EOI B2 inglés, comprensión de textos orales: test 1

Transcripción 1: Woman: Hello, this is Laura from Westside Language School, calling for Mr Daniel Ortiz. It's about the Saturday conversation class you signed up for. Unfortunately, the teacher has had to leave for family reasons, so we've had to make a few changes. The Saturday morning group is going to be combined with the Thursday evening one, which meets from seven to nine. If that's not convenient, we can either move you to the online group on Sundays or give you a full refund – it's up to you. Classes will start on the fourteenth, not the seventh as planned, because we need a week to reorganise. Could you let us know what you'd like to do by Friday? You can reply by email or call us on the usual number. Thanks, and sorry for the inconvenience.

Transcripción 2: Woman: So, did you go and see that flat on Mayor Street?
Man: I did, yesterday. It's lovely – lots of light, and the kitchen's been completely redone.
Woman: Sounds perfect. What's the catch?
Man: Well, the rent's fine, actually – it's a bit less than I'm paying now. The problem is the noise. It's right above a bar, and the owner admitted it gets pretty loud at weekends.
Woman: Hmm. You're a light sleeper, aren't you?
Man: Terrible. So I've asked if I can go back on Saturday night to hear what it's like before I decide.
Woman: Good idea.

Transcripción 3: Man: And now some local news. The city's new bike-sharing scheme, which was launched in March, has been more popular than anyone expected. In the first six months, more than forty thousand trips were made – twice as many as the council had predicted. However, users have complained that at peak times it's often impossible to find a bike in the city centre, while stations in the suburbs are full. The council says it will add two hundred bikes before the end of the year and is considering using vans to move bikes from quiet stations to busy ones. A spokesperson also announced that, from January, students will be able to use the service at half price.

Transcripción 4: Woman: Attention, please. Passengers travelling on the ten fifteen service to Northport are advised that, due to a signal problem, this train will now depart from platform six instead of platform two. The train is also expected to leave approximately twenty minutes late. Passengers with connecting trains at Northport are advised to speak to staff at the information desk, who will help them to rebook. The café on platform six is open, and free hot drinks are being offered to passengers on this service. We apologise for the delay.

Transcripción: Woman: When people ask me how I ended up crossing the Atlantic on a sailing boat, I usually tell them it was an accident – and in a way it was. Three years ago, I was working in marketing in Madrid and, to be honest, I was pretty bored. A colleague mentioned that her cousin was looking for crew for a boat sailing from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean. I'd been sailing exactly twice in my life, both times on a lake, so I laughed. But that night I couldn't stop thinking about it, and the next morning I sent an email. The skipper, a retired teacher called Hugh, phoned me a week later. He said he wasn't worried about my lack of experience; what he needed was someone who could cook and who wouldn't panic. I can cook, and I'm quite calm, so I said yes before I had time to change my mind. My boss was surprisingly understanding and agreed to give me three months' unpaid leave. Before the trip, Hugh insisted that I do a two-week sailing course in Lanzarote. That was where I discovered that I suffer from seasickness. For the first few days I felt awful, and I seriously thought about going home. Luckily, an instructor told me to keep my eyes on the horizon and to eat little and often, and after a while my body got used to it. The crossing itself took twenty-three days. There were four of us on board, and we took turns to keep watch, three hours on and six off, day and night. People imagine it must be terribly boring, with nothing but sea all around you, but there was always something to do – fixing ropes, checking the weather, cooking in a kitchen that never stopped moving. The hardest moment came in the second week, when a storm hit us at night. For eight hours the boat was thrown around by enormous waves, and I was genuinely frightened. But Hugh stayed completely calm, and watching him, so did I. What I remember most, though, isn't the storm. It's the nights when the sky was completely clear and there were more stars than I had ever imagined. We'd sit on deck and nobody would say anything for an hour. When I got back to Madrid, I went back to my old job, but something had changed. A year later I left to set up a small business organising sailing trips for beginners. I'm earning less than I used to, but I've never regretted it.

Transcripción: Woman: Welcome back to City Life, the podcast about the people who make our city tick. I'm Clara, and today I'm talking to Ben Harris, who keeps bees on the roof of a hotel in the city centre. Ben, how did that happen?
Man: Pure chance, really. I used to be a chef at the hotel, and one day the manager asked whether anyone had ideas for making the building greener. I'd kept bees as a teenager with my grandfather, so I suggested putting a couple of hives on the roof. That was seven years ago. Now we've got twelve hives and I look after them full time.
Woman: Twelve! How many bees is that?
Man: In summer, each hive has around fifty thousand bees, so you can do the maths. In winter the numbers drop a lot.
Woman: Don't the hotel guests mind?
Man: Most of them don't even know the bees are there. The roof isn't open to the public, and bees are much less aggressive than people think. In seven years, only one guest has ever been stung, and that was because he'd gone up to the roof without permission to smoke.
Woman: What do the bees actually find to eat in the city?
Man: More than you'd imagine. There are parks, gardens, trees along the streets, and lots of flowers on people's balconies. In fact, city bees often produce more honey than bees in the countryside, because in many areas farmers grow just one crop, whereas in the city there's a huge variety of plants.
Woman: And what happens to the honey?
Man: It's all used in the hotel. It goes into the breakfast, of course, but the chef also uses it in desserts and even in some of the cocktails at the bar. Last year we produced about three hundred kilos, which is more than the hotel can use, so we've started selling small jars in the reception area.
Woman: What's the most difficult part of the job?
Man: The weather, without a doubt. A cold, wet spring can be a disaster, because the bees can't fly when it's raining. And then there are diseases. You have to check every hive regularly, at least once a week in summer.
Woman: If listeners want to try beekeeping, where should they start?
Man: Please don't just buy a hive and put it on your balcony! Join a local beekeeping association. Most of them run courses for beginners, usually in spring, and they'll often lend you equipment for your first year. And talk to your neighbours before you start – not everyone is happy about living next to bees.
Woman: Ben, thank you.