Tapescripts 10

NARRATOR:

You will hear a number of different recordings and you will have to answer questions on what you hear. There will be time for you to read the instructions and questions and you will have a chance to check your work. All the recordings will be played once only. The test is in 4 parts. At the end of the test, you will be given 10 minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet. Now turn to part 1.

Part 1

You will hear a conversation between a woman who is calling a hotel and the receptionist.

First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5.

Male: Good morning. Alexandra Hotel. How can I help you?

Female: Oh, hello. I'm calling from a cycle touring company about a group booking.

Male: OK. I'll just bring up our reservations form. So, firstly can I have the name of your company?

Female: Yes. It's called Spring Cycle Tours.

Male: OK.

Female: You know us. We stayed at your hotel last year.

Male: Yes, I see that in the system. Are you Sally Holden? I have that name in our system.

Female: Actually, it's Sally Hodden. Spelled H-O-double-D-E-N.

Male: Sorry! I've fixed that in the form. And we're happy to have you back at our hotel. Which days would you like to book for your group?

Female: We'd be arriving on Wednesday 20th of next month and checking out the morning of the 23rd.

Male: The 20th is a Friday.

Female: Oh! Wait … I was looking at June. So, it should be the 18th then.

Male: Of July. Right. And that's until the 21st, a Saturday. Three nights?

Female: Ah, yes. Correct. Now, last year we had 35 cyclists and five staff. Well, it turned out that this trip is very popular, and we've had 48 cyclists to register for this year. We've also had to up the staff to six.

Male: So, a total of 54. We don't have that many rooms during those days, I'm afraid, but we do have 31 rooms free, so if some people don't mind sharing in our twin rooms …

Female: Oh yes, we'll all be doing that. So, 27 rooms with two to a room.

Male: Great. That we can do. So just to complete the first part of the form, what time do you expect you'll arrive? I see here that you had an early check-in last year, but I'm not sure we'll be able to do that with so many more people this time.

Female: No, that's fine. We're coming from further away than we did last year, so the ride that day is quite a bit longer, around 90 kilometers. I don't think anyone will want to check in before two or three. Our staff will arrive earlier though – at noon. Is early check-in possible for their three rooms?

Male: No problem at all.

Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6 to 10.

Now listen and answer questions 6 to 10.

Male: So, I know with such a large group you'll likely have some special requests for the stay.

Female: Oh yes. So, firstly we have support trucks that carry all the cyclists' luggage.

We'll need to unload it all when we arrive. Is there a place near the hotel entrance where we can do that?

Male: Well, we would prefer that they don't park at the hotel's main entrance. But we do have a service entrance to the hotel around the back. Would that be suitable?

Female: Perfect. So, we'll need a space where we can put all the luggage. I'm sure the lobby isn't the best place to have piles of bags lying around.

Male: We do have a room you can use. However, it's booked from 4 p.m., so you'd have to make sure everything is taken away by then. It's called the Blue Conference Room.

Female: Great. And can we use that room to make sandwiches for the cyclists? They always need a snack after a hard day's ride.

Male: Of course.

Female: I wonder if we could use the hotel's kitchen to heat up some soup, as well?

Male: I'm not 100 per cent sure about that. The best I can say at the moment is that I'll talk to the manager and let you know as soon as possible.

Female: Yes of course, thank you. Let's see … Oh yes, this is the last stop on the tour, so some of the cyclists will be flying home after they leave you. I think a few are being picked up by friends. Anyway, we need to prepare for the flights.

The airlines ask us to package the bikes for them. Some of our cyclists would like to store their bike boxes at the hotel. Is that OK?

Male: Sure, I can prepare a place for those.

Female: Right, I think that's all. Can you think of anything else?

Male: Well, it says here that last time you reserved a dining room for a dinner on the last night. Do you want to do that again?

Female: Oh yes … How could I forget? I think everyone was so tired that they didn't really enjoy it. But, still, something to mark the end of the tour is a good idea.

Can we reserve the main dining room for a final lunch on the Friday afternoon instead? Say, from one to four?

Male: Yes, no problem. So, I've noted that all down, and the last thing to discuss is price …

That is the end of part 1. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

Now turn to part 2.

Part 2

You will hear a man talking to some tourists about a whale watching boat trip. First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 15.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 15.

Male:

Good morning! I'm sure you're all excited about seeing some whales today. Soon, we'll head out to the ocean. Our route is not always the same, because the whales themselves move around, and we can learn about where they are. So how that works is, other ships report on what whales they've seen, and where, and we use that information to help make sure you see some whales too. What I can say for sure is that whales don't generally travel far out into the ocean, because of the cold water far out to sea and because there's less food for them. Instead, they prefer to stay pretty close to shore, and so that's where we'll stay too.

Now, everyone wants to know what kind of whales we'll be seeing today. Well, folks, the hard truth is that there's a chance we won't see any. But don't worry, that's not too likely. It's a good time of year for watching whales, so we may see both grey and blue whales. The blue ones generally keep away from people more than the grey ones, but keep your fingers crossed! Still, there is one animal that I am one hundred per cent sure you'll see today: dolphins. They travel in groups, too, but they're much more common and easier to spot than whales. Lastly, there is a very slight chance that we'll see some orca. You may know these animals by a different name, killer whales.

So now onto some practical details. Our trip today will take around two hours, though we might end up staying out an extra half an hour. Once you board the boat, please go directly inside and take a seat. We begin each of our trips with a safety talk so that you know exactly how to prevent accidents and what to do in an emergency. After that, you'll be free to walk around the decks. If whales are spotted, I'll use the microphone to tell everyone where to look. Also, the snack bar will be open on the lower deck during the entire trip.

We're lucky today because the weather is looking quite good. The skies are mostly clear, but please be careful because we're expecting strong wind. This can rock the boat quite a bit.

It's not expected to rain, but if it does, we have raincoats for everyone. And do use sunscreen too.

Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 16 to 20.

Now listen and answer questions 16 to 20.

Let's talk now a bit about whale behaviour. Fortunately for us, whales stay quite close to the surface of the water, and we can see a lot of what they do from the boat. For example, a whale may dive down, turn around, and race toward the surface, pushing its entire body out of the water, and finally falling with a big splash. This is called breeching, and we still don't know why whales do this. It could be for communication, or even play.

Sometimes a whale wants to have a look around at what's happening on the surface of the water, like if they want to check us out. In that case, they'll turn their bodies under the water, as if they were standing up, and let just their heads bob above the water, so that their eye is above the water level. This behaviour is known as spy-hopping, and it shows how curious these smart creatures are.

Sometimes we see signs of whales before we see the creatures themselves. For example, you might see a smooth oval of water where the whale has just been. And, you might look down in the water and see what looks like a tiny explosion of air. Some whales do this while they're hunting. They exhale while swimming in a circle below the surface to trap small fish and other animals, like they're inside a net. That is why it's called netting.

Of course, as well as feeding, whales need to breathe and sleep too, just like we do. Because they breathe air, they need to come to the surface often. Which leads to a question – how do they sleep and breathe at the same time? Like many other ocean animals, whales sleep with part of their brain awake; they keep their bodies slightly out of the water and swim lazily along as they sleep, in a behaviour we call logging.

Now, I've been watching whales for over fifteen years. Some of these guys are like friends to me. As we look around today, I might see some familiar faces, or should I say, tails. Each whale's tail is totally different. They have different shapes, colouring and sometimes scars and cuts along each side of their two flukes, the two sections of the tail. Because it's quite common for whales to display their flukes while diving, it's easy for us to see who's in the neighbourhood. Fluke-up diving is one behaviour that nearly everyone sees, so keep your cameras ready! OK, I can see …

That is the end of part 2. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

Now turn to part 3.

Part 3

You will hear a conversation between a student, Mary, and her History professor, Dr Munez.

First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 25.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25.

Male: Hi, Mary. Come in. I've just finished making notes on your presentation. The cultures of the Amazon is a great topic, and I really enjoyed what you had to say.

Female: Oh, I was so nervous. I think I was going a mile a minute.

Male: Well, I did write down that you should moderate your speed. I think you were trying to say too much.

Female: How can I cover everything and still stay within the 15-minute limit?

Male: Well, I think you need to cut down on your slides. Remove some, and stick to the main information. For example, you don't need to talk about all your sources and have citations on the slides. You should provide that information on a handout to give to the audience afterwards.

Female: Good idea. Maybe I should take out some of the pictures too, you know, to cut down on the number of slides.

Male: No, the pictures are really important to show the audience these ancient cultures. Otherwise it's a bit too vague.

Female: OK, so I'm thinking about what I can take out. The section on the Beni culture is a bit long.

Male: I have notes on that too. Hold on. You talk about the use of landscape archaeology in studying ancient ruins, but you never define exactly what it is. I think that's really important and you should put it in. On the other hand, I don't think comparing this culture to the Tiwanaku culture is so vital.

Female: OK, I'll take out that part. And less on the Spanish documents. It's enough to say they exist and support the archaeological findings.

Male: Well, they support some of them. It's important that you show all sides of current research. For example, I think you can mention Betty Meggers. Her views on ancient Amazon agriculture are being challenged today. Still, it's important to talk about the arguments in the field, especially when they come from a high-profile research institute like the Smithsonian.

Female: Yes. I see. Maybe I don't need so much on the cultures of the Andes.

Male: You're right. You talked a great deal about how Andes cultures farmed and how this was different from the Amazon cultures, but is that really relevant?

And there's no need to include information about social organisation, unless it's something directly related to the Amazon influence.

Female: So I should only be talking about the similarities between their gods and temples.

Male: Yes.

Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 26 to 30.

Now listen and answer questions 26 to 30.

Male: So, let's have a look at the score sheet. I have a copy for you as well. Here you are.

Female: Hmm. It looks like the introduction was a weak spot for me.

Male: Yes, but that's easily fixed. You started well, with a great photograph. That captured the attention of the audience. But the introduction wasn't so great, because you didn't use it to highlight the key points of your presentation.

Female: So ... shall I add a numbered list? Like, One – the Beni people, Two – traditional perspectives … like that?

Male: Exactly. Now, I thought the body of your presentation was very well structured, and you said things like 'first' or 'moving on' to tell the audience you were changing topic. Those kind of transition phrases work well. I'd make sure you arrange your slides so they change with what you're saying.

Female: Oh, alright. The next section is about … well what exactly does 'Examples' mean here?

Male: Well, it means how well you choose specific cases to support your statements. The only note I have is about your use of images. You use a lot of photographs, but sometimes they're a bit confusing. Can you think how you might improve that?

Female: How about I make some simple drawings? Our textbooks always have those to show us murals and pottery and all of that.

Male: Great! So, the next section is about your use of sources. I think that you need to be a bit careful where you find your information for your presentation. It's often a good idea to start reading about a new topic in popular magazines like History Monthly. But for academic work, you really want to avoid citing sources like these.

Female: Yes. Bad habits. I like to start by reading more general audience material, but I guess I should stick to academic journals for my sources. Um, I already know that I went over time. And the last section, about questions, I really found it difficult to answer some of the questions the audience asked me.

Male: Well, you gave answers, but not to the questions that were actually asked.

Female: Yes. I think I just wanted to avoid saying 'I don't know.' You know? It's embarrassing.

Male: But sometimes people will ask you things that you don't know. And if it's outside your research, you don't have to have an answer off the top of your head. A good solution is to have a document with some recommended reading on hand, so you can refer the audience to that.

That is the end of part 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

Now turn to part 4.

Part 4

You will hear a lecturer giving a talk on an experiment about living in a sealed biosphere.

First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

Hello everyone. Today we're going to look at a system that was set up to test whether we can survive in space. After all, astronauts are required to live in a sealed system, often for very long periods of time. We have to try and copy this situation on Earth in order to study it.

Over a period of two years in the Arizona Desert, beginning in September 1991, a unique trial of self-sufficiency in a sealed system was carried out. The project had two separate but connected research goals. First, it aimed to investigate how the different environmental elements interact inside ecological systems, and how much we can manipulate these.

Secondly, it was designed to see whether human life would be sustainable in a fabricated model of our planet's conditions. The project was known as Biosphere 2, and it was huge. A set of linked sealed structures was built of steel, glass and concrete at a cost of $150 million US dollars. Several separate Earth environments, or biomes, were created – savannah, desert, both fresh and saltwater wetlands, and a coral reef in an artificial ocean. A great deal of engineering, which lay beneath the ground, was responsible for making an artificial climate. It controlled rainfall, wind and air and water circulation, as well as treating all forms of waste. Approximately 3,000 animal, bird and insect species populated these ecosystems. Conditions were monitored every 15 minutes by 1,000 sensors. The eight human inhabitants had a separate agricultural area to grow a wide variety of vegetables and to rear goats, chickens, pigs and fish. This was all supported by imported electricity, at a cost of a million dollars US per year.

In the different climatic environments, or biomes, there was much to learn. The rainforest trees were already quite mature, and they were housed in a 25-metre-tall building to allow for 100 years' growth. However, they were quickly overrun by morning glory vines climbing up into the canopy. So, this meant regular pruning by the human carers, and then, of course, someone had to work out how to safely store the unwanted vegetation. The coral reef was invaded by algae that formed a green blanket. This would have destroyed the coral if the people hadn't stopped it. Insect populations were originally included to mimic the natural situation in each biome, but these soon lost their diversity. No pollinators, such as bees, survived. A wide variety of ant populations were eliminated by an aggressive ant species which had sneaked in uninvited. And finally, crops were eaten by cockroaches, which also managed to invade from outside.

The eight humans didn't manage much better. In spite of having a doctor on the team and a well-equipped surgery, within a month one of the women had to go out for attention to a severed finger. It just wasn't healing. White potatoes failed to thrive, so sweet potatoes became a key element of the diet. In fact, so much so that after two years their yellow pigment was affecting the team's skin colour. Meat production by itself allowed only 110 grams per person per week. For increased protein, the goats provided milk, so that occasionally cheese could add variety to the diet; chickens provided eggs; and freshwater fish were raised in the flooded rice fields. An unexpected discovery was that, although a miniature variety of pigs had been chosen, they still consumed too much food. That meant they were ecologically unsound, so they needed to be consumed earlier than planned. All eight subsistence farmers lost significant amounts of weight over the two years. They were doing hard manual labour in the fields for at least 4 hours a day.

The major issue for the project was control of carbon dioxide in the air. Air scrubbers had been installed to take in this gas, extract the carbon for storage and release the oxygen back to the atmosphere. Nevertheless, the situation ran out of control. An unexpected factor contributed to the oxygen-carbon dioxide imbalance. Good quality soil had been brought in to help with successful crop growth. However, too much carbon dioxide was being produced by the active microbes in this soil. The plants couldn't photosynthesise oxygen at the same rate. In addition, the unsealed concrete walls of the buildings were shown to absorb oxygen.

As the project moved into its second year, those outside the glass walls observed that the inhabitants were moving more slowly. There had been a 30 per cent reduction in oxygen levels, and the atmosphere was similar to that at 4,000 metres above sea level.

That is the end of part 4. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

That is the end of the listening test. You now have 10 minutes to transfer your answers.