Listening 2026-08 Test 5

Section 1 You will hear a telephone conversation between a woman who works at a volunteer centre and a student finding out about how he can volunteer. First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5. Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5. Hello volunteer centre. Oh good morning, I saw an advert about volunteering, you know doing some unpaid work for charity and I wanted to get some more information. Sure, can I take your name? Yes, it's John Smith. Well hi John, my name is Karen and I'm one of the advisors here at the volunteer centre. What would you like to know? Well I've been thinking about volunteering for a while, but then I was put off as I heard that you need to give a minimum of 10 hours a month. Is that right? No, there we do say people have to give at least 5 hours a month, that way both organisation and volunteer benefit from the experience. Right, well that would be much more manageable as I'm also studying full time. Yes, many volunteers are students and they seem to find that works for them. But can I ask, are you at university every day as we really need people to volunteer in the weekdays rather than over the weekend? I was really hoping to be able to do Saturdays. Oh okay, just what I ask. Now what else did you want to know? Well there was one other thing that was worrying me. What was that? Well again, I've also heard that I would need to keep doing the job for 10 weeks or more. Is that right? Well yes, this time your information is right. We ask for that as a minimum commitment. Many people carry on for years. It's a good amount of time for you to give it a fair go before you decide whether to continue or not. Oh, I nearly forgot. Do I need to have my own car? No, you don't need one, but if you have a driving license, that's a bonus for some types of work. Right, well that's good. So how do I find out what's available and what about actually applying for a post? We have a database here so I can look now and see what posts come up. Would I need to go there in person? Not straight away. The first step is usually to fill in an application form. Would I find that on the website? Yes, you'll need to give your personal details and experience and so on. What about photos? They're not necessary, but you'll need a couple of references. Okay, and what happens after that? Will there be an interview? There might be, though that doesn't always happen. So some accept you just like that. Well, if they think you could be good, then yes. Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6-10. Now listen and answer questions 6-10. The search has come up with a few vacancies that should suit you. If I give you the basic details, okay? We have some work for volunteers who can offer domestic help. You'd be doing things like DIY, you know, putting up shelves and things. And you probably also be gardening for them, but not cooking. And who would I be helping? That depends, but it's often people who are sick. Hmm, sounds interesting. Is there anything else I need to know? Well, since these people can't get out much, they often enjoy having someone to talk to. So it helps if you are a friendly person who will chat with them. Okay, and what about working in a charity shop? You know, where people donate stuff they don't need, so the shop can sell it. Yes, we do have a vacancy in one shop nearby. Great, but it wouldn't be just making tea, would it? No, you'd be doing things like arranging the displays in the windows, among other things. And which charity would that be for? Who would the money raise to be helping? It would be for a charity that works to improve the lives of elderly residents in the area. Right, I'd be happy to do that. They also give you training on the job, so it can be really useful for people who want to work in customer service. Oh, so that's a bonus. Now you might also be interested in our environmental project. We're looking for people to help clean up the local nature reserve this summer. That sounds like it could be fun. What kind of work is involved? Well, the main task is rubbish collection. You'd be working in a small team to clear the trails and the lakeside to protect the local wildlife. I don't mind getting my hands dirty for a good cause. Is it a day trip or something longer? It's actually a weekend project. The organisation provides basic accommodation for all volunteers. Oh, do we stay in a hostel or a local guest house? Actually, to keep the impact on the environment to a minimum, everyone sleeps in a tent. You'll need to bring your own sleeping bag, but they provide all the camping gear and meals. Sleeping under the stars? That sounds like a real adventure. I definitely like to add that to my application. That is the end of section one. You now have half a minute to check your answers. --- Part 2. You will hear the assistant principal of a primary school talking to a group of parents who have offered to help with sports activities. First you have some time to look at questions 11 to 14. Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 14. Good evening parents and thank you for offering your help. I am here to talk about the sports programs that the children are taking part in this term. Although we do do sport during class time, children often have extra activities before or after school or at weekends and that's when we need you. First up we are looking for parents who would like to become team coaches or managers. We had some excellent people last year but some of those parents now have other commitments. It's the year for netball team, the year 5 and 6 rugby teams and the year 3 hockey team that need new people. Now coaching. I know some parents might not be completely familiar with say rugby or netball rules but don't let that put you off. Obviously knowledge of the game helps but if you're keen there are some coaching courses you can take before the training sessions for players begin and these also get held throughout the whole season. What's really required is the right attitude. Are you the kind of person that can motivate kids and make the game seem exciting? All the rugby training and matches are organised by North Shore Rugby Club. If you do volunteer to become a rugby coach you'll need to go along to an important day that's coming up. That's on Saturday the 23rd. It takes place on the rugby grounds and it's when all the kids put their names down for a team and the organisers are on hand to give parents a bit more information. Matches are on Saturday morning and training sessions on a Wednesday after school. Moving on to netball. Matches and uniforms. Matches are on Monday at 4pm and take place at the North Harbour netball grounds. And for uniforms we've just ordered a new set from the sport store in town and parents must hire one from the school secretary for 15 dollars which gets refunded at the end of the season. Before you hear the rest of the talk you have some time to look at questions 15 to 20. Now listen and answer a questions 15 to 20. Okay, some viewer kindly helping with the cross-country running event. Children in years 3 to 6 will be running from school at the bottom of your map there. The route isn't marked on your map I'm afraid but I'm going to point out some different places that need parents supervision. The drink station is one. If you're handing out water head to the North Car Park and the station will be set up on the other side of the road from it right by the flag post. Two or three parents will be needed to help out at the major crossing point just to make sure everybody's going the right way. So on the map there's that little footpath going up past the school then it splits into three directions. The crossing point is at the end of the left handpath heading west just before you cross Summers Street. Now we'll need a couple of parents at the halfway point to send the children in the right direction. So there are four buildings on the far left hand side. The halfway point is just to the right of these buildings. Just cheer the kids on and if anyone has given up running that's fine. Okay, the teacher at our first aid post might need help sticking posters on. The quickest way to get to first aid is to head up the footpath next to school and when you get to the second turning on the right head down there and it's sort of opposite the satellite dish. What else? The rest area is for children needing a break and that's the place nearest the South Car Park near the road. And if any parent here is handy with a video camera we'd really appreciate some help with filming the event. This means heading up the footpath by the school then keep going up with the flag post on your left and the satellite dish on your right. And the filming spot is just there in front of the trees. When I think that covers everything but if you have any questions please. That is the end of part two. You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to part two. [BLANK_AUDIO] --- You will hear three linguistic students, Joe, Martin and Angela, discussing the presentation that Joe is giving soon as part of his course. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26. Now, listen to the first part of the conversation and answer questions 21 to 26. Hi, Martin. Hi, Angela. Hi, Joe. Yeah, hi, Joe. So, you're really worried about your presentation, the one about names. I am. Well, you know your stuff on names pretty well. So, it's just a question of selecting what you want to use. That's right. But there's so much. Well, you don't have to include everything. Let's start somewhere. Well, for example, there's a lot to discuss about people's names in terms of culture. It would be a good way to start, bringing in issues of religion, society. I thought so. As long as you can keep it concise, since it's potentially a large area. I'll pick out some key points. Good. Now, that will tend to be about differences. What about something on ways in which naming practices are often similar across different languages? That sounds good. I'm not sure how much I could say that's really about just names and not really general language. Maybe you need to give that some more thought. Yes, I'm not ruling it out. Well, what about what first names mean? That's got to be specific to languages or language groups. Yes. There are all sorts of different principles at work. It's a rich area for discussion. And you can present lots of examples. It would mean a good slide or two. I'll enjoy making those up. Don't forget to put our names in. No, okay. Right. Where have we got up to? Yes. Now, there's the question of place names. Once where the name of the place is the word for the situation, like something to do with sea or mountain, etc. Yes. People often don't realise the origin. It sounds like it's just a translation issue to me. Don't you think you might give that a miss? Given the time limit, perhaps you're right. You need something on place names. Could you get history in? Actually, the way migrants often use to name places after somewhere in their country of origin is interesting. Sounds a bit narrow to me. Well, I'd hope to build it up a bit. Perhaps you should make a final decision on that later. Okay, I'll see how the rest of it goes first. Is that the lot? No, there's still country names, the origins of those. I think that's an interesting area. Yeah, because it's something we often don't think about. It'd be a way to bring in various aspects, history certainly. I could project a map of the world and have people match the original meanings to the countries. Well, that seems to be a full-gone conclusion. Fine. Yes, I'm feeling clear already. Now you have some time to look at questions 27 to 30. Now listen to the rest of the conversation and answer questions 27 to 30. You know, there's another aspect that I think I'll cover. Yes, brand names. Isn't that more to do with business studies? Well, international companies are finding it increasingly important to have brand names that can be used in many different countries. Oh, so they can advertise the same product everywhere? Yes, and it seems that brand names are very special in our brains. How so? Well, there was a research study recently, carried out on a group of about 50 students. They showed them 108 words and the students had to say whether they recognized them as real words or not. The list included all mixed up, ordinary nouns, brand names and meaningless words, and they were shown all the words quickly. And the brand names seemed to be recognized strongly and in the emotional right-hand side of the brain. It was interesting that the brand names were recognized more readily if they were displayed in capital letters rather than lowercase, something which doesn't apply to normal words. How strange! What else did the researchers find out? Of course, it's a relatively small study, but they suspect that other visual features are at play. And so that, for example, colour has a major effect in helping us to store brand names in a special way in our brains. I suppose that's logical, but what do you, well, they mean by a special way? I'm not saying I understood everything about this study. Of course not. But they seem to be saying that the power of brand names is that they conjure up a range of associations inside our brains, more so than ordinary words or names do. I guess this is great news for international companies, potentially certainly, though exactly what they do. That is the end of part three. You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to part three. --- Now turn to section 4. Section 4. You will hear a recording describing a trial courtroom and the conduct of legal trials. First you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. You will hear a recording describing a trial courtroom and the conduct of legal trial. Section 4. You will hear a recording describing a trial courtroom and the conduct of legal trial. You will hear a recording describing a trial courtroom and the conduct of legal trial. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40. Although variations occur in courtroom layouts, this is a description of a standard UK trial courtroom. In a trial courtroom, the judge is invariably seated behind an elevated desk or bench. A Jason to the bench are the witness stand and a section that is slightly larger to accommodate the court reporter. Behind the court reporter, the bailiff stands against the wall of the courtroom throughout the proceedings. His job is to ensure the court procedure is observed and order is maintained. Directly in front of the judge's bench, located in the central court room area known as the well, is a table where the court clerk sits and records court proceedings. Only the bailiff is authorized to cross the well during a court session to transfer documents between the lawyers and the judge. Any unauthorized crossing of the well is regarded as being extremely disrespectful to the court and is usually expressly forbidden. Off to one side of the clerk's desk is located a table where the defendant and his lawyer are seated. The defendant, also known as the accused, works closely with his lawyer, who is also termed the lawyer for the defence. Across the other side of the court room, the lawyer for the prosecution sits with a plaintiff, who is bringing the case against the defendant to court. Close by is the jury box that covers the largest area in the court room. It holds 12 members of the public who are responsible for delivering the final verdict on the defendant. All those who are actively involved in court proceedings are in the area of the court room termed the bar. Behind the area of the bar is the gallery, which seats spectators, who may be relatives of those involved in the court hearing, or merely curious members of the public. The bar itself may be an actual physical barrier, such as a railing, or merely a designated area. Apart from the parties to the case and any witnesses, only the lawyers can literally pass the bar. Court personnel and jury members usually enter through separate doors behind the bench. And this is why the term "the bar" has come to refer to the legal profession as a whole. So that is the court setup. Now on to how the verdict is arrived at, and sentenced proclaimed by the judge. When all evidence has been given and challenged by both the lawyer for the prosecution and the lawyer for the defence, then the process of reaching a verdict can begin. Prior to the judge's summing up the case, it is normal court procedure for the judge to meet with both lawyers first. In the meeting, what the judge will say is determined by mutual consent between the lawyers and the judge. It is then up to the judge to decide if the summing up will be split into two parts. If this course of action is taken, the summing up will be divided into a legal part and a summary of the facts of the case. The legal part is basically a clarification of what the charge is and what has to be proven in addition to any special directives for the case, such as the need to respect confidentiality. The summary is given to ensure that all members of the jury are reminded of the essential facts of the case. It is an impartial summary of all the evidence heard during the trial by the jury. After the summing up, the judge will stress the importance of reaching a unanimous verdict. The jury will then retire to consider their decision. If the case is particularly complex, the judge will first issue the jury with a written document entitled "A Root to Verdict". This is essentially a series of questions the jury should pose themselves whilst considering the verdict. The time taken for a jury to reach a verdict can vary from a few hours to several days. If there is a chance that the verdict will not be reached before the end of the court day, then members of the jury are free to go home, on the proviso that they will not discuss details of the case with anyone outside the court room. The more serious the case, the longer a jury may take to reach a decision. If the jury continues to struggle to reach a verdict, the judge will deliver a Watson direction, which is also known as a "Give and Take" direction. Essentially, this is a directive reminding the jury of their oath and to maintain unbiased views whilst discussing the verdict. Should the jury not be unanimous in their decision, then a majority verdict is permitted. Once the verdict has been delivered, the sentencing of the accused is left entirely to the judge. The jury is, however, permitted beforehand to influence the judge sentencing in order to make it more lenient. Accordingly, a "recommendation of mercy" is added to the jury verdict, whether the judge takes this into account is entirely up to them. That is the end of section 4. You now have half a minute to check your answers. That is the end of the listening test. You now have 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the listening answer sheet.