Advanced Listening Test 2

Profits will probably drop by as much as 50 percent again this year

They don't expect this year to be profitable at all

It’s quite possible that profits this year will be halved again

It won't be easy to double the profits again this year

It's not likely that profits will again go up by 100 percent this year

Why can't he admit that the success of the project is in doubt?

Why can't we persuade him that the scheme is sure to fail?

How should we go about persuading him that the success of the project is assured?

Why must he believe that the scheme is sure to succeed?

Doesn't he w ant us to believe that the project is sure to succeed?

To be fair, there wasn't much that was new in this production of Carmen

If you really want to know, the new production of Carmen wasn't as good as I’d hoped it would be

Obviously I was disappointed to learn that they were doing Carmen again

Someone should have told you that the new production of Carmen is not as good as we hoped

They’ll have to admit that this new production of Carmen may prove unsatisfactory

Considering the prices, the quality of food at "The Round Table" is not satisfactory

At "The Round Table" you get extremely good food, but you certainly, pay for it

Prices have gone up at "The Round Table" but the quality of the food has gone up accordingly

They don't overcharge you at "The Round Table" and the food there is unrivaled in the town

Considering how much they charge the food they serve at "The Round Table" is not as good as it ought to be

By working even harder we could, perhaps, have managed to keep the factory open

If only we could have kept the factory going we wouldn’t have kept that all our work had been wasted

Since we'd put in so much effort it was inevitable that we should feel upset when we couldn't keep the factory going

However hard we worked we could not have stopped them closing down the factory

When the factory was closed down it obviously upset us, but there was nothing we could do about it

We are considering going on holiday if mother feels well enough soon

As mother was ill, we couldn't leave on holiday and had to wait until she recovered

I don't think it's a good idea to go on holiday before mother gets over her illness completely

For a thorough recovery, mother has to put off going on holiday until later

We can't go on holiday before mother has fully recovered her health

What made you think that the two sides might easily reach an agreement?

To persuade the two sides for an agreement may not be so easy as you imagine

It's quite possible that you will have difficulty in getting the two sides to agree on the case

It won't be so difficult as you think to convince the two sides to reach an agreement

There might have been trouble making the two sides agree on the case

The students got confused because your explanations were rather complex

In order not to cause confusion among the students, your explanations should be fairly simple

The more complicated the explanations, the more confused the students get

The complexity of your explanations usually causes confusion among the students

Most of the students get easily confused if the explanations are not clear enough

It can't have taken you just an hour to write this long composition

The longer the composition, the more time it takes

You can't possibly finish writing a long composition in only an hour

You should have taken more time to write this composition

It is not possible to write a long composition like this in less than two hours

People who wish to take revenge seek the death sentence

Some people find capital punishment acceptable, regarding it as a good way of getting revenge

The death penalty is the only desirable punishment for getting one’s own back

The sentence of death is many people’s favorite way of taking revenge

People who support the death penalty do so solely on the basis of their wanting revenge

A present that isn’t fitting isn’t worth the money

The important thing is the suitability of a gift, not how much is paid for it

Not caring about the price ensures that the right present is bought

It doesn’t matter that the present is appropriate because the cost isn’t

It doesn’t matter that the gift is unsuitable, because the price was low

A balloon can not float any higher than the level at which the atmosphere stops

Balloons can rise as far as the point where the atmosphere finishes

A balloon is stopped from going further by the end of the atmosphere

Beyond the highest point that balloons reach there is still atmosphere

When a balloon can travel no more, it is because there isn’t enough atmosphere to carry

A person has to bear in mind plenty of factors before starting his work

When you set up your own business, you realize how many factors need attention

One must weigh up lots of factors when running one’s own business

Launching one’s own business means thinking about more factors than in other cases

There are too many factors to consider in establishing one’s own business

If a person behaves in certain way to you, you ought to react accordingly

It’s rare for people to reciprocate your behavior

Your attitude towards people generally determines their attitude towards you

Your handling of people is usually reflected in their opinion of you

You should treat people in the way you wish them to treat you

The more the cost of living rises, the less people can afford to buy what they need

People don’t seem to suffer much from the sharp increase in prices because salaries and prices rise accordingly

Because of the rapid increase in prices, it’s becoming more and more difficult to keep pace with them

Prices are going up very fast, so people should try to increase their salaries to keep up with them

Whether the cost of living goes up or not, people have no difficulty buying the things they need because the increase in salaries is bigger

He won’t confirm the booking although he is advised to do so

It is always advisable to confirm a booking but he never does so

The booking should have been confirmed but he forgot to do so

They told him it was best to confirm the booking but he didn’t listen to them

As the booking was not confirmed, they won’t listen to his complaints

I’m convinced that there are more disadvantages than advantages

It seems to me that the advantages and the disadvantages balance each other

There seem to be more advantages than disadvantages on such occasions

One needs to weigh the disadvantages against advantages

I’m beginning to wonder whether there are more disadvantages than advantages

You shouldn’t expect anyone else to accept a job you aren’t willing to take on yourself

He shouldn’t expect others to give up their jobs for him

As he doesn’t want the job himself he might as well let someone else have it

It is hard enough to find a job for oneself without having help from other people

He never will get a job unless he sets about getting one himself and not leaving it to others

His behavior was so disagreeable that it caused an impasse between the two sides

The other side naturally left offended by the officious manner in which he had approached them

He should be reproached for being so disagreeable and offending the other side

I wish he could have made himself more agreeable to the other side and ensured a better response from them

Surely he behaved in a more considerate manner so as to gain the cooperation of the other side

If a plan is not going to fall through it has to be quite foolproof

There is presumably no such a thing as a perfect plan; they can all fall through

The only schemes that don’t miscarry are apparently the really foolproof ones

Schemes that seem to be foolproof quite often are not

There was a breakdown in proceedings so things went contrary to plan

I feel quite like a stranger now that I'm back after almost a year abroad

A year or so abroad will make you feel differently about your own country

On my return after almost a year, I was amazed to find so few changes here

The year abroad has estranged me so I don't want to go back to my own country

It will seem strange to be back home after almost a year abroad

The sooner they leave the better if they don't want to get caught in a traffic jam

We mustn’t leave it too late as the roads are likely to be busy for the next hour

Let's wait an hour so as to avoid some of this heavy traffic

If we set off now we would avoid most of the heavy traffic

The road are busy at this time of day so we ought to set off at once