CELPIP Listening Part 4 Practice Test: A Plow with a View

NARRATOR: A snowplow in Saguenay, Quebec, has become an unlikely local celebrity this winter, thanks to the man behind the wheel. Municipal employee Gilles Tremblay spent his summer evenings painting the truck's enormous steel blade with a scene of the fjord, complete with whales, pine trees and a bright orange sunset. He says the idea came from his granddaughter, who once told him the plows looked grumpy and frightening. The city approved the colourful project on one condition: Tremblay had to buy the paint himself and do the work on his own time. He agreed without hesitation. Since the first snowfall in November, residents have been sharing photographs of the plow online, and some parents in the neighbourhood now set their alarms so their children can watch it go by. A local school has even invited Tremblay to talk to students about his creation. Not everyone is impressed. A few residents have questioned whether a decorated truck is the right use of city equipment, although officials point out that it cost taxpayers nothing. Tremblay, who has driven plows for twenty-two years, says he never expected anyone to notice. The paint will not last forever, he adds. By spring, salt and gravel will have worn most of it away. He is already sketching next year's design.