EnglishPrepository

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Listening Comprehension

Listening CEFR B2 Topic: How professional perfumers ("noses") are trained to smell

Training the Nose: Inside the World of Professional Perfumers

What this tests: listening for detail, opinion, attitude, purpose and what the speaker implies.

Instructions

Listen to the interview. For each question, choose the correct answer (A, B or C).

🎧 Listen to the instructions

🎧 Listen to the recording, then answer the questions. You can replay it as many times as you need.

1. According to Elena, what mainly separates a trained nose from an ordinary person's sense of smell?

A — A natural talent that lets some people skip years of training B — An inborn gift that most people simply don't have C — Repeated practice identifying scents over several years

2. How long does formal training usually take before a perfumer can create a fragrance that goes on sale?

A — Around three years B — Around ten years C — Around seven years

3. What does Elena say trainee perfumers most often do to rest a tired sense of smell?

A — Smell the back of their own hand B — Have a quick sniff of coffee beans C — Use thin paper strips to test scents

4. According to Elena, which part of the job has technology changed the most?

A — The number of ingredients perfumers must memorise B — The creative decision-making process C — The practical and financial aspects of her role

5. What does Elena say technology still cannot replace?

A — Working out how two scents might blend together B — Judging whether a scent truly moves someone emotionally C — Keeping track of thousands of different ingredients

6. What does Elena say is the biggest misconception about her job?

A — That computers now make most of the creative decisions B — That it relies mainly on natural talent rather than years of training C — That her profession looks fascinating and impressive to outsiders

7. What happened on Elena's first day of training, according to the story she tells?

A — She had to name as many ingredients as possible from a list B — She had to smell a single sample until she could describe it C — She had to mix several different scents together from memory

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🎬 Video walkthrough

This exercise read aloud, sentence by sentence: a pause to answer each question, the hint after the pause, then the answer and why. It gives the answers — try the exercise first.

15 min. All video walkthroughs