Listening 2026-02 Test 3

==================== IELTS Listening Transcript ==================== PART 1 Speaker 0: Part one. Speaker 0: You will hear a man telephoning a drama club about becoming its new member. Speaker 0: First, you have some time to look at questions one to five. Speaker 0: Now listen carefully and answer questions one to five. Speaker 1: Good morning. Green Street Drama Society. Jane speaking. How may I help you? Speaker 0: Oh, hi, Jane. My name is James. I've just moved into the area, and I'm thinking about joining your group. My friend Arthur, Arthur Jones, is one of your members, and he recommended that I join. Speaker 1: Oh, that's great. James, we're always looking for new members. Just to give you a bit of background, our amateur drama society has been running since 1976, and we currently have 80 active members, so it's a wonderful part of the community. Do you know where we are? Speaker 0: Yes. I think I have seen it. It's on the university side of the river near the main post office. If I remember correctly, it's on Green Street? Speaker 1: Yes. That's right. Number 117 Green Street is our postal address. If you want to come and check out the rehearsals, then you should come to the clubhouse. It's on the same road just before the post office. Speaker 0: Okay. Got that. So what kind of things can I help out with? Speaker 1: We are actually currently looking for actors. Oh, and male singers. We already have three female members in the group. Speaker 0: That sounds interesting, but I'm afraid that I don't have any experience in acting. Speaker 1: Oh, that's okay. No experience is needed because we will give you the necessary training. We are thinking of staging Hairspray as our musical for next year. Are you more interested in acting or singing? Speaker 0: Well, I would like to do acting. Most recently, my friend played the role of Harry Bright in Mamma Mia. That was with the Footlight Players in Brighton. It was great fun. Speaker 1: That's great. Oh, right. We also need people to lend a hand by running errands from time to time, mainly picking up props and costumes. Can you drive? Speaker 0: Yes. I've got a full license, and I have my own car. That won't be a problem. Speaker 1: Fantastic. What else? Speaker 0: Oh, yes. I nearly forgot. When are your meetings held? On Thursdays? Speaker 1: No. We used to have them on Thursdays. Now we meet on each Tuesday at 7 PM. Oh, I thought my friend Arthur said Thursdays. Speaker 1: Yes. That was actually for last year, and we usually close for our summer break for a few weeks in August. So our first meeting isn't until the September 6. Speaker 0: Okay. I will keep that in mind. Speaker 0: Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions six to 10. Speaker 0: Now listen carefully and answer questions six to 10. Speaker 0: How much does it cost to join? Speaker 1: Let me just double check. Here it is. It is £60. I can also tell you that with the membership comes a club dinner, which we usually hold just before we close for the summer. Speaker 0: Oh, and do you have any concessional rates? Speaker 1: For those who are unemployed or retired, it's only £25. Last month, there was a discount for retirees. The price was only £15, but now it's gone back to the original price. Speaker 0: I'm working, so that doesn't apply to me. I was thinking more about my kids. Just to check, is this an adults only drama society, or are children able to join? Speaker 1: Unfortunately, children can't join at this stage. We have an age limit of 16. But they can join the local children's drama club. Would you like their contact number? Speaker 0: Yes, please. That would be useful. I have twin girls who are 12, and they really enjoy drama. So I was hoping there would be a club for them. Speaker 1: That's right. Get them on the stage when they're young. The contact person is Maria George, and her number is 56473218. Speaker 0: That's great. Thanks for that information. So what types of plays do you mainly put on? Speaker 1: It's mostly modern plays. We don't really do classical stuff like Shakespeare or Moliere. Speaker 0: I see. Do you organize any events on special days or occasions? Speaker 1: We do a Christmas charity performance each year with the money going to a children's hospital. Speaker 0: That sounds like fun. I hope I can be a part of that. Speaker 1: Well, we hope so too, and I look forward to meeting you soon. Would you like to come along in September? Speaker 0: Yes. That would be great for me. Speaker 1: We look forward to meeting you then, James. Speaker 0: Thanks, Jane. See you then. Speaker 0: That is the end of part one. Speaker 0: You now have one minute to check your answers to part one. PART 2 Speaker 2: Section two. Speaker 2: You will hear a radio program introducing the new campus of a local music school. Speaker 2: First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 14. Speaker 2: Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 14. Speaker 2: Hello, welcome to the Art and Heart. I'm your host Alan Green, and this is your very own local radio program. Every Wednesday, we will put the spotlight on different art and culture facilities, which all play a very important part in enriching our life. And today, our focus is the new campus of our city's School of Music. As many of you may know, the original campus of the school, which is located between the post office and city hall, is not big enough to accommodate the increasing number of music students. Therefore, our local council built this new campus opposite to the library in the city center. It is a very good location, and it is only two kilometers from the old campus. Students can travel between the two campuses either by bicycle or by bus. So what does the new campus look like? It is simply beautiful, and it has 14 classrooms in total, which is five rooms more than the old campus. The classrooms are equipped with the latest technology in music education, including headsets and speakers. The instruments are all brand new. I'm sure the students can really benefit from these facilities. As many students drive to school, there is a big car park on the new campus. It is close to the swimming pool. Oh, yes. The swimming pool is one of the best in the city, and it opens to the public on Saturdays. Near the cafeteria, there are tennis and basketball courts where students can exercise. To get more details about the new campus, you can go to the school's website, www.playwell.co.uk. There you will see a map of the campus as well as a lot of amazing pictures. Those of you who are interested in learning music, don't forget to check it out. Speaker 2: Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 15 to 20. Speaker 2: Now listen and answer questions 15 to 20. Speaker 2: So, to give you some more ideas of what courses the new campus has to offer, we have developed a few programs on instruments. I am sure there is always a good course for you. If you are interested in violin, great, because they teach all levels of it. So it doesn't matter if you are an absolute beginner or you are very proficient. You can find your place there. There are also drum classes. But if you haven't learned to play the drums before, I'm afraid it's not for you because the school only offers lessons above level five. Perhaps next year there would be a class for beginners. And you can learn the third level of piano, which will be taught by a teacher who just finished her study in Europe. It's okay if you haven't made up your mind to take music lessons. For those of you who are interested in concerts, there's good news for you too. There are concerts being held in June and December. In the past, concerts were only held in October. Some famous singers and bands in the country will be invited to play on stage with our local artists. So, music fans, it's a great chance for you to meet and hear your favorite singers or bands. Maybe you can even get an autograph. Every March and May, you can be in the limelight yourself if you are interested or good at singing because singing contests will be held in the music hall. Music lovers, don't lose the chance of winning some CDs as prizes. What's more, in the campus theater, there are musicals performed by students every Friday night, and it's free of charge. If you are running out of ideas of what to do, why not go and check it out with your family or friends? I bet you can enjoy yourself and learn something new at the same time. Speaker 2: Next, we will be looking at the... That's the end of section two. Speaker 2: You now have half a minute to check your answers. Speaker 2: Now turn to section three. PART 3 Speaker 3: Section three. Speaker 3: First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 25. Speaker 3: Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25. Speaker 4: Hi, Francis. Sam. So how did you go with applying the different theoretical business tools for the report I asked you to write? Speaker 5: It was interesting and made us really focus on which tool was best to use when analyzing a business. Speaker 4: Good. So tell me what you found out. Speaker 5: We liked the theory behind PEST analysis. That's political, economic, social, and technological, although we're not sure if it was very applicable to our case. Some of the other groups had studies for which it worked really well, and they said it was easy to use. But I felt it focused too much on the big picture and was unsuitable for our company. Speaker 6: I agree. Speaker 5: On the other hand, I enjoyed using the drill down method. It was painstaking to do, and we seemed to be working on it for ages. But the results were worth waiting for. Speaker 6: Yes. I liked the way it eventually broke down complex problems. Speaker 5: Yes. Speaker 6: I much prefer doing the PMI analysis. It was so straightforward to break down into its three components, plus, minus, and interesting implications. You just needed to brainstorm these components and then write them up, fast and effective, and it didn't make your brain hurt doing it. Speaker 5: I agree. And you don't need any special training at all. Anyone can use it. Speaker 4: So was there any tool that you thought was superior to the others? Speaker 5: In my opinion, the one tool that is critical to business, especially for larger companies, is Pareto analysis. If they applied Pareto analysis, they would see that by focusing on the critical 20% of their problems, they could generate 80% of the benefits. This would allow them to work faster, and it also reduces their workload. It's all about finding out what their basic problems are. Speaker 6: I agree with Francis about Pareto, but my favorite was the SWOT analysis. You know, looking at the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, as it can be used in so many different situations. It works in large and small companies and even down to departmental level. It was great for our case study. Speaker 5: Yes. That's true. Speaker 3: Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 26 to 30 on page six. Speaker 3: Now listen and answer questions 26 to 30. Speaker 4: Okay. I've read your draft report, but can you tell me a bit more about that company you focused on? Speaker 5: Well, the company we used in our study was a manufacturing company who have relied on distributors to take their product to the end user. We did some analysis examining the possibility of them distributing their own products. We initially looked at their strengths. Speaker 6: The company, although it is small, is well known and has a very good reputation. The management are very committed to increasing the company profits, and they are confident this move would be successful. Speaker 5: Right. And the company has quite a lot of staff who have previously worked for distribution companies, so the knowledge is already there. That was something we didn't expect to find and is probably going to help them the most to achieve their goals. Speaker 4: I was quite impressed by some of the opportunities you detailed. I did think you missed something quite pertinent to their future growth, however. Speaker 6: What was that? Speaker 4: You didn't consider the potential for establishing an offshore division. You talked about the company negotiating better terms with its suppliers. Most of these are based abroad. And so if the company had a way of actually distributing the product there, this could be a tremendous opportunity and give them an edge over their competitors. Speaker 5: That's a good point. So what did you think about the threats we identified? Speaker 4: I thought you did a good job. I was really pleased to see that you considered how the government's planned environmental policy could really affect the viability of this venture. With this law being introduced next year, they might need to find new ways of using their existing technology. It's easy to identify what your competitors are doing, but it's the bigger picture that often gets ignored. So, Sam, what did you learn from this assignment? Speaker 6: Heaps. I guess I hadn't realized how much time it takes to ensure your company survives and profits. It was great to study the different tools in books, but applying them in the real world was much harder than I thought. It was a great learning experience. Speaker 4: I'm glad I could make your assignment relevant. I'm basically happy with your report. You've got the format correct, with the necessary headings, etcetera. And you've got sufficient details under the different headings. Just remember to state whether or not you think the company should go ahead with a new venture. But you've done a good job so far. Speaker 3: That is the end of section three. Speaker 3: You now have half a minute to check your answers. PART 4 Speaker 7: Now turn to section four. Speaker 7: Section four. Speaker 7: You will hear a lecturer in development studies talking about transhumans. That is the way groups of people move from place to place with their animals. Speaker 7: First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Speaker 7: Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40. Speaker 8: Good afternoon, everyone. Today I'm going to talk about what may be a new concept to you, the movement of people with their herds of animals from place to place. This is known as transhumans. These peoples are pastoralists and their animals include cows, sheep, goats, horses, camels and reindeer. Now, researchers sometimes make a distinction between two types of transhumans, fixed and nomadic, and talk about various factors which differentiate between them. The first and most important distinction they make is to do with the climate. Fixed transhumance occurs in countries such as Switzerland, where seasons are predictable in terms of weather and timing. Nomadic transhumance, on the other hand, is generally practiced in areas where climatic conditions are difficult to predict. An example of such a location is Somalia, as the anticipated rains often just don't appear. Secondly, researchers sometimes look at the type of journey that pastoralists make, their movement. For fixed transhumans, the pattern is sometimes known as vertical because it typically consists of a journey from lower ground in the winter season to higher ground in the summer and vice versa. In the wild, of course, animals frequently follow these kinds of migration patterns themselves. Nomadic transhumans generally takes place over a longer distance, and it's far more complex. The actual pattern varies from year to year, and it's determined primarily by the animal's needs for grass and also for water. Another distinction is sometimes made in terms of homes. In the case of fixed transhumans, the group will typically have permanent homes in the valley and a shelter which is semi permanent in the mountains, such as a cabin, to offer some protection from the weather. In nomadic transhumans, however, the pastoralists always live in temporary shelters, which are transported by their livestock from place to place, and are usually light and portable. In Northern Kenya, for example, the Gabora pastoralist carries the frame of his home on his camel and then covers it with branches when he stops for the night. A fourth factor often mentioned is the number of people taking part. In the case of fixed transhumans, only the people who actually look after the herds travel. These are normally the young ones because they can withstand adverse physical conditions more easily. By contrast, in nomadic transhumans, the whole group moves with their livestock. The last points of comparison often made by researchers are diet and goods. In fixed transhumans, those who do not move from the valleys often start working as farmers, cultivating the land. They build up contacts with other communities, and in some cases they may also trade animals for grain. In nomadic transhumans, there are fewer contacts. The group are generally regarded as providers of all their own needs, and they obtain food such as cheese and meat and also their clothing from their herds. Another example is found in Algeria in North Africa, to see how far this model applies to transhumans there. Fixed transhumans from valley to mountain pastures is common in the area, but some recent pastoralists also take their herds on longer journeys at the end of spring, from the Sahara in the South to the plains in the North where there is more abundant rainfall. They have traditionally assisted local farmers with the harvest, which takes place while they are temporarily a resident there. We have to decide whether their move would fall within the category of fixed or nomadic transhumans. It is true they live in tents and these are movable and temporary right through the year, whether they are in the Sahara or in the North of Algeria. So in considering their homes, they appear nomadic. On the other hand, in relation to their patterns of movement, they do not. They drive their livestock through the same passes and mountains each year, which suggests fixed transhumans. Here, in fact, we have a case showing some features of both types of transhumans, which we might more precisely refer to as intermediate. This all goes to show that you should treat every theory with great care, and not force your case history into a model if it doesn't fit. Speaker 7: That is the end of section four. Speaker 7: You now have half a minute to check your answers.