Listening 2026-02 Test 2

==================== IELTS Listening Transcript ==================== PART 1 Speaker 0: Section 1. Speaker 0: You will hear a young woman asking an adviser for information about diving courses. Speaker 0: First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5. Speaker 1: Morning. This is Greenwood Scuba Diving Club. How can I help you? Speaker 2: Hi. Good morning. I'm thinking about joining an amateur diving class. Since it's my first time, I'm not quite sure which level would suit me. Speaker 1: Well, for a green hand, you can start from the level of beginning. Speaker 2: Yeah. I think so. So when will it start? Is it next month? June? Speaker 1: Not really. The whole area is under construction now, and it will be done at the end of June. So we will reopen in July. Speaker 2: Alright. I will make a note of that. Can I take classes on Fridays? I have only got one class that day in university. Speaker 1: I'm afraid not. The training is only available on Saturdays. Speaker 2: Oh, that's okay. I'm free on the weekends. I'm wondering what the classes will be like. I guess we learn everything in the sea. Right? Speaker 1: For the first two weeks, you need some indoor training in the swimming pool under the coach's guidance before you go further. Speaker 2: Oh, that's great. It sounds much safer for me. Speaker 1: Yeah. The safety of students is always our first concern. When you finish the basic training program and have all necessary skills mastered, you will be allowed to try diving in a lake which will give you quite a different experience. And of course, we have two professional lifeguards on duty in case of an accident or emergency. Speaker 2: Wow, that's good to know. I won't get too nervous then. Right. Should I bring any equipment like a diving suit or something? Speaker 1: No. We provide everything you need for the class. Though it's acceptable if you want to bring your own equipment, which may fit you better. Speaker 2: Great. I guess I will only need to buy a new diving mask then. What else do I need to know about the courses? Speaker 0: Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6 to 10. Speaker 0: Now listen and answer questions 6 to 10. Speaker 1: Let's see. Alright. Every evening there will be some homework assigned to you. I hope you won't take it as a burden. Speaker 2: Is it written tests or in pool practice? Speaker 1: It can be both, but you may have more written tests at the beginning which can help you understand some key rules of diving. Speaker 2: Oh, okay. I don't have a lot of schoolwork this term and next term, so that won't be a problem. Speaker 1: That's great. By the way, if you do well, according to your coach's evaluation, we will offer you a certificate after you complete this course. Speaker 2: Wow. That's something I didn't expect before. I am becoming even keener now. Can I register for the class now? Speaker 1: Yeah. Sure. Now, I need your name for registration. Speaker 2: Sure. It's Kate Rowling. Is there a brochure or something that I can learn more about the course? Speaker 1: Of course. But I recommend that you visit our website for more detailed information. Speaker 2: Okay. I will do that. Oh, I almost forgot. What's the price for my course? A friend told me that's €350 for each person. Is that right? Speaker 1: Actually, that was what we charged last year. It's €375 now, and you will need to pay €130 as a deposit on the first day. Speaker 2: Okay. Thanks. Speaker 1: My pleasure. Speaker 0: That is the end of section one. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Now turn to section two. PART 2 Speaker 3: Section two. Speaker 3: You will hear the chairperson of the Middletown Urban Farming scheme talking to a group of people who are interested in joining the scheme. Speaker 3: First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 16 on page three. Speaker 3: Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 16. Speaker 4: I'm Chris Butler, and I'm the chairperson of the Middletown Urban Farming Scheme or MUFS for short, a highly successful program which encourages city dwellers to grow their own fruit and vegetables, to become city farmers, if you will. Who started MUFS? Well, the idea of urban farming has been around for quite a while, particularly among town planners. But it was actually a group of Middletown business people, including myself, who decided to create what became MUFS. University agriculture specialists got involved later. Now initially, the aim was not some eco-friendly goal of reducing CO2 emissions caused by the transport of food from farm to dinner plate. It was simply to maximize the utilization of the vacant or idle land that lies within the city. Of course, later we realized that an additional benefit might be a healthier diet for local people. Let me tell you a bit about the groups that have joined the scheme. We've got any number of schools involved and loads of corporate employees, so our message seems to have been well received there. But for next year, we're gonna concentrate on getting various community centers, like those for senior citizens to join, because so far, they've been somewhat slow to take up the scheme. Now the core committee of the MUFS is a group of dedicated gardeners. They probably won't be familiar with your specific plot of land. They're mostly amateurs. But they are the people who know the ins and outs of gardening, and they will be happy to sit down with any MUFS member and make some hands-on suggestions about gardening. But don't expect them to know the answers to technical questions like the Latin names of plants. The MUFS are keen to support members who are physically disabled. We're looking at the possibility of providing specially adapted gardening tools on loan to members who can't cope with regular tools. That's not happening yet. But we do have some window boxes as well as larger containers, which we can distribute free of charge to these members, although they will have to provide their own soil and compost themselves. I'm especially proud of the work we've done with the local schools, both grade school level and high schools. The teachers say that they knew the scheme would be of some practical use in science classes like biology. Despite the original hopes of some, the fruit and vegetable plots haven't provided cheaper lunches for their students. But what they didn't anticipate was the change in attitude that the scheme has created amongst their students. They say the students have become much more conscious of their surrounding environment. They wanna keep it neat and tidy. Speaker 3: Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 17 to 20 on page four. Speaker 3: Now listen and answer questions 17 to 20. Speaker 4: Now a number of local organizations and businesses provide our members with free goods and services. Let me go through some of them. The city hospital, as you might expect, has to provide thousands of meals for its patients. So the manager of its kitchen runs a course for our members on how to use vegetables in a huge variety of dishes. The local government found it had a large glass building, which the parks department used to start off flower seeds and young plants during the winter, and they agreed to allow our members to use this free of charge to get their own little seedlings off to a good start. Another thing, the university has agreed that if members send them a sample of their soil, they will do a series of tests on it to indicate what kind of plants will grow best and what types of fertilizer and nutrients would be best to use. And just to make sure our members know what's good for them, a supermarket is offering a series of classes on how to lose weight and stay healthy by having a sensible diet. Now let's talk about the practicalities. Speaker 3: That is the end of section two. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Now turn to section three on page five. PART 3 Speaker 5: Section three. Speaker 5: You will hear a discussion between two students called Mark and Fran about their presentation on some dolphins which are unique to New Zealand. Speaker 5: First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24 on page five. Speaker 5: Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24. Speaker 6: Hi, Mark. Thanks for coming around. Speaker 7: Hi, Fran. No problem. We need to try and get this presentation finished. Speaker 6: Mark, let's start with the way dolphins make sounds. Speaker 7: Well, we all know that dolphins make clicking noises to communicate. Speaker 6: Yes. They have tongues and larynxes as humans do, but what's really strange about the dolphin is that the sounds are focused through an extraordinary organ called the melon, which most other sea mammals don't have. Speaker 7: So shall I take over from there and speak about the different dolphin types? I want to share what we found out about those rare dolphins that are special just to New Zealand in particular. Speaker 6: Yeah. Great. Put the emphasis on them. The rarest of all is the Hector's dolphin, isn't it? They are endangered, aren't they? I think that's mainly because so many of them get tangled up in fishing gear, especially gill nets, and die. I know that some conservationists are worried about the impact of the tourism industry on dolphin numbers, but I don't think that's a problem yet here. Also, remember that this species has a very long reproductive cycle, so their numbers don't get replenished quickly. Speaker 7: Yeah, that's really sad. But at least the New Zealand government established a sanctuary for them, didn't it? The fishing industry was against it, but I remember reading that the general public were very supportive of the decision. It was a consequence of a study done by some marine biologists. Having a protected breeding area has made a big difference to the dolphin population already. Speaker 6: Yeah, I think their numbers have swelled to over 7,000 in total, with a tiny group of just 89 living down off Southland, nearly 2,000 living near Christchurch on the East Coast, and the biggest group surviving off the West Coast. It's pretty wild country over there, so I guess there aren't as many tourists and fishermen to disturb them. Speaker 5: Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30 on page six. Speaker 5: Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30. Speaker 7: Okay. So how do you suggest I structure my part of the talk? Speaker 6: Well, you could start with the common dolphin, which inhabits the whole of the sea around New Zealand. And once you've covered everything to do with them feeding and so on you could go on to the more unusual types. The dusky dolphin is especially interesting because you know how all the dolphins travel in small social groups called pods? Well, the dusky dolphins travel in pods as big as 800 members. Speaker 7: And I think the duskies like to travel along beside fishing and tourist boats, don't they? Whereas the Hector's dolphins are different in that they prefer to go in the wake of boats, that is coming along in the rear. Speaker 6: Yeah. They do. But they also dive down deep to avoid fast boats. Speaker 7: Oh, let's not forget the Maui because they are endangered too, aren't they? There are only 150 of them left, and they inhabit only the Western coastal waters off the North Island of New Zealand. Speaker 6: Yeah. It's a pity. They also face problems because of their tiny size. Now the orca is actually a dolphin too. Right? Speaker 7: Yes, surprisingly. So I'll include that in my talk. People call them killer whales, but in fact, they're not whales. They're a huge and very fierce type of dolphin. In New Zealand, Kaikoura in the South Island is the best place to spot orcas swimming by, so people mistakenly think that's where they live. But actually, orcas cover vast distances. Speaker 6: Let's not forget to mention the bottlenose. It's bigger than nearly all the other dolphins, even the common dolphin. Speaker 7: Oh, but still not as big as the orca. Right? Speaker 6: That's right. Speaker 7: Well, I think that's our presentation done now. Speaker 5: That is the end of section three. You now have half a minute to check your answers. PART 4 Speaker 8: Section four. Speaker 8: You will hear a talk on research into music. Speaker 8: First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Speaker 8: Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40. Speaker 9: Today, we're going to delve into the fascinating history of music in Britain and the evolution that it experienced throughout the duration of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During the second half of the eighteenth century, Britain experienced an industrial revolution during which its manufacturing industry underwent a major transition from hand production methods to the use of machinery. This sudden boom in the industry drew thousands of people into the cities, where they knew they'd be able to find jobs in the factories, working with or maintaining the machinery. This sudden influx of people into the cities did not just come from the surrounding countryside, but also from other poorer nations in search of a better life. Between 1800 and 1900, the population of England increased by four times. This mass immigration from different nations and areas of the country resulted in a variety of cultural influences meeting and mixing to form a new more diverse culture. With this new culture came a new style of music. Prior to the industrial revolution, music had originally been risen to reflect the hard labor intensive life in all kinds of industries when all work had to be done by hand. Most people resided in small rural communities where their lives revolved around farming. Life for the average person was difficult as incomes were meager, and malnourishment and disease were common. Despite the difference in nationalities of the people and the variety of musical genres, all of the music shared one common language: English. As many were unable to write, the songs were a means for the people to give voice to their experiences and feelings about their hard and laborious jobs. Most of the music written by the workers during this period has been lost as a result of illiteracy and the wear of time. Now you may be asking yourselves how these small musical works were formed. The roots of most of these groups can mostly be traced back to the younger members of the working classes, who were perhaps rebelling against the inferiority of their living and working conditions compared to those of the upper classes. Young performers would often lead these musical trends, usually possessing a great talent for singing or playing particular handmade instruments. As time progressed into the nineteenth century, these musical groups had gained much notoriety and would hold small performances in the street for all to watch. It was perhaps their blind optimism and rebellious spirit that led them to become so popular with their audiences, which were usually made up of the poorest of the poor. Despite efforts by the upper classes to put an end to these musical traditions, they continued to gain popularity and flourish. By the late 1870s, they had evolved past the barrier of the social echelons and gained access to the middle class. Performances were held in proper establishments such as village halls, and some were even ticketed with audiences paying a fee for the privilege of watching. Music produced by these groups were better recorded, and some is still preserved today in museums. The music of these groups may not exist in the present day, but its influences are still clear if you look closely enough. In classical culture, for example, many of the themes and theatrical performances are still based on the lives and experiences of the working classes both prior to and following the Industrial Revolution. The novel entitled Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, for example, is a novel about the French working classes and is still widely popular today. The original recordings of the music written during these periods are now hugely valuable due to the demand from avid collectors and enthusiastic fans. Many of these recordings are publicly owned and displayed in museum exhibits. However, a selection are still privately owned and occasionally appear for sale in auctions, often reaching prices in the hundreds of thousands. Well, that just about wraps the lecture up for today. So if anyone has any questions... Speaker 8: That is the end of section four. You now have half a minute to check your answers.