, we're organising a dinner to raise money for a charity, and we're hoping for at least a hundred and fifty people.
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So, I think we'll go for the main hall.
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How much would that cost?
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Let's see.. you wanted it for the evening of September the 1st?
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Yes, that's a Saturday.
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So, from 6pm to midnight, that'd be £115.
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That's the weekend price.
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It's £75 on weekdays.
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That's all right.
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And I have to tell you there's also a deposit of £250, which is returnable, of course, as long as there's no damage.
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But we do insist that this is paid in cash.
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We don't take cards for that.
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You can pay the actual rent of the room however you like, though.
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Cash, credit card, cheque.
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Oh, well, I suppose that's OK.
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So, does the charge include use of tables and chairs and so on?
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Oh, yes.
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And what about parking?
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Yeah, that's all included.
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The only thing that isn't included is, er, you said you were organising a dinner?
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Yeah.
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Well, you'll have to pay extra for the kitchen if you want to use that.
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It's £25.
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It's got very good facilities, good quality cookers and fridges and so on.
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OK.
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Well, I suppose that's all right.
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We can cover the cost in our entry charges.
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Right.
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So I'll make a note of that.
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Now, there are just one or two things you need to think about before the event.
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For example, you'll have to see about getting a licence if you're planning to have any music during the meal.
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Oh, really?
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It's quite straightforward.
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I'll give you the details later on.
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And about a week or ten days before your event, you'll need to contact the caretaker,
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that's Mr Evans, to make the arrangements for entry.
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He'll sort that out with you.
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And do I give him the payment as well?
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No, you do that directly with me.
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Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 7 to 10.
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Now listen and answer questions seven to ten.
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Right.
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Now, is there anything I need to know about what happens during the event?
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Well, as you'll be aware, of course, the building is no smoking throughout. Of course.
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Now, are you having a band?
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Yes.
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Well, they'll have a lot of equipment, so rather than using the front door, they should park their van round the back and use the stage door there.
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You can open that from inside, but don't forget to lock it at the end.
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OK.
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And talking of bans, I'm sure I don't need to tell you this,
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but you must make sure that no one fiddles about with the black box by the fire door.
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That's a system that cuts in when the volume reaches a certain level.
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It's a legal requirement.
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Sure.
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Anyway, we want people to be able to talk to one another, so we don't want anything too loud.
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Oh, that reminds me.
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We'll be having speeches.
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Are there any microphones available?
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Yep.
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Just let the caretaker know.
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He'll get those for you.
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Right.
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Now, when the event is over, we do ask that the premises are left in good condition.
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So there's a locked cupboard and you'll be informed of the code you need to open that.
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It's got all the cleaning equipment, brushes and detergent and so on.
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Right.
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So what do we need to do after everyone's gone?
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Sweep the floors, I suppose?
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Well, actually they have to be washed, not just swept.
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Then you'll be provided with black plastic bags, so all the rubbish must be collected up and left outside the door. Of course.
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We'll make sure everything's left tidy.
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Oh, and I forgot to ask, I presume we can have decorations in the room?
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Yes, but you must take them down afterwards.
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Sure.
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And the chairs and tables should be stacked up neatly at the back of the room.
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I'll make sure I've got a few people to help me.
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That is the end of section one.
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You now have half a minute to check your answers.
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Now turn to section 2.
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Section 2.
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You will hear a guide talking to a group of visitors to a farm.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 14.
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Listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 14.
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Welcome to the Fidi Working Heritage Farm.
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This open-air museum gives you the experience of agriculture
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and rural life in the English countryside at the end of the 19th century.
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So you'll see a typical farm of that period, and like me, all the staff are dressed in clothes of that time.
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I must give you some advice and safety tips before we go any further.
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As it's a working farm, please don't frighten or injure the animals.
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We have a lot here, and many of them are breeds that are now quite rare.
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And do stay at a safe distance from the tools.
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Some of them have sharp points which can be pretty dangerous, so please don't touch them.
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We don't want any accidents, do we?
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The ground is very uneven, and you might slip if you're wearing sandals, so I'm glad to see you're all wearing shoes.
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We always advise people to do that.
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Now children of all ages are very welcome here, and usually even very young children love the ducks and lambs,
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so do bring them along next time you come.
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I don't think any of you have brought dogs with you, but in case you have, I'm afraid they'll have to stay in the car park unless they're guide dogs.
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I'm sure you'll understand that they could cause a lot of problems on a farm.
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Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 15 to 20.
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Now listen and answer questions 15 to 20.
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Now let me give you some idea of the layout of the farm.
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The building where you bought your tickets is the new barn immediately to your right, and we're now at the beginning of the main path to the farmland
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and of course the car park is on your left.
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The scarecrow you can see in the car park in the
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corner beside the main path is a traditional figure for keeping the birds away from crops
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but our scarecrow is a permanent sculpture.
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It's taller than a human being so you can see it from quite a distance.
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If you look ahead of you, you'll see a maze.
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It's opposite the new barn, beside the side path that branches off to the right, just over there.
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The maze is made out of hedges which are too tall for young children to see over them, but it's quite small so you can't get lost in it.
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Now, can you see the bridge crossing the fish pool further up the main path?
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If you want to go to the café, go towards the bridge and turn right just before it.
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Walk along the side path and the café's on the first bend you come to.
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The building was originally the schoolhouse and it's well over a hundred years old.
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As you may know, we run skills workshops here, where you can learn traditional crafts like woodwork and basket making.
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You can see examples of the work and talk to someone about the courses in the black barn.
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If you take the side path to the right, here, just by the new barn, you'll come to the black barn, just where the path first bends.
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Now, I mustn't forget to tell you about picnicking, as I can see some of you have brought your lunch with you.
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You can picnic in the field, though do clear up behind you, of course.
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Or if you'd prefer a covered picnic area, there's one near the farmyard, just after you cross the bridge.
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There's a covered picnic spot on the right.
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And the last thing to mention is Fiddy House itself.
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From here you can cross the bridge, then walk along the footpath through the field to the left of the farmyard.
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That goes to the house, and it'll give you a lovely view of it.
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It's certainly worth a few photographs, but as it's a private home, I'm afraid you can't go inside.
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Right, well, if you're all ready, we'll set off on our tour of the farm.
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That is the end of Section 2.
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You now have half a minute to check your answers.
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Thank you.
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Turn to section 3.
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Section 3.
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You will hear two psychology students called Lisa and Greg discussing a project they have to do.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 27.
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Thank you.
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OK, Greg.
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So, I finally managed to read the article you mentioned, the one about the study on gender in physics.
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Greg, about the study of college students done by Akira Miyake and his team.
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Yeah.
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I was interested that the researchers were actually a mix of psychologists and physicists.
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That's an unusual combination.
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Yeah.
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I got a little confused at first about which students the study was based on.
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They weren't actually majoring in physics.
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They were majoring in what's known as the STEM disciplines.
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That's science, technology, engineering and... And math.
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Yes, but they were all doing physics courses as part of their studies.
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That's correct.
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So, as I understood it, Miyake and co started from the fact that women are underrepresented in introductory physics courses at college,
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and also that, on average, the women who do enrol on these courses perform more poorly than the men.
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No one really knows why this is the case.
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Yeah, but what the researchers wanted to find out was basically what
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they could do about the relatively low level of the women's results, but in order to find a solution, they needed to find out more about the nature of the problem.
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Right.
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Now, let's see if I can remember.
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It was that in the physics class, the female students thought the male students all assumed that women weren't any good at physics.
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Was that it?
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And they thought that the men expected them to get poor results in their tests.
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That's what the women thought, and that made them nervous, so they did get poor results.
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But actually, they were wrong.
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No one was making any assumptions about the female students at all.
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Anyway, what Miyake's team did was quite simple, getting the students to do some writing before they went into the physics class.
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What did they call it?
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Values affirmation.
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They had to write an essay focusing on things that were significant to them, not particularly to do with the subject they were studying,
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but more general things like music or people who mattered to them.
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Right.
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So the idea of doing the writing is that this gets the students thinking in a positive way.
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And putting these thoughts into words can relax them and help them overcome the psychological factors that lead to poor performance.
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Yes, yeah.
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But what the researchers in the study hadn't expected was
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that this one activity raised the women's physics grades from the C to the B range.
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A huge change.
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Pity it wasn't to an A, but still.
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No, but it does suggest that the women were seriously underperforming beforehand in comparison with the men.
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Yes.
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Mind you, Miyake's article left out a lot of details, like did the students do the writing just once or several times,
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and had they been told why they were doing the writing, that might have affected the results.
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You mean, if they know the researchers thought it might help them to improve, then they just try to fulfil that expectation?
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Exactly.
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Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 28 to 30.
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Now listen and answer questions 28 to 30.
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So anyway, I thought for our project we could do a similar study, but investigate whether it really was the writing activity that had that result.
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OK.
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So we could ask them to do a writing task about something completely different,
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something more factual, like a general knowledge topic.
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Maybe.
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Or we could have half the students doing a writing task and half doing something else, like an oral task.
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Or even half do the same writing task as in the original research and half do a factual writing task.
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Then we'd see if it really is the topic that made the difference or something else.
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That's it.
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Good.
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So, at our meeting with the supervisor on Monday, we can tell him we've decided on our project.
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We should have our aims ready by then.
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I suppose we need to read the original study.
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The article's just a summary.
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And there was another article I read by Smolinski.
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It was about her research on how women and men perform in mixed teams in class, compared with single-sex teams and on their own.
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Let me guess, the women were better at teamwork.
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That's what I expected.
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But actually, the men and the women got the same results whether they were working in teams or on their own.
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But I guess it's not that relevant to us.
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What worries me anyway is how we're going to get everything done in the time.
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We'll be OK now we know what we're doing.
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Though I'm not clear how we assess whether the students in our experiment actually make any progress or not.
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No, we may need some advice on that.
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The main thing's to make sure we have the right size sample, not too big or too small.
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That shouldn't be difficult.
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Right, what do we need to do next?
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We could have a look at the timetable for the science classes, or perhaps we should just make an appointment to see one of the science professors.
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That'd be better.
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Great.
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And we could even get to observe one of the classes.
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What for?
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Well, OK, maybe let's just go with your idea.
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Right, well, I think that's everything for now.
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That is the end of Section 3.
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You now have half a minute to check your answers.
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Now turn to section 4.
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Section 4.
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You will hear part of a student presentation about the variety of different species that live in the world's oceans.
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They've been surveying.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.
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Thank you.
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Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.
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I've been looking at ocean biodiversity, that's the diversity of species that live in the world's oceans.
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About 20 years ago, biologists developed the idea of what they called biodiversity hotspots.
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These are the areas which have the greatest mixture of species, so one example is Madagascar.
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These hotspots are significant because they allow us to locate key areas for focusing efforts at conservation.
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Biologists can identify hotspots on land fairly easily,
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but until recently very little was known about species distribution and diversity in the oceans,
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and no one even knew if hotspots existed there.
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Then a Canadian biologist called Boris Worm did some research in 2005 on data on ocean species
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that he got from the fishing industry.
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Worm located five hotspots for large ocean predators, like sharks, and looked at what they had in common.
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The main thing he'd expected to find was that they had very high concentrations of food,
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but to his surprise that was only true for four of the hotspots.
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The remaining hotspot was quite badly off in that regard,
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but what he did find was that in all cases the water at the surface of the ocean had relatively high temperatures,
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even when it was cool at greater depths.
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So this seemed to be a factor in supporting a diverse range of these large predators.
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However, this wasn't enough on its own, because he also found that the water needed to have enough oxygen in it.
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So these two factors seemed necessary to support the high metabolic rate of these large fish.
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A couple of years later, in 2007, a researcher called Lisa Balance, who was working in California,
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also started looking for ocean hotspots, but not for fish.
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What she was interested in was marine mammals, things like seals.
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And she found three places in the oceans which were hotspots,
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and what these had in common was that these hotspots were all located at boundaries between ocean currents,
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and this seems to be the sort of place that has lots of the plankton that some of these species feed on.
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So now people who want to protect the species that are endangered need to get as much information as possible.
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For example, there's an international project called the Census of Marine Life, oceans all over the world, including the Arctic.
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One thing they found there which stunned other researchers was that there were large numbers of species which live below the ice,
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sometimes under a layer up to 20 metres thick.
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Some of these species had never been seen before.
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They've even found species of octopus living in these conditions.
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And other scientists working on the same project
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but researching very different habitats on the ocean floor have found
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large numbers of species congregating around volcanoes attracted to them by the warmth and nutrients there.
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However, biologists still don't know how serious the threat to their survival is for each individual species.
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So, a body called the Global Marine Species Assessment is now creating a list of endangered species on land,
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so they consider things like the size of the population, how many members of one species there are in a particular place,
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and then they look at their distribution in geographical terms, although this is quite difficult when you're looking at fish because they're so mobile.
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and then thirdly they calculate the rate at which the decline of the species is happening.
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So far only 1,500 species have been assessed, but they want to increase this figure to 20,000.
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For each one they assess, they use the data they collect on that species to produce a map showing its distribution.
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Ultimately, they will be able to use these to figure out not only where most species are located, but also where they are most threatened.
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So finally, what can be done to retain the diversity of species in the world's oceans?
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Firstly, we need to set up more reserves in our oceans, places where marine species are protected.
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We have some, but not enough.
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In addition, to preserve species such as leatherback turtles, which live out in the high seas but have their nesting sites on the American coast,
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we need to create corridors for migration so they can get from one area to another safely.
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As well as this, action needs to be taken to lower the levels of fishing quotas to prevent overfishing of endangered species.
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And finally, there's the problem of bycatch.
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This refers to the catching of unwanted fish by fishing boats.
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They're returned to the sea, but they're often dead or dying.
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If these commercial fishing boats used equipment which was more selective so that only the fish wanted for consumption were caught,
311
this problem could be overcome.
312
OK, so does anyone have any questions about...
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That is the end of section 4.
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You now have half a minute to check your answers.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 314 sentences and 3522 words to shadow. The speech runs for 31:42. The speaker talks at a steady 111 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| physics noun | /ˈfɪz.ɪks/ | The branch of science concerned with the study of the properties and interactions of space, time, matter and energy. |
| researcher noun | /ˈɹiˌsɝ.t͡ʃɚ/ | One who researches. |
| barn noun | [ˈbɑɹn] | A building, often found on a farm, used for storage or keeping animals such as cattle. |
| carefully adverb | /ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/ | With care; attentively, circumspectly. |
| hire verb | /ˈhaɪɹ/ | To obtain the services of in return for fixed payment. |
| diversity noun | /daɪˈvɜː(ɹ)sɪti/ | The quality of being diverse or different; a difference or unlikeness. |
| assess verb | /əˈsɛs/ | To determine, estimate or judge the value of; to evaluate; to estimate. |
| endangered adjective | /ɪnˈdeɪn.d͡ʒɚd/ | in danger, at risk, said of something where there is a strong possibility something bad will happen to it (for example, a species in danger of going extinct) |
| picnic noun | /ˈpɪknɪk/ | An informal social gathering, usually in a natural outdoor setting, to which the participants bring their own food and drink. |
| topic noun | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest. |
| overcome verb | /ˌəʊ.vəˈkʌm/ | To surmount (a physical or abstract obstacle); to prevail over, to get the better of. |
| beside | /bɪˈsaɪd/ | Next to; at the side of. |
| bend verb | /bɛnd/ | To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means. |
| sweep verb | /swiːp/ | To clean (a surface) by means of a stroking motion of a broom or brush. |
| predator noun | /ˈpɹɛd.ə.tɚ/ | Any animal or other organism that hunts and kills other nonplant organisms (their prey), primarily for food. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| find out verb | To discover, as by asking or investigating. | |
| clear up verb | /klɪəˈɹʌp/ | To clarify, to correct a misconception. |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| leave out verb | To omit, to not include, to neglect to mention. | |
| make out of verb | To construct from; to create (something) using (a material or substance). | |
| see over verb | To inspect something fully. | |
| set up verb | /ˌsɛt ˈʌp/ | To make ready for use. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | They've been surveying · I've been looking |
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | If you look ahead of you, you'll see · if you're all ready, we'll set |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | will be played · will be given · has been done |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | woman who wants · points which can · hedges which are |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 72 contractions and reduced forms, such as you'll, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thick /θɪk/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, threaten /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/, warmth /wɔɹmθ/, footpath /ˈfʊtˌpæθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: sharp /ʃɑɹp/, wash /wɑʃ/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, sheet /ʃit/, occasion /əˈkeɪ̯ʒən/
- Long words — get the stress right: diversity /daɪˈvɜː(ɹ)sɪti/, unusual /ʌnˈjuːʒ(u)əl/, experiment /ɪkˈspɛɹ.ə.mənt/, agriculture /ˈæɡ.ɹɪˌkʌl.t͡ʃɚ/, conservation /ˌkɑnsə(ɹ)ˈveɪʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like physics, researcher, barn.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.