ADVANCED Susan: What happened at your interview?

TEST 8 James: I was told to arrive at nine, and everyone

must’ve been told the same time because when I got
44 PART 1 there, there was this small room packed with people,
You will hear three different extracts. For questions 1–6, all waiting to be interviewed.
choose the answer, A, B or C which fits best according Susan: Poor you!
to what you hear. There are two questions for each
extract. James: It didn’t really bother me. Some people looked
a bit panicked, though. Then I talked to a woman for
Extract One 10 minutes. I was expecting a panel of interviewers,
You hear two college friends discussing a lecture they so at first I wondered if I’d come to the right room.
have just attended. But it was all right. She’d read my CV and had some
pretty pointed questions ready for me, which I hope I
Mark: That was interesting, wasn’t it? answered well enough.
Suzy: And useful. I’ll be applying for jobs soon, and Susan: I did OK, I think, except I arrived an hour early.
I only ever thought of working near home for my first It was a complicated journey and I set off at some
job. But I’ve had my horizons opened up now. ridiculous time. Then I just sat there getting nervous.
Mark: My dream is to work for myself, maybe have my Anyhow, the interviewers asked me what I knew about
own company. But I want to get experience first, travel their product, and I’d read up all about it. I had my
to as many countries as possible getting jobs as I go. CV on a presentation slide – my brother’s a graphic
And I was really encouraged by what he said. designer and he did it for me, though I think it was a
Suzy: He was a bit serious, though. I like speakers who bit over the top for them.
tell a few jokes.
Mark: Well at least he didn’t talk down to us. And he 44 PART 2
let us interrupt him if we wanted to know anything or
You will hear an anthropologist talking about a recent
wanted him to give more details. I appreciated that
find. For questions 7–14, complete the sentences.
because there was a lot to take in.
Suzy: He certainly listened to us carefully and explained Anthropologist: A most exciting discovery has been
things we weren’t clear about. made in a remote region of Ethiopia, and I don’t think
it’s too much of an exaggeration to say this may change
Mark: I wish he’d given out some notes for us to take
away, but he’s got a website and I expect everything’s the way we think of evolutionary history! Last winter
on that. an international team of anthropologists unearthed
some fossil hominid skulls that have been reliably dated
Extract Two as being 160,000 years old. Three of the skulls – two
You hear part of a radio programme in which two belonging to adults and one to a child – were in quite
people are discussing growing herbs. good condition, but fragments of other skulls were
Interviewer: So, Jerry, what useful tips have you got for also found. Now, this in itself isn’t the exciting part
us on growing herbs? because skulls of hominids – we use the word to mean
Jerry: Well, now, listeners will be delighted to know species similar to our own – have been found that are
that herbs are not at all hard to grow. The ideal considerably older than this. But it seems that these
situation is to have a herb garden, of course. Or you people were our direct ancestors, whereas the older
could dedicate a corner of your garden to herbs – hominid skulls are from species which died out. To put
perhaps plant them in a knot pattern. They can be it simply, the fossils were the skulls of Homo sapiens,
a very attractive feature. But if you don’t have much the species to which modern humans belong.
space, you needn’t feel deterred. Herbs grow just
as nicely among other plants. In fact, they can help Another reason why this discovery is causing great
keep unwanted bugs at bay in vegetable patches. excitement in the world of anthropology is because
Growing basil among tomato plants, for instance, has it ties in with other research indicating that we are
a two-fold purpose: it acts as an insect repellent, and not descended from Neanderthals at all. You see, the
it adds flavour to the tomatoes. Some herbs can also Neanderthals only vanished from the the fossil record
be grown on kitchen windowsills or in window boxes. about 30,000 years ago. So if the hypothesis is correct,
They’re very versatile. it paints a fascinating picture. For an incredibly long
Interviewer: How many different kinds of herbs are time, tens of thousands of years in fact, at least two
there? different species of humans co-existed on the planet,
and then – for reasons we don’t understand – the
Jerry: Well, they fall into two main categories. There
Neanderthals became extinct.
are your annuals – these grow and die in one season.
Basil, parsley and dill are good examples, and all of It is also interesting that a number of tools were found
these are widely used in cooking. Perennials, on the near the fossil skulls in Ethiopia, and it may well be that
other hand, such as rosemary and thyme, grow year these people’s superior technological skills allowed them
in, year out, and can make attractive borders for your to drive the Neanderthals away. Moreover, there are
flower beds. suggestions that they lived in groups, and there is a close
correlation between advances in human development
Extract Three and social interaction. This may explain why Homo
You hear two friends talking about job interviews they sapiens prevailed as the dominant human species! On the
recently attended. other hand, I must remind my listeners that the distant
1

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 origins of mankind, those early days lost in the mists of Interviewer: You’ve just finished college. Any other
prehistoric time, continue to be a mystery. Nobody really plans for what you might do later?
knows what happened – which naturally makes my work Marianne: I once had ambitions to be a singer, but,
even more fascinating. you know. I’m not that much of a singer! Just in the car,
maybe, or in the bath. I do have plans to go to college,
44 PART 3 and I’d like to work in a school, as a teacher. I like
working with kids. But surfing has taken up so much
You will hear an interview with Marianne Nolan, a
of my time recently. When I’ve finished competing,
surfing champion. For questions 15–20, choose the
though, I’d like to go back and finish my education.
answer, A, B, C or D which fits best according to what
you hear. Interviewer: What has surfing taught you?
Interviewer: You’ve been junior surfing champion since Marianne: Surfing has taught me how to be flexible.
you were 13, but now at 18 you’ll be entering senior The sea is like life – it’s always changing, never the same.
championship events for the first time. How do you feel You have to react and change your plans quickly. You
about this? can’t take things for granted. There are always going to
be surprises. Of course, sometimes you win, sometimes
Marianne: I don’t know. It’s scary, but it’s also
you lose. So you have to be able to deal with the losses,
something I’m looking forward to. I’m going to take
to pick yourself up and start all over again. There’s no
things easy, though. The people who I’m going to be
point feeling bad if you lose or focusing on the negative
surfing against, well they are all more experienced,
side of things. Just carry on and try again. The important
they’re older. So I’m not expecting to go through and
thing is to have a can-do attitude, believe in yourself. If
win. But, I just want to give it a shot and do my best.
you can do that, anything’s possible.
Interviewer: These days there are more women in
competitive surfing than in the past. But do women still 44 PART 4
have to work harder?
This part consists of two tasks. You will hear five short
Marianne: It’s to do with showmanship. Women’s extracts in which people talk about holidays that went
surfing and men’s surfing is not the same. There are wrong. Look at Task 1. For questions 21–25, choose
lots of differences. The women are probably more from the list A–H the person who is speaking. Now
athletic, and more interesting to watch, but up to now look at Task 2. For questions 26–30, choose from the
I think they took less risks than the male surfers. But I list A–H what each speaker is expressing.
think, recently, things have started changing, and now
Speaker 1: I was looking forward to meeting up with
you can start to see the women surfers doing some
my friends again. My family had hosted the two girls,
pretty exciting things, which puts them more on a par
and it was exciting to visit them in their home this
with the men, which is great. And I think slowly, we’re
time round. The trip over went smoothly, and on the
going to see men and women surfers becoming more
first evening we all walked round the town, which was
equal – doing the same things. You know, men and
beautiful. Everything was so different – the architecture
women, there’s never been a difference in quality when
and the shops. When we went back to their house
it comes to professional teachers or trainers in surfing,
for supper I asked for a dish without meat. That was
so it’s great that the gap is being narrowed in the
a problem, which surprised me because the two girls
competition, too.
knew I was vegetarian. I mainly had eggs all week,
Interviewer: You started surfing as a small child. In which spoilt things a bit. I was as polite as possible, but
your opinion, have things changed for girls in your I was glad to get home.
generation of surfers?
Speaker 2: I wanted to spend a vacation in the Scottish
Marianne: Sure, I really think they have. When I was Highlands. I knew how treacherous those mountains
growing up, we were all really optimistic. We were can be at any time of year, so I signed up with a
always encouraging each other, supporting one company that promised a week of hiking, ‘led by
another. And it made me want to try harder and people with years of experience in the region’.
go further in my sport, I think, the attitude that my I arrived at the place where we were supposed to
generation has. But of course, we have to be grateful meet at the time it said on the programme. The rest of
for all the women who came before us. Because, the party was there, but not the experienced leaders.
of course, without them, and the work they did, we They eventually turned up, with the excuse they’d
wouldn’t be here surfing now – not as an international been given the wrong schedule. ‘Not good enough,’
sport, anyway. I thought, wondering what else the company had got
Interviewer: People have started to see you as one of wrong, and I had that nagging doubt the whole week.
the most promising surfers. Speaker 3: As a student, I have long summer holidays.
Marianne: Well, that’s nice, of course! It’s flattering. I love travelling but can’t afford to go far during that
But, also, it’s a big responsibility. It means I can’t let time. But there are ways round that problem, and I offer
my supporters down. And really, I’m just doing my own my services as a grape picker or a nanny in return for my
thing – following my own path. Who knows if I can airfare and food and lodging. Last summer I was offered
actually get to win a world championship. I’d love to, a place on an archaeological dig in Australia. Fabulous,
of course. I’ll try my hardest, and if I succeed, great. because that’s my subject. But when it came to getting
But, you know, I’m just happy that I can do something the papers I needed to travel, there was so much delay
that I love doing. Not everyone can do something I missed my flight and couldn’t get another one for five
professionally that they are passionate about. But I can, days. I had nothing to do except hang about in my flat,
and that means a lot to me. wondering if I’d ever get away.

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 Speaker 4: I’m a tolerant person, generally easy-going Speaker 5: I love sailing and every summer, four of us
if people mess up, but one time, I really lost it. I don’t rent a boat and spend a week on the water. It’s hard
have a huge salary, but I wanted to give my girlfriend a work because we cook and sleep onboard, and there’s
treat for her birthday. I saw an ad by a hotel company always a lot to do. Last year we found out that the
for a long weekend trip round three of their hotels, boat hire company we used had gone out of business,
sampling the creations of their famous chefs. It was a so we decided to have our holiday by the sea instead
special offer, not too pricey, and it sounded wonderful. of on it, bought a tent and found a spot in a pretty,
The food lived up to its reputation, but in one hotel isolated bay. It was similar to being on the boat, except
the restaurant service was terrible. I made things worse there wasn’t enough to do, and we ended up fed up
by yelling at the waiter, instead of complaining in a with each other and arguing because we were bored.
civilised way. I’m not proud of myself for that. Fortunately we’ve made up since.

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