Listening 2026-03 Test 3

==================== IELTS Listening Transcript ==================== PART 1 Speaker 0: Practice one. Speaker 0: You will hear a lecture about the situation of wild animals, especially wild boar. Speaker 0: First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 10. Speaker 0: Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 10. Speaker 1: Good morning. My name's Jim Robinson, and today we're going to look at the control of wild animals, specifically wild boar. Now, boar have been natural inhabitants of Western Europe for thousands of years. But in recent years, there has been a surge in boar activity that poses a real threat. Boars are not currently on the protected animals list, which is perhaps why there has been a spike in their breeding activity. Boars are an indigenous species and are particularly plentiful in rural France and the Bavarian uplands of Germany. Boar hunting is a European tradition that goes back to Roman times and became particularly popular among courtiers during the Middle Ages. Even during the twentieth century, boar hunting was seen as an integral part of rural life. The decline in boar hunting has obviously led to a rise in the boar populations of Europe and the situation has reached a critical point with boar posing a critical threat to the environment. Proponents of boar hunting cite this factor as a major reason why boar populations should be contained. Boar also pose a threat to humans too with countless reports of people being injured during boar attacks. The origins of the wild boar have roots in Germanic, and this perhaps explains their prevalence in Germany. The problems with the boar population in Germany have ramifications for the rest of Europe as boar packs migrate towards Central and Eastern Europe. One of the main issues that is of great concern is the transmission of diseases that infect other species. Dairy farmers in France are particularly concerned as many of them have seen their herds depleted by infections. The methods for containing boar populations have been looked at in great detail and numerous options are available. One is to encourage more boar hunting in wild regions such as mountains and forests. Hunters would be given licenses to hunt either for food or sports. Of course, boar do pose a threat to human life, so this possibility must be looked at with caution. One method that must be ruled out is poison as legislation has been introduced prohibiting this. Such methods were tried with rabbits in the 1960s and this had a disastrous impact on the food chain. The introduction of natural predators into the ecosystem is also an option that can't be considered. The only known predators of boar in the world are wild cats like lions and tigers. Obviously, there's no way such animals can be allowed to roam the mountains and forests of Europe. Given the threat that boars pose to humans, it is imperative that forest-dwelling boar are kept well away from people in cities. This is absolutely essential as human safety must be the main priority of policymakers. By the 11th century, boars in several European countries were becoming increasingly rare in Great Britain. King Charles attempted to reintroduce boars in the New Forest area of the country, yet the entire population was almost wiped out during the battles of the English Civil War when roaming soldiers hunted them for food. During the 1980s, wild boar rearing was encouraged and boar populations began to rise again. By the 1990s, there was a huge rise in the number of boar across England due in large part to the species no longer forced to live in captivity. Many boar have broken free from farms across England and are breeding at a rapid rate. Aside from their environmental threats, boars also pose a problem for farmers growing crops and vegetables. Other species such as red deer are a threat to farm produce like grain and potatoes, but boars certainly present the most serious risk. The damage done to the farming industry is estimated to cost millions of pounds and insurance payments as a result of this have spiked in the last decade. Red deer are predominantly confined to forest areas and it is unusual to see them outside their habitats during the summer months. However, as the weather gets colder, they can be seen looking for food around local villages and fields. Red deer have their origins in Asia and are a ruminant species, which means they have a stomach that consists of four compartments much like cows. They are slaughtered for food and their meat is sold as venison and is increasingly popular among consumers. There are nine subspecies of red deer with three of them on the endangered species list. The deer population doesn't pose the same threat as the boar population, but it certainly needs to be addressed. Forest areas are their main habitats, and they are now breeding at a much higher rate than in previous years. Of course, deer are an important part of the food chain and are an important part of the hunting traditions of the UK, so it is important that their population is kept stable for this reason. Though the real concern is the problems that deer present for farmers who have seen their crops suffer in devastating ways. Protection needs to be offered and many farmers report building large perimeter fences around their fields to keep deer out which cost them a huge amount of money. Government funding is so far inadequate to offer the protection farmers need, but ways are being looked at to provide subsidies through other means. Speaker 0: That is the end of practice one. Speaker 0: You now have half a minute to check your answers. PART 2 Speaker 2: Part two. Speaker 2: You will hear an introduction to a theme park in Fun City. Speaker 2: First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 16. Speaker 2: Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 16. Speaker 2: Welcome to our radio program, Travel With Me. Today, I'll recommend you a fantastic place. It's the theme park in Fun City. It has been awarded the most popular tourist attraction in the city, so just follow me to find something interesting there. The park opens at 09:30 every morning. For the first activity, I definitely advise you shouldn't miss the riding in the park. The actual riding begins at 10 AM, but I suggest you arrive a little earlier before the opening time. Otherwise, there might be a long wait. And how much, you may ask, does an entrance ticket cost? Well, there are two types of tickets: basic ticket and family fast line track ticket. You can either buy a ticket at the ticket office near the main entrance to the park or reserve from the official website in advance. The latter is preferable as it always offers a discount. For example, the original price for a basic ticket is £89, but if you buy it online, it only costs £78. For the family fast line track ticket, you only have to pay £95 on the internet instead of its original price, £113. Visiting the lake in the park is also a good choice. There is a new refreshment room beside the lake, and the latest thing, it was only finished last month, is the splash ride. It is a new area and pretty exciting. Forget about wearing waterproofs because you'll still get wet, and don't take cameras either. As a result, I strongly advise that the best time to visit the lake is in the hottest season, in case you catch a cold. Another activity you'll find exciting is riding the roller coaster bike. I suggest families with children go for a try as it's always favored by them. This roller coaster bike is different from the normal one in that it's made of wood, so it's lighter. The person who designed it has won a special prize for innovation. For those who are not interested in these exciting activities, there is a resort for you. You can sit there talking, relaxing, or taking photos. Please remember, this section is for a picnic, so you have to prepare your own snacks. But don't worry about drinks since free bottled water is available there. Oh, one more thing is it's better to take a picnic blanket to sit on. After the picnic, if there is some time left, you can take part in some other interesting activities you like, such as watching the circus or going fishing. At the end of the one-day trip, there is a special event for you, the firework display. You'll enjoy a spectacular show in the sky. Everyone is cheering. I think it's a must for you with a perfect ending of the day. Speaker 2: Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 17 to 20. Speaker 2: Now listen and answer questions 17 to 20. Speaker 2: Okay. That was something about the most basic information. And now here's some more practical information about four popular activities on the brochure of the theme park because some people want to know whether they're worth trying. Well, let's first look at the cowboy show. It's a dance show by a group of boys wearing cowboy boots and hats. What they perform tells the stories of cowboys' life. Rest assured that you don't need to queue for hours to get in. So please come and enjoy it. Then there is the driving school ride. In this activity, you can try a variety of vehicles. But please note that this one is only for those below 1.2 metres. The staff will measure your height at the entrance. Parents can just have a rest on the chair and watch their kids playing. You don't have to be worried about safety as everyone is guided by a coach throughout the process. As to roller coaster jumping, it is the scariest activity as you will experience the vertical dropping, so it might be a good choice for those who like extreme sports. Of course, children are not allowed to join in. The last one is the magic show. I'm sure you'll be attracted by the charm of the magician. You can hear the audience burst into applause throughout the show. Please promise me, don't leave early because just as horror stories won't tell you until the end, there is something unexpected waiting for you. I'm sure you won't regret it. Okay. That's all I want to recommend to you today. If you want to know about more fascinating tourist attractions, please wait for our program next week. Bye. Speaker 2: That is the end of part two. Speaker 2: You now have thirty seconds to check your answers to part two. PART 3 Speaker 3: Now turn to section three. Speaker 3: Section three. Speaker 3: You will hear a business studies student called Michael talking to his tutor about an assignment on advertising media. Speaker 3: First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26. Speaker 3: Listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26. Speaker 4: Morning, Michael. Speaker 3: Good morning, Doctor Townsend. Speaker 4: I wanted to talk to you about my assignment, the one about using different types of media for advertising. I've got some ideas. Speaker 3: Okay. Speaker 4: I thought in the introduction I'd focus on just one advantage of each type of media. For example, if you choose to advertise in trade publications, you know that you're reaching the right people, the kinds you want to attract, because they'll be reading these publications. Speaker 3: Right. That's why it's one of the most popular business channels. Okay. Now did you include email advertising? Speaker 4: Yes. That's got various advantages. But I think the main one is you can deliver your message directly without having to go through protocols or agents. Speaker 3: Yes. Then, of course, there's the fact that you can reach people anywhere in the world. Speaker 4: That's true. But I didn't want to focus on that as that applies to other media as well nowadays. Speaker 3: Fair enough. What about general interest magazines? Speaker 4: I think the advantage of those is that they tend to be less short-lived than other print media. People don't throw them away so readily because production values are high. Speaker 3: Glossy covers, and so on. A fair point. They're not very good for the environment, but people often pass them on to friends when they're finished with them. Speaker 4: Then there are websites. I suppose the advantages of those are fairly obvious, and they give companies an up-to-date image. But I think this is where I'm going to focus on the fact that you can connect with a global audience. There are no barriers. Then I've got cinemas, although you can't be very selective because cinema-goers have pretty diverse interests and needs. The thing is that people are forced to sit through your advert. Speaker 3: Exactly. They're unlikely to leave, and they can't switch it off. Speaker 4: No. I wanted to mention trade fairs, but I wasn't sure which aspect to focus on. These exhibitions don't usually last very long, do they? Speaker 3: That's true. But they are an excellent way of making new contacts and exchanging information, even identifying potential business partners. Speaker 4: Oh, right. Thanks. I didn't think of that. Speaker 3: Okay, Michael. That all sounds fine. I think that'll make a good introduction. Speaker 4: Thanks. Speaker 3: Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 27 to 30. Speaker 3: Now listen and answer questions 27 to 30. Speaker 3: Right. Now let's discuss the main body of your assignment. Speaker 4: I've chosen to examine TV advertising. Speaker 3: Right. Which aspects are you going to cover and why? Speaker 4: I'm going to start with budgeting. I've been reading some useful advice about planning budgets for TV ads. Some of it's pretty obvious, like it's much cheaper if your company produces the ad itself. But a really key tip was to make sure you hold back a certain amount of money to keep the ad running if there's a downturn in business. Even if you have to show your ad less frequently or not at the optimum time for your product. Speaker 3: Good. Speaker 4: And then I'm thinking of giving some information about TV companies. Speaker 3: Yes. There's a detailed paper on your reading list on the benefits of going directly to TV companies and getting them to make your ad. But do you think it's relevant to this assignment? Speaker 4: Sort of, but I've only gotten information about US TV companies, not about European or Asian companies. Speaker 3: And including that would really be straying from the main focus. Speaker 4: And I'll need another thousand words. Speaker 3: And how do you think companies can check whether their ad will work or not? Speaker 4: From experience. Speaker 3: But actually, things change. Speaker 4: Presumably, what worked last year won't necessarily work this year. Speaker 3: Exactly. So what else can they do? Ask staff for keywords to describe the product and use those words in the ad? Or better still, show clients the new ad, take note of their reactions, and make any adjustments before they air it. Speaker 4: Yes. Because they are the ones that count. Can I ask about attaching a video clip to my assignment? Speaker 3: Yes. That's a very good idea. But make sure that the purpose for including it is clear. Speaker 4: Yes. I've got one where the actor has a high squeaky voice and it doesn't go with the product and must put people off. Speaker 3: Okay. It's like if you get the music wrong, it detracts from your message. So, yes, include it. Well, I think that's everything for today. Speaker 4: Thanks. PART 4 Speaker 5: Section four. Speaker 5: You will hear part of a student presentation about a conservation project on the Florida Coast of the United States. Speaker 5: First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40 on page seven. Speaker 5: Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40. Speaker 6: Today I'm going to be talking about the first year of a regeneration project in a mangrove forest. Mangrove forests are found along river estuaries and coastlines and are important because they prevent flooding by acting as a barrier between the land and sea. The mangrove trees have special roots, which can breathe and allow them to survive in thick, airless mud. They are also a very important habitat for wading birds, fish, and other animals. In the area where the project is taking place, there have been a number of problems since the area was first settled over one hundred years ago. Many of the mangrove trees were initially burnt as firewood by local farmers. The mangrove forests were also poisoned by settlers' farming methods because the farmers used fertilizer to increase crop yields and this started to seep into the water, eventually killing part of the mangrove forest. Farming in the area wasn't successful, and what was left of the mangrove forest area wasn't valued by local people as crops couldn't be grown there, and so what happened was that the area started to be used as somewhere to dump trash. Action was urgently needed to protect the mangrove forest and prevent flooding, and so the mangrove regeneration project was set up. The conservationists involved decided to construct a sand barrier around the forests, but unfortunately, this proved to be ineffective. The only way forward appeared to be to grow new mangroves from seed. Several species of mangrove inhabit the forests in this area of the United States, but it is the gray mangroves that we are concerned with here. The seed of this plant is about the size of an almond, and most seeds fall only when they are fully ripe. The Mangrove Regeneration Project first began three years ago. The first set of seedlings was planted in small pots and left to germinate in a hothouse. The plants thrived, and large roots appeared at the bottom of the pots. Ideally, these seedlings should have been conditioned with increasingly salty water before being planted in the sea. They had, in fact, only been watered with rainwater. As the plants weren't used to a saline environment, it was decided to plant them out on the south side of a small island nearby. It was hoped that this would allow them to get used to salt water gradually, since this part of the island was flooded every day at high tide. There were over 100 plants planted in this particular spot, and it was necessary to protect them not from the large number of wading birds which visit the area looking for food, but from the large rabbit colony living in the area. The process for the second set of seedlings was completely different. Young seedlings were collected from the forests and then taken to a new site. The seedlings were then planted in the seabed behind old mangrove roots for protection. However, this method did not prove very successful, and the vast majority of these seedlings were washed away in a storm. Luckily, the first set of seedlings survived, and this method is the one which the project will continue to use in the future. Now I'd like to describe in more detail the process. Speaker 5: That is the end of section four. Speaker 5: You now have half a minute to check your answers. Speaker 5: That is the end of the listening test. Speaker 5: You now have ten minutes to transfer your answers to the listening answer sheet.