Answer Keys
Part 1
1. C 2. C 3. B 4. C 5. B 6. B
Part 2
7. creative 8. economics 9. uncle 10. (game) tester
11. Jungle 12. research 13. adventure 14. (very) satisfying
Part 3
15. C 16. D 17. C 18. A 19. B 20. D
Part 4
21. E 22. F 23. B 24. A 25. D
26. C 27. H 28. E 29. B 30. F
Tapescript
The part of the text containing the answer is underlined with the question number given in square brackets []. Points that are crucial to understand are written in italics. If you still struggle with CAE Listening, please refer to Listening tips.
Part 1
Extract One
Man: I hope Jeremy’s going to turn out OK as the new store supervisor. I’m beginning to have my doubts.
Woman: Well, he’s bound to take some time to settle into the role, I guess, but things aren’t looking that promising. I’ve heard mutterings from several members of staff already. [1]
Man: I know. And it used to be such a happy team. At least everything seems fine as far as customers are concerned. I guess there’s no reason to take it up with our line manager at this stage. But perhaps we should have a quiet word with him? You’re good at that sort of thing,
Woman: Well, I wouldn’t mind but I think I’d be more in favour of hanging on for a bit. It might just be a matter of him getting used to our way of working with each other. He might just have been used to a less collaborative atmosphere. [2]
Man: OK, let’s give that a try then.
Extract Two
Man: Look at this. They’ve gone and sacked their manager. He’s only been in the post for a couple of years. [3]
Woman: Is that because they’ve had such poor results recently? When everyone had said the team was on the verge of doing so much better than before.
Man: It must be. And they’ve terminated the coach’s contract too. But he’s no loss. I never thought he was much good.
Woman: And you never thought much of the manager either did you? You were always saying he was in out of his depth.
Man: Yes, in the long term it might be a good thing, but it’s still an odd time to do it. [4] It’s going to be pretty unsettling for the players. I wonder if there’s more to it than meets the eye. Some legal issue perhaps.
Woman: Maybe. But perhaps it’s a relief to see the back of them if something like that’s involved.
Man: I’d agree with you if it had happened at the beginning of the season but not… [4]
Extract Three
Woman: The Monday afternoon optional course seems to be turning out OK, don’t you think? I thought it was going to be tedious at first but it seems to get a bit better each time. [5]
Man: Yes, I thought I might end up dropping it after the first week but I’m getting more used to the lecturer and I think I quite like his style now [5]. He’s got quite a dry sense of humour. And I suppose vibrations could be an important topic, if we’re going to become hands-on engineers.
Woman: I’m not so sure about that. Anyway, I’ve decided to stick with it for a bit longer. I wish he didn’t speak so softly though. It’s hard to hear his voice from the back of that huge lecture hall. If he wasn’t so witty I don’t think I’d make the effort. [6] And his slides have far too much on them, I can’t read them when I’m sitting at the back, It’s a good job he puts them up online for us.
Man: Mm, I know. And did you see he’s also put up a coursework assignment for us? We’ve got to get it done by the end of next week.
Part 2
Woman: I’m here today to talk to you about working in computer gaming, I’d certainly recommend it as a career. Not because it’s glamorous — it has that reputation among some people, I believe — nor because it’s a well-paid job — generally it isn’t — but rather because it’s creative. [7] And that’s the factor that, all things being equal, correlates most highly with job satisfaction.
People get jobs in the computer games industry after degrees in all sorts of subjects. Of course, if you’ve done a course in graphic design, that’ll stand you in good stead but it’s certainly not essential. I myself graduated in economics [8] and colleagues of mine did history, engineering and English. The degree itself is less important than the enthusiasm someone brings to the job. It goes without saying that everyone who joins the industry has themselves enjoyed playing games. My parents always told me I spent far too much time on them, so much so that they suggested I put it to good use and apply for work in the industry. My uncle sent me the name of someone he knew at a major games company, so I decided to apply there first. [9]
I was lucky enough to get taken on. I didn’t have the skills to become a technical programmer of course and started as a game tester [10]. That taught me a huge amount and after six months I was able to do something more demanding.
At first I was assigned to one of the games the company was then in the process of developing. You may well know it — it’s called Jungle — it turned out to be a big seller. [11] Later I worked on a game called Motor Show — that’s less widely known but it has a devoted niche following. Anyway, I learnt a lot working on these two contrasting products.
After six months I moved on. I was given a position in the research department. [12] I had applied for something in the marketing department but didn’t get that. I was disappointed at the time but now feel it worked out for the best.
There are, of course, many different types of computer games. The company I work for specialises in sports games — skateboarding, motor racing, that sort of thing. However, it’s also dabbled in old-fashioned arcade games and it does some adventure games too. Those are the ones I personally most enjoy working on — though each type of game has its own attractions, of course. [13]
Anyway, I’d certainly recommend a career in computer games. I’d say mine has been very satisfying. [14] Not as financially rewarding as some of you might like but that’s not the main thing is it? When preparing for this talk I asked some of my colleagues how they would sum up their careers. The most common word they used was challenging but I don’t feel that that puts a positive enough slant on a career in computer games. Anyway. let me now take any