Listening 2025-11 Test 2

IELTS Listening Version 54299 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 four sections. Write all your answers in the Listening Question Booklet. At the end of the test, you will be given 10 minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet. Now turn to Section 1 on page 2 of your Question Booklet. Section 1 You will hear a telephone conversation between a man who is looking for a summer job as a fruit picker and a woman who owns a farm. First you have some time to look at questions 1 to 3 on page 2. You will see that there is an example that has been done for you. On this occasion only, the conversation relating to this will be played first. Manor farm, hello. Hi there. I'd like to apply to do fruit picking this summer. Oh, hello. I'm Mrs. Chandler. My husband and I own Manor Farm. Let me take some details. I'll just get a form to fill in. Hold on. Sure. Sorry. Right. Your name is... It's Ben Miller. The man's name is Ben Miller, so Ben Miller has been written in the space. Now we shall begin. You should answer the questions as you listen because you will not hear the recording a second time. Listen carefully and answer questions one to three. Manor Farm. Hello. Hi there. I'd like to apply to do fruit picking this summer. Oh, hello. I'm Mrs. Chandler. My husband and I own Manor Farm. Let me take some details. I'll just get a form to fill in. Hold on. Sure. Sorry. Right. Your name is... It's Ben Miller. And where are you from? I'm from the USA. Fine. Um, can I ask your age? I'm twenty. You only take people over the age of sixteen, don't you? Yes, that's right. Are you able to work in the UK? Sorry? I mean, do you have a visa? Oh, yeah. I have a thing called a blue card. It's valid until November. That's fine then. What's your availability? When can I work? Um, I'd like to do July, August and September. And could do October if there's any work then. Okay. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. I see you need most pickers in September for apples and pears, but the whole picking season can last about sixteen weeks. Well, yes, but it's a question of the weather. That determines how much fruit we grow, of course. That's why I can't give you exact picking dates now. I see. Oh well, no problem. Can you tell me what pickers earn? Well, that depends on age. The rate is £4.50 an hour for the under-eighteens, but as you're over eighteen, it would rise to £5.60 an hour. Uh-huh. Your website says that you don't provide accommodation for pickers, so I guess I should arrange that in advance. Yes, there is no accommodation on the farm, but there is a campsite about fifteen minutes away. Is that walking distance? What do you think? No, maybe I should bring my bike to get around. Yes, we always recommend that. Some pickers bring a car, but then find the roads rather narrow, and the bus is very infrequent. Do you have any questions? I know that fruit picking is hard work, but is there anything special I need to bring with me? Well, firstly, documentation is extremely important. We will need proof of age, so we'll expect to see your passport. Pickers without one won't be allowed to work. Oh, even if their age is written on their driving licence? Sorry, a driving licence isn't suitable. Fair enough. I guess some lunch is provided for all the hungry fruit pickers. I'm afraid not. You'll need to bring your own food for lunch, and more importantly, enough water to last a full day. It can get very hot, so drinking is vital. Right, like back home. Okay, well, thanks for all the information. What happens now? Well, I'll post a contract to you at the... That is the end of Section 1. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Thank you. Section 2. You will hear the manager of the fitness centre giving information about the centre to some new customers. First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 15. Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 15. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Fit4Life Health Centre, a place which, as the name suggests, is not just for short-term solutions, but rather intends to put you on a sensible and achievable footing for the rest of your life. And that's how we're different. For example, we could immediately put you on a harsh exercise programme expecting you to work out every day, but such a plan would see you quickly lose interest. That's why the initial step is a one-and-a-half-hour consultation in which your lifestyle, current situation and long-term goals are all thoroughly analysed. Now, an important part of this consultation involves analysing what you eat. There's no point exercising here and losing weight, then putting it all back on later. You will need to show self-control and discipline in your diet, and we'll work on that. Similarly, we'll put you on an exercise regime suitable for your level of fitness. So that will involve a test where we will take you through some activities. Then measure your heart rate and blood pressure to determine how fit you are. This will be monitored during every subsequent consultation, along with your exercise schedule, and that occurs monthly and not half-yearly, as with many other centres. As to our actual exercise machines and programmes, you will have to decide whether it is muscle mass, stamina or general fitness that you want to develop. Think about which of these three you want to target, and we'll design a specific programme for you. But remember, bulging muscles aren't necessarily suitable for everyone. Sometimes it's better to think in terms of two simple concepts – muscle definition and stamina, or, if you are female, being fit and healthy in both mind and body. 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. Now, if you're going to work out at this gym, you'll need to think about your reasons for exercising, so let's consider that in more detail. Muscle mass is certainly popular with the guys, probably seeking to impress the girls, but it's not always the case. Consider that in more detail. Muscle mass is certainly popular with the guys, probably seeking to impress the girls, and with muscles comes the confidence to do that, right? Well, for that, you'll need our high-stress weight units, where pumping iron is all the rage. Moving on to other benefits, one of the main ones is beating the tension of life, right? And the longer the exercise is, the greater the rewards in this respect. Thus, playing squash can certainly help, and so can swimming, but what's much better, as every jogger will tell you, is their activity. So, we have ample jogging machines and they're always popular. They can provide good fitness too, as can the yoga classes. However, again, let's not forget playing squash, which I would say is the optimum way to improve your general well-being. Such an active, energetic game, plus the competitive element, drives you forward into high levels of health and fitness. These, of course, are the ultimate purposes of being here, but remember, the centre is full of like-minded people, all of whom are interesting to meet and valuable sources of information. The yoga classes have a pre- and post-meeting session, so you'll certainly meet others there, although they'll all be yoga enthusiasts, which limits the range somewhat. But whether doing yoga, swimming or exercising, everyone showers, right? So those facilities are where you'll hear all sorts of interesting conversations and really get to know people. Not like the front desk area, which is mostly empty as patrons go immediately inside to do their exercise. Of course, the front desk can answer all your questions and has information brochures and such like, but for knowing more about a greater variety of subjects and community concerns, look at the notice board in the yoga studio, where there's a huge array of papers, leaflets and articles, all for you to read and consider. That is the end of section two. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Now turn to section three. Thank you. Part three. You'll hear a student called Ravi talking to his tutor, Dr. Chang, about research he is doing for an assignment on children playing outdoors. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26. Then you'll have some time to look at questions 25 and 26. Then you'll have some time to look at questions 26 and 27. . Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26. Right, Ravi. Tell me how the research for your assignment about children's outdoor play is going. Yes. Well, I've been reading about why children spend less time playing outside now than 20 or 30 years ago. So is it just because of the amount of online time that children have now, which obviously happens indoors? Well, if that was the case, there'd be a correlation between high Internet use and low levels of outdoor play. And it's nothing to do with whether there are adequate facilities outside, playgrounds, for example, as any open space will do. There's perhaps no single more important factor than parental worries about the dangers of vehicles on the streets. But it could also be that children today prefer playing indoors to outdoors. Well, a study in Tokyo suggests it's the other way around. But children are spending more time in structured activities and out-of-school clubs than before. And this has a knock-on effect on . . . What's left for outdoor play. Right. Your premise is that outdoor play is good. What exactly do you want to focus on in your assignment? Well, not so much on things that apply to exercise in general, like children's muscles getting stronger because they run around, and not on what seems, for instance, self-evident, that outdoor play helps children to concentrate on things other than lessons. Sure. I'd like to investigate some of the more unexpected benefits, like to children's digestion. This is because fresh air tends to stimulate hunger, perhaps leaving to one side the question of whether climbing trees helps educate children about the natural world. No, not really relevant. What sort of decisions do outdoor games and activities force children to make? Well, for example, how they decide how dangerous something might be. And I'd like to outline the main findings on that. Okay. And as you're arguing that there's been a shift in play patterns over the last generation or so, how are you going to substantiate this? Yes. Surveys have compared parents' recollections of their childhood play 30 years ago with what their children do now. And the nature of what children do when they are playing outdoors has changed. How exactly? Well, surprisingly, it's not so much how often children play outside or preferences for large or small groups, but the fact that the play sessions don't go on for as long. And games involving one child running after another who tries to get away, these are still as popular as ever. But one thing that has declined is improvised games, and I'd like to examine why this might be. Interesting. And what about safety? Well, from my reading, serious accidents are still rare. More kids hurt themselves falling out of bed than out of trees. Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 27 to 30. Now listen and answer questions 27 to 30. Now listen and answer questions 27 to 30. I think the decline of outdoor play is a problem which should worry parents. I mean, perhaps the children themselves don't miss it. They may be happy to spend lots of time indoors. But the links between inactivity and physical problems when they're adults are so well established that I think kids should be encouraged to spend more time outdoors with their brothers and sisters and friends. What about schools? Well, what I think they should do differently regarding outdoor play, and it wouldn't actually require a great deal of expenditure, is base their policy on different outcomes, like developing children's confidence, not just thinking about exam results. Although I don't know how it would go down with the parents. And do children get more contact with nature in rural areas? There's research on this by Smith and Barker. Intuitively, you'd expect children in rural areas to spend more time out in the open. But in fact, they are generally told to keep off agricultural land. Plus, there are difficulties with supervision outside towns and cities. Right. And Smith and Barker's paper was published in... 2001. Not the most up-to-date, but still valid to use. But you'll need to stipulate very precisely that their focus was, if I remember correctly, just on rural areas. So you'd need to consider how far their restricted findings might be applicable to urban areas as well. Okay. Right. So now I'd suggest you produce an overview of what you're going to cover. That is the end of Part 3. You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to Part 3. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Part 4 You will hear part of a lecture about American salt marshes, which are areas of low land found near the sea. First you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Part 5 You will hear part of a lecture about American salt marshes, which are areas of low land found near the sea. First you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Part 5 You will hear part of a lecture about American salt marshes, which are areas of low land found near the sea. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40. Right. This morning I want to give you a brief introduction to a different kind of habitat, American salt marshes. And then we'll examine a particular inhabitant of the marsh, the horseshoe crab. Okay, so what are the defining features of a salt marsh to begin with? Well, salt marshes are found on the coast in various parts of the USA. They are really areas between land and water. Obviously these are very wet areas, and the salinity, that's the amount of salt in the water, ranges from ocean strength to almost fresh, in other words, very low indeed. And the salt marshes are affected by daily changes in sea levels. The sea might wash in over them as frequently as twice a day, so the habitat is constantly changing. The amount of salt in the water rises and falls, as does the depth and warmth of the water. We'll be having a detailed look at the horseshoe crab in a moment, but marshes provide plentiful food for other creatures that feed there too, such as worms and shrimps. This food comes in the form of plants that thrive there. Interestingly enough, 200 years ago, the flow of water in marshland in the United States was controlled so that rice could be grown there. Little has grown there today, but 15% of coastal marshes are enclosed artificially in order to attract wild birds to the area, and we'll be examining those too. But before looking at the wildlife, there are a few political issues to make you aware of. There are always controversial issues when humans decide to make changes to natural habitats. During the past 20 years, many objections have been voiced to the building of artificial earth walls, or dikes to use the correct term, on salt marshes to control the natural flow of seawater. Since the walls restrict the movement of high volumes of water, this means that the natural habitat of local aquatic life is reduced. And because the water is shallower, the temperature of the water may rise significantly during periods of low rainfall. In addition, although the insects are very happy there, many people are unhappy with the dikes. This isn't because they distract from the natural beauty of the landscape, but because their presence means it's more difficult for walkers, who appreciate the marshes, to go where they want. There is controversy over the different values placed on the resources of the marshes. Some people would like to see them used more fully for hunting, while others would like to see business permits granted to allow for further development. Interestingly, in the mid-20th century, marshes were not thought of as valuable at all, and over half of the salt marshes in the USA were destroyed at that time. In the main, this was due to filling the marshes to create more land for housing developments and to control the mosquito population. However, state laws now do reflect the importance and growing appreciation of marshes, not only as natural habitats, but also because they provide a natural barrier against storm damage and therefore limit the amount of land lost to the sea. Right. We'll be debating some of those issues in the seminars, but let's now turn our attention to the horseshoe crab, which is the focus of our study this morning. Horseshoe crabs have changed very little in the last 350 million years. I find them interesting in many ways because they are, in fact, distant relatives of the spider, and not crabs at all. They look quite dangerous. In fact, they are absolutely harmless. The horseshoe crab's main diet is one of shellfish, but they will eat worms too. The crab places its food near its mouth, in the center of its underside where its legs are attached, and grinds and crushes it there. It has five pairs of legs. The female lays between 200 and 300 eggs and comes ashore to do that. This process takes place in spring, before the sand heats up in the summer months. Right. What I'm going to do now is show you some photos... That is the end of Part 4. You now have 45 seconds to check your answers to Part 4. Thank you. That is the end of the listening test. You now have 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the listening answer sheet. You now have 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the listening answer sheet.