NOCN ESOL International Listening

Level B2 Independent User Paper BB

Sample Examination Mark Scheme

NOCN USE ONLY

Question Answer
1.1 A

1.2 B

1.3 B

1.4 A

1.5 C

1.6 A

1.7 B

1.8 D

1.9 D

1.10 A

2.1.1 D

2.1.2 C

2.1.3 A

2.1.4 B

2.1.5 C

2.2.1 D

2.2.2 A

2.2.3 B

2.2.4 D

2.2.5 C

3.1.1 B

3.1.2 B

3.1.3 A

3.1.4 C

3.1.5 D

3.2.1 B

3.2.2 A

3.2.3 C

3.2.4 A

3.2.5 D

Total 30

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Sample Examination Recordings

ESOL International
Sample English Listening Examination

Level B2 Independent User

Texts to be used with the examination

The texts are to be recorded and sent to the centre on a disk prior to
the examination.

Instructions are written in underlined italics and should not be recorded.

The recording must be played to learners in full from start to finish.

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This is the NOCN ESOL International Independent User Level B2 Listening examination.

Please check that your name and other details are on your mark sheet.

The invigilator will have explained how to fill in the mark sheet.

Do not write on your examination paper.

The Listening examination will now begin.

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Part 1

You will hear ten sentences.

Read the replies on your examination paper. You have two minutes to read the replies on your

examination paper.

Pause for two minutes

Listen to the sentences. You will hear the sentences in full twice. Choose the best reply for the

situation. Then you will have two minutes to check your answers.

Record the sentences (three seconds between each sentence)

1. Do you want to watch this programme?

2. He asked me if I would be his girlfriend.

3. I passed my exams and have got onto the college course I wanted.

4. (worriedly) Do you think you should be doing that? Have you decided?

5. Are you going shopping on Saturday?

6. Would you like to see my new dress?

7. Put your foot down. Drive quickly. We need to get there quickly.

8. You need to buy it today.

9. You’d better pick up that food from the floor and put it in the bin.

10.That was the best meal I have ever had.

Pause for five seconds after the first reading

Now listen to the sentences again.

Record the sentences again

Now check your answers. You have two minutes to check your answers.

Pause for two minutes after the second reading

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Part 2 – Conversations

You will hear two conversations. Read the questions and answers on your examination paper

for both conversations. You have two minutes to read them.

Pause for two minutes

Listen to Conversation 1. You will hear the conversation twice. Answer the questions. Then

you have two minutes to check the answers.

Record the conversation

Policewoman - Good afternoon, what is your name? I am PC Maria Brown.

Driver - Good afternoon, PC Brown. My name is Susi Smith.
P - I can see there has been an accident. What happened? Did you see anything?
S - That lady was crossing the road when a car came racing round the corner. She didn’t have
a chance. The car was travelling so fast. It drove off in a hurry and left the poor lady in the road.
P - Did you see any other vehicles? Can you describe the car that knocked the lady down?
S - No, there were no other vehicles around. The road was really quiet. I think that is why the
car was driving so fast. It was a small black car. It might have been a Fiat.
P - Did you manage to see the licence plate?
S - No I am sorry. The only thing I remember was that it had a white sticker on the back of the
car with a green letter P on it and there were some soft toys in the back window.
P - How many people were in the car?
S - I think there could have been three. Two in the front and one in the back, I think. I think the
driver was a man, in his early twenties I would say. I didn’t get a good look at him though.
P- That is really helpful. What happened after the car drove off?
S - Well, I ran across the road to see if I could help. She was lying on her back and one of her
legs was bent underneath her. I didn’t move her because she might have had a head injury. I
learnt that by watching TV. I used my mobile phone to ring for an ambulance and stayed with
her. I spoke to her but she did not speak to me. Is she going to be alright?
P - I hope so, provided that we can get her to hospital quickly enough. Head injuries are very
dangerous. Thank you for your help today. We may have more questions, depending on what
happens. Let me have your name and address and we will keep it on file.

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Pause for five seconds after the first reading

Now listen to the conversation again.

Record the conversation again

Now check your answers. You have two minutes to check your answers.

Pause for two minutes after the second reading

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Part 2 – Conversations

Listen to Conversation 2. You will hear the conversation twice. Answer the questions. Then

you have two minutes to check the answers.

Record the conversation

(Interviewer) We are going to talk to Sara King about the part she played in setting up a class to
teach adults how to use their mobile phones more effectively. Sara is only 20 years old, but
already she has classes on three evenings a week and a waiting list to join the class.

I - Sara, why did you think that the class was needed?
S- My mum and dad both have mobiles, but they do not have a clue how to use them! All they
use them for is the occasional text message and phoning their friends. My mum didn’t even
know how to take a photograph! I guessed that they were not the only ones of their age who
were so far behind the times and I was correct! You would not believe the number of people out
there at their age who do not use their mobiles to their full potential. They insist on having the
latest style, but why bother? They may as well just have an ancient phone for what they use
them for!

I - What did you do?

S - Well I started out by showing my dad how to use the internet. He buys and sells things all
the time using his computer, but of course, he could only check that at home as he does not
have a computer at work. I told him that if he downloaded an app he could check his sales all
the time. He is hooked! He has set up his phone properly now and knows how to take a photo
and upload it to the app so that he can sell things without waiting to get home and he is buying
so many things that my mum has told him to stop or they will have no money left!

I - What about your mum? What can she use the phone for now?
S - Well, she is always texting her friends, so I showed her how to use Messenger and
Facebook so she can see when they are online and can text away to her heart’s content. She
loves it, but it does mean that our meals are sometimes a bit late because she has got carried
away!

I - So what was the next step?

S - I showed my mum a few more apps that she could use on her phone and she was amazed!
She showed her best friends what I had downloaded and they said that they could do with some
lessons - they would pay me to show them what to do! So I approached my local community
centre to see if they would let me use one of the rooms free of charge once a week if I
developed their website for them. They said yes and the rest is history as they say!

I - What are your plans for the future?

S - I have been talking to some of my friends to see if they want to teach some classes as well -
we would agree what we would cover so that we had a standard approach. I have so many

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people on a waiting list that I cannot do everything myself, but I want to make sure that
everyone gets the same experience in the class and feels that they have learnt some great new
skills for life.

I - Thank you very much, Sara. I certainly wish you luck in the future.

Pause for five seconds after the first reading

Now listen to the conversation again.

Record the conversation again

Now check your answers. You have two minutes to check your answers.

Pause for two minutes after the second reading

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Part 3 – Broadcasts

You will hear two broadcasts. Read the questions and answers on your examination paper for

both broadcasts. You will have two minutes to read them.

Pause for two minutes

Listen to Broadcast 1. You will hear a broadcast read twice. Read the questions and answers

on your examination paper. Then you have two minutes to read them.

Record the broadcast

Plastic Surgery Apps for Little Girls?

Laura Bates in ‘The Chronicle’ reported today on an app that has shocked many people around
the world. Generally, we are very accepting of the world around us. We accept that it’s normal,
and see it as "just the way things are". But every now and then, something comes along that is
so awful, so appalling, that it shakes us out of our normalised half-sleep and makes us realise
just how truly, shockingly bad the situation has become.

This week, the plastic surgery apps available to little girls to download from A Music Play
provided just such a wake-up call. These apps that suggested to little girls that their bodies
might not be good enough, that being thin was all that mattered, and that being fat would make
you unhappy and disgusting. These apps sent the message to little girls as young as nine that
women are mainly judged on how they look. They seemed to tell them the way to make
themselves happy and beautiful again was simple – somebody must cut away at their body with
a knife until all the parts that are unacceptable to society have been sucked out or cut off.

The apps have been withdrawn, but this isn’t a victory. It’s a vital opportunity to stop and ask
how this could have happened. How have we reached a point at which games developers
would actually create an app that says these bizarre, painful, damaging things to our little girls
and would expect it to be successful? What really matters isn’t the apps at all, but the fact that
people thought it was OK for them to come into being in the first place.

Pause for five seconds after the first reading

Now listen to the broadcast again.

Record the broadcast again

Now check your answers. You have two minutes to check your answers.

Pause for two minutes after the second reading

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Part 3 – Broadcasts

Listen to Broadcast 2. You will hear the broadcast twice. Answer the questions. Then you

have two minutes to check the answers.

Record the broadcast

The Olympic Games in London in 2012 were a massive success, but now that the fever and
excitement is over, how can we continue to ensure that the legacy of the games continues?

Playing sport helps to keep people healthy and is good for communities. Playing sport at school
or in a local club is also the first step to competition at the highest level, which helps improve
our reputation as a sporting nation, and contributes to economic growth.

But when people leave school they often stop playing sports, which means people can’t fulfil
their sporting potential, and can lead to a less healthy lifestyle. The government wants to get
more people playing sport safely from a young age, and help them keep playing sport
throughout their life, no matter what their economic or social background.

To make sure as many people as possible are playing sport, the government is:
 funding Sport England, to help community sports grow, including helping 14- to 25-year-
olds to keep playing sport throughout their lives
 expanding the School Games programme to increase opportunities for more young
people to play competitive sport
 spending over £450 million on improving physical education (PE) and sport in primary
schools over the three academic years in the run up to the next Olympic games in Rio in
2016.

Pause for five seconds after the first reading

Now listen to the broadcast again.

Record the broadcast again

Now check your answers. You have two minutes to check your answers.

Pause for two minutes after the second reading

That is the end of the Listening examination. Please check your mark sheet is completed
correctly. Put your pens down.

End of Examination

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NOCN
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99 Parkway Avenue
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S9 4WG
UK

E-mail: [email protected]

Tel: +44 (0) 114 2270500

Fax: +44 (0) 114 2270501

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