English for Spanish Speakers

Cambridge English: First

Practice Test Booklet
First for Schools
Answer key and Recording script
Helen Chilton and Helen Tiliouine
 Answer key
Paper 1 Reading
Part 1
1 B  2 D  3 A  4 C  5 B  6 D  7 C  8 A
Part 2
9 F  10 D  11 G  12 A  13 H  14 E  15 B  players, managers, and even different stadiums around
Part 3
16 A  17 B  18 C  19 D  20 C  21 D  22 A  23 B  and clips of training sessions, so I can learn new skills.
24 D  25 B  26 C  27 D  28 B  29 C  30 A
Paper 2 Writing
Part 1 Sample answer
Dear Mrs Jenner,
I’m so happy that we’re going to London soon. It’s very
exciting and I can’t wait! I’ve always wanted to see
Big Ben.
It would be fun to stay in the hostel with my classmates,
but I really need to practise my English. That’s why I’d
like to stay with an English family, if possible. I’d like to
find out how English people live, and even try their food!
I think it’s a great idea to go to an English school and see
how different it is from ours. I don’t mind which lessons
I go to, though I’d love to try a music lesson as that’s my
favourite subject.
As for the present, how about taking them a book about
the history of our town? We could also give them a
photograph of us all so they can remember our visit.
Best wishes,
Elena
Part 2 Sample answer 2
One of the sports websites I visit the most is
FootballNews. As the name suggests, it is about only one
sport, but there is always plenty to say about football.
And that is why I visit this particular website nearly
every day. FootballNews covers all the latest football
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stories and has regular updates, so you can check match
results and follow the progress of your favourite team.
There are plenty of good photographs on the homepage,
and you can click on them to read short articles or see
video clips of the best goals. There are also a number of
different sections, so you can find out about individual
the world.
Personally, I like watching interviews with the players
The only criticism I have is that there are sometimes
too many advertisements, but that’s true of most other
websites too.
I would recommend anyone who is interested in
football to check out this site. I think you’ll find it very
interesting.
Part 2 Sample answer 3
Mark looked out of the window and saw something
completely unexpected. He ran to the front door of his
flat, down the stairs, and out into the street. He was
greeted by lots of noise and a strange smell. He rubbed
his eyes and blinked several times. No, he wasn’t
dreaming.
Goats. And not just one or two goats, but loads of them,
certainly too many to count. They were making an
incredible amount of noise and stopping all the traffic.
Angry drivers beeped their horns, but the goats ignored
them. They were on their way somewhere, but where?
He looked for someone who might be in charge of the
animals, and saw two men carrying long sticks. He
ran over to them and asked them what they were doing
in the middle of the city. They looked surprised at the
question, but explained politely to Mark that there was
a special city farm in the park that week, and the goats
were going to be part of it.
Mark scratched his head and wondered whether any of
his friends would believe him when he told them what
he’d seen.
Answer key 1
Part 2 Sample answer 4 Part 2
If you ask people at what age they think children should 9 language  10 email  11 interviews  12 taxi 
be able to have a mobile phone, you will get many 13 presenter  14 makeup/make-up 
different answers. It is difficult to say whether or not 15 ad/advert/advertisement  16 questions 
children under the age of twelve should have one. 17 arguments  18 seventh/7th
Some people consider children under twelve to be too Part 3
irresponsible to own an expensive thing like a mobile
phone. They can easily lose them, and older children 19 E  20 B  21 F  22 A  23 D
might steal them if they are not careful. Young children Part 4
can also use them for things like texting their friends
during school lessons, and make long calls which could 24 B  25 C  26 A  27 C  28 B  29 A  30 B
cost their parents a lot of money.
On the other hand, many children aged ten or eleven,
or even younger, need mobile phones. This might be Recording script
because they have to walk or take the bus home from Track 2
school on their own, and their parents want to be able to
contact them and know they are safe. This is the Cambridge First Certificate in English for Schools
On balance, I think the most important thing is not a Listening Test.
person’s age, but how mature they are. I’m going to give you the instructions for this test.
I’ll introduce each part of the test and give you time to look
at the questions.
Paper 3 Use of English At the start of each piece you’ll hear this sound:
Part 1 ***
1 C  2 A  3 B  4 C  5 B  6 D  7 B  8 C  9 D  10 A  You’ll hear each piece twice.
11 D  12 C
Remember, while you’re listening, write your answers on the
Part 2 question paper.
13 off  14 though/if  15 whether  16 the  17 is  You’ll have 5 minutes at the end of the test to copy your
18 too  19 There  20 such  21 what  22 to  answers onto the separate answer sheet.
23 with  24 more There will now be a pause. Please ask any questions now,
Part 3 because you must not speak during the test.

25 powerful  26 surprisingly  27 generally  Listening Part 1

28 known  29 safety  30 surrounding  31 variety 
Track 3
32 competition  33 shortage  34 endangered
Now open your question paper and look at Part 1.
Part 4
You’ll hear people talking in eight different situations. For
35 hardly any of  36 made him/Leo tidy 
questions 1–8, choose the best answer A, B or C.
37 run out of 
38 whose pen this is / whose is this pen  One.
39 far as Julia/she is  40 succeeded in getting  You hear a girl talking about attending ballet classes.
41 do you mind if  42 worst concert I have ever
What does she say about them?
A They were not as exciting as she expected.
Paper 4 Listening B She was disappointed with her costume.

Part 1 C Her mother was not keen on the idea.

1 B  2 C  3 A  4 B  5 C  6 A  7 C  8 B

Complete First Certificate © Cambridge University Press Answer key and Recording script Listening: Part 1 2
 Girl: I guess I recognised that ballet was the major
passion in my life from a very young age, but it
wasn’t until I was ten and my mum got fed up
with me dancing around the living room that
she took me to a class. I was so excited. I didn’t
much care for the classes at first because I’d
expected to be wearing the pretty dresses I’d
seen on stage, and I hated the boring black
uniform I was given instead. But ballet soon
became something I couldn’t live without and
I’ve never looked back since. I still dance at
home – Mum’s not impressed!
***
RECORDING REPEATED
Two.
You hear two friends discussing an article one of them
has read.
What does the girl think about the article?
A She thinks there is no point to the research.
B She thinks the scientists have got some things wrong.
C She thinks that what the bees do is impressive.
Girl: Apparently bees are really good at maths!
Boy: What do you mean?
Girl: I read this article that said scientists have
discovered bees can solve problems that take
computers ages to solve! Basically, bees can
visit lots of flowers once each by finding the
shortest path between them without making a
single error.
Boy: That doesn’t seem particularly useful.
Girl: Well, computers can’t calculate travel
distances as quickly – amazing when you think
how small a bee’s brain is! Scientists want to
know how bees do the calculations so quickly
and they think they might be using maths. They
said that this information might help humans to
deal with things like traffic jams!
***
RECORDING REPEATED
Three.
You hear a teacher talking to students about their
homework.
What is he doing?
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A giving advice about how to approach the work
B explaining an answer to a problem
C suggesting a way to improve their writing skills
Man: Here are your essays back. They’re generally
good, but please remember to make sure you
understand the question – there’s no harm
in asking for a bit of help. It’s much easier
than struggling to do the work because you
don’t know what’s expected of you. If there’s
something you find difficult, then do that
first, rather than trying to get the easy stuff
out of the way. You’ll have more energy to
concentrate at the beginning and then later
you can focus on writing the simpler things.
If you get stuck, don’t spend too much time
thinking about it – you can always come back
to it later.
***
RECORDING REPEATED
Four.
You hear two friends discussing space travel.
What do they agree about?
A how exciting the adventure would be
B how the long journey would put them off
C how useful the trip would be for scientists
Girl: Did you see that programme about going to
live on planet Mars?
Boy: Yeah. They said that astronauts could travel
to Mars and then stay there to live. Because it
would take them six months to arrive, it would
be too expensive to bring them back again!
Girl: It would be an amazing adventure, don’t you
think? Though I’m not sure I’d enjoy being in a
space rocket for six months.
Boy: I can’t imagine who’d want to do that kind of
thing. I might consider it if I could get back
home more easily. I’m sure it would provide
some exciting research.
Girl: Who’s really going to go and live on Mars,
though?
***
RECORDING REPEATED
Recording script Listening: Part 1 3
 Five.
You hear two students talking about a language class.
How does the boy feel about it?
A worried that he won’t be able to focus
B surprised by the teacher’s idea
C hopeful that he will learn something new
Boy: It’s French next.
Girl: I wonder what it’s going to be like today –
learning a language while playing sports!
Boy: I suppose it depends what sport we play – I
think they’ll be teaching us verbs and stuff –
you know, like throw and run. It’s hard enough
concentrating in our usual French class – it
might be different if I’m thinking about sport
instead, though.
Girl: Doing the action while you learn the word
must help you remember it.
Boy: Well, you never know, it might work. Our
teacher has some really cool ideas, doesn’t he?
He’s amazing compared to our last teacher.
Girl: I know what you mean! Anyway, I think it’s
going to be fun.
***
RECORDING REPEATED
Six.
You hear a headteacher talking about recycling.
What is the purpose of her talk?
A to introduce a new challenge
B to thank students for their help
C to offer advice for a school project
Woman: You’ve all been doing a very good job with
recycling this year, and the idea for the paper-
only waste boxes in classrooms has been
very successful, so I’m very pleased with
that. What we’re looking for now are a few
more ideas about how we can be even more
environmentally-friendly at school. So you
need to get your heads together and come up
with some original ideas. What I’d like you to
do is write down your idea on a piece of paper
– don’t forget to add your name and class
number – and then put it in the suggestions
box that we’ll be putting in the main entrance.
***
RECORDING REPEATED
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Seven.
You hear a boy talking about playing computer games.
What is his attitude towards them?
A They make people more communicative.
B They create interest in outdoor activities.
C They develop a range of useful skills.
Boy: I don’t play many computer games coz I
prefer being outside, but you can learn from
them. I know there are games where you can
communicate with people around the world
and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I
prefer to talk to people in person. Computer
games are entertaining and you can improve
things like maths skills and confidence with
technology. I think some people are more
negative about them than they need to be, but
in my opinion you can’t beat real life. You can
play sports games on the computer, but I’d
rather kick a ball around in the park than sit in
front of a screen.
***
RECORDING REPEATED
Eight.
You hear a man talking to a group of people.
Who is he talking to?
A tourists
B scientists
C schoolchildren
Man: As you’ll have noticed, our wind farm has
grown considerably, and we now have a
number of wind-powered machines. This
creates most of the energy needed to power
the electricity in the hotel where you’re staying.
Our weather workshops for schools have been
highly successful and our next group is due
to arrive on Thursday. If any of you would like
to offer to run one of the classes, I’d certainly
appreciate your time and expert knowledge.
We’re also opening the hotel soon to guests
who use the tourist facilities in the area – it’s a
great way for us to keep on raising money for
the weather research station.
***
RECORDING REPEATED
That is the end of Part 1.
Recording script Listening: Part 1 4
Listening Part 2
Track 4
Now turn to Part 2.
You’ll hear a girl called Zoë talking about taking part in a
television programme. For questions 9–18, complete the
sentences.
You now have forty-five seconds in which to look at Part 2.
***
Zoë: I’ve just taken part in a TV challenge called
Teen Inventor – a competition for teenagers
who had invented something special. I sent in
my application back in April with my idea for
a new language which would make it much
quicker to programme a computer – I thought
it could be used to make a new game, for
example.
Then I waited and waited and it wasn’t until
October that I finally heard back from the
producer of the show. I’d almost forgotten
about it – I assumed that I hadn’t been chosen
to take part. As soon as I got the phone call
I was so excited. Then I had to wait for him
to get in touch by email with more details – I
couldn’t wait!
The competition took place over nine weeks,
with one candidate being knocked out
each week until the final. We had to carry
out a series of tasks with our invention –
for example, we had to do interviews with
manufacturers which were pretty scary.
We also did a couple of presentations to
advertising companies – I didn’t cope with
those too badly though.
Anyway, on the first day of filming I was really
nervous. My dad was just planning the best
route by car to the TV studios when there was
a knock at the door and someone had come to
collect me – the producers had arranged for
me and my parents to go by taxi to the studios.
Once we got there, I met the other
contestants on the show and we got chatting
about our inventions. After an introductory talk
from the producer, we met the camera crew
who were really friendly, the show’s presenter,
who helped to put my mind at rest, and the
judges – they were really cool and tried to put
me at ease but I still felt a bit nervous! But it
was such a friendly atmosphere that I soon
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forgot about my nerves and started to get
really excited about what lay ahead.
Then we went to what they called the
wardrobe, where we sorted out what we were
going to wear for the cameras. I picked out
this really smart shirt which I loved but it didn’t
fit, so I wore my own stuff in the end. Then we
had our makeup done – that was loads of fun,
though the boys made a bit of a fuss about it!
They left my hairstyle alone which I was glad
about.
I felt really confident about my invention
because when I saw the advert in a magazine,
it said that the best inventions were those that
answered a question or solved a problem or
saved people time. I knew mine did all of those
things. It’s easy to get put off by what people
say so you just have to ignore their advice if
you really believe in your idea.
I did start to get a bit worried when I saw what
the other participants had come up with –
there were some ideas that were very clever.
But I had to stay focused. We were given our
first task which was presenting our idea to
a studio audience, who were allowed to ask
questions afterwards. Some of them were
pretty tricky but I didn’t do too badly.
I was surprised at how well all the participants
got on with each other. I thought arguments
might break out since we were competing
against each other. There were one or two
moments when I thought something was going
to happen but I think everyone was pretty
grown-up about it all really, which was good.
I loved the challenge of the tasks we had to
do each week and sometimes we had to work
in a team which I really enjoyed. It would’ve
been embarrassing having to leave after the
first programme so I was lucky to make it to
the seventh episode – only three weeks away
from the final! I had such a good time on the
show and it’s inspired me to keep working on
my invention!
Now you’ll hear Part 2 again.
***
RECORDING REPEATED
That is the end of Part 2.
Recording script Listening: Part 2 5
Listening Part 3
Track 5
Now turn to Part 3.
You’ll hear five people talking about how similar they are
to a member of their family. For questions 19–23, choose
from the list (A–F) what each speaker says. Use the letters
only once. There is one extra letter which you do not need
to use.
You now have thirty seconds in which to look at Part 3.
***
Speaker 1: People always get me confused with my older
brother. It’s not so much that we look alike
because we have different hair and eye colour,
but it’s when we answer the phone at home.
I once had one of my brother David’s friends
chatting away to me for about five minutes
because he didn’t believe I wasn’t David! Apart
from that, I don’t think we really have much
in common at all. He’s great at maths and
computers and stuff, whereas I’m more of a
languages person. The only real time we spend
together is when we do stuff together as a
family – you know, holidays and things like that.
Speaker 2: I get on really well with my dad – people say
we’re very alike in some things, though not
necessarily looks. My dad loves planning
things and I’m like that too, when I’m doing
schoolwork or whatever. I like to be really
organised. We’re amused by the same things
and the other members of the family get a bit
annoyed when we’re laughing away together
over something that they don’t understand.
My dad’s a really great sportsman and was
in all the school sports teams. I’m more of
a gymnastics fan myself, though I went to
a football match once with him to keep him
company.
Speaker 3: My mum says I remind her of my granddad
and if it was true I’d actually be quite pleased
because he’s a really cool guy, good-looking
and he tells funny stories in this really deep
voice! I don’t see a likeness at all. He’s taller
than me with blue eyes, whereas mine are
brown. Maybe it’s something about the
expressions on our faces when we’re laughing
or something. It’s his brain that I’d like to take
after him for. He’s a very smart man and ran a
very successful business before he retired. I’d
love to follow in his footsteps, but I’m not sure
my school grades are good enough.
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Speaker 4: My younger brother’s good fun and we get
on pretty well considering we’re brother and
sister and there are three years between us. I
think he looks up to me in a way, coz he thinks
I know everything! I’m sure that’ll change as
he grows up! He’s just moved up from primary
school to the secondary school I go to and on
his first day everyone kept coming up to him
and going, ‘Oh, you must be Wendy’s brother’!
I suppose there are a few similarities, though
we’re very different in terms of what we like
doing and he’s got quite an unusual sense of
humour I think!
Speaker 5: My cousin is great fun and because we’re a
similar age we spend lots of time together
listening to music and stuff. He’s probably
my best friend really, coz we have so much in
common. I’d like to look like him – he’s tall and
has got this cool red hair! I had mine cut in a
similar style but it doesn’t look as good. I’m
more impatient than him – he’ll spend hours
and hours trying to get a trick right on his
skateboard, but I tend to get annoyed if I can’t
get something right first time. He laughs at me
about it, so I tease him back about stuff.
Now you’ll hear Part 3 again
***
RECORDING REPEATED
That is the end of Part 3.
Listening Part 4
Track 6
Now turn to Part 4.
You’ll hear an interview with a girl called Rosie Hart who
has just been on an expedition to the Arctic. For questions
24–30, choose the best answer A, B or C.
You now have one minute in which to look at Part 4.
***
Interviewer: I’m talking to Rosie Hart who’s just back from
an educational expedition to the Arctic. How
did you first hear about the trip?
Rosie: From a teacher. The expedition was for school
kids like me and the idea was to observe life
in the Arctic to make us more aware of our
environment. When my teacher told me about
it, I thought it could be a bit dull, but when
Recording script Listening Parts 3 and 4 6
 I read the brochure she gave me I thought
it might be a cool way to spend my school
holidays. I knew I’d miss my friends and it
would’ve been nice if they could’ve come.
Anyway . . . we travelled by ship and did
loads of stuff like spotting wildlife and
scientific research.
Interviewer: What was life like on board the ship?
Rosie: We had to share sleeping cabins, which I
thought might be difficult because I like to
have my own space. But actually my cabin
mate and I got on ok so it worked out fine.
There was a mix of nationalities on board
which added to the adventure and we had
some cool conversations. Our expedition
leader kept telling us that we were there
to work, and although the work was pretty
challenging, it didn’t matter because it was so
much fun.
Interviewer: A group of scientists gave talks on board.
What were the talks like?
Rosie: Every day there were two lectures – one in
the morning and one after each day’s activity. I
was impressed by meeting experts who knew
all about the Arctic, though I’d have liked them
to talk more about worldwide environmental
stuff. Sometimes I didn’t feel like going to the
lectures but they were always worthwhile and
I learned more in those two weeks than I did in
a whole year of school!
Interviewer: You had to raise quite a lot of money to pay for
the trip, didn’t you?
Rosie: Yeah, I did all sorts of things like a twenty-
kilometre run . . . I even did a silence-for-a-day
where people paid me not to talk for twenty-
four hours! My parents supported me and
gave me a loan towards my trip too. I didn’t
quite meet my target but when the people of
my town heard me on the local radio talking
about what I was going to do, they offered to
help and I finally got enough money together.
Interviewer: What was the best part of the trip for you?
Rosie: We spent a day with one of the local Arctic
communities when we visited their village. We
learned about how climate change is having an
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impact on their life, which was interesting.
But you can’t beat seeing endangered polar
bears! We didn’t get close up which was
disappointing, but we saw them from a
distance. I’d been looking forward to seeing
lots of snow but the expedition was in summer,
so most of the places we visited had lots of ice
and mud but no snow!
Interviewer: What was the most important thing you
learned on the trip?
Rosie: I’ve always been good at making friends, but I
know I’m going to keep the friends I made on
this trip for the rest of my life. I want to keep
on learning, not just about the environment but
about people too. I found out so much from
talking to my friends on board, and I realised
you should talk to people wherever you are,
even if it’s on a train. You never know what
they might have to share. I loved the team
spirit on board, all working together to make
changes.
Interviewer: So, what’s in the future for you?
Rosie: I’d love to experience the Antarctic, but it will
have to wait ’til I’ve finished school. I’ve got so
much to tell my classmates when I go back
to school – I want to teach them all about
the things I saw on my trip, but I’m going to
surprise them with stuff they don’t already
know about the environment. I’m going to
get them to change their way of life so we
can protect our beautiful planet for future
generations.
Now you’ll hear Part 4 again.
***
RECORDING REPEATED
That is the end of Part 4.
There will now be a pause of five minutes for you to copy
your answers onto the separate answer sheet. Be sure to
follow the numbering of all the questions. I’ll remind you
when there is one minute left, so that you are sure to finish
in time.
You have one more minute left.
That’s the end of the test. Please stop now. Your supervisor
will now collect all the question papers and answer sheets.
Recording script Listening: Part 4 7