01_CPE Listening Part 1- short extracts - free practice test (1)Difficulty level: C2 / advanced
I suppose we’ve always wondered to ourselves what happens once the happily-ever-after marriage is over and the fancy frocks have been stored away. Well, cast aside the infant fairy tales, and literature has got a lot to offer. Of course, few of us are interested in eavesdropping upon a contented household of marital bliss when we can get far more perverse satisfaction from seeing a holy union hurtle inexorably towards its inevitable breakdown. But although there is a wealth of fiction portraying bad marriages, it takes real flair to spawn a dysfunctional union worthy of classic status.
Of course modern literature lacks the impact of that of the 19th century, since nowadays it is at least possible to escape the misery of finding out that you have made the biggest mistake of your life without becoming a social outcast, unlike 150 or so years ago when the only escape from the unremitting callousness stroke violence stroke boredom was the death of one or other of the parties involved. Madame Bovary is a perfect example of the genre. The character’s response to her mistaken union is to forge for herself a voyage of self-destruction, squeezing in multiple affairs and bankruptcy before finding ultimate release in suicide. The most vicious, modern-day, divorce court dramas can’t beat the self-inflicted turmoil of a tortured wife whose only reprieve is the grave.  
You’ll hear four different extracts. For questions 1-8, choose the answer which fits best according to what you hear. There are two questions for each extract. You can listen to the audio twice.
1  The speaker makes the point that…It is immoral that people prefer novels about bad marriages to good ones.   Incorrect Fairy tales give readers false hopes about the reality of married life.   IncorrectIt takes skill to write a memorable novel about miserable marriages.   Correct
2  ‘Madame Bovary’ is used to exemplify…the lengths women went to in order to avoid being socially outcast.   Incorrecthow divorce made it easier for women to escape unhappy marriages.   Incorrecthow inescapable marriages make better stories.   Correct   

02_CPE Listening Part 1- short extracts - free practice test (2)Difficulty level: C2 / advanced
Like every little girl I longed to be a bridesmaid and be a princess for the day, but my dream was not to be. The wheelchair had nothing to do with it, it was just that none of our circle of acquaintances was tying the knot at the time. Ten years down the line, my brother was getting hitched and they thought it would be nice for me to carry out my childhood fantasy. Trouble was that by then I was a jaded teenage cripple with a chip on her shoulder who viewed marriage as an oppressive institution.  But the family twisted my arm and the big day found me wheeling up the aisle with a posy between my thighs, making feeble attempts at throwing confetti and trying to avoid making tyre marks on the wedding dress train.
After that day, I came to the conclusion that weddings were things best left avoided. I was just taking attention away from the happy couple for all the wrong reasons. I did go to a friend’s wedding recently, and I must say that they pulled out all the stops to make sure that I was adequately catered for. They laid on a special disabled bus to take me to the venue and there were ramps in all the right places. I mean, the whole thing must’ve cost them a fortune. But while I was no longer stealing the limelight for blocking the gangways and generally getting in the way, I was still a central figure as far as the couple’s bank balance were concerned, and that sort of think weighs on your conscience. I mean, when does it stop? Should the disabled go the whole hog and demand Braille orders of service, wider aisles and interpreters to sign the ceremony? For my part, I’m sticking with the avoidance strategy, so pardon me if I choose to live in sin.
3  When the woman was a bridesmaid at her brother’s wedding…she was embarrassed about taking the role because of her wheelchair.   Incorrectshe was sceptical about marriage in general.   Correctshe was delighted that her childhood dreams had come true.   Incorrect
4  The woman’s experience at her friends’ wedding…made her feel grateful to her friends for changing her outlook.   Incorrectmade her realise that disabled p    eople could be treated better at functions.   Incorrectmade her feel equally conspicuous, but for different reasons.   Correct

03_CPE Listening Part 1- short extracts - free practice test (3)Difficulty level: C2 / advanced
It’s not news that economic hardship can put pressure on marital relationships, and the current economic downturn is no different. With one-third of Americans struggling to pay bills, 12% facing home foreclosure and over a quarter experiencing lower wages, it’s no surprise that marital harmony is waning for many. But in a recent study, demographers have noticed that despite the stresses, there has been a downward trend in the divorce rate. Couples on the verge of splitting up are reassessing their personal situations. On the one hand, this is not unprecedented. A similar pattern emerged during the Great Depression. The costs of lawyers and maintaining two households are prohibitive, especially in this economic climate, so couples choose to delay the break-up.
Is this a good thing? While decreasing divorce figures may look good from a statistical point of view, delaying a divorce carries with it negative consequences including increased domestic violence, alcoholism and desertion, while conflict and resentment between parents, can be just as hard for kids than divorce, if not more so. Researchers have noticed a silver lining, however. For about a third of the married individuals surveyed, the recession has led them to a deepening commitment towards their marriage. It is possible that the downturn may have prompted some to view marriage less as a quest for the perfect partner, but more in terms of economic stability and parental duty.
5  Recent demographic research in America has shown…surprising changes in the divorce rate.   Incorrecta repeat of a former trend.   Correctan increase in the cost of getting a divorce.   Incorrect
6  One positive impact identified by the study is that the recession…strengthened some marital relationships.   Correctreduced the incidence of violence within families.   Incorrectimproved the relationship between children and parents.   Incorrect

04_CPE Listening Part 1- short extracts - free practice test (4)Difficulty level: C2 / advanced
Why the institute of marriage began, and even more interestingly, why it stuck and spread throughout the world to become the status quo, is a fascinating topic for anthropologists and behavioural evolutionists alike. Part of the problem in tracing its origins is the difficulty in defining what it actually is. The idea of it being a life-long form of monogamous male-female pair bonding is simplistic in that taking on multiple wives and concubines has been commonplace throughout history, and still is the norm in many places around the global.
Based on fossil evidence and comparative biology, it is likely that our earliest hominid ancestors did not engage in marriage, at least not as we know it today. Probably the most powerful and dominant males had open access to multiple female partners. Females, being considerably smaller, would have taken on a submissive and compliant role. As sexual dimorphism between the sexes decreased in later hominids, a greater level of equality emerged, and it is likely that this saw the beginnings of what we now call marriage.
What brought our ancestors together to form committed relationships, however, is hotly debated. It could have begun as a reciprocal relationship – an exchange of protection provided by the male in return for progeny by the female; or the cementing of tribal alliances. Whether or not love played a part is unknown. Certainly, by ancient Greek times, proclamations of romantic love had little to do with the relationship between man and wife. Marriage was considered a social arrangement for the consolidation of status and resources, and the begetting of heirs. Love was an entirely separate matter.
7  According to the speaker, marital pair bonds probably began when…males forced females to become more compliant.   Incorrectthe difference in size between males and females decreased.   Correctfemales objected to living in polygamous relationships.   Incorrect
8  By ancient Greek times, the institute of marriage was characterized by its role as…a pact to secure possessions and social standing.   Correcta public proclamation of romantic love.   Incorrecta relationship in which both the male and female benefitted.   Incorrect

05_CPE Listening Part 2- sentence completion - free practice test Difficulty level: C2 / advanced
Architecture, chemical processes, material sciences – all these faculties are beginning to be touched by ideas which are inspired by nature. Where in, the past, man’s inventions have been considered all-powerful, engineers are now turning to nature, over the last 3.8 billion years, has developed a wealth of successful innovations. So, over the last decade there has been a new wave of scientific interest in Biomimicry, measures which emulate nature’s genius. And we are not restricted to copying the structures found in nature. We can also imitate its processes and its systems. 
One of the most famous products inspired by nature is the sticky fastening, Velcro, invented in 1941 by the Swiss engineer George de Mestral, who noticed how the seed heads of burdock got tangled in his clothes and his dog’s coat. Meanwhile, engineers at the Centre of Biomimetics at Reading University, have developed a material based on the properties of wood. One of the reasons why wood is so useful to us is that its ability hold nails when they are driven into it. This property is down to the structure of hollow cells, and fibres which hold the nail in place. The new material uses equivalent fibres made of glass fibres, and resin to hold everything in place. The result is a material with the same geometric arrangement as wood, but which has none of the disadvantages of wood – that it changes shape according to moisture levels and temperature. The substitute wood has been developed for the post office. They wanted a container which could contain threatening packages, directing the blast safely and holding any explosive fragments. 
But the second realm of Biomimetic is imitating not the just physical form of natural substances, but also the processes that take place in nature. A perfect example of this is the Sahara Forest Project, which has utilised a processed used by the Namibian Fog Basking Beetle. This beetle is able to live in very harsh, desert conditions using its ability to harvest moisture from the air. The beetle comes out into the desert only at night and, due to its black shell, is able to maintain a temperature cooler than that of its surroundings. The moist breeze blows in from the sea, and droplets of water condense on the beetles shell. At sunrise, the beetle lifts its shell, drinks and returns to its hole. What is even more interesting is that the beetle has hydrophilic bumps on its shell which attract water, separated by a waxy finish which repels water. Consequently, the water gathers in tight, spherical droplets, so that hardly any water is wasted. The Sahara Forest Project uses a process which is, in effect, identical to that of the beetle. Seawater evaporates from the front wall of the greenhouse to create ideal cool growing conditions, and condenses to form fresh water on the downwind side of the greenhouse. 
However, just mimicking the structure and processes in nature is not enough, if, in doing so, we create tonnes of waste. Human designs are linear. We take resources from the earth, use what we need, and the rest goes to waste. But in the natural world, systems are cyclical. Waste from one organism goes on to become nutrients for another. One scheme which has taken advantage of nature’s cyclical design is ‘the Able Project’ based in Wakefield, Yorkshire. Here, everything is recycled and reintegrated into the system. Consequently the project is able to turn cardboard into caviar. The cardboard is used as animal bedding, and is then composted using vermiculture. The worms are then used to feed fish. Excrement from the fish is collected and recycled into the system. 
The age of Biometry is still in its infancy. The novel and yet proven ideas which are inspired by nature are attractive to industries. But we need to be careful. As we lose more animal habitats to development, extinction rates are increasing. And with this we lose the wisdom and ideas embodied in these species. Already, we’ve seen the loss of the Gastric Brooding Frog, an animal able to turn off its production of stomach acid. Had we been able to study this animal before its demise, we could have found a way to alleviate the problems experienced by many sufferers of excess stomach acid.
In this part, you will hear a monologue. You then have to complete 9 sentences with information heard on the recording. You can listen to the audio twice. You will hear a radio programme about Biomimicry, the science of copying nature in order to create new technologies. For questions 1-9, complete the spaces with a word or a short phrase.
1. Biomimicry imitates nature’s structures, processes and "systems" to create new ideas.2. Velcro was developed after its inventor observed the sticking qualities of one particular plant’s "seed heads". 3. Wood has the beneficial feature of being able to "hold nails". 4. The synthetic ‘wood’ created for the post office will not "change shape" according to surrounding environmental conditions. 5. The Namibian Fog Basking beetle uses its ability to "harvest moisture" in order to live in harsh conditions.6. A "waxy finish" on the beetle’s shell repels water and aids the formation of large droplets.7. The Sahara Forest project utilised this concept in the design of a "greenhouse".8. The ‘Able Project’ uses "worms" from the composting process as an input to the fish farm.9. The extinction of one species of "frog" has prevented scientists from finding a cure for excess stomach acid.