Cambridge IELTS 2 Listening Test 2 Transcript

SECTION 1

DIANE	Good morning. Diane Davies. Can I help you?
GAVIN	Yes, I’d like to get some insurance for the contents of my home.
DIANE	Fine. When did you move into the house?
GAVIN	A couple of weeks agoExample, and it’s an apartment actually. I was told by the landlord that it would be a good idea to get some insurance for the furniture and other personal possessions.
Repeat
DIANE	Fine. Well, let’s get some details. What kind of apartment is it?
GAVIN	It’s a two-bedroom apartment.
DIANE	What floor is it on?
GAVIN	Why do you need to know that?
DIANE	Because it affects the cost of the insurance. An apartment on the ground floorisn’t as protected as others and there’s more chance of a break-in.
GAVIN	Really? I didn’t know that. It’s on the third, no,. .. second floor.Q1
DIANE	Second .. . and how much is the rent?
GAVIN	It’s $615 per month.Q2
DIANE	Good, and where is it located?
GAVIN	In Biggins St, South Hills.
DIANE	I see. And what things did you want to insure?
GAVIN	Well, what do you recommend?
DIANE	Well, the most important things are those which you would normally find in ahome. Things like the television, fridge and so on.
GAVIN	I see. Well, I’ve got a fridge and a stereo system which I’ve just bought from afriend.
DIANE	And how much did you pay for the fridge?Q3
GAVIN	Er, $450.
DIANE	50 or 15?
GAVIN	50, and the stereo system cost $1,150.Q4
DIANE	Have you got a television?
GAVIN	Yes, but it’s very old and not worth much.
DIANE	OK. Well, is there anything else you want to insure?
GAVIN	Yes, I’ve got a couple of watches and my CDs and books.
DIANE	How much do you think they’re worth?
	GAVIN The watches are worth $1,000 ..
	DIANE For both of them?
	GAVIN No, each one and, all together, the CDs and books cost me about S400.Q5
	DIANE OK, so the value of everything you want to insure is $4,000.
	GAVIN How much will the insurance cost?
	DIANE: Let me see, S4.000 divided by .. . plus 10% . . . right, so this kind of insurance,er, that’s Private Contents insurance, it comes to $184.00 for a twelve-month period.Q6
	GAVIN S184.00. Well, that sounds pretty good. OK, I’ll take that policy.
	GAVIN Can I arrange the policy over the phone?DIANE. Sure, just let me get the details down. So that’s Mr . . .
GAVIN	Gavin Murray, that’s M-U-R-R-A-Y.Q7
DIANE	And the address is?
GAVIN	It’s 16CQ8 Biggins Street, South Hills.Q9
DIANE	OK (writing) 16C Biggins Street, South Hills?
GAVIN	That’s right, it’s two words, ‘South Hills’.
GAVIN	12 November 1980.
DIANE	And your contact number?
	GAVIN Home phone number is 9872 4855.
	DIANE Right.. . and er,… you’re Australian?
	GAVIN No .. . I was born in LondonQ10, although my mother is from Tasmania.
DIANE	Really? Whereabouts?
GAVIN	Hobart.
	DIANE I see .. . interesting place. Now, are you working at the moment?
	GAVIN No, I’m a full-time student at Sydney University.
	DIANE Right, good. ,

SECTION 2

COLLEGE PRESIDENT
Well, good morning, everyone, it’s good to see you all here. Welcome to Smith House.
Smith House as you may or may not know is one of the oldest residential colleges of the
university. As you can see, the building you’re in now which contains this main lounge, the
dining room, the recreation room, the kitchen and the offices was part of the original old
house, built in the 1840s to be used by the family of George Smith.^Q11 That’s of course how
the house and college got their names. The original house was converted into, a residential
college for the university in 1940 and since then has continued to be added on to and
modernised.

You’ll notice when you receive your room allocation in a few minutes that your room
number either begins with the letter N, S, or W like this one here. The first letter refers to
the three wings of the college^Q12 which come away from this main building. Of course the
letters represent the three directions – in this case – north, south and west. Each wing has
two floors, and so the next number you see is either one, or in this case two, and this
indicates which floor^Q13 your room is on. The number after that is your individual room
number.^Q14 So it’s quite simple to find any room by going to the right wing, then floor, and
then room number.

You’ll also notice, when you receive your orientation pack shortly, that there are two keys.
One is the key to your room and only you have that key – and the other is a key to the front
door which you’ve just come through here from the street. This door is closed and locked at
8 pm every night and opened again at 7 am. You’ll need your key if you’re coming back to
the college between those times.^Q15 We ask all students to always enter and leave the college
through the front door. You will notice at the end of each corridor that there is another
door but these are fire doors and are kept locked from the outside. They should only be
opened from the inside in case of emergency.^Q16

In your fees you’ve paid a laundry fee^Q17 which covers the cleaning of bed linen and towels.
All bed linen and towels are clearly embossed with the name Smith House so it’s easily
identifiable. If you want your other laundry to be done by the college this can be arranged
for a small extra fee.
There are only a few rules here at Smith House and we have these rules so that we can all
live comfortably together. The most important rule is that there must be no noise after 9 pm.
There is also no smoking in the rooms or anywhere inside the college but smoking is
permitted on the balconies.^Q18

All meals are served in the dining room. Meal times are listed in your orientation pack.
Please read these carefully as meal times cannot be changed^Q19 and if you arrive late I’m sorry
to say you’ll just go hungry.

If you’re unsure about things, each floor has an elected ‘floor senior’ who is usually a
student in their third or fourth year of study who’s been at Smith House for a while. The
floor seniors will introduce themselves later today and answer any questions^Q20 you have. But
for now I’m going to hand you over to Marney who is going to give you the orientation
packs and keys. Thanks Marney.

SECTION 3

LYNNE	That essay we have to write .. . the one on how children learn through the media .. . how are you planning to write it?
ROBIN	Well, I’ve given it some thought and I think that the best way to approach it isto divide the essay into two parts. First of all, we’d have to look at someexamples of each type of media ..
LYNNE	Yes, what they are . .. then we could describe how we can use each medium sothat children can learn something from each one.
ROBIN	Exactly. Maybe we could draw up a table and look at examples of each mediumin turn. Let’s see, the different forms of media would be.. . the print media .. .
LYNNE	Here you’d have things like books and newspapersQ21, that sort of thing .. .
ROBIN	Urn, and included in these are the pictorial forms of print media, like maps .. .
LYNNE	Yes, maps are really just formal picturesQ22, aren’t they? And then there are what we call the audio forms of media .. . where children can listen. CDs and radios are probably the best examplesQ23, because a lot of children have access to theseespecially radious.
ROBIN	And this would lead into the audio-visual media, which can be seen as well asheard .. . film, television . . . and we mustn’t forget videos.Q24
LYNNE	Yes, but there’s a final category as well . . . computers, that make up the so- Q25called electronic media. In the United Kingdom and Australia, they say that onein three families has a computer now.
LYNNE	Yes, but there’s a final category as well . . . computers, that make up the so- called electronic media.Q25 In the United Kingdom and Australia, they say that onein three families has a computer now.
ROBIN	Yes, I believe it. Well that’s a good list to start with . .. we’re really gettingsomewhere with this essay now .. . so let’s move on to when each type ofmedium could be used. I guess we could start by trying to identify the bestsituation for each type of media.
LYNNE	What do you mean?
ROBIN	I’m talking about whether each medium should be used with different sizedgroups. For example, we could look at pictures, and ask whether they’re moreuseful for an individual child, a few children together or a full class – in this case, I’d say pictures are best with individual children,Example because they give them an opportunity to let their imaginations run wild.
LYNNE	Yes, I see .. .
ROBIN	Let’s take tapes next. Although tapes look ideal for individual children, I feel they’re best suited to small group work.Q26 This way, children don’t feel isolated,because they can get help from their friends. Computers are the same .. . I think they’re better with small numbers of childrenQ27and they’re hardly ever useful witha whole class. Videos, however, are ideal for use with everyone present in the classQ28, especially when children have individual activity sheets to help them focustheir minds on what’s in the video.
LYNNE	And what about books, what would you recommend for them? Books are ideal for children to use by themselves.Q29 I know they’re used with groups in schools, butI wouldn’t recommend it. Other pictorial media like maps, though, are different. . . I’d always plan group work around thoseQ30 . .. give the children a chance tointeract and to share ideas.
ROBIN	I agree .. . teachers often just leave maps on the wall for children to look atwhen they have some free time, but kids really enjoy using them for problemsolving.
LYNNE	Yes, different people have different ideas I suppose .. .
ROBIN	Yes, and different teachers recommend different tools for different age groups .

SECTION 4

LECTURER
I hope that this first session, which I’ve called An Introduction to British Agriculture, will provide a helpful background to the farm visits you’ll be doing next week. I think I should start by emphasising that agriculture still accounts for a very important part of this country’s economy. We are used to hearing the UK’s society and economy
described as being ‘industrial’ or even ‘post-industrial’, but we mustn’t let this blind us to
the fact that agriculture and its supporting industries still account for around 20% of our
Gross National Product.

This figure is especially impressive, I think, when you bear in mind how very small a percentage of the UK workforce is employed in agriculture. This is not a recent development – you would have to go back to 1750 or so to find a majority of the workforce in this country working in agriculture: By the middle of the next century, in 1850 that is, it had fallen sharply to 10%, and then to 3% by the middle of the twentieth century.^Q31

And now just 2% of the workforce contribute 20% of GNP. How is this efficiency achieved? Well, my own view is that it owes a great deal to a history, over the last 50 or 60 years, of intelligent support by the state, mainly taking the form of helping farmers to plan ahead. Then the two other factors I should mention, both very important, are the high
level of training^Q32 amongst the agricultural workforce. And secondly, the recognition by farmers of the value of investing in technology.^Q33

Now, although the UK is a fairly small country, the geology and climate vary a good deal from region to region. For our purposes today we can divide the country broadly into three – I’ve marked them on the map here (indicates map).

The region you’ll get to know best, of course, is the north, where we are at present. The land here is generally hilly, and the soils thin. The climate up here, and you’ve already had evidence of this, is generally cool and wet^Q34. As you will see next week, the typical farm here in the North is a small, family-run concern, producing mainly wool and timber^Q35 for the market.

If we contrast that with the Eastern region, over here (indicating on map), the east is flatter and more low-lying, with fertile soils^Q36 and a mixed climate. Average farm-size is much bigger in the east, and farms are likely to be managed strictly on commercial lines. As for crops, well, the east is the UK’s great cereal-producing region. However, increasingly significant areas are now also given over to high quality vegetables^Q37 for supply direct to the supermarkets.

The third broad region is the west, where it’s a different story again. The climate iswarmer than in the north and much wetter^Q38 than in the east. The resulting rich soils in the west provide excellent pasture, and the farms there are quite large, typically around 800 hectares.^Q39 The main products are milk, cheese and meat.

So, clearly, there are marked differences between regions. But this does not prevent quite a strong sense of solidarity amongst the farming community as a whole, right across the country. This solidarity comes in part from the need to present a united front in dealing with other powerful interest-groups, such as government or the media. It also owes something to the close co-operation between all the agricultural training colleges, through which the great majority of farmers pass at the beginning of their careers. And a third factor making for solidarity is the national structure of the Farmers’ Union^Q40, of which virtually all farmers are members. Finally in this short talk, I would like to say a little about the challenges facing farmers in the next. . .