Listening Comprehension Test for 10th Form Students

 

 

 

Listening Comprehension Test for 10^th Form Students

 

Tape script 10

 

 

Sister Coxall had been running Violet Ward for many years. Her pride and joy was her own little office, scrupulously clean, its walls glistening with fresh white paint. She sat at her desk, her eyes unseeing. Who was this new doctor, anyway? Some silly youth fresh from medical school? What right had he to interfere in the running of her ward?

She had met him yesterday. He had driven into the hospital grounds and almost driven over her. There were plenty of ‘Go Slow’ notices within sight. Besides, almost everybody who worked at the hospital knew she walked through the grounds at that time of day.

‘Are you all right?’ he had said, getting out of his car. ‘I really wasn’t concentrating.’ He seemed embarrassed. ‘Er, Sister, I’m frightfully sorry.’

She couldn’t help smiling. ‘That’s all right, Mr –’ she paused politely.

‘Doctor – Doctor Green. I’ve just arrived, as you can see,’ he grinned. ‘I’m taking over the running of D Block.’

Sister Coxall noticeably stiffened. ‘D Block?’ she echoed.

‘Look, get into my car, and I’ll drive you to the Nurses’ Home.’

They sat in silence and soon were climbing the dingy staircase leading to Sister Coxall’s neat room. Once inside, she took off her cape. ‘Sit down, Doctor, I’ll make some tea.’

Sitting drinking the sweet tea, Doctor Green explained that he had always been interested in psychiatric work and when he had finished his studies, he had applied for this post in one of the country’s largest psychiatric hospitals. He had not expected to get the job, but he did, and without an interview.

He told her of the great changes and new ideas he hoped he would introduce. ‘For instance,’ he said, ‘the sister on Violet Ward has been working there for ten years. She must have lost her identity to some extent. Her patients must be more like children to her than sick people.’ He leaned forward. ‘You know, Sister, she is in danger of illness herself. Tomorrow, when I begin my work, I intend to move that sister to a different ward. She may not realise it at the time, but the change will do her good.’

Sister Coxall listened, a faint pink flush tinged her ears.

The day had arrived. She looked around her office. She was going to be removed from this, her home, and placed among strangers.

‘No,’ she screamed, and her fist came heavily down upon the desk, scattering pens into sudden life.

Sister Coxall’s mind began to work. Now it raced. Nobody knows he is coming here except me. He said he was going to stay at a hotel last night and was coming straight to the ward this morning, before reporting to the General Office. He had no white coat or identity badge yet.

A diabolical smile drew back the corners of her thin straight mouth. ‘There is only one thing to do,’ she muttered, and rose and went to the door.

‘Nurse,’ she called, ‘a new patient is expected this morning, a Mr Green. When he arrives, bring him straight to my office.’ She looked down at the empty report paper she held in her hand. ‘It says here that he is paranoid and greatly confused; he thinks he’s a doctor. Humour him, Nurse. I’ll prepare a strong sedative.’

Going to the cupboard, Sister Coxall took down a syringe and filled it with a cool orange liquid. She then took an empty file from a cabinet and began to prepare a written report on Mr Green.

She sighed. The ward was full of men, all confused, all insisting they were doctors. No one was ever going to take her ward and office away from her. No one.

   Listening Comprehension Test for 10^th Form Students                                     

 

I. Look at the events of the story. They are in the wrong order. Try and guess the right order.

Write the corresponding order number of the sentence in your answer sheet.

a) Sister Coxall was in charge of Violet Ward.

b) Dr Green was interested in psychiatric medicine.

c) She met the new doctor.

d) He got out of his car.

e) She wondered who the new doctor was.

f) He nearly ran her over.

g) She offered him tea.

h) He gave her a lift to the Nurses' Home.

i) She listened to his plans for Violet Ward.

j) He had recently finished his studies.

k) She walked through the hospital grounds.

l) He got the new job without an interview.

 

II. Match each question with one of the answers below.

 

1. Why was Sister Coxall angry?
2. Why did nobody know what Dr Green looked like?
3. Why did she want him to come straight to the ward?
4. How do we know it was a lie that Dr Green was paranoid and confused?
5. Why did she fill the syringe?
6. How do we know this was not the first time she had done this?
7. How did Sister Coxall know that the person who had almost driven over her was new to the hospital?
8. Why did Dr Green intend to move the sister on Violet Ward to a different ward?

 

 

a  Because the sedative would make Dr Green easy to handle.

b Because she was only pretending to read from a report

c  Because the ward was full of men all insisting they were doctors.

d Because he hadn't been to the General Office yet to get his identity badge.

e  Because she didn't want him to suspect that the nurse thought he was a patient.

f   Because she wanted to stay in her job.

g Because almost everybody who worked at the hospital knew she walked through the grounds at that time of day.

h Because she must have lost her identity to some extent and was in danger of illness herself.

 

TEXT 2

 Read the text and choose the best answer (1, 2, 3 or 4), according to the text

My friendship with Kathy wasn’t a perfect friendship. I learned very soon in our relationship that Kathy was jealous. We would have great fun going out shopping but if I bought, say, a dress for a party and she thought my dress was better than hers, she would start to say slightly unkind things about it. She would be keen to come out with me to buy the dress. She would give me a lot of helpful advice while I was trying on the various dresses in the shops. Her advice would be good. She would even tell the shop assistant if she thought the price was too high. I can remember one occasion when she said this and, to my surprise, they knocked the price down so that I could afford to buy it. The trouble would come later. When we were actually going to the party and we were both dressed up and she was looking marvellous (for she was very beautiful) she would suddenly say, “I think, Sarah, we were both wrong about that dress. It looks a bit cheap, doesn’t it!”

Once or twice I “dropped” Kathy. I told her I was too busy to see her. Or I told her I had to see another friend. All these lies hurt me because I had no other friend and I was so lonely. But they never hurt her. She just smiled sweetly and said she’d see me next week. And of course, within a week or so, I’d be on the phone asking her to come out. She never minded this. She never sulked at me and pretended that she was too busy.

Students always celebrated the end of the college year with a fancy-dress ball. It was a big event. But as luck would have it, Kathy and I had made other arrangements for the day of the ball. We had booked to go to the theatre. We had talked for ages of going, and at last we had our tickets. For us it was a big event. It was a musical and our favourite singer star was in it, so our hearts were set on the theatre.

Then Kathy came round to see me. Mother was in at the time, and I had to speak to her on the doorstep because Mum had just been having a go at me for seeing too much of Kathy.

“I don’t want that girl coming in this house and nosing around.” So I told Kathy I couldn’t invite her in because my Mum had a bad headache.

Kathy didn’t mind. She smiled and said she was sorry about my mother’s bad head. I was sure she knew what had really happened.

But she carried on smiling, and then she said: “I’m sorry, but I can’t come to the theatre with you after all. My brother’s come home and he wants to take me to the fancy-dress ball at the college. I can’t let him down.” I couldn’t believe that she would let me down. She knew how much I had looked forward to the theatre trip. We had talked about it together for months.

I was almost in tears by the time I had said goodbye to her and closed the door. My Mum was kind and understanding. She made me promise I would never see Kathy again. I agreed, and felt that was the least I could do by way of revenge for my disappointment. I told myself that I would never so much as talk to Kathy if I saw her. Our relationship was at an end. I would never forget what she had done to me.

 

1. When Sarah says that Kathy was jealous she implies that Kathy didn’t like it when Sarah

 

1)	had fun going out.
2)	managed to buy the dress cheaply.
3)	wore expensive clothes.
4)	wore clothes smarter than her own.

 

2. When Sarah was buying a dress in a shop Kathy would

 

1)	start to say slightly unkind things about it.
2)	do her best to ensure that Sarah made the best buy.
3)	insist that Sarah should buy a cheap dress.
4)	be keen to buy a marvellous dress for herself.

 

3. When Sarah tried to “drop” her, Kathy

 

1)	pretended to be busy.
2)	went to see another friend.
3)	felt hurt and lonely.
4)	always took it easy.

 

 

 

4.  “But as luck would have it” in paragraph 3 means Kathy and Sarah

 

1)	had the luck to get the tickets for the musical.
2)	were happy to have made arrangements for the ball.
3)	were looking forward to hearing their favourite singer.
4)	had by chance two events on the same day.

 

5. Sarah couldn’t invite Kathy to come in because

 

1)	their house was in a mess.
2)	her mother was suffering from a bad headache.
3)	her mother disapproved of her daughter’s friend.
4)	Kathy had come to their house to nose around.

 

 

6. Kathy said she didn’t mind speaking to Sarah on the doorstep because she

 

 

1)	didn’t want to make Sarah feel uncomfortable.
2)	believed that Sarah’s Mum had a headache.
3)	did not want anyone to overhear them talking.
4)	was in a hurry to see her brother.

 

 

7. Sarah decided not to see Kathy again because

 

 

1)	her mother forbade her.
2)	she couldn’t forgive Kathy.
3)	her mother was disappointed.
4)	she wanted to revenge for her mother.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEXT 3

For questions 1-8 read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of each line to form a word that fits in the space in the same line.

The History of Man  

 

How long has man been on earth? Let us travel 5,000 years into the past. We are in the days before man  ____1_______ to write.	LEARN
Recorded history  _____________2___________ yet.	NOT BEGIN
Let us go  ___3________ into the past to 8,000 years ago. We are in a world without cities or towns, houses or roads.	FAR
Yet there are people, about five million of them,  ____4_______ on all five continents.	LIVE
They have cows and horses and they ___5_______the land.	FARM
To find the  ___6_______ man we must go many hundreds of thousands of years into the past.	ONE
The ___7______ true human being, Homo sapiens, appeared in Europe more than 50,000 years ago.	EARLY
We can be proud of the progress the man  ___8________ since then.	MAKE