CPE Listening Paper Part 2 Teachers notes

Description
Students predict the answers to a sentence-completion task by using the instructions and
the information in the questions. This activity encourages careful reading of the questions
and increases the accuracy and appropriacy of answers. Students practise a Part 2 task.

Time required: 30 Minutes
Materials
required:
students worksheet
sample task
sample recording
Aims:
to develop students ability to predict the answer or type of
language required in sentence-completion tasks
to familiarise students with Part 2 sentence-completion tasks
to practise a Part 2 task

Procedure
1. Even if you have done the Overview activity recently, elicit what students know about
Part 2. Ask:
What type of text will you hear? (monologue or monologue introduced by
presenter etc. The text is factual in nature.)
How many questions are there? (9)
What sort of task is it? (sentence completion)
See also Additional Information below, where the key points are in bold.
2. Put the students in pairs and give out copies of the worksheet and the sample task.
You can focus on the complete task or just the first four questions if you prefer.
3. Ask students:
to identify where the instructions are. (They are always at the top of the
task).
to read the instructions carefully. What do the instructions tell them?
They tell them what the text is about (the common spice, pepper), and what
they have to do (complete the sentences).
(Exercise 1 Question 1)

UCLES 2008. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. It may not
otherwise be altered, photocopied, reproduced, distributed, published, recorded, made available on another website, or otherwise transmitted by
any means without the prior written permission of University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

CPE Listening Paper Part 2 Teachers notes www.cambridgeesol.org/teach
Page 1 of 9

4. Ask students to look at Exercise 1 question 2 and ask what they would call the book
if they were food historians and had written a book about pepper. Of course, its
unlikely that they will predict the real title but it will help them think about feasible
answers so that when they hear the recording, they can more easily pick out the
answer.
5. In pairs, students discuss question 3:
what type of word/s is needed to complete the text. (the answer must be a
noun in all cases except questions 9 and 12 where we are not sure before
listening because we are looking for a title and a language term. This makes
the point that the answers are usually concrete nouns.)
Ask students to predict the answers to the remaining questions and ask them if they
could spell the answers correctly. The answers must be spelled correctly to get the
mark in the exam.
6. Go through the suggested answers together. As long as students can justify their
answer, accept them. Encourage students to explain why they have chosen their
answers.
7. Play the recording twice and ask students to complete the task (or part of the task).
8. Go through the answers with the class and discuss whether they felt that the
prediction activity helped them. Ask students how close their predicted answers were
to the actual answers. Encourage them to practise predicting answers whenever they
do a Part 2 task.
9. Ask students to transfer their answers onto the answer sheet. It is important that
students practise using the answer sheet before the exam so that they transfer their
answers correctly in pencil. Point out that the size of the boxes on the answer sheet
indicates how long (or short) the answer should be: if their answer doesnt fit in a box,
there is probably something wrong with it.
10. In order to stress the importance of checking the completed sentence, look at
exercise 2 (the checklist) on the worksheet. Students can work through this with their
answers to the sample task.
Suggested follow-up idea
Do the complete Part 2 task from the CPE Handbook so that students can put into
practice the strategies they have learnt in this activity. The task, text and answers are all
in the Handbook.






UCLES 2008. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. It may not
otherwise be altered, photocopied, reproduced, distributed, published, recorded, made available on another website, or otherwise transmitted by
any means without the prior written permission of University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

CPE Listening Paper Part 2 Teachers notes www.cambridgeesol.org/teach
Page 2 of 9

Additional information
Each correct answer in Part 2 receives 1 mark.
Candidates listen to a monologue or prompted monologue of an informative nature,
aimed at a non-specialist audience. The nine questions in this part take the form of
incomplete sentences. The candidates show their understanding of what they have heard
by completing gaps in these sentences. Answers are short, generally in the form of single
words or noun groups. They must be spelled correctly and must fit into the grammatical
structure of the sentence. The questions follow the order of the information in the text and
candidates write down the words that are heard on the recording.

UCLES 2008. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. It may not
otherwise be altered, photocopied, reproduced, distributed, published, recorded, made available on another website, or otherwise transmitted by
any means without the prior written permission of University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

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Page 3 of 9

CPE Listening Paper Part 2 answer keys
Key to Sample Task X
9 D/dangerous T/taste(s)
10 harvest(ing) (period)
11 (common/commonly-available) seed(s) (and) berries
12 status symbol
13 (for) rent(s), for renting, for the rent
14 silk
15 ginger
16 skin (problems), burned/burnt/sunburned/sunburnt/itching/itchy skin
17 (some/many) insects/bugs

Tapescript for sample task
PRESENTER: Pepper is such a common food item nowadays that we have almost ceased
to appreciate it. It may be hard to believe it was once so valuable it was used as currency.
Food historian, Andrew Dalford, talks about the significance of pepper in history and in
cooking.
ANDREW: Today, when spices cost so little, it seems unbelievable that these fragrant bits of
bark, leaves and seeds were once so costly, so hard to track down and transport, that men
were willing to risk their lives going to the ends of the earth for them. Ive investigated the
history of spices and written about it in Dangerous Tastes which has just been published.
Pepper is a unique spice, as the fruits are marketed in four different versions: black, white,
green and red, according to the harvest period, irrespective of the planting and growing
conditions. Yet whereas everybody knows that salt is valuable, because you need it in order
to live, pepper is not essential. So why was it so sought after?
Pepper was valued partly just because it was expensive. For hundreds of years, pepper only
grew in southern India, so it was a voyage of many months to bring it to other parts of the
world. At the time when such journeys were hazardous, lengthy and unpleasant, the result
was that the merchants could charge almost whatever price they fancied. Ships travelled
from Europe with goods in huge quantities so that pepper could be brought back in
exchange. Unscrupulous suppliers often mixed in commonly available berries and seeds,
even small stones, to make the sacks of pepper go further. In the West it was considered
exotic, yet in southern India its a common plant everyone can grow it in their garden, as a
vine hanging off other trees.
The traffic in spices goes back to the days before recorded history. Archaeologists estimate
that by fifty thousand years ago, primitive man had discovered that parts of certain aromatic
plants help make food taste better. Spices have been socially important throughout history
as a status symbol as well as for flavouring and preserving foods. Their value can be seen
UCLES 2008. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. It may not
otherwise be altered, photocopied, reproduced, distributed, published, recorded, made available on another website, or otherwise transmitted by
any means without the prior written permission of University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

CPE Listening Paper Part 2 answer keys www.cambridgeesol.org/teach
Page 4 of 9

as early as the year 408, when they are featured in a list of valuable items given to Alaric the
Visigoth in return for the release of the city of Rome.
Being much smaller and lighter than metal, pepper was particularly suited for use instead of
money. Wealthy aristocrats kept stores of pepper as we might store gold, since everyone
recognised its value as currency. It was accepted as payment for rents and debts. Pepper
was considered one of the essential luxuries which were in demand in the Roman Empire
along with silk and materials such as ivory, which the Romans exchanged for the pottery and
leather goods they produced.
Pepper remained important down through the centuries. Spices were also used in preserving
foods, as well as seasoning them to cover up the taste of food which may have been slightly
rotten. Although best known, along with salt, for its flavour-enhancing qualities, pepper, like
ginger, came to be used for medicinal purposes, for example, as a digestive stimulant. Its
hot and pungent flavour was helpful to those with respiratory problems. When the hotness
catches your throat it aids coughing, and thus the removal of offending irritants. It was also
used as an external ointment to soothe itching or burning skin, especially when caused by
over-exposure to the sun.
Black pepper is an effective deterrent to insects as it is toxic to many of them. It can be
either ground and dissolved in warm water and sprayed on plants or sprinkled on affected
areas. Today, pepper, the king of spices, still accounts for one fourth of the worlds spice
trade. Pepper is the third most added ingredient to recipes, after water and salt. Some even
like it for sweet dishes, such as strawberries. So the humble pepper has an illustrious and
dramatic past which we should perhaps remember as we unthinkingly grind or sprinkle it
onto our food.
PRESENTER: Thank you, Andrew Dalford.



UCLES 2008. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. It may not
otherwise be altered, photocopied, reproduced, distributed, published, recorded, made available on another website, or otherwise transmitted by
any means without the prior written permission of University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

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Page 5 of 9

CPE Listening Paper Part 2 Students Worksheet
Exercise 1
1. Look at the sample Part 2 task. Read the instructions very carefully. What is the text
about? What do you have to do?
2. Discuss possible answers for question 9.
3. Try to decide what type of word/s is needed in each gap, and try to predict what the
answers could be to questions 1017.
4. Listen to the recording and do the sentence completion task. You will hear the
recording twice.
5. Discuss how close your predictions were to the actual answers.
6. How did predicting the answers help you when you listened and did the task?

Exercise 2
Use this checklist to review your answers. Tick the second column when you have
answered the question.
Checklist
1 Do your answers follow the order of the information in the text?
2 Have you read the whole completed sentence again to make sure it
makes sense?

3 Have you looked closely at the words before and after the gap to see if
they influence the word?

4 Have you made sure that you have not repeated an idea already in the
sentence?

5 Is your answer short?
6 Did you hear the word(s) in your answer on the recording?
7 Have you transferred your answers onto the answer sheet in pencil?
8 Have you erased any mistakes and rewritten your answer clearly?
9 Is your writing legible?
10 Have you transferred your answers accurately?
11 Have you checked the spelling of your answers?



UCLES 2008. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. It may not
otherwise be altered, photocopied, reproduced, distributed, published, recorded, made available on another website, or otherwise transmitted by
any means without the prior written permission of University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

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Page 6 of 9

CPE Listening Paper Part 2 Sample Task

2 Transfer your answers onto the answer sheet.

UCLES 2008. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. It may not
otherwise be altered, photocopied, reproduced, distributed, published, recorded, made available on another website, or otherwise transmitted by
any means without the prior written permission of University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

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Page 7 of 9

UCLES 2008. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. It may not
otherwise be altered, photocopied, reproduced, distributed, published, recorded, made available on another website, or otherwise transmitted by
any means without the prior written permission of University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

CPE Listening Paper Part 2 Sample Task www.cambridgeesol.org/teach
Page 8 of 9


UCLES 2008. This material may be photocopied (without alteration) and distributed for classroom use provided no charge is made. It may not
otherwise be altered, photocopied, reproduced, distributed, published, recorded, made available on another website, or otherwise transmitted by
any means without the prior written permission of University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations.

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