Category: IELTS Listening Transcripts

Cambridge IELTS 14 Listening Test 4 Audioscript/Tapescript with answer keys

Section 1

ANDREW	Good morning, Clare House Hotel. Andrew speaking. I’m the EventsExample Manager.
SAM	Good morning, Andrew. My name’s Samantha. I’m arranging a party for my parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary, and I’m ringing to ask about hiring a room some time next September. Also my parents and several of the guests will need accommodation.
ANDREW	OK, I’m sure we can help you with that. Will you be having a sit-down meal or a buffet?
SAM	Probably a sit-down.
ANDREW	And do you know how many people there’ll be?
SAM	Around eighty, I think.
ANDREW	Well we have two rooms that can hold that number. One is the Adelphi Room. That can seat eighty-five,Q1 or hold over a hundred if people are standing for a buffet.
SAM	Right.
ANDREW	If you have live music, there’s room for four or five musicians in the gallery overlooking the room. Our guests usually appreciate the fact that the music can be loud enough for dancing, but not too loud for conversation.
SAM	Yes, I really don’t like it when you can’t talk.
ANDREW	Exactly. Now the Adelphi Room is at the back of the hotel, and there are French windows leading out onto the terrace. This has a beautiful display of pots of rosesQ2 at that time of the year.
SAM	Which direction does it face?
ANDREW	Southwest, so that side of the hotel gets the sun in the afternoon and early evening.
SAM	Very nice.
ANDREW	From the terrace you can see the area of treesQ3 within the grounds of the hotel, or you can stroll through there to the river – that’s on the far side, so it isn’t visible from the hotel.
SAM	OK.
ANDREW	Then another option is the Carlton Room. This is a bit bigger – it can hold up to a hundred and ten people – and it has the advantage of a stage,Q4 which is useful if you have any entertainment, or indeed a small band can fit onto it.
SAM	And can you go outside from the room?
ANDREW	No, the Carlton Room is on the first floor, but on one side the windows look out onto the lake.
SAM	Lovely. I think either of those rooms would be suitable.
ANDREW	Can I tell you about some of the options we offer in addition?
SAM	Please do.
ANDREW	As well as a meal, you can have an MC, a Master of Ceremonies, who’ll be with you throughout the party.
SAM	What exactly is the MC’s function? I suppose they make a speechQ5 during the meal if we need one, do they?
ANDREW	That’s right. All our MCs are trained as public speakers, so they can easily get people’s attention – many guests are glad to have someone who can make themselves heard above the chatter! And they’re also your supportQ6 – if anything goes wrong, the MC will deal with it, so you can relax.
SAM	Great! I’ll need to ask you about food, but something else that’s important is accommodation. You obviously have rooms in the hotel, but do you also have any other accommodation, like cabins,Q7 for example?
ANDREW	Yes, there are five in the grounds, all self-contained. They each sleep two to four people and have their own living room, bathroom and small kitchen.
SAM	That sounds perfect for what we’ll need.
SAM	Now you have various facilities, don’t you? Are they all included in the price of hiring the room? The pool, for instance.
ANDREW	Normally you’d be able to use it, but it’ll be closed throughout September for refurbishment.Q8 I’m afraid. The gym will be available, though, at no extra charge.Q9 That’s open all day, from six in the morning until midnight.
SAM	Right.
ANDREW	And the tennis courts, but there is a small additional payment for those.Q10 We have four courts, and it’s worth booking in advance if you possibly can, as there can be quite a long waiting list for them!
SAM	Right. Now could we discuss the food? This would be dinner, around seven o’clock…

Section 2

Hello everyone. I’m Jake Stevens and I’m your rep here at the hotel. I’m sure you’ll all have a great time here. So let me tell you a bit about what’s on offer. I’ll start by telling you about some of the excursions that are available for guests.

One thing you have to do while you’re here is go dolphin watching. On our boat trips, we pretty well guarantee you’ll see dolphins – if you don’t you can repeat the trip free of charge. We organise daily trips for just 35 euros. Unfortunately there aren’t any places left for this afternoon’s trip,^Q11 but come and see me to book for later in the week.

If you’re energetic, I’d recommend our forest walk. It’s a guided walk of about seven kilometres. There’ll be a stop half way, and you’ll be provided with a drink and sandwiches.^Q12 There’s some fairly steep climbs up the hills, so you need to be reasonably fit for this one, with good shoes, and bring a waterproof in case it rains. It’s just 25 euros all inclusive, and it’s every Wednesday.

Then on Thursdays we organise a cycle trip, which will give you all the fun of biking without the effort. We’ll take you and your bike up to the top of Mount Larna, and leave you to bike back – it’s a 700-metre drop in just 20 kilometres^Q13 so this isn’t really for inexperienced cyclists as you’ll be going pretty fast. And if it’s a clear day, you’ll have fantastic views.

On our local craft tour you can find out about the traditional activities in the island. And the best thing about this trip is that it’s completely free.^Q14 You’ll be taken to a factory where jewellery is made, and also a ceramics centre. If you want, you can buy some of the products but that’s entirely up to you. The trip starts after lunch on Thursday, and you’ll return by 6 pm.

If you’re interested in astronomy you may already know that the island’s one of the best places in the world to observe the night sky. We can offer trips to the observatory on Friday for those who are interested. They cost 90 euros per person and you’ll be shown the huge telescopes and have a talk from an expert, who’ll explain all about how they work. Afterwards we’ll head down to Sunset Beach, where you can have a dip in the ocean^Q15 if you want before we head off back to the hotel.

Finally, there’s horse riding. This is organised by the Equestrian Centre over near Playa Cortino and it’s a great experience if you’re a keen horseback rider, or even if you’ve never been on a horse before.^Q16 They take you down to the beach, and you can canter along the sand and through the waves. It costs 35 euros and it’s available every day.

So there’s plenty to do in the daytime, but what about night life?

Well, the number one attraction’s called ‘Musical Favourites’. Guests enjoy a three-course meal and unlimited free drinks, and watch a fantastic show, starting with musicals set in Paris and then crossing the Atlantic to Las Vegas and finally Copacabana. At the end the cast members come down from the stage,^Q17 still in their stunning costumes, and you’ll have a chance to chat with them.^Q17 It’s hugely popular, so let me know now if you’re interested because it’s no good leaving it until the last minute.^Q18 It’s on Friday night. Tickets are just 50 euros each, but for an extra 10 euros you can have a table right by the stage.

If you’d like to go back in time, there’s the Castle Feast on Saturday evening. It’s held in a twelfth-century castle, and you eat in the great courtyard, with ladies in long gowns serving your food. You’re given a whole chicken each, which you eat in the medieval way, using your hands instead of cutlery,^Q19 and you’re entertained by competitions where the horseback riders attempt to knock one another off their horses. Then you can watch the dancers in the ballroom and join in as well if you want.^Q20 OK, so now if anyone…

Section 3

STEPHANIE	Hello, Trevor.
TREVOR	Hello, Stephanie. You said you wanted to talk about the course I’m taking on literature for children.
STEPHANIE	That’s right. I’m thinking of doing it next year, but I’d like to find out more about it first.
TREVOR	OK, well, as you probably know, it’s a one-year course. It’s divided into six modules, and you have to take all of them. One of the most interesting ones, for me, at least, was about the purpose of children’s literature.
STEPHANIE	You mean, whether it should just entertain children or should be educational, as well.
TREVOR	Right, and whether the teaching should be factual – giving them information about the world- or ethical, teaching them values. What’s fascinating is that the writer isn’t necessarily conscious of the message they’re conveying.Q21 For instance, a story might show a child who has a problem as a result of not doing what an adult has told them to do, implying that children should always obey adults.
STEPHANIE	I see what you mean.
TREVOR	That module made me realise how important stories are – they can have a significant effect on children as they grow up. Actually, it inspired me to have a go at it myself,Q22 just for my own interest. I know I can’t compete with the really popular stories, like the Harry Potter books – they’re very good, and even young kids like my seven-year-old niece love reading them.
STEPHANIE	Mm. I’m very interested in illustrations in stories. Is that covered in the course?
TREVOR	Yes, there’s a module on pictures, and how they’re sometimes central to the story.
STEPHANIE	That’s good. I remember some frightening ones I saw as a child and I can still see them vividly in my mind, years later! Pictures can be so powerful, just as powerful as words. I’ve always enjoyed drawing, so that’s the field I want to go into when finish the course.Q23 I bet that module will be really helpful.
TREVOR	I’m sure it will. We also studied comics in that module, but I’m not convinced of their value, not compared with books. One of the great things about words is that you use your imagination, but with a comic you don’t have to.
STEPHANIE	But children are so used to visual input-on TV, video games, and so on. There are plenty of kids who wouldn’t even try to read a book, so I think comics can serve a really useful purpose.Q24
TREVOR	You mean, it’s better to read a comic than not to read at all? Yes. I suppose you’re right. I just think it’s sad when children don’t read books.Q24
STEPHANIE	What about books for girls and books for boys? Does the course go into that?
TREVOR	Yes, there’s a module on it. For years, lots of stories, in English, at least, assumed that boys went out and did adventurous things and girls stayed at home and played with dolls. I was amazed how many books were targeted at just one sex or the other.Q25 Of course this reflects society as it is when the books are written.
STEPHANIE	That’s true. So it sounds as though you think it’s a good course.
TREVOR	Definitely.
TREVOR	Have you been reading lots of children’s stories, to help you decide whether to take the course?
STEPHANIE	Yeah. I’ve gone as far back as the late seventeenth century, though I know there were earlier children’s stories.
TREVOR	So does that mean you’ve read Perrault’s fairy tales? Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, and so on.
STEPHANIE	Yes. They must be important, because no stories of that type had been written before, these were the first.Q26 Then there’s The Swiss Family Robinson.
TREVOR	I haven’t read that.
STEPHANIE	The English name makes it sound as though Robinson is the family’s surname, but a more accurate translation would be The Swiss Robinsons, because it’s about a Swiss family who are shipwrecked, like Robinson Crusoe in the novel of a century earlier.Q27
TREVOR	Well I never knew that!
STEPHANIE	Have you read Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King?
TREVOR	Wasn’t that the basis for Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker?Q28
STEPHANIE	That’s right. It has some quite bizarre elements.
TREVOR	I hope you’ve read Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince. It’s probably my favourite children’s story of all time.
STEPHANIE	Mine too! And it’s so surprising, because Wilde is best known for his plays, and most of them are very witty, but The Happy Prince is really moving. I struggled with Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings-three long books, and I gave up after one. It’s extremely popular, though.Q29
STEPHANIE	Yeah, but whereas something like The Happy Prince just carried me along with it, The Lord of the Rings took more effort than I was prepared to give it.
TREVOR	I didn’t find that- I love it.
STEPHANIE	Another one I’ve read is War Horse.
TREVOR	Oh yes. It’s about the First World War, isn’t it? Hardly what you’d expect for a children’s storyQ40
STEPHANIE	Exactly, but it’s been very successful. Have you read any…

Section 4

In today’s class I’m going to talk about marine archaeology, the branch of archaeology focusing on human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers. It’s the study of ships, cargoes, shipping facilities, and other physical remains. I’ll give you an example, then go on to show how this type of research is being transformed by the use of the latest technology.

Atlit-Yam was a village on the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, which seems to have been thriving until around 7,000 BC. The residents kept cattle, caught fish and stored grain. They had wells for fresh water, many of their houses were built around a courtyard and were constructed of stone. The village contained an impressive monument: seven half-tonne stones standing in a semicircle around a spring,^Q31 that might have been used for ceremonial purposes.

Atlit-Yam may have been destroyed swiftly by a tsunami, or climate change may have caused glaciers to melt and sea levels to rise, flooding the village gradually. Whatever the cause, it now lies ten metres below the surface of the Mediterranean, buried under sand at the bottom of the sea. It’s been described as the largest and best preserved prehistoric settlement ever found on the seabed.

For marine archaeologists, Atlit-Yam is a treasure trove. Research on the buildings, tools^Q32 and Q the human remains has revealed how the bustling village once functioned, and even what diseases some of its residents suffered from. But of course this is only one small village, one window into a lost world. For a fuller picture, researchers need more sunken settlements, but the hard part is finding them.

Underwater research used to require divers to find shipwrecks or artefacts, but in the second half of the twentieth century, various types of underwater vehicles were developed, some controlled from a ship on the surface, and some of them autonomous, which means they don’t need to be operated by a person.

Autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs, are used in the oil industry, for instance, to create maps^Q33 of the seabed before rigs and pipelines are installed. To navigate they use sensors, such as compasses and sonar. Until relatively recently they were very expensive, and so heavy^Q34 that they had to be launched from a large vessel with a winch.

But the latest AUVS are much easier to manoeuvre – they can be launched from the shore or a small ship. And they’re much cheaper, which makes them more accessible to research teams. They’re also very sophisticated. They can communicate with each other and, for example, work out the most efficient way to survey a site, or to find particular objects on the seabed.

Field tests show the approach can work. For example, in a trial in 2015, three AUVS searched for wrecks at Marzamemi, off the coast of Sicily. The site is the final resting place of an ancient Roman ship, which sank in the sixth century AD while ferrying prefabricated marble^Q35 elements for the construction of an early church. The AUVS mapped the area in detail, finding other ships carrying columns of the same material.

Creating an internet in the sea for AUVS to communicate is no easy matter. Wifi networks on land use electromagnetic waves, but in water these will only travel a few centimetres. Instead, a more complex mix of technologies is required. For short distances, AUVS can share data using light.^Q36 while acoustic waves are used to communicate over long distances. But more creative solutions are also being developed, where an AUV working on the seabed offloads data to a second AUV, which then surfaces and beams the data home to the research team using a satellite.

There’s also a system that enables AUVS to share information from seabed scans, and other data. So if an AUV surveying the seabed finds an intriguing object, it can share the coordinates of the object – that is, its position – with a nearby AUV that carries superior cameras,^Q37 and arrange for that AUV to make a closer inspection of the object.

Marine archaeologists are excited about the huge potential of these AUVS for their discipline. One site where they’re going to be deployed is the Gulf of Baratti, off the Italian coast. In 1974, a 2,000-year-old Roman vessel was discovered here, in 18 metres of water. When it sank, it was carrying medical^Q38 goods, in wooden or tin receptacles. Its cargo gives us insight into the treatments available all those years ago, including tablets that are thought to have been dissolved to form a cleansing liquid for the eyes.^Q39

Other Roman ships went down nearby, taking their cargoes with them. Some held huge pots made of terracotta. Some were used for transporting cargoes of olive oil, and others held wine.^Q40 In many cases it’s only these containers that remain, while the wooden ships have been buried under silt on the seabed.

Another project that’s about to…

Cambridge IELTS 7 Listening Test 2 Audioscript/Tapescript with answer keys and explanation

Section 1

WOMAN	Hello…motor insurance department…
MAN	Oh hello… I’d like to ask about insurance for my car.
WOMAN	Yes, of course. I’ll just take a few details. What’s your name?
MAN	Patrick Jones.Example
WOMAN	And your address?
MAN	It’s 27 Bank Road.Q1
WOMAN	27 Bank Road. Is that in Greendale?
MAN	Yes.
WOMAN	And what’s your daytime phone number?
MAN	My work number is 730453.
WOMAN	And could I ask what your occupation is?
MAN	Dentist.Q2
WOMAN	OK… now a few details about your car… What size is the engine?
MAN	It’s 1200 ccs.
WOMAN	Thank you… and the make and model?
MAN	It’s a Hewton Sable.
WOMAN	Could you spell the model name please?
MAN	Yes… S-A-B-L-E.Q3
WOMAN	Ah yes…thanks. And when was it made?
MAN	1997.
WOMAN	Lovely… right… I presume you’ve had a previous insurer?
MAN	Yes.
WOMAN	Right… we need to know the name of the company.
MAN	Yes… it was Northern Star.Q4
WOMAN	Thank you, and have you made any insurance claims in the last five years?
MAN	Yes… one in 1999.
WOMAN	And what was the problem?
MAN	It was stolenQ5… but…
WOMAN	That’s fine, Mr Jones… that’s all we need to know at the moment… And will there be any other named drivers?
MAN	Just the one…
WOMAN	And his name?
MAN	Simon Paynter.
WOMAN	Could you spell the surname please?
MAN	P-A-Y-N-T-E-R.Q6
WOMAN	OK thank you… And what relationship is he to you?
MAN	He’s my brother-in-law.Q7
WOMAN	And what will you or Mr Paynter be using the car for?
MAN	Well… mainly for social use…
WOMAN	Social use (murmuring). Will you be using it to travel to work?Q8
MAN	Yes…sometimes.Q8
WOMAN	…Anything else?
MAN	No. That’s it…
WOMAN	And finally… when would you like to start the insurance?
MAN	I’ll need it from the 31st of January.
WOMAN	Right… Mr Jones… I’m getting a couple of quotes coming up on the computer now… and the best bet looks like being with a company called Red Flag.Q9
MAN	Yeah.
WOMAN	And that comes out at $450 per yearQ10…
MAN	Well…that seems OK… it’s quite a bit lower than I’ve been paying up to now…
WOMAN	Great…so would you like me to go ahead with that?
	Sure… why not?
WOMAN	How would you like to pay?

Section 2

Thank you for calling the Tourist Line. There are many different ways of getting round the city and we’d like to suggest some you may not have thought of.

How about a city trip by boat? There are four main stopping points – from west to east: stop A Green Banks, stop B City Bridge^Q11, stop C Roman Landing and stop D Newtown.^Q12

You can find the main booking office at stop A.
The first boat leaves at 8 a.m. and the last one at 6.30 p.m.^Q13 There are also many attractions you can visit along the river. At Stop A, if you have time, you can visit the fine 16th century palace here built for the king with its beautiful formal gardens.^Q14 It’s very near the booking office. Now you can enjoy every corner of this superb residence.

Stop B Why don’t you visit Tower Restaurant^Q15 with its wide range of refreshments? This is a place where you can sit and enjoy the wonderful views^Q16 over the old commercial and banking centre of the city.

Stop C is the area where, in the first century AD, invading soldiers crossed the river; this was much shallower than it is now. That’s why this area is called Roman Landing. There’s an interactive Museum to visit here with a large shop which has a good range of local history books.^Q17

At the furthest point of the trip, stop D, the most exciting place to visit is the new Entertainment Complex with seven-screen cinema,^Q18 bowling alley and video games arcade.

Besides the boat tours, there are city buses. Two companies offer special services:
The Top Bus Company runs all its tours with a live commentary in English. Tours leave from 8.30 a.m. every 20 minutes.^Q19 There are departures from Central Station, Castle Hill and Long Walk. This is a hop-on hop-off service and tickets are valid for 24 hours. For further details call Top Bus on 0208 9447810.

The Number One Sightseeing Tour is available with a commentary in eight languages. Buses depart from Central Station^Q20 every five to six minutes from about 9 a.m. with the last bus at around 7 p.m. There are also Number One services with an English-speaking…

Section 3

INTERVIEWER	We’re pleased to welcome Dr Martin Merrywhether of the Antarctic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand who has come along to talk to us today about the role of the Centre and the Antarctic Treaty.
INTERVIEWER	Now my first question is about the choice of location for the centre. Why Christchurch? Was it because of the climate?
DOCTOR	Well actually New Zealand is the second closest country to AntarcticaQ21 and Christchurch is often used on Antarctic expeditions.
INTERVIEWER	Right, so it’s because of where we are… coupled with our historical role. So tell us – what is the main purpose of the centre?
DOCTOR	Well…we have two complementary roles. One is as a scientific base for expeditions and research and the other is as an information centre.
INTERVIEWER	Tell us something about the role as a scientific base.
DOCTOR	We’re able to provide information about what scientists should takeQ22 with them to the South Pole – for example, the centre contains a clothing warehouse where expeditions are supplied with suitable clothing for the extreme conditions.
INTERVIEWER	I suppose you need a bit more than your normal winter coat!
DOCTOR	Yes, exactly and then there’s also the specialist library and mapping services.
INTERVIEWER	Right. And which countries are actually located at the centre?
DOCTOR	Well…the centre houses research programmes for New Zealand, for The United States as well as for Italy… there’s even a US post office at the American airforce base here.
INTERVIEWER	Really? And what does the visitor’s centre offer?
DOCTOR	Well, since very few people will ever experience the Antarctic first hand, the visitors’ centre aims to recreate the atmosphere of Antarctica.Q23 There’s a mock camp site where you can see inside an Antarctic tent and imagine yourself sleeping there. And the centre also acts as a showcase for the unique international co-operation which exists in Antarctica today.
INTERVIEWER	What is it actually like at the South Pole? I know you’ve been there on a number of occasions.
DOCTOR	Yes, I have and each time I’m struck by the awesome beautyQ24 of the place. It’s magnificent but you can really only visit it in the summer months.
INTERVIEWER	October to March.
DOCTOR	Yes, because it’s completely dark for four months of the year (pause) … and in addition it has to be the coldest place on earth.
INTERVIEWER	Colder than the North Pole? Why’s that?
DOCTOR	Well, unlike the North Pole, which is actually a frozen sea, Antarctica is a land mass shaped like a dome, with the result that the winds blow down the slopes at speeds of up to 150 km an hour and that’s what makes it so cold.Q25 And one other interesting thing is that Antarctica is the driest continent on earth, surprisingly, and so you have to drink large amounts of water when you’re there.
INTERVIEWER	How old is Antarctica?
DOCTOR	We’re pretty sure it was part of a larger land mass but it broke away from the rest of the continent 170 million years ago.
INTERVIEWER	How can you be certain of this?
DOCTOR	…because fossils and rocks have been discovered in Antarctica which are the same as those found in places such as Africa and Australia.Q26
INTERVIEWER	Amazing… To think that it was once attached to Africa…
INTERVIEWER	Now let’s just have a look at the Antarctic Treaty. How far back does the idea of an international treaty go?
DOCTOR	Well, as far back as the 19th century, when eleven nations organised an international event.
INTERVIEWER	When was that exactly?
DOCTOR	In 1870. And it was called the Polar Research Meeting. And then, not long after that, they organised something called the First International Polar Year.
INTERVIEWER	And that took place when exactly?
DOCTOR	Over two years from 1882 to 1883.Q27 But it wasn’t until the 1950s that the idea of an international treaty was proposed. And in 1959 the Treaty was actually signed.Q28
INTERVIEWER	What do you see as the main achievements of the treaty?
	Well, firstly it means that the continent is reserved for peaceful use.Q29&30
INTERVIEWER	That’s Article 1, isn’t it?
	Yes…
INTERVIEWER	That’s important since the territory belongs to everyone.
DOCTOR	Yes but not as important as Article 5, which prohibits any nuclear explosions or waste disposal.Q29&30
INTERVIEWER	Which is marvellous. Well, I’m afraid we’re going to have to stop there because I’m afraid we’ve run out of time. Thanks for coming along today and telling us all about the centre and its work.

Section 4

My topic is handedness – whether in different sports it is better to be left- or right-sided or whether a more balanced approach is more successful. I’m left-handed myself and I actually didn’t see any relevance to my own life when I happened to start reading an article by a sports psychologist called Peter Matthews. He spent the first part of the article talking about handedness in music instead of sport, which I have to say almost put me off from reading further. But what I soon became struck by was the sheer volume^Q31 of both observation and investigation he had done in many different sports and I felt persuaded that what he had to say would be of real interest. I think Matthews’ findings will be beneficial, not so much in helping sportspeople to work on their weaker side, but more that they can help them identify the most suitable strategies to use in a given game. ^Q32 Although most trainers know how important handedness is, at present they are rather reluctant to make use of the insights^Q33 scientists like Matthews can give, which I think is rather short-sighted because focusing on individual flexibility is only part of the story.

Anyway, back to the article.

Matthews found a German study which looked at what he called ‘mixed-handedness’, that is, the capacity to use both left and right hands equally. It looked at mixed-handedness in 40 musicians on a variety of instruments. Researchers examined a number of variables, e.g. type of instrument played, regularity of practice undertaken and length of time playing instrument…and found the following: keyboard players had high levels of mixed- handedness, whereas string players like cellists and violinists strongly favoured one hand. Also those who started younger were more mixed-handed.^Q34

Matthews also reports studies of handedness in apes. Apes get a large proportion of their food by ‘fishing’ ants from ant hills. The studies show that apes, like humans, show handedness – though for them right- and left-handedness is about equal, whereas about 85% of humans are right-handed. Studies showed that apes consistently using the same hand fished out 30% more ants^Q35 than those varying between the two.

Matthews started researching several different sports and found different types of handedness in each. By the way, he uses ‘handedness’ to refer to the dominant side for feet and eyes as well as hands. Anyway, his team measured the hand, feet and eyes of 2,611 players and found that there were really three main types of laterality: mixed – you work equally well on both sides – both hand and eye; single- you tend to favour one side but both hand and eye favour the same side; and cross-laterality – a player’s hands and eyes favour only one side but they are opposite sides. Let’s start with hockey. Matthews found that it was best to be mixed- handed – this is because a hockey stick must be deployed in two directions^Q36 – it would be a drawback to have hand or eye favouring one side. An interesting finding is that mixed-handed hockey players were significantly more confident^Q37 than their single-handed counterparts. Things are slightly different in racket sports like tennis. Here the important thing is to have the dominant hand and eye on the one side. This means that there is a bigger area of vision^Q38 on the side where most of the action occurs. If a player is cross lateral the racket is invisible from the dominant eye for much of the swing. It means that they can only make corrections much later…^Q39 and often the damage has been done by then.

And moving to a rather different type of sport which involves large but precise movements – gymnastics. It’s been found that cross hand-eye favouring is best. The predominant reason for this is because it aids^Q40 balance – which is of course absolutely central to performance in this sport.

Cambridge IELTS 4 Listening Test 1 Audioscript/Tapescript with answer keys and explanation

SECTION 1

MAN	Good morning.
WOMAN	Good morning. How can I help you?
MAN	I understand that the school organises … umm, trips to different…
WOMAN	Yes, we run five every month:Example three during weekends and two Wednesday afternoon trips.
MAN	What sort of places?
WOMAN	Well, obviously it varies, but always places of historical interest and also which offer a variety of shopping,Q1 because our students always ask about that… and then we go for ones where we know there are guided tours,Q2 because this gives a good focus for the visit.
MAN	Do you travel far?
WOMAN	Well, we’re lucky here, obviously, because we’re able to say that all our visits are less than three hours drive.
MAN	How much do they cost?
WOMAN	Again it varies – between five and fifteen pounds a head, depending on distance.
MAN	Ah ha…
WOMAN	Oh, and we do offer to arrange special trips if, you know, there are more than twelveQ3 people.
MAN	Oh right, I’ll keep that in mind. And what are the times normally?
WOMAN	We try to keep it pretty fixed so that, that students get to know the pattern. We leave at eight-thirty a.m. and return at six p.m. We figure it’s best to keep the day fairly short.
MAN	Oh yes. And how do we reserve a place?
WOMAN	You sign your name on the notice board.Q4 Do you know where it is?
MAN	Ah ha. I saw it this morning.
WOMAN	And we do ask that you sign up three days in advance so we know we’ve got enough people interested to run it, and we can cancel if necessary, with full refund of course.
MAN	That’s fine, thanks.
MAN	And what visits are planned for this term?
WOMAN	Right, well I’m afraid the schedule hasn’t been printed out yet, but we have confirmed the dates and planned the optional extra visits which you can also book in advance if you want to.
MAN	Oh that’s all right. If you can just give some idea of the weekend ones so I can, you know, work out when to see friends, etcetera.
WOMAN	Oh sure. Well, the first one is St Ives. That’s on the thirteenth of FebruaryQ5 and we’ll have only sixteen places available ‘cos we’re going by minibus. And that’s a day in town with the optional extra of visiting the Hepworth Museum.
MAN	Oh right… yeah… that sounds good.
WOMAN	Then there’s a London trip on the sixteenth of February and we’ll be taking a medium-sized coach so there’ll be forty-five places on that, and, let’s see, the optional extra is the Tower of London.Q6
MAN	Oh, I’ve already been there.
WOMAN	After that there’s BristolQ7 on the third of March.
MAN	Where?
WOMAN	Bristol… B-R-I-S-T-O-L.
MAN	OK….
WOMAN	That’s in a different minibus with eighteen places available, oh, and the optional extra is a visit to the S.S. Great Britain.
MAN	OK…
WOMAN	We’re going to Salisbury on the eighteenth of March and that’s always a popular one because the optional extra is Stonehenge, so we’re taking the large coach with fifty seats…
MAN	Oh good.
WOMAN	And then the last one is to Bath on the twenty-third of March.
MAN	Oh yes. Is Bath the Roman city?
WOMAN	Yes, that’s right, and that’s in the sixteen-seater minibus.
MAN	And where’s the optional visit?
WOMAN	It’s to the American MuseumQ8 – well worth a visit.
MAN	OK, well that’s great, thanks for all that…
WOMAN	My pleasure. By the way, if you want more information about any of the trips, have a look in the student newspaper.Q9
MAN	OK.
WOMAN	Or, have a word with my assistant; her name is Jane YentobQ10 – that’s Y-E-N-T-O-B.
MAN	Right, I’ve got that. Thank you very much for all your help.
WOMAN	You’re very welcome. I hope you enjoy the trips.

SECTION 2

Good afternoon everybody and welcome to Riverside Industrial Village. To start your visit I’m just going to give you a brief account of the history of the museum before letting you roam about on your own. I won’t keep you long. OK?

Now, from where we’re standing you’ve got a good view of the river over there. And it was because of this fast-flowing water that this site was a natural place for manufacturing works. The water and the availability of raw materials in the area, like minerals and iron ore, and also the abundance of local fuels, like coal and firewood,^Q11 all made this site suitable for industry from a very early time.

Water was the main source of power for the early industries and some of the water wheels were first established in the twelfth century, would you believe? At that time, local craftsmen^Q12 first built an iron forge just behind the village here, on the bend in the river. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the region’s rivers supported more than a hundred and sixty^Q13 water mills – and many of these continued to operate well into the nineteenth century. But then the steam engine was invented and then the railways came and the centres of industry were able to move away from the rivers and the countryside and into the towns. So, industrial villages like this one became very rare.

So that’s the history for you. If you’d like any more information, you can ask me some questions, or you can read further in our excellent guide book.

Now I’m going to give you a plan of the site and I’d just like to point out where everything is and then you can take a look at everything for yourself.

I’ve already pointed out the river, which is on the left. And of course, running along the bottom is Woodside^Q14 Road, got it? OK. Now we’re standing at the entrance, see it at the bottom, and immediately to our right is the Ticket Office.^Q15 You won’t need that because you’ve got your group booking, but just past it are the toilets – always good to know where they are. In front of us is the car park, as you can see, and to the left, by the entry gate is the Gift Shop.^Q16 That’s where you can get copies of the guide, like this one here.

Now, beyond the car park all the buildings are arranged in a half circle with a yard in the middle. The big, stone building at the top is the main Workshop.^Q17 That’s where the furnace is and where all the metal was smelted and the tools were cast, as you’ll be able to see. Now, in the top right-hand corner, that building with bigger windows is the Showroom,^Q18 where samples of all the tools that were made through the ages are on display. In the top left corner is the Grinding Shop, where the tools were sharpened and finished. And on one side of that you can see the Engine Room and on the other is the Café, ^Q19 which isn’t an antique, you’ll be pleased to know, though they do serve very nice old-fashioned teas.

The row of buildings you can see on the left are the cottages.^Q20 These were built for the workers towards the end of the eighteenth century and they’re still furnished from that period so you can get a good idea of ordinary people’s living conditions. Across the yard from them, you can see the stables where the horses were kept for transporting the products. And the separate building in front of them is the Works Office and that-still has some of the old accounts on display.

Right, if anyone wants a guided tour then I’m starting at the Engine Room. If you’d like to come along, this way please, ladies and gentlemen.

SECTION 3

MELANIE	Excuse me, Dr Johnson. May I speak to you for a minute?
DR JOHNSON	Sure. Come in.
MELANIE	I’m Melanie Griffin. I’m taking your course in Population Studies.
DR JOHNSON	Right. Well, Melanie, how can I help you?
MELANIE	I’m… having a bit of trouble with the second assignment, and it’s due in twelve days.
DR JOHNSON	What sort of trouble are you having? Is the assignment question a problem?
MELANIE	Well, that’s part of the problem. I’m also having been having – trouble getting hold of the books. I’ve been to the library several times, and all the books are out.
DR JOHNSON	Sounds like you should have started borrowing books a bit earlier.
MELANIE	Well, I had a really big assignment due in for another course,Q21 and I’ve been spending all my time on that, and I thought…
DR JOHNSON	… you might get an extension of time to finish your assignment for me?
MELANIE	If that’s possible, but I don’t know…
DR JOHNSON	Well, yes, it is possible, but extensions are normally given only for medical or compassionate reasons,Q22 otherwise it’s really a question of organising your study, and we don’t like giving extensions to students who simply didn’t plan their work properly. What did you get for your first assignment?
MELANIE	I got eighty-seven per cent.
DR JOHNSON	Mmm, yes, you did very well indeed, so obviously you can produce good work.
MELANIE	I don’t think I’ll need too much extra time, as long as I can get hold of some of the important references.
DR JOHNSON	Well, since you did so well in your first assignment, I’m prepared to give you an extra two weeks for this one, so that’ll mean you’ll need to submit it about a month from now.
MELANIE	Thank you.
DR JOHNSON	Now, what about the reading materials? Have you checked out the journal articles in the list?
MELANIE	Umm, no, not yet, there were about twenty of them, and I wasn’t sure which ones would be most useful or important.
DR JOHNSON	Well, they’re all useful, but I don’t expect anyone to read them all, because a number of them deal with the same issues. Let me give you some suggestions. The article by Anderson and Hawker is really worth reading.
MELANIE	Right, I’ll read that one.
DR JOHNSON	You should also read the article by Jackson, but just look at the part on the research methodologyQ23 – how they did it.
MELANIE	OK… Jackson, got that…
DR JOHNSON	And if you have time, the one by Roberts says very relevant things, although it’s not essential.
MELANIE	So, OK, if it’s useful,Q24 I’ll try and read that one…
DR JOHNSON	Now, the one by Morris. I wouldn’t bother with that at this stage, if I were you.
MELANIE	OK, I won’t botherQ25 with Morris. Oh, now, someone told me the article by Cooper is important.
DR JOHNSON	Well, yes, in a way, but just look at the last part,Q26 where he discusses the research results. And lastly, there’s Forster – I can’t think why I included that one. It’s not bad and could be of some help, but not that much.Q27
DR JOHNSON	Now let’s deal with the assignment question. What’s the problem there?
MELANIE	It’s the graph on page two.
DR JOHNSON	What seems to be the problem? It’s just the bar graph showing reasons why people change where they live.
MELANIE	Well, I’ve got a photocopy but the reasons at the bottom are missing.
DR JOHNSON	OK. Look at the first bar on the graph – now that indicates the number of people who move because they want more space.
MELANIE	Oh I see… bar one. OK… Now what about the next bar?
DR JOHNSON	Bar two is to do with the people living nearby disturbing them,Q28 so they chose to move away to somewhere quieter. Now let’s look at bar number three…. another reason people change their place of living is because they want to be closer to the city.
MELANIE	OK. Proximity to the city is an issue…
DR JOHNSON	Now… bar number four refers to problems when the owner of the property won’t help fix things that go wrong. In other words, the owner is not helpfulQ29 and so the tenants move out.
MELANIE	OK…now what about bar five?
DR JOHNSON	Bar five is about those people who move because they need a bus or train to get them into the city or to go to work.
MELANIE	OK… and bar six?
DR JOHNSON	Bar number six is interesting. That reason was given quite a lot — people moving because they wanted to be in a more attractive neighbourhood.Q30
MELANIE	Oh, yes, thank you very much.

Section 4

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. I have been asked today to talk to you about the urban landscape. There are two major areas that I will focus on in my talk: how vegetation can have a significant effect on urban climate, and how we can better plan our cities using trees to provide a more comfortable environment^Q31 for us to live in.

Trees can have a significant impact on our cities. They can make a city, as a whole, a bit less windy^Q32 or a bit more windy, if that’s what you want. They can make it a bit cooler if it’s a hot summer day in an Australian city, or they can make it a bit more humid^Q33 if it’s a dry inland city. On the local scale – that is, in particular areas within the city – trees can make the local area more shady,^Q34 cooler, more humid and much less windy. In fact trees and planting of various kinds can be used to make city streets actually less dangerous ^Q35 in particular areas. How do trees do all that, you ask?

Well, the main difference between a tree and a building is a tree has got an internal mechanism to keep the temperature regulated. It evaporates water through its leaves^Q36 and that means that the temperature of the leaves is never very far from our own body temperature. The temperature of a building surface on a hot sunny day can easily be twenty degrees more than our temperature. Trees, on the other hand, remain cooler than buildings because they sweat. This means that they can humidify the air and cool it – a property which can be exploited to improve the local climate.

Trees can also help break the force of winds. The reason that high buildings make it windier at ground^Q37 level is that, as the wind goes higher and higher, it goes faster and faster. When the wind hits the building, it has to go somewhere. Some of it goes over the top and some goes around the sides of the building, forcing those high level winds down to ground level. That doesn’t happen when you have trees. Trees filter the wind and considerably reduce it,^Q38 preventing those very large strong gusts that you so often find around tall buildings.

Another problem in built-up areas is that traffic noise is intensified by tall buildings. By planting a belt of trees at the side of the road, you can make things a little quieter, but much of the vehicle noise still goes through the trees. Trees can also help reduce the amount of noise in the surroundings, although the effect is not as large as people like to think. Low-^Q39 frequency noise, in particular, just goes through the trees as though they aren’t there.

Although trees can significantly improve the local climate, they do however take up a lot of space. There are root systems to consider and branches blocking windows and so on. It may therefore be difficult to fit trees into the local landscape. There is not a great deal you can do if you have what we call a street canyon – a whole set of high-rises enclosed in a narrow street. Trees need water to grow. They also need some sunlight to grow and you need room^Q40 to put them. If you have the chance of knocking buildings down and replacing them, then suddenly you can start looking at different ways to design the streets and to introduce… (fade out)

Cambridge IELTS 5 Listening Test 3 Audioscript/Tapescript with answer keys and explanation

MAN	Good morning, please take a seat. How can I help you?
WOMAN	Well, I’m thinking of buying a new car and I’d like some advice.
MAN	Sure, yes. Had you got any particular make in mind?
WOMAN	I’m interested in a LidaExample I’ve had one before and liked it. But I haven’t really made up my mind.
MAN	Sure. We’ve got various models. Umm, right. What about the engine size? Any ideas?
WOMAN	The one I’ve got at the moment’s a 1.2 litre engine but I find it a bit slow on long journeys. I’d like a bit more power this time… a 1.4Q1 should do. I don’t think I need a 1.6 or anything.
MAN	Right. Well I think the model you’re looking at is the Max. Here’s a picture.
WOMAN	Oh, yes… have you got one in?
MAN	Yes. I’ll take you to have a look at it in a minute. I’ll just get a few more details. Er… Is there anything else to do with the engine? What kind of gear change do you want? I presume you’d want a manual?
WOMAN	I’d want automaticQ2 I’ve never driven a car with manual gears.
MAN	Right. Well now, here’s the colour chart for the Max. Have you given that any thought? This blue’s very popular at the moment.
WOMAN	Yes, it is nice, I like blue. What’s it called? “Royal”?
MAN	Yes.
WOMAN	But actually, I think I prefer this lighter shade here “Sky“.Q3
MAN	Yes, that’s popular too.
WOMAN	I think I’ll go for that.
MAN	You might have to wait a week or so for that colour, but I assume that’d be OK?
WOMAN	Oh yes, fine.
MAN	Well, we can go outside and you can have a good look at one, and perhaps take it out. But first, can I just ask you about finance? The cash price is going to be somewhere in the region of seven and a half thousand. How would you like to pay? Are you in a position to pay cash, or would you need credit?
WOMAN	I’d like creditQ4 provided the terms are reasonable.
MAN	Well you can discuss that with my colleague in a moment; we have various arrangements. And would you be interested in us taking your present car as part exchange?
WOMAN	Yes.
MAN	OK, fine. So I’ll just need some details from you and then we can do a valuation… Is that OK?
WOMAN	Fine, yes.
MAN	Could I have your full name?
WOMAN	Wendy Harries, that’s H-A-double R-I-E-S.Q5
MAN	And is that Mrs… Miss…
WOMAN	It’s Doctor.Q6 actually.
MAN	Oh, right. And your address?
WOMAN	20 Green Banks.
MAN	Is that ‘Green’ spelled as in the colour?
WOMAN	Yes, that’s right.
MAN	Ok.
WOMAN	Alton.
MAN	Is that O-L-T-O-N?Q7
WOMAN	Not quite. it begins with an A. not an O.
MAN	Oh yes. that’s in Hampshire isn’t it?
WOMAN	That’s right.
MAN	And do you know your postcode?
WOMAN	Yes. It’s GU8 9EW.
MAN	Do you have a daytime phone number?
WOMAN	Well, I work at the hospital but it’s a bit difficult to get hold of me. I can give you a number just for messages,Q8 and then I’ll get back to you when I can. Is that OK?
MAN	That’s fine.
WOMAN	It’s 0-7-9-8-2-5-7-6-4-3.
MAN	Fine. And about the car you have now, what make is it?
WOMAN	It’s a Conti.
MAN	Do you know the year or the model name?
WOMAN	I think it’s 1996, and it’s called a LionQ9 – like the animal.
MAN	Then it must be 1994, because they brought out the Fox after that.
WOMAN	Oh right, yes.
MAN	Mileage? Roughly?
WOMAN	I’m not sure. I know it’s less than seventy thousand.
MAN	OK. What colour is it?
WOMAN	It’s grey, metallic grey.
MAN	Right, and one last thing – what sort of condition would you say it’s in?
WOMAN	I’d probably describe it as reasonable.Q10 Do you need to see it? It’s parked outside.
MAN	Not at the moment, no. Perhaps you could call in one day next week…

Section 2

MAN:
As I said earlier, there is I think at Rexford an excellent combination of physical and geographical advantages as well as having a rural setting and still being close to central London, something that will certainly be of interest to you is that Rexford is just 35 minutes from London Airport.^Q11&12 Al Rexford we have a strong research capability. We came 7th out of 101 universities in last year’s research assessment, carried out by a government body and did particularly well in your particular subjects, engineering and science. Actually we got a top research grade of five for engineering, geography and computer sciences. One further point – and I know from talking to you individually that a number of you may be looking for some experience in industry after the course is that all our science and engineering research departments have unusually close relationships with industry in the area.^Q11&12 Anyway that’s enough sales talk from me… I’ll just take a sip of this coffee that’s just arrived, thank you, and then I’ll say something about what actually happens when you apply. Right… Now if you do decide to make an application, what you do is send it directly to me in my department. I will then immediately send confirmation and the application process begins. Er… I’d like to say at this point that you shouldn’t worry if this process doesn’t work all that quickly – I mean occasionally there are postal problems, but most often the hold-up is caused by references^Q13 – the people you give as referees, shall we say, take their time to reply. Anyway, it’s absolutely normal for this process to take three to four months. What I do in this period is keep in touch with you and reassure you that things are moving along.

One of the ways we’ve devised to help you decide about applying as well as later when you’ve been accepted… hopefully… is to put you in contact with, if possible, a student from your own country^Q14 who is at present studying with us. What you can do is phone them up – we will, of course, liaise between you and discuss your concerns with them. That way you can get an objective opinion of what you can expect if you come to live and study at Rexford – not only the academic atmosphere but important details like what the leisure facilities are like and whether the English weather^Q15 and food are really as awful as everybody says!

If you decide you can face it, the contact can also help you just before you leave, with tips on what to pack and that sort of thing. At the moment I think we’ve got two second-year students and one postgraduate from this country.

Now to move on to the other concerns you expressed earlier. At a UK university – as I’m sure you know you will be in an environment where independent learning is the norm,^Q16 which takes most students a while to adjust to, and at a time when you will be separated from your normal surroundings and, in most cases, your family. This can be a difficult time. But remember that something like 25% of our student body are international students like yourselves, and that there are several organisations in the university and city whose main purpose is to offer help and ensure that your time with us is enjoyable and useful.

One or two of you touched on the subject of accommodation earlier. So I’ll just add a few points: it is the University’s policy to give priority in the allocation of residence places to three categories, and those are: visiting students, exchange students and new postgraduate students.^Q17 However, demand exceeds supply, so there is still a need to put your name down early for campus accommodation, particularly if your family is accompanying you. This means that the earlier you decide whether you want to study with us… and so get the procedure moving, the better it will be for everybody. Yes?

WOMAN:
What if you would prefer to live outside the university?

MAN:
If you’re planning to live off-campus, you’ve got to sort things out even earlier. As with everything in short supply, the good accommodation gets snapped up months before the beginning of term in other words if you’re starting in October you need to be thinking about it in June or at the very latest July.^Q18 So you do need to think very carefully about what you need, how much you can afford to pay, well in advance. What you can’t do is leave it until a few days before the start of term. The agencies in town are pretty good – it’s just a matter of contacting them in good time. Of course, we have a full-time accommodation officer available to help all students. She’ll get in touch with you when you’re accepted – she’s got plenty of contacts in the town and will deal with the agencies on your behalf.^Q19

One or two of you asked me earlier about your level of spoken English. Obviously most of you have already achieved a lot – I wish I could speak your language half as well. Having said that though, I’m afraid the lecturers will make little or no allowance for the presence of non-native speakers in the audience. So anything you can do to improve your spoken English – even beyond the pretty high levels most of you have already reached will help make your stay with us that bit more fun for you. Some extra practice before you arrive^Q20 is worth more than… for example private lessons afterwards, when you won’t really have time. Oh… and one last thing before I invite further questions: it’s very important that you …

Section 3

ANNIE	Oh Ben – I just remembered I never filled in that form for Nick. Did you do it?
BEN	The course feedback form?
ANNIE	Yes. If you want, we can do it together. I’ve got mine here.
BEN	Is that OK?
ANNIE	Yeah
BEN	OK, let’s have a look then. What do we have to do?
ANNIE	Let’s fill in the top first, let’s see. Course. Course code…
BEN	Er, it’s Communication in Business.
ANNIE	OK, Communication…in… Business, I do know that, but what’s the code?
BEN	CB16 something, CB162, isn’t it?
ANNIE	Mmm, that’s it, OK and dates, when did we start? I remember, my birthday’s on May 4th and it was the day after, it must have been May 5th.Q21
BEN	Gosh, doesn’t seem that long ago, does it?
ANNIE	No, and we finish at the end of this week, on Friday, so that’s July Q22 15th?
BEN	Er 16th,Q22 Monday was the 12th. Right, that was the easy bit, now let’s have a look – “Please give your comments on the following aspects of the course”, OK, what’s the first one? Oh, course organisation. What do you think?
ANNIE	Er, clear? It was, wasn’t it?
BEN	Yes, I think the organisation was clear.Q23 OK, anything else for course organisation?
ANNIE	It was a good thing he gave us the course outlineQ24 at the beginning, in the first session, that was useful, so I’ll put that down, shall I Now, going on to suggestions for improvement, one thing that wasn’t so good, I think we could have done a bit more work at the beginning. I mean at the beginning it seemed dead easy.
BEN	Yeah
ANNIE	I thought it was going to be really easy and then all of a sudden in the second halfQ25 of the course we got a whole load of work, reading to do and essays and things.
BEN	Yes, it’d be better if it was more even. OK, now course delivery, does that mean teaching?
ANNIE	Yeah, I suppose so. Well, what I thought was really good on this course was the standard of teaching.Q26 Actually I mean some of the teachers were better than others but the standard generally was fine. Much better than other courses I’ve been on.
BEN	Yeah, I agree. Let’s put that then. What about suggestions for improvement?
ANNIE	I…I didn’t think it was all that wonderful when we had great long group discussionQ27 sessions that went on for hours and hours. I don’t mean we shouldn’t have group discussions, just that they shouldn’t go on too long.
ANNIE	Now, on to materials and equipment.
BEN	Oh, now what was good about some sessions was the handouts.Q28
ANNIE	Yes, I thought all the handouts were good actually, and some were great, with website addresses and everything.
BEN	One problem though with materials was the key texts.
ANNIE	Yes! There just weren’t enough copies on reserve in the library. And if you can’t get the key texts before the session, how are you supposed to do the reading? And not enough computers. You have to wait ages to get one.
BEN	OK, testing and evaluation – well, I don’t know, it’s hard to say until we’ve got our written assignments back.
ANNIE	Don’t talk about it, I only got mine in yesterday, it was a real struggle. I hate to think what mark I’ll get.
BEN	Yes, but at least we’ve done the oral presentation I thought that was good, the way I got my feedback really quickly.
ANNIE	Yes, it was. And I liked the way we knew what we’d be evaluated on, we knew the criteria, so we knew we had to think about clarity, organisation, and so on.
BEN	Yeah, but I’m not so sure about the written work.Q29 One thing I think is that there’s just too much, it’s really stressful.
ANNIE	Yes, I’d agree and I don’t see why they can’t let us know the criteria they use for marking.
BEN	The written assignments? But he told us.
ANNIE	No, for the final exams. What are they looking for – what are the criteria? What makes a pass or a fail?
BEN	Yeah, I never thought of that. It’d be really useful.
ANNIE	OK, any other comments?
BEN	I thought student supportQ30 was excellent.
ANNIE	Yeah, me too. OK, excellent. Other comments?
BEN	No, I can’t think of anything else.
ANNIE	Nor me. OK, so that’s done. Thanks, Ben.
BEN	No, thank you.

Section 4

STUDENT: Well, my group has been doing a project on how household waste is recycled in Britain.
We were quite shocked to discover that only 9% of people here in the UK make an effort to recycle their household waste. This is a lower figure than in most other European countries, and needs to increase dramatically in the next few years if the government is going to meet its recycling targets.

The agreed targets for the UK mean that by 2008 we must reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 12.5%,^Q31 compared with 1990. And recycling can help to achieve that goal, in two main ways: the production of recycled glass and paper uses much less energy than producing them from virgin materials, and also recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions from landfill sites and incineration plants.^Q32

As part of our project, we carried out a survey of people in the street, and the thing that came up over and over again is that people don’t think it’s easy enough to recycle their waste. One problem is that there aren’t enough ‘drop- off sites,^Q33 that is, the places where the public are supposed to take their waste.

We also discovered that waste that’s collected from householders is taken to places called ‘bring banks’, for sorting and baling into loads. One problem here is taking out everything that shouldn’t have been placed in the recycling containers: people put all sorts of things into bottle banks, like plastic bags and even broken umbrellas. All this has to be removed by hand. Another difficulty is that toughened glass used for cooking^Q34 doesn’t fully melt at the temperature required for other glass, and so that also has to be picked out by hand.

Glass is easy to recycle because it can be reused over and over again without becoming weaker. Two million tons of glass is thrown away each year, that is, seven billion bottles and jars; but only 500.000^Q35 tons of that is collected and recycled.

Oddly enough, half the glass that’s collected is green, and a lot of that is imported, so more green glass is recycled than the UK needs. As a result, new uses are being developed for recycled glass, particularly green glass, for example in fibreglass manufacture and water filtration. A company called CLF Aggregates makes a product for roads,^Q36 and 30% of the material is crushed glass. For recycling paper, Britain comes second in Europe with 40%, behind Germany’s amazing 70%.

When recycling started, there were quality problems, so it was difficult to use recycled paper in office printers. But these problems have now been solved, and Martin’s, based in South London, produces a range of office stationery which is 100% recycled, costs the same as normal paper and is of equally high quality.

But this high quality comes at a cost in terms of the waste produced during the process. Over a third of the waste paper that comes in can’t be used in the recycled paper, leaving the question of what to do with it. One firm, Papersave, currently sells this to farmers as a soil conditioner,^Q37 though this practice will soon be banned because of transport costs and the smell, and the company is looking into the possibility of alternative uses.

Plastic causes problems, because there are so many different types of plastic in use today, and each one has to be dealt with differently. Pacrite recycles all sorts of things, from bottles to car bumpers, and one of its most successful activities is recycling plastic bottles to make containers^Q38 which are used all over the country to collect waste.

The Save-a-Cup scheme was set up by the vending and plastics industries to recycle as many as possible of the three-and-a-half billion polystyrene cups used each year. At the moment 500 million polycups are collected, processed and sold on to other businesses, such as Waterford, which turns the cups into pencils,^Q39 and Johnson & Jones, a Welsh-based firm, which has developed a wide variety of items, including business cards.^Q40

Well, to sum up, there seems to be plenty of research going on into how to re-use materials, but the biggest problem is getting people to think about recycling instead of throwing things away. At least doing the research made us much more careful.

Cambridge IELTS 5 Listening Test 4 Audioscript/Tapescript with answer keys and explanation

ADVISER	Good morning, how can I help you?
STUDENT	Good morning. Umm, I understand you help fix up students with host families.
ADVISER	That’s right… are you interested in…?
STUDENT	Yes…
ADVISER	Well please sit down and I’ll just take a few details.
STUDENT	Thank you.
ADVISER	Right now… what name is it?
STUDENT	Jenny Chan.
ADVISER	Can you spell that please?
STUDENT	Yes… J-E-N-N-Y C-H-A-N.Example
ADVISER	Right… and what is your present address?
STUDENT	Sea View Guest House. 14 Hill Road.Q1
ADVISER	OK, and do you know the phone number there?
STUDENT	Yes… I have it here, ummm… 2237676, but I’m only there after about 7 pm.
ADVISER	So when would be the best time to catch you?
STUDENT	I suppose between 9 and, let me see, half-past,Q2 before I leave for the college.
ADVISER	Great… and can I ask you your age?
STUDENT	I’ve just had my nineteenth birthday.
ADVISER	And how long would you want to stay with the host family?
STUDENT	I’m planning on staying a yearQ3 but at the moment I’m definitely here for four months only. I have to get an extension to my permit.
ADVISER	You’re working on it? Fine… and what will be your occupation while you’re in the UK?
STUDENT	Studying English?
ADVISER	And what would you say your level of English is?
STUDENT	Umm. Good, I think I’d like to say ‘advanced’ but my written work is below the level of my spoken, so I suppose it’s intermediate.Q4
ADVISER	Certainly your spoken English is advanced. Anyway, which area do you think you would prefer?
STUDENT	Ummm, well I’m studying right in the centre but I’d really like to live in the north-west.Q5
ADVISER	That shouldn’t be a great problem… we usually have lots of families up there.
ADVISER	And do you have any particular requirements for diet? Well, I’m nearly a vegetarianQ6… not quite.
STUDENT	Shall I say you are? It’s probably easier that way.
STUDENT	That would be best.
ADVISER	Anything about your actual room?
STUDENT	I would prefer my own facilities – ‘en suite’, is that right? And also if it’s possible a TV and I’d also like the house to have a real gardenQ7 rather than just a yard, somewhere I could sit and be peaceful.
ADVISER	Is that all?
STUDENT	Well… I’m really serious about improving my English so I’d prefer to be the only guestQ8 if that’s possible?
ADVISER	No other guests… Yes, you get more practice that way. Anyway, obviously all this is partly dependent on how much you’re willing to pay. What did you have in mind?
STUDENT	I was thinking in terms of about £60-£80 a week, but I’d go up to a hundredQ9 if it was something special.
ADVISER	Well I don’t think we’d have any problems finding something for you.
STUDENT	Oh, good.
ADVISER	And when would you want it for?
STUDENT	I’d like to move in approximately two weeks.
ADVISER	Let me see, it’s the 10th today… so if we go for the Monday it’s the 23rd March.Q10
STUDENT	Yes.
ADVISER	Right… good, and if I could ask one last question…

Section 2

Good evening everyone and thank you for coming to the Soccer Club meeting. It’s good to see so many parents and children here tonight, and I know you are looking forward to a great football season. Now I’d like to take a few minutes to tell you about some changes to the Soccer Club for the coming season.

Now, this season we’ll be playing all our matches for both the junior and senior competitions at King’s Park, instead of Royal Park, which was used last season.

Now for meetings, we’re going to use the clubhouse in King’s Park, and the next meeting will be held in the clubhouse^Q11 on the 2nd of July.

As usual, we hope to begin the season with a picnic^Q12 next Saturday at the clubhouse. Please try and come to the picnic as it’s always good fun. The last week of the season we usually have a dinner and presentation of prizes^Q13 to the players, and more information about this will be given to you later in the season.

This season we have more teams than ever. We hope to have ten^Q14 teams, instead of five, in the junior competition and they will play on Saturday mornings, beginning at 8.30 a.m. Training sessions will be held in King’s Park on Wednesday afternoons^Q15 for the juniors and they will be wearing red shirts again this year.

In the senior competition, there’ll be four^Q16 teams, the same as last year, and their games will be played on Saturday afternoons starting at 2.30, no sorry, it will be a 2 o’clock start, and the training session for seniors is planned for Sunday afternoons.^Q17

Now I’d like to introduce you to the new committee for the Soccer Club for this season. Firstly, let me welcome Robert Young, the new President, who will manage the meetings for the next two years. Robert’s son has been playing football with the club for over five years now, and many thanks to Robert for taking on the job of President.

Next we have Gina Costello, she’s the treasurer, and she will collect the fees^Q18 from you for the season. Please try and give Gina your fees as early as possible in the season, as the club needs the money to buy some new equipment.

Then there’s David West who has volunteered to be the club secretary, and one of the many jobs he will have is to send out newsletters^Q19 to you regularly. If you have any information that may be useful, please let David know so that it can be included in these newsletters.

Also I’d like to introduce you to Jason Dokic who is the Head Coach. For all the new members here tonight, this is the third year that Jason has been with us as Head Coach, and we are very lucky to have such an experienced coach and former player at our club. He will continue to supervise the teams,^Q20 at training sessions and on match days.

Now before we finish and have some refreshments, does anyone have any questions they’d like to ask the new committee?

Section 3

TUTOR	Right, Jason and Karin, now I asked you to look at the case study for Box Telecom as part of your exam assessment. It’s interesting because they are in the middle of problems at the moment and I want you to track how they deal with them. Let’s start with you, Karin. Having read through the case study, can you just summarise what the problems were that Box Telecom had to take on board?
KARIN	Um, yeah… Well of course what first came to their attention was that, despite a new advertising campaign, they were suffering from falling salesQ21 – and this is something that had many causes. On top of that immediate problem, what had also happened over the last two years was that, although they had invested in an expansion plan, they had to face up to increased competition.Q22 And, before they had a chance to get to grips with the effects of that, they were stalled by a strike and it was just when they were thinking about making a colossal investment in new machinery for their plants. So they were really in trouble.
TUTOR	Yes, I think that’s fair. And Jason, you contacted the company, didn’t you? What did the company define as the reasons for these problems?
JASON	Well, I think they’ve hit on the right things it would be easy to say they had invested too heavily, or at the wrong time, but in fact the signs were good and what they were set back by was high interest rates.Q23 At the same time, their longer-term problems, which were affecting their market share, were eventually credited to poor trainingQ24 – and having looked at the details in their last report I think that’s right.
TUTOR	So, onto the larger issues then. Karin, what do you think the company will do?
KARIN	Hmm… Well, obviously they have the choice of accepting the very favourable terms that another company – KMG Plc – have given them to buy them out. That would mean creating a new company with a new image. Or they could decide on a bolder move and offer some new shares if they wanted. But I think they’re much more cautious than that and expect they will start trying to find individuals who’d be prepared to back them with some of the capital they need.Q25
TUTOR	Well, you mustn’t always assume that dramatic problems require dramatic solutions. Sometimes there’s a simple fix such as changing the guy at the top. If they truly are cautious, then I suspect they will seek to shut down some of their shops. But a more ambitious approach, and one which I think would have more chance of success, would be to alter how they’re running thingsQ26 – the management layers and the processes. So in your analysis try to think of all the options. Jason?
JASON	Yes, it’s interesting because I’ve found it a really useful company to study. Its problems cross all types of industries and it’s lucky it’s so big – a smaller or even medium-sized company would have gone under by now.
TUTOR	Ah well in fact, what I want you two to do is to go away when we’ve finished our discussion today and write a report. We’ve looked in general at the telecommunications market in the UK over the last few sessions and I want you to take Box Telecom as an example and suggest some ways in which they might overcome their problems.Q27 And outline the reasons why you think as you do – but try and keep it intrinsic to the company rather than dragging in other examples. Is that OK, Karin?
KARIN	Yes, I think I can do that. Personally I’ve got great hopes for it. I think it will recover.Q28 That advertising campaign they did was very strong and they’re very innovative with their products – they set new trends. The company’s got to recover, don’t you think, Jason?
JASON	Hmmm I’m not sure. I think it can but it’s not a foregone conclusion unless they manage to attract the right level of investment. The company definitely needs a boostQ29 and to attract more highly skilled workers if their recovery is to be long-lasting. When I was talking to the marketing manager he said to me that he thinks the company had got a great management team- but he would say that, wouldn’t he? – but they are suffering from having to work with outdated production machinery and that could cost a lot to put right.
TUTOR	Well, personally I think the stock market is to blame. I think they were expecting too much of the company and then inevitably it looked bad when it didn’t perform. The market should have had more realistic expectations. And I disagree with you about the advertising campaign Karin. That’s where they could do with some innovationQ30 – to get sales kick-started. Anyway, let’s see what you come up with… [fade]

Section 4

OK, are you all settled? Well, first of all, welcome to Cardiff University. I’m here to explain what we can offer you.

Now, as a new student at the university, you will probably need some sort of guidance to help you to use the library effectively to study and research. Some of you have asked about a guided tour but we find this rather muddles people. So, in this first week, we run a series of talks which focus on different aspects of the library and its resources.^Q31 You’ll also find that to get the most out of the library you really do need to be computer literate and so all this term we run small classes which will bring you up to speed on how to access the computer-loaded information.

OK, now let me give you an outline of what’s available to you. You’ll find that the computers are increasingly used as a research tool. Many students do most of their research on the internet and the library computers are permanently online. Having found what you need, you’ll find you can readily save texts on your personal computer space to print off when you need. You might think that it is the fastest way to get information but the links can be slow. Clearly you can find lots on there but much of it is useless information as it is from highly debatable sources^Q32 – so be critical. You’ll also find that the library has loaded several CD-ROMS onto the computers from specialist reference sources such as the MLA. It means we can expand what we offer you at very little extra cost^Q33 and saves us having to invest in more and more books. The CD-ROMS contain exactly the same information as the reference books as the two are updated together.

Now most of you will need to refer to journal articles in your work and you’ll find you can also access these online and we encourage you to do so.

Clearly some of you will find the printed version more accessible as it sits on the shelves but I’m afraid the intention is to phase these out eventually.^Q34 However, you will still be able to print off a version of the text rather than photocopying the journal pages. So you must get used to working online. Naturally we do still have the full range of classic reference books, additional to the CD-ROMS, for you to use and there are several copies of each one. This is because some of you may prefer to borrow a book rather than sit in the library.^Q35 There is a restricted loan time on these so that they are not missing from the shelves for too long. Although there is a Section Manager for each part of the library, they are very busy and so, if you do get stuck looking for things, you should ask the relevant Cataloguing Assistant. As your Training Supervisor, I just oversee your induction^Q36 and will not be around after this initial week.

Some of you may be interested to know that the library is offering specialised training sessions on writing a dissertation. Obviously this is not relevant to those of you who are undergraduates; it is just for postgraduates. Your department will discuss the planning stage of the dissertation – i.e. what you’re going to do with you and we will focus on the structure of it. However, the training will also include some time on the computers.^Q37 I realise most of you know how to organise files but we can show you the different ways to run data programmes._Q37

Your tutors will tell you at the outset how to set out the chapters they require but you will need to ask them how they would like you to organise the bibliography^Q38 because it varies depending on your subject area. When you’ve got something together the trainer here will look through the draft version for you to see if it’s OK.^Q39 And, one final point, for those of you who have registered from abroad. we can offer individual sessions on dissertations if you feel you need them. If you require language lessons then they are available from the International Centre next to the Law Department.^Q40

Cambridge IELTS 7 Listening Test 1 Tapescript / Audioscript

with answer key highlighted

Section 1

MAN	Hello, this is Land Transport Information at Toronto Airport. How may I help you?
WOMAN	Oh, good morning. Um, I’m flying to Toronto Airport next week, and I need to get to a town called um, Milton. Could you tell me how I can get there?
MAN	Milton, did you say? Let me see. I think that’s about 150 miles south- west of here. In fact it’s 147 milesExample to be exact, so it’ll take you at least – say, three to four hours by road.
WOMAN	Wow! Is it as far as that?
MAN	Yes, I’m afraid so. But you have a number of options to get you there and you can always rent a car right here at the airport, of course.
WOMAN	Right. Well, I don’t really want to drive myself, so I’d like more information about public transport.
MAN	OK. In that case the quickest and most comfortable is a cabQ1 and of course there are always plenty available. But it’ll cost you. You can also take a Greyhound bus or there’s an Airport Shuttle Service to Milton.
WOMAN	Hmmm, I think for that kind of distance a cab would be way beyond my budget. But the bus sounds OK. Can you tell me how much that would cost?
MAN	Sure. Let’s see, that would be $15 one way, or $27.50 return… that’s on the Greyhound.
WOMAN	Oh, that’s quite cheap – great! But whereabouts does it stop inMilton?
MAN	It goes directly from the airport here to the City CentreQ2 and it’s pretty fast. But you have to bear in mind that there is only one departure a day, so it depends what time your flight gets in.
WOMAN	Oh, of course. Hang on, we’re due to get there at 11.30 am. Hmmm, too bad, the bus leaves at 3.45, so you would have quite a waitQ3 more than 4 hours.
MAN	Oh, I see. Well, what about the Shuttle you mentioned?
WOMAN	OK. That’s the Airport Shuttle that will take you from the airport right to your hotel or private address. It’s a door-to-door serviceQ4 and it would suit you much better, because there’s one every two hours.
MAN	So how much does that cost?
WOMAN	Let’s see. Yeah, that’s $35 one way, $65 return, so I guess it’s a bit more expensive than the Greyhound.
MAN	Oh, that doesn’t sound too bad, especially if it’ll take me straight to the hotel.
WOMAN	But you do need to reserve a seat.Q5
MAN	OK, is it possible to make a booking right now? Through you?
WOMAN	Sure.
MAN	OK, I just have to fill this form out for you. So what date do you want to book this for?
WOMAN	The 16th of October – oh, no, sorry, that’s my departure date. I arrive on the 17th,Q6 so book it for then, please.
MAN	So, that’s the Toronto Airport Shuttle to Milton. And this is for just one person or…?
WOMAN	Yes, just me, please.
MAN	Right. And you said your expected time of arrival was 11.30? So if I book your Shuttle for after 12.00- let’s say, 12.30Q7 that should give you plenty of time to, you know, collect your baggage, maybe grab a coffee?
WOMAN	Yeah, that sounds fine, as long as we land on time!
MAN	Well, we’ll take your flight details so you don’t need to worry too much about that. Now, what about the fare? What sort of ticket do you want? One way or…?
WOMAN	Yes, that’ll be fine, provided I can book the return trip once I’m there.
MAN	No problem – just allow a couple of days in advance to make sure you get a seat. And what’s your name, please?
WOMAN	Janet, Janet Thomson.
MAN	Is that Thompson spelt with a ‘p’?
WOMAN	No, it’s T-H-O-M-S-O-N.Q8
MAN	OK. And you’ll be coming from the UK? What flight will you be travelling on?
WOMAN	Oh, it’s Air Canada flight number AC936,Q9 from London Heathrow.
MAN	Right. Now, do you know where you’ll be staying? We need to give the driver an address.
WOMAN	Yes, it’s called the Vacation Motel – and I think it’s near the town centre. Anyway, the address is 24, Kitchener Street – that’s KITCHENER Street.
MAN	That’s fine. Right, so that’s $35 to pay please. Have you got your credit card number there?
WOMAN	Yes, it’s a VISA card, and the number is 3303 8450 2045 6837.Q10
MAN	OK. Well, that seems to be everything. Have a good trip and we’ll see you in Toronto next week!
WOMAN	Yes, bye – oh, thanks for your help!

Section 2

Thank you all for coming to my talk this evening. It’s nice to see so many people in the audience. For those of you who don’t know very much about PS Camping, let me start by giving you some background information about the company.

The company started twenty-five years ago. It actually opened as a retail chain selling camping equipment, and then twenty years ago, it bought a small number of campsites in the UK, and began offering camping holidays.^Q11 The company grew rapidly and has been providing holidays in continental Europe for the last fifteen years.

If you book a camping holiday with us, you’ll have a choice of over three hundred sites. In Italy we now have some 64 sites that we either own, or have exclusive use of. France is where we have the majority of sites,^Q12 and we currently have a project to expand into Switzerland. We also have a number of sites in Northern Spain, particularly in the mountainous region of Picos de Europa. We’ve upgraded all these Spanish sites, and improved them considerably from their original three-star rating.

We believe our holidays offer superb facilities for the whole family. Parents who want their children to be fully occupied for all or part of the day can take advantage of our children’s activities. These are organised by our well-qualified and enthusiastic staff. Each day kicks off with a sports match, perhaps football, or volleyball, followed by an hour of drama^Q13 for everyone. This may include singing or dancing, mime or other activities. In the afternoon, there’s a different art activity for each day of the week including a poster competition or model making. What’s more, our sites are truly child-friendly, and, with this in mind, we operate a no-noise rule in the evenings. Children’s evening activities usually finish at 9.30, or occasionally 10, and from 10.30 holiday-makers are expected to be quiet^Q14 in the areas where there are tents.
We want nothing to go wrong on a PS Camping holiday, but if it does, we also want all customers to be insured. If you haven’t organised an annual insurance policy of your own you’ll need to take out the low-cost cover we offer and we require that you arrange this when you make your holiday reservation.^Q15

There are many advantages to choosing PS Camping, and to recommending it to others. As a regular customer, you’ll be kept informed of special offers, and your friends can benefit from ten per cent off their holiday, or book a luxury tent for the price of a standard one. In return, we’ll send you a thank-you present,^Q16 which you can choose from a list of high-quality items.

When it comes to our tents, these are equipped to the highest standard. We really do think of every essential detail, from an oven and cooking rings fuelled by bottled gas, to mirrors in the bedroom areas. If you don’t want to cook indoors, you can borrow a barbecue if you ask^Q17 in advance for one to be made available, and there’s even a picnic blanket to sit on outside your tent. Inside, a box of games and toys can be found,^Q18 and children’s tents can be hired if required. All tents have a fridge, and if you want to spend the day on the beach, for example, ask for a specially designed PS Camping cool box,^Q19 which will keep your food and drinks chilled. There are excellent washing facilities at all our sites, with washing machines and clothes lines in the central areas, along with mops and buckets^Q20 in case your tent needs cleaning during your stay. All sites have a café and/or a shop for those who’d rather “eat in’ than dine at a local restaurant.

Section 3

TUTOR	Well, you’ve both been looking at different styles of managing individuals in companies and the workplace. How’s the research going, Philip?
PHILIP	Well, I’ve been looking at why individualism, I mean individual differences, are such an important area of management studies. When you think about any organization, be it a family business or a multinational company, they are all fundamentally a group of people working together. But it’s what these individuals contribute to their places of work that makes you realize how important they are. Of course they bring different ideas, but it’s also their attitudesQ21 and their experiences of learning. Diversity is important in these areas too.
	So why do people behave so differently from one another at work?
PHILIP	There are lots of reasons but research has shown a lot of it comes down to personality. And the other factor is gender.Q22 It’s a well known fact that men and women do lots of things in different ways, and the workplace is no different.
TUTOR	Did you look at the effects of this variation on companies?
PHILIP	Yes, I did. On the positive side, exposure to such diversity helps encourage creativityQ23 which is generally an asset to a company. But unfortunately individual differences are also the root of conflict between staff and they can lead to difficulties for management, which can sometimes be serious.
TUTOR	Thanks, Philip. So now I guess the two main things to remember here are to identify individual talent and then to utilize it. So Janice, you were looking at identifying different talents in workers. Do you think this is easy for managers to do?
JANICE	Well, currently teamwork is in fashion in the workplace and in my opinion the importance of the individual is generally neglected. What managers should be targeting is those employees who can take the lead in a situationQ24 and are not afraid to accept the idea ofresponsibility.
TUTOR	That’s true Janice but unfortunately many managers think the entire notion of encouraging individuality amongst their staff is far too hard.
JANICE	Yes, that may be true but I think one of the most important tasks of managers is to consider the needs of the individual on one hand and group co-operation and conformity on the other.Q25 It requires creative thinking on the part of management to avoid tension.
TUTOR	So Janice, what kind of people do you think companies should be looking for?
JANICE	Well, it has to start from the very beginning when companies are looking for new employees. When the personnel department is choosing between applicants they need to look for someone who’s broken the mould and can think for themselves.Q26 Instead, people making these decisions often use a range of psychological tests to see if a person is a problem solver, or will do as they’re told. I’m not convinced these qualities are actually the most important.
TUTOR	So do you think being a good team player is overrated?
JANICE	No, it’s not overrated. You do need to learn the rules and learn them fast. No individual can get around this if you’re working in an organization.
TUTOR	So how should managers deal with this?
JANICE	Rewards. When an individual demonstrates the behaviour the organisation expects, some kind of incentive can be given. What’s important here is that this happens right at the beginningQ27 so new recruits learn the rules of the system immediately. Also the incentive should be something the individual actually wants, and this isn’t always just money.
TUTOR	To come back to you, Philip. You were saying that recognition of good performers is essential. What else should managers be looking for?
PHILIP	Well, managing people means you not only have an understanding of your employees, but you also recognise the cultureQ28 of the organization. In fact, for some organizations creativity and individuality may be the last thing they want to see during working hours!
TUTOR	Very true.
PHILIP	Yes, but managing people isn’t as easy as it looks. For example, change in the workplace can be quite tricky, especially if there’s a need to increase profit. And at times like these managers may have to give priority to profitQ29 rather than individual staff needs.
TUTOR	Yes, and that creates difficult situations for people.
PHILIP	Yes but what’s important is that managers are able to deal with quite high levels of personal stress. During times of change they should be thinking not only about the strain on their staff but take time out to think of themselves.Q30
TUTOR	Absolutely. So what are the implications of that for…

Section 4

Good afternoon, everyone!
This is the first seminar in preparation for our archaeological fieldwork in Namibia; we are fantastically lucky to have received partial research funding for this trip from our Institute, so I shall expect 200% attention and participation from you all. First in this seminar, I’m going to give a brief introduction to contemporary research on rock art, and in the second part I’m going to give you some do’s and don’ts for our fieldwork trip in April^Q31 – so please listen very carefully.

I’m first going to focus on the interpretation of rock art in Namibia. We are very fortunate to be going to an area where you can find some of the most important sites in the entire world. And I hope to show you how easy it is for everyone to make mistakes in looking at cultures which are different from our own – the first and most important lesson we have to learn.

In Namibia there are both paintings and engravings – that’s where the surface of the rock is cut out. Many of the engravings show footprints of animals and most scholars used to think that the purpose of these was simple and obvious: this rock art was like a school book with pictures to teach children about tracks:^Q32 which track belonged to which animal – giraffe, lion and so on.

But there were some mysteries. First, when you look at a typical Namibian painting or engraving, you see the tracks are repeated,^Q33 there are dozens of tracks for the same animal. You’d expect just one clear illustration if the reason – the aim was to teach tracking.

Now there were two more problems. Why are some of the engravings of animals very accurate as you’d expect – all clearly identifiable – and others quite unrealistic?
And another mystery-some of these unrealistic animals – that’s in the engravings – seem to be half human.^Q34 Some, for example, have got human faces. Many researchers now think that these were pictures the wise men engraved of themselves. They believed they could use magic to control the animals^Q35 they had drawn, so the hunters could then catch them for food.

This shows you some of the dangers of coming from one culture to another, as we’ll be doing, without understanding it fully. Scholars imagined that children looked at rock art pictures to learn to track – just because they themselves had learnt skills from pictures; many researchers now believe that rock art had a much more complex purpose. And we’ll talk more about it next week!
Now before I invite you to join in a discussion in this second part of the seminar, I’d like to make some very important points about our fieldwork – and in fact any field trip to look at rock art.

We’re going to a number of sites, and we won’t always be together. The single largest problem faced by people who manage the sites is – yes, I’m sure you’ve guessed – damage caused by visitors, even though it’s usually unintentional.

Whenever you do go to a site, don’t forget you can learn many things from observing at a distance^Q36 instead of walking all over it. This can really help to reduce visitor pressure. People often say, ‘Well, there’s only two of us and just this one time’, but maybe thousands of people are saying the same thing.

And then some basic rules to guide you – we’ll have our own camp near a village, but remember never to camp on a site if you go on your own. It may be disrespectful to the people of that culture,^Q37 and certainly don’t make fires, however romantic it may seem. It’s really dangerous in dry areas, and you can easily burn priceless undiscovered material^Q38 by doing so.

So, how are we going to enjoy the rock art on our field trip? By looking at it, drawing it and photographing it – NEVER by touching^Q39 it or even tracing it. Rock art is fragile and precious.

Remember that climbing on rocks and in caves can destroy in a moment what has lasted for centuries. So no heroics in Namibia, please! Try to be extra careful and help others to be too.

And lastly please don’t even move rocks or branches to take photographs – you should leave the site intact^Q40 – I’m sure I can rely on you to do that.

Well, that’s about all I want to say before today’s first discussion, but if you have any questions please ask them now- and don’t forget you’ll find some fascinating information about world-wide sites on the Internet. Right, first question then?

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. . .