Listening 2026 May–Aug Practice Set 1

Narrator: Section 1. Woman: Good morning, how can I help you? Man: Uh, yes, I am a visitor to this area, I had a sporting accident a little while ago and I am still in some pain, and I wondered if I could see a doctor here. Woman: Certainly sir, we can take you on as a temporary patient, I'll just take down some personal details, can I start with your name? Man: Yes, it's Peter, Peter Smith. Woman: Right, Peter. And where are you staying here? Man: At 95 Cross Street. Woman: And the suburb? Man: Walkley. That's W-a-l-k-l-e-v. Woman: Hum, and can I have a contact phone number? Man: Uh, it's 4689 5324. Woman: Thanks. OK, if you just wait down there the doctor will see you in a minute. Doctor: Now, what can I do for you? It's Peter Smith, isn't it? Man: Yes, I had a sporting accident and was treated by a doctor at home but I’m still in pain. Doctor: Hum, right, uh, I just need to ask you a few questions first of all. Man: Fine. Doctor: Now, uh, what sport were you doing? Man: I was playing tennis. Doctor: Hum, I see. And what was the nature of your injury? Did you hurt your elbow or wrist? Man: Uh, no. I had a sprained knee. That was the original problem. Doctor: Right, and when did this happen? Man: Uh, it was three weeks ago now, so that was June 18th. Doctor: Hum, fine. And you said you had medical treatment? Man: Yes, the doctor said I didn't need an x-ray or anything, and he just told me to use an ice pack. Doctor: Hum, an ice pack. Fine. Man: Yes and I've been using a walking stick to help me get around. Doctor: Right, now what problems are you experiencing at the moment? Are you having any problems walking? Man: Well, I can walk OK, but I still can't go upstairs, so I've been sleeping downstairs. Doctor: Hum, now you said your knee still hurts? Man: Well, no. Actually it's recovering nicely. It's my back that's hurting me now. It really aches at night and I can hardly sleep. Doctor: Well, there are few different things I can suggest for that. Man: Great. Doctor: First you should put your stick away as that's probably the source of the problem, it'll be making you unbalanced. Man: Oh, really? I wish I’d known. Doctor: After that I can prescribe you something to relax the muscles in your back. Man: Oh, sorry to be difficult but I've had something like that in the past and there were lots of side effects and I had to stop taking it. Can you recommend anything else? Doctor: Well, yes. We do have a leaflet showing some exercises you can do to help yourself at home. If you do them every day they'll soon be effective. Man: Great. I'll do that. Narrator: Section 2. Announcer: Greetings all you listeners out there! This is national radio, I'm Kevin Lay. This morning I am going to tell you what's so special about the laidback city of Gisborne. Announcer: You'll hear a little bit about its past in the old days and a lot about what attractions it has to offer, foreign and domestic visitors today. So listen up to learn more about what there is to do in this city and the surrounding region, where the economy is booming but the lifestyle remains unspoiled. Announcer: The Gisborne region is where the legendary canoe sailed by Maori explorers first landed in New Zealand about 1400 years ago after its long and risky voyage over the sea. Announcer: It’s also the easternmost of the country, which is what inspired its original name, Te Tai Rawhiti, which in the Maori language means 'The coast where the sun rises across the waters.' Announcer: Gisborne was also the place where the European explorer, Captain Cook, first landed his boat upon discovering New Zealand all the way from England back in 1769. Announcer: Even in those early days this district was a centre of horticulture, thanks to its fertile soil and sub-tropical climate. Announcer: Soon after that, of course, the English settlers arrived and soon Gisborne was shipping its products to larger settlements such as Auckland and Wellington. Announcer: This began with maize and root crops but quickly expanded to butter, meat and wool from the agriculture settlements in the rich pastoral country near the famous Poverty Bay. Announcer: Wharves and jetties were built beside the sea to service the coastal traders. Many of these wooden structures can still be seen on Gisborne beaches today. Announcer: Today, Gisborne continues to export fresh produce to other regions of New Zealand. These wares include various award-winning cheeses, and of course, the delicious lobsters and snapper fish harvested by hand from the local reefs and waters. Announcer: As for exports to Asian markets, there's an increasing demand for the region's oranges and lemons. Announcer: Gisborne is also becoming well known nationally and internationally as the source of some top quality white and red grapes. Announcer: Now, what's on in Gisborne? Well, first up there's the annual Gisborne concert held every summertime. This is a great experience. Announcer: It's held in Waiohika Vineyard, which is near the traditional Maori meeting house or Marae of the same name. Announcer: They bring in a piano player and opera singers who perform on a purpose-built stage in a kind of natural amphitheater in the middle of the rows of grapes. It's a fantastic concert-like atmosphere, a really good night out. Announcer: What to do on a rainy day? I’d suggest a visit to the show called 'The Beach', which is on in Gallery One at Tairawhiti Museum. Announcer: It's a big display, so it also takes up the hall next to Gallery One, and it's divided into different sections of the local culture like surfing, camping, fashion and so on. Announcer: If you buy the book of the exhibition there's some interesting photographs in there. Announcer: There's a lot else to see in Gisborne as well. You shouldn't miss the hot springs reserve, which has warm natural mineral pools and little houses where you can stay amongst the bush. Announcer: Being very secluded and private, this resort is most favoured by newlyweds who often book a cabin for their honeymoon. Announcer: The water is very therapeutic too, it's apparently good for your health to bathe there, though not recommended for pregnant women or the elderly. Announcer: Around the corner is Mahia Peninsula, legendary as a New Year's Eve party destination for large crowds of university students after their graduation. Announcer: The surfing and fishing here is excellent and it's a safe spot for swimming and diving too. Announcer: Now, also good for kids is taking a raft or a jet boat ride on the Motu River. This sounds quite wild, doesn’t it? But in fact, this activity is often used by local primary schools who take big groups of young children, several classes at a time, out here for a bit of fun while they are on their school camp. Announcer: No parents required, you can have some time out as this activity is a lot safer than it sounds and it's carefully supervised by the rafting company. Announcer: Finally, don't let's forget the Edan Woodlands Park which is really a huge tree nursery. You can walk for hours here in the peaceful green surroundings along a variety of tracks. Announcer: There's even a very nice walkway made wide enough for those in wheelchairs so that everyone can go along and enjoy mother nature at her best. Narrator: Section 3. Narrator: You will hear three marketing students discussing their research findings on vehicle SUV or four wheel drive vehicle. Girl 1: So, guys. Have you got all your notes on four wheel drive vehicles, should we go through what we've each found and think about how we'll put it together for next week's marketing seminar? Boy: Yeah, sure. Let's start with what these cars were originally designed for. Girl 2: Oh, I've got something on that here. Well, four wheel drives or sports utility vehicles as they are officially known, SUVs for short, were originally designed for off-road use by people who need to get to remote areas out in the bush for instance, but the interesting thing is that they're actually sold out to a lot of people who just use them in the cities. So they make quite different use of them. Girl 1: OK, then maybe we should make a list of their advantages, shall we? So, one thing is that they're good for commercial use. OK? Boy: Hum, uh, how about also saying utilitarian rather than luxurious? Girl 1: So, you're not paying out for unnecessary luxury, OK. What else? Girl 2: Well, uh, they have increased engine capacity and they're also heavier, so, suitable for towing large loads. Girl 1: So, is this why so many people buy them then? Girl 2: No, no. They seem to become fashionable now for rather different reasons. Research carried out by Automobile Clubs shows that people buy them for business because of the sort of image they project, and moms like to drive their kids to school in them because they think they're safe, so that’s another reason. Boy: And you can get about seven people into one of these, so we could say sitting capacity is another factor. OK, another thing that came out of my research is that people also like the higher seats. They say it means they can get a better view of the traffic ahead of them. Girl 2: But, you know, some of these reasons just don't work, I mean, the safety thing is just a misconception, because, generally in a collision they can do terrible damage to a smaller car. Boy: Hum, that's right. That's one of the disadvantages I have here, shall we go through those now? Girl 1: Hum, good idea. So, let’s say that potentially they are harmful in built up areas, generally the damage they cause is due to their weight. That’s right isn't it? Girl 2: Yes, it is. I've got a note here about their chassis. The body work on an SUV is stiffer and doesn't crumple to absorb impact in the collision the way it does in smaller cars, and there's another reason why they're not safe, it's quite easy for them to roll over more so than an ordinary car because they’ve got a high centre of gravity. Girl 1: So, these are all the disadvantages. How are we going to round this up? Boy: Well, uh, I think maybe we could round up with a few ideas of how we can limit the use of these SUVs. One thing that could be done is to limit to people, farmers, who can prove that they need them. Girl 1: Hum, that's good, but it might be hard to enforce. Girl 2: Companies could also increase the insurance for SUVs. Since they cause more damage when there’s an accident. Boy: Hum, that’s a good idea too. Hum, I’ll tell you what guys, I'll write up these notes onto an OHT so that everyone can see them when we talk through our notes in the seminar, but I think we need to put together a list of our sources too, can you do that? Girl 1: Sure. Narrator: Section 4. Lecturer: Today we continue with our series of lectures on diet and society in the 21st century. Lecturer: We are all aware of the obesity epidemic facing our society, the reasons for this are well documented and are mainly due to poor eating habits coupled with too little exercise. Lecturer: In fact, a national health and nutrition survey here in the U.S. concluded that the average total food intake increased considerably between the years 1971 and 2000. Lecturer: This appears to be a general trend across most age groups, in fact, apart from the over 60s, all areas of American society are consistently above the dietary guidelines for caloric intake and saturated fat. Lecturer: However, total fat consumption is highest for teenagers, and there is a clear correlation with fast food consumption. Lecturer: Among the wide range of factors influencing an individual's dietary choices, one of the strongest influences is the home. Lecturer: It will come as no surprise that within a family the fat intakes of husbands and wives, and parents and children who cohabit are remarkably similar. Lecturer: Many people assume that this relationship indicates the influence of parents on their children, but we wanted to ask if children influence poor diets in adults. Lecturer: This hypothesis had not been tested in a national sample until now. Lecturer: In our study we focused only on adults and we set our lower age limit at 17 and the upper one at 65. Lecturer: The key variable was the presence or absence of children, so we identified only those adults whose children were under 17. Lecturer: Other variables included the age of the adult, level of education they had reached, their ethnic background, their income and foreign born status. Lecturer: To obtain our data first we conducted interviews in the respondents' own homes, and all in all we interviewed 6600 adults aged over 17. Lecturer: Then we invited them to mobile examination centres where surveys were conducted. Lecturer: From this information we were able to focus not only on the total fat intake but also on the person's total caloric consumption. Lecturer: Our results showed that the presence of children led to significantly higher levels of both fat consumption and saturated fat in adults. Lecturer: We found on average that adults with children in the home ate 4.9 grams per day of fat more than adults without children, this result is consistent irrespective of race, gender or age. Lecturer: The foods more commonly were convenience items high in fat or sugar including pizza, salty snacks and ice cream. Lecturer: Interestingly there is a significantly higher percentage of adults in this group who drink milk. Lecturer: There are many explanations for this increased fat intake. Lecturer: Hectic schedules where parents try to balance work, family and leisure put time at a premium, another issue is children's preference for fatty foods or food with high sugar content. Lecturer: Fast foods and ready-to-eat foods are convenient choices, it is inconvenient to prepare different meals for both the children and the parents. Lecturer: So, it is likely that adults consume the same as their children. Lecturer: Of course, there were limitations to our study, one of these is that we did not take into account the number of minors in each household, which could have an effect on the adult who feeds the children. Lecturer: In addition, this study does not take into account the relationship of the adult to the minor. Lecturer: We could also postulate that the older a child gets, the more independent he or she becomes and so, the influence a child has on an adult may lessen depending on the age of the child. Lecturer: In terms of recommendations as a result of this study, we would like to see more research conducted to overcome the limitations outlined earlier. Lecturer: We also feel there is a need for even further research into the influence that friends can have on our fat intake, given the clear link we've established between family members.