Listening 2026-07 Test 4

Part 1 Speaker 0: Hello. I'm looking to book a holiday for my family. Do you have any recommendations? Speaker 1: Absolutely. We have a wonderful holiday resort called Foxton Bay that is perfect for families. Speaker 0: Is it close to the beach? We love spending time by the sea. Speaker 1: Yes. It's located near a beautiful beach. They have professional lifeguards who provide peace of mind for visitors. It's indeed a safe place to visit. Speaker 0: That sounds perfect. What other facilities does the resort offer? Speaker 1: Along with the beach, we have a swimming pool that can be heated for a more comfortable swimming experience, especially during cooler climates or colder seasons. Speaker 0: That's wonderful. Are there any other activities we can enjoy? Speaker 1: Absolutely. We also have tennis courts for our guests to enjoy. Additionally, we offer bicycle rentals for convenient transportation. There are some fabulous cycling lanes near our center where you can take in the beautiful scenery. Speaker 0: That's fantastic. What are the accommodation options like? Speaker 1: We offer self catering cottages with two bedrooms, each equipped with a fully equipped kitchen, including a microwave. You can prepare any dishes you like during your stay. Speaker 0: That's wonderful. Are there any other amenities available? Speaker 1: Yes. We also have a cozy living room with a TV, offering numerous channels for your entertainment. Additionally, we provide a selection of family games that cater to different ages. Speaker 0: That's exactly what we need. Will there be any provisions when we arrive? Speaker 1: Certainly. When you arrive, we'll greet you with a welcome pack of beverages, including milk, tea, and other drinks. Speaker 0: That's a nice touch. Are there any attractions or nearby towns that we can explore? Speaker 1: Absolutely! There are several nearby towns with various attractions that you can explore. The closest town is just a forty minutes drive away, making it easily accessible. Speaker 0: Is there a store nearby where we can buy groceries if needed? Speaker 1: Yes. There's a supermarket conveniently located just a five minute drive from the holiday park. It's perfect for our guests, especially if they want to have a barbecue party or need to stock up on essentials. Speaker 0: That's very convenient. What about dining options? Are there any restaurants nearby? Speaker 1: The nearest town has a fantastic selection of restaurants situated by the harbor. You'll find a variety of cuisines to choose from, and you can enjoy delicious food while taking in the beautiful sea view. Speaker 0: That sounds lovely, but we don't want to travel too far for dinner. Is there anything closer? Speaker 1: Actually, this town also has large amusement parks that are perfect for families with children. Additionally, there is a cinema if you're looking for entertainment options nearby. Speaker 0: That's fantastic. What are the prices like for a week's stay? Speaker 1: The regular price for a week's stay is £945. However, for the week beginning August 22, we are currently offering a discount, bringing the price down to £915. And if you choose to stay one week later, the price will be even lower at £845. Speaker 0: That's a great deal. We'll take the week beginning August 22 then. We need to be back before the new school term starts. How do we proceed with the booking? Speaker 1: Wonderful. I'll take your details and process the booking for you. PART 2 Speaker 0: Now turn to section two on page three. Speaker 0: Section two. Speaker 0: You will hear the store manager of a bookshop give a short talk to new staff. Speaker 0: First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 16 on page three. Speaker 0: Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 16. Speaker 1: Good evening, everyone. Thanks for coming in. This won't take long. Because we have quite a few new staff members, we thought it would be helpful to call you all in while the shop's closed to give you a short tour. After the tour, we'll introduce you to some of the book promotions we have this month. Have you all got a copy of the map? Okay. Let's move to the store entrance. I can point out each section to you quite easily from there. There are the two cashiers straight ahead. And on our right, close to the wall, is a large area divided into sections. To attract students from the art college nearby, we decided to have books on art at the front of this section, and we're planning to include more texts from the prescribed book lists of local colleges in future. In the middle of this large section is the home section. The books here range from design to renovation. And at the back of this section, we have a small selection of gardening books. As this is a new section for us, at first, we thought we'd locate it on its own on the other side of the cashier's. But we ultimately decided to have it at the back there, and it's well signposted. Straight ahead and directly behind the cashier's, there's the magazine and newspaper stand, which is closest to us. Behind this, you can see two sections side by side, history on one side and biographies on the other. In our other stores, these sections are usually located at the very back. But sales haven't been great, so to try to attract more interest, we decided to make them more visible. Also within this central area, just behind biographies, we've placed our two fiction sections. The children's section is the larger area over on the right, and the adults section, the smaller one on the left. You'll see over in the far left hand corner of the store, we have our coffee shop, which has become very popular. Behind this, running right along the back of the store, we've introduced a reading area. We've added chairs and cushions to create a cozy atmosphere. And as you move around the store later, you'll see this comfortable seating idea in other parts of the shop. And finally, immediately to the left of the entrance, you'll see self help books. These are here because we currently have a number of special offers connected with these topics. When the specials are finished, we'll relocate this section to behind the coffee shop. Okay. I think that's it. I'll let you have a browse around in a minute. Speaker 0: Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 17 to 20 on page four. Speaker 0: Now listen and answer questions 17 to 20. Speaker 1: Next, I'd like to quickly introduce you to some of the new books we have in stock. Firstly, Elizabeth Honey's written a new book called Penny Pinchers. It's a wonderful story set in early Australia, and I thoroughly recommend it. It includes some beautiful drawings based on the artwork of the era. Next is The Running Boy. It's about a boy who gets himself into some difficult situations at school. I think Simon Darling, the writer, has done a fantastic job in this debut book. He's currently working on his second novel, a crime story aimed at the adult market. I'm sure that will definitely be worth waiting for. The next book I have here is The Hidden Code, which won several prizes at the last book convention. Marketed as a book for older children, it deals with realistic problems faced by young people today. Basically, it's a work of fiction. It's something that should also be read by every parent, not just the younger members of the family. And finally, my personal favorite, The Orange Moon. This is the final book in a set of novels about the lives of a fictional group of friends living in Outback Australia. I hear this is being adapted to a movie suitable for the whole family, which I'm sure will be very popular. Speaker 0: That is the end of section two. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Part 3 Speaker 0: Section three. You will hear two students called Jack and Kate discussing a program organized by their university in which mentors give advice about careers. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26 on page five. Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26. Speaker 1: I think the career mentoring program's a great idea. Don't you, Kate? It's really useful the way it puts language students, like us, in touch with someone who already works in the profession we'd like to join after we graduate. Speaker 2: Yes. It's been one of the most useful things we've done this year, I think. How did you first learn about the program? Well, I read about what was involved online after someone on my course recommended it and decided to go for it. How about you, Jack? Speaker 1: Yeah. A friend in my tutorial group mentioned it, and the tutor agreed it could be helpful for all of us. I don't remember seeing you at the first meeting at the beginning of this year's programme. Speaker 2: You know, when we were told who our mentors would be and how to make the most of the contact with them. I was at that meeting, though I arrived a bit late. Speaker 1: It was a nuisance for me that it was held so far from the centre of the campus. Speaker 2: I know. I ended up missing half of my Spanish translation class later that afternoon, but at least I found it all relevant. Speaker 1: Most people seem to say they benefited from it. Speaker 2: True. I wonder why the mentors took on this role, and whether they felt they got something out of working with us over the course of the year. It can't have been easy for them to combine mentoring with their busy work lives. Speaker 1: I hope they found it a worthwhile experience. I heard that the majority of them agreed to become mentors because they wanted to give something back to the university, having studied here themselves. Speaker 2: That's interesting. I just assumed they wanted to get young graduates into the careers they'd chosen to opt for. Speaker 1: So how did you mainly make contact with your mentor? Speaker 2: By talking online, actually. It worked pretty well. It was good to be able to see my mentor even though he lives at the other end of the country. Speaker 1: What about you? We intended to do that, but it didn't work very well, so we just emailed each other every week or so. I preferred that because it gave me time to consider her questions more carefully, instead of having to answer immediately. Speaker 2: My first contact with my mentor was interesting, but quite difficult. Speaker 1: Was it because you weren't sure what you wanted to get out of the program? That's what I found hard at first. Speaker 2: That was okay for me, and my mentor understood my situation because he'd done the same course as me. It was just that I misunderstood one of his questions and gave some idiotic answer. Things got much better as I got used to the process. Speaker 1: So on the whole did your mentor make you change your plans at all? Speaker 2: Not really. Did yours? Speaker 1: Well, she supported my choice of dissertation topic, but she made me reconsider my intention to get a job in France next year. I've also decided to do some different modules next term, but that wasn't really because of anything she said. Speaker 0: Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 27 to 30 on page six. Now listen and answer questions 27 to 30. Speaker 1: So what did you actually discuss with your mentor? Mine helped me a lot with presenting my CV. We also worked on doing well in interviews. Speaker 2: We did too. I mean about the interviews rather than the CV. I'd made a five year plan already, but my mentor had some very helpful advice about what to go for in terms of what master's degree to consider doing after I graduate. Speaker 1: I don't think I'll do a post grad course. One of the most useful things we did was an exercise to identify what I'm good at and where I have gaps in terms of what I want to achieve long term. Speaker 2: My mentor started off by making me think about that too. I found it quite revealing. So would you suggest they do things differently with a mentoring programme next year? Someone suggested starting with a face to face meeting between all the mentors and students, but I don't think that's necessary. The meeting we had just for students only was good for letting us know what to expect, I thought. Speaker 1: Absolutely. I think I'd have liked the programme to kick off at the beginning of the academic year rather than in the middle though. Speaker 2: Fair enough. I think they did a good job of matching mentors to students, but perhaps they needed a bit more training for the mentors. Mine was good, but not everyone's was. Speaker 1: Definitely. But it didn't seem to matter that some had two or three students while others only had one. Okay, well, what should we do now? Speaker 0: That is the end of section three. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Part 4 Now turn to part four. You will hear a lecture about invasive species. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40. Speaker 1: Good morning, everyone. In today's environmental science lecture, we will continue our discussion of ecological systems by focusing on a topic that has attracted increasing global concern, invasive species. These are organisms introduced outside their native range, which, once established, can cause significant ecological disruption, economic loss, and even risks to human well-being. There are several key issues associated with invasive species, and these operate at both large and small scales. On a broader level, they can alter entire ecosystems and reduce biodiversity. However, on a more immediate and personal level, one of the first problems people often notice is that such species can rapidly dominate a garden, outcompeting cultivated plants and native vegetation. In terms of how these species spread, multiple mechanisms are involved. For example, birds contribute to seed dispersal by excreting undigested seeds after feeding. Nevertheless, while this is a natural process, it is not the principal driver. A substantial body of research indicates that humans are in fact the primary agents responsible for the global distribution of invasive species, largely due to international trade, horticulture, and transportation networks. Now let us consider several well documented examples. The first species is common broom or Citisis scaparius. Although it is now widespread in regions such as North America, it originally comes from Europe. This plant produces distinctive yellow flowers during the summer months, which partly explains why it was historically introduced as an ornamental species. Despite its visual appeal, its ecological impact has been considerable. In forested regions, it forms dense stands that compete with young trees for light and nutrients, thereby affecting regeneration processes and ultimately influencing the timber industry. Attempts to control this species have included various biological methods. Nowadays, biologists are making efforts to manage the population by introducing some species of insects in controlled breeding pairs, carefully monitoring their ecological impact. Let us now turn to Japanese barberry, Berberis thunbergii. While its name suggests an origin in Japan, historical records show that some early plant shipments into Europe and North America were routed through Russia before 1900. This shrub can be identified by several characteristics. One notable feature is the presence of small yellow insects inhabiting the environment around its stems and beneath the bark, benefiting from the plant's dense structure. Finally, we have common buckthorn, ramnus cathartica. This species produces berries and has thorn bearing leaves, and its reproductive structures develop from small yellow flower clusters. Its spread is strongly associated with bird behavior. In particular, robins consume the fruit and disperse the seeds over long distances, meaning its distribution is closely linked to their feeding habits and seasonal migration patterns. It is worth noting that not all aspects of invasive species are entirely negative. Historically, common buckthorn has been used in traditional remedies. Modern studies confirm that it contains compounds with effects on the digestive system, and it has been used to treat digestive problems, although its use must be carefully controlled. Speaker 0: That is the end of part four. You now have one minute to check your answers.