CAE · Listening · Test 1 of 6
CAE Listening Test 1: drinking fountains, festival spaces and shared projects
CAE Listening Test 1 is a free C1 Advanced Listening practice test: 30 questions in four parts and 40 min 19 s of audio, with every recording played twice. You hear conversations about ordinary objects, mentoring and an architectural walk, a fountain research talk, a festival-design interview and reflections on shared projects.
- Free, no sign-up to start
- Layout modelled on the computer-based exam
- Estimated Cambridge English Scale score
Time≈ 40 min
Audio40:19
Questions30
Voices10
What is in CAE Listening Test 1
| Part | Task | Questions | What you hear | Audio, both plays |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Multiple choice, three extracts | 1–6 | Three conversations, 6 voices | 9:00 |
| 2 | Sentence completion | 7–14 | “Researching public drinking fountains”: A researcher called Nadia talking about a project on public drinking fountains. | 9:07 |
| 3 | Multiple choice, interview | 15–20 | An interview with two designers called Mina Cole and Jalen Reed, who create temporary spaces for festivals. | 12:20 |
| 4 | Multiple matching | 21–30 | Five short extracts in which people talk about taking responsibility for a shared project. Task 1: each speaker’s main reason for taking responsibility. Task 2: how each speaker feels about the experience. | 9:38 |
| Total | 10 synthetic voices: 7 British, 1 New Zealand, 1 Australian and 1 Canadian | 40:19 | ||
Part 1: the conversations and questions
- You hear two colleagues discussing an exhibition of ordinary household objects.1. What did the woman particularly appreciate about the exhibition? 2. Why does the man mention the repaired jar?
- You hear two students discussing an informal mentoring arrangement.3. What does the woman value about her mentor’s approach? 4. The students disagree about whether written records would
- You hear two friends discussing a self-guided architectural walk.5. What reservation does the man express about the walk? 6. How does the woman regard the walk?
Part 2: the sentences you complete
- Nadia first questioned a claim she read in a (7).
- Images on (8) helped establish when some fountains already existed.
- The oldest fountain still providing water was in the (9).
- Nadia found that (10) was particularly important to a fountain’s survival.
- The taps of several fountains were made from (11).
- Engineers had recorded information about (12) in their notebooks.
- The most informative people questioned about access were (13).
- The project will be presented through a collection of (14) in a courtyard.
How it is marked
CAE Listening marking
1 mark per question. In Part 2, correct spelling is expected (British or American). 18/30 is about 180 and 26/30 about 200 on Cambridge’s guidance. Scores are estimates.
More CAE Listening tests
CAE Listening practice tests · CAE Mock Test 1 · Updated 15 November 2026
Free · no sign-up to start
Ready for CAE Listening Test 1?
About 40 minutes. Free, no sign-up to start: you give an email address when you submit, and your marks open straight away.