reply to socal approach
I think it was quite nasty of your examiner to set up all those unnecessary hurdles for you to jump over! None of them were real, and all could be sensibly disabled, with a few choice phrases I have found invaluable when talking to controllers: to wit,
Stand by! (that shuts them up for a while)
Say again slowly!
Unable! (to enter cloud, for example, or if in a glider, when asked to maintain your altitude!)
Could you vector me to Alfred Whittle, please! (after having been sent hither and yon by Tampa, and becoming seriously unsure of my location)