LESSON 05 · 100% ORIGINAL PRACTICE TEST
Learning from Mistakes
B1 · 244 words · 20 questions · British English audio
Before you begin
Listen once for the main idea. Next, use the slow or paused recording to complete the gaps. Then answer the story and vocabulary questions.
Write one word in each gap. Capital letters and extra spaces do not affect your score. Show Answer lets you study an answer and does not fill the box or earn points.
Answered: 0 / 20
Transcript, vocabulary and learning review
Full transcript
When Maya started training at the little café near the station, she wanted every order to be perfect. On her first Saturday, the queue grew quickly. She wrote coffee on a ticket instead of tea and carried the wrong cup to a customer. Maya noticed the mistake before the customer drank it, but her face went red. Her supervisor, Dan, calmly replaced the drink and showed her how to repeat the order back before writing it down. Maya tried the method with the next customer. It took a few seconds longer, yet the ticket was correct.
Later, she forgot to ask whether a sandwich should be toasted. The customer wanted it cold, so Maya apologised and made a fresh one. During a quiet moment, Dan asked what she could change next time. Maya said she would circle special requests on the ticket. Dan agreed and explained that a mistake was useful only if the team learned from it.
At closing time, Maya checked the counter, counted the clean cups and wrote a short list of questions for her next shift.
The following week, a new trainee joined the café. When he mixed up two orders, Maya did not laugh. She showed him the repeat-back method and reminded him to mark special requests clearly. By the end of the shift, he was more confident. Maya realised that good training was not about never making an error; it was about noticing, correcting and sharing what worked.
Useful words
- queue: a line of people waiting
We joined the queue outside the ticket office. - supervisor: a person who guides or checks another person's work
My supervisor showed me how to use the booking system. - apologise: to say that you are sorry
I apologised for arriving after the meeting began. - request: something that someone asks for
The customer made a request for a window seat. - confident: feeling sure that you can do something
After practising, Joel felt confident speaking to visitors. - correct: to make something right or accurate
Please correct the date before sending the form.
Practise again
- Listen for sequence words such as first, later and by the end to track events.
- When a speaker mentions a mistake, notice what action follows it; the correction may be important.
- For vocabulary questions, use the whole sentence to work out a word's meaning.