What is your favorite YouTube video? We all have a few Internet videos that we love. Some make us laugh, others make us think . . . whatever they are, the videos are probably very popular. When a video becomes popular, we use the expression TO GO VIRAL. This means that the video’s popularity increases quickly (the same way that a virus spreads at a fast rate).

Why do some videos GO VIRAL? This is something that YouTube employee Kevin Allocca looks at in his TED Talk “Why Videos Go Viral.” The video is fun and entertaining, but it’s also a great excuse to practice your English listening skills for the CAE exam. As you might know, Part 2 of the exam is a monologue: one person speaks for several minutes, and you must fill in the blanks of missing text with the exact words that you hear.

Here are some tips to help you with this section.

CAE Listening Part 2 Tips

1. Write what you hear. It doesn’t matter what the words are: write them! You will hear the recording again and can make more sense of the answer the second time you listen.

2. Check your answer’s grammar and spelling. Make sure that what you write works grammatically in the sentence. Do the subjects and verbs agree? Are the nouns plural or singular? Remember that spelling counts as well, so

3. Write clearly. This is obvious, yet a mistake that many students make.

4. Quickly read the sentences before the recording begins. Try to predict what is missing in the blanks, so you know exactly what to listen for in the recording.

5. Remember that you will write one, two, or three words. This means that the answer COULD be an expression, phrasal verb, or idiom as well as general vocabulary.

Watch the video below and answer the questions. Remember to read the questions before listening to the recording, and also make sure to listen twice (like in the real CAE exam). If you need to see the transcript, click on the video and visit TED.com.

Listening Part 2 Questions

1. Over 48 hours of video are _________________ to YouTube every minute.  

2. Bear didn’t actually ______________________ make a viral video. He just wanted to share a rainbow.

3. And if you’re wondering about those other __________________ , those are also Fridays. (Laughter) But what about this day, this one particular Friday?

4. Tosh.0 __________________ , a lot of blogs starting writing about. Michael J. Nelson from Mystery Science Theaterwas one of the first people to post a joke about the video on Twitter.

5. But what’s important is that an individual or a group of tastemakers took a ______________________ and they shared that with a larger audience, accelerating the process.

6. An entire _________________________ community sprouted up that brought it from being just a stupid joke to something that we can all actually be a part of. Because we don’t just enjoy now, we participate.

7. When a friend of mine told me that I needed to see this great video about a guy _______________________  bicycle fines in New York City, I admit I wasn’t very interested.

8. And we all now feel some ownership in our __________________________. And these are not characteristics of old media, and they’re barely true of the media of today, but they will define the entertainment of the future.

Listening Part 2 Answers

1. Over 48 hours of video are UPLOADED to YouTube every minute.  

2. Bear didn’t actually SET OUT TO make a viral video. He just wanted to share a rainbow.

3. And if you’re wondering about those other SPIKES, those are also Fridays. (Laughter) But what about this day, this one particular Friday?

4. Tosh.0 PICKED IT UP, a lot of blogs starting writing about. Michael J. Nelson from Mystery Science Theater was one of the first people to post a joke about the video on Twitter.

5. But what’s important is that an individual or a group of tastemakers took a POINT OF VIEW and they shared that with a larger audience, accelerating the process.

6. An entire REMIX community sprouted up that brought it from being just a stupid joke to something that we can all actually be a part of. Because we don’t just enjoy now, we participate.

7. When a friend of mine told me that I needed to see this great video about a guy PROTESTING bicycle fines in New York City, I admit I wasn’t very interested.

8. And we all now feel some ownership in our OWN POP CULTURE. And these are not characteristics of old media, and they’re barely true of the media of today, but they will define the entertainment of the future.