Listening 2026-07 Test 14

Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5. Hello, holiday rental services. Oh, hello. I'd like to ask about holiday accommodation in the summer. Okay. How many people do you want the accommodation for? There are six of us all together. And as regards location, what sort of general area are you thinking of? Well, we had a lovely holiday on the South Coast last year, but this time we were thinking of the northeast. I understand you have properties there. We certainly do. It's a lovely area, very popular. Did you have anywhere in particular in mind? Not specially. We do want somewhere that's extremely quiet though, not on the main road or anything. We don't mind if it's out in the country. Are you looking for something right by the sea? Well, the property doesn't have to be right next to the sea. It mustn't be too far away from a beach though. A good one for the children. Ten or fifteen minutes drive away is okay, but not much further than that. Right. That will give you a much better choice of properties then. There are some lovely ones just a few miles inland. Anything else about the location? Well, we were just wondering. Some evenings we'd like to go out for a meal, so we'd like to be near a restaurant if possible. Okay, I'll bear that in mind. That shouldn't be difficult. And what about the property itself? How many bedrooms we'd be wanting? Well, as I said, there'll be six of us, me and my husband, my mother, and our three children. We've got twin girls and a baby boy. So, are you looking for four bedrooms? Well, three would be fine. The baby can sleep in our room. Okay. And do you mind if it's a new property or an old one? It doesn't really matter. I know old properties have more character, but actually, we're not that fussy. But my mother's got a problem with her back, and she's not very good on stairs. She can usually manage them, but not if they're steep. So, would you prefer an apartment rather than a house? We have some very nice apartments with lifts to all floors and balconies. No, I think we'd be better with a house. In fact, what we really want is a garden, one that's safe for the kids to play in, rather than a balcony, like you'd get in an apartment. Okay, fine. Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6 to 10. Now, listen and answer questions 6 to 10. Now, regarding dates, you said the summer. Do you have particular dates in mind? Well, not specially, except that we'd like to avoid high season if possible. The twins aren't at school yet, so we're quite flexible. Yes, well, it is quite a bit cheaper if you don't go during high season. Shall we look at dates in June? How long were you thinking of staying a week? Just a weekend, actually. My husband can't get away from work for very long. That's not a problem. Right, well, if I can just take a few personal details, that's Mrs... Cheffins, that's CHE, double F, I-N-S. And do you want my address? Just a contact phone number for now, please. 01924, 677285. Thanks. And can I just ask where you heard of us? Yes, of course. It was in a magazine advert. Was it the Sunday Times magazine? No, what was it? Oh, I know. It was country living, but I can't remember the date. It doesn't matter. Right, well, if you have time to wait now, I can just get some properties up on the screen. --- Now turn to Section 2 on Page 3. Section 2. You will hear the store manager of a bookshop give a short talk to new staff. First you have some time to look at questions 11 to 16 on Page 3. Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 16. 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 caches 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 caches. But we ultimately decided to have it at the back there, and it's well signposted. Straight ahead and directly behind the caches, 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 adult 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. Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at question 17-20 on page 4. Now listen and answer a question 17-20. Next, I'd like to quickly introduce you to some of the new books we have in stock. Firstly, Elizabeth Hunnies written a new book called Penny Pinchers. It's a wonderful story, said 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 favourite, 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. That is the end of section 2. You now have half a minute to check your answers. --- 3. You will hear two engineering students, a woman in her sixth year called Linda and a man in his fifth year called Matthew discussing the benefits of student work placements. Before you listen, you have some time to look at questions 21-26. Now listen and answer questions 21-26. Hi Linda, can you spare a few minutes? Hello Matthew, no problem. I just wanted to talk to you about temporary work placements. I've never really thought there was a good reason for doing one. Now I've got some savings so I don't really need the money at the moment, but I've had an email from the university about a vacancy that looks quite interesting. You did a placement last year didn't you? I did, yes. In my case, I wanted to find out if I was making the right career choice before I began applying for permanent jobs. I thought I wanted to work in car manufacturing, but I wasn't sure, so I applied to Toyota. What was the application process like? Lengthy. There were a lot of different parts to it. The dullest one was a psychometric test. You know, when you have to answer loads of questions about yourself. As you're trying to guess, what's the best thing to say? Yes, then there was an activity that we did in groups, which I found really fascinating. Engineers are renowned for being a bit unsociable, but I thought we made a great team, and we had an individual task too. We had to sort through various business documents and prioritize them. It was just like what you have to do as a student really, just with different content. What exactly were you doing on the placement? I was helping to design some diagnostic software to identify any waste in the car assembly process. Do you mean waste of materials? No, time. Anything that can speed the process up helps to cut costs. How did the work placement compare to being a student? Was it hard work? Yes, it was. I'd had full time work before. I've done various unskilled jobs during university holidays and some of those involved long hours. So I thought I'd find it easy. I was wrong, though. I think when you're on placement, you're always trying to prove yourself. So you push yourself hard to succeed? Yes. But I got a lot of support from my employers. They were always helpful. And then, at the end of the placement, I was given formal feedback. Do you mean on your engineering ability? Well, no. I didn't really need that because we had team meetings every other day. And so I had the chance to discuss technical issues and ask about anything that wasn't clear. The evaluation was about general workplace things, like organizational ability, initiative, that sort of thing. I get the impression you think you benefited from the placement. Well, the best thing is that they've offered me a job for next year, depending on my exam results, of course, but still. A permanent one? Yes. But apart from that, I learned so much. The industrial environment was much more demanding than the academic one. So my general skills improved, like time management, meeting deadlines. And on the technical side, I learned new software packages, like MS Project. Well, I think you've convinced me that work placements are worthwhile, but while you're here, can you give me advice on something else? Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 27 to 30. Now, listen and answer questions 27 to 30. I am about to make a start on the engineering materials module, and I've got a book list here. Can you have a quick look and tell me what you would recommend? That's if you can remember it. Let's see. I do remember some of them. Yes, this one. The science of materials. I found the subject quite hard, generally, but this book is very accessible, so it suited me. It doesn't cover everything, though. What about this one, then? Materials engineering? Oh, yes. I do remember that, but it's a bit out of date now, isn't it? Unless it's a new addition. I don't think so. But what I liked about it were the pictures. They really helped to understand the descriptions. It's useful just from that point of view. Let's see. What else? Oh, yes. That one there. Engineering basics. I think out of all these, that's got the widest coverage. But I've looked at the contents page, and it hardly mentions nanotechnology. Yes, you're right. The evolution of materials does, though. It's a recent publication, so it covers all the latest developments. It's a bit thin on the 1960s, though, and that decade was quite important. Well, it sounds as if they all complement each other in some ways. I don't suppose you can lend me. That is the end of part three. You now have half a minute to check your answers. --- Section 4. You will hear a lecturer talking about the use of games techniques in business. First, you have some time to look at questions 31-40 on page 7. You have some time to look at questions 31-40 on page 7. We will hear a lecturer talking about these questions 31-40 on page 7. We will hear a lecturer talking about these questions 31-40 on page 7. We will hear a lecturer talking about these questions 31-40 on page 7. We will hear a lecturer talking about these questions 31-40 on page 7. We will hear a lecturer talking about these questions 31-40 on page 7. We will hear a lecturer talking about these questions 31-40 on page 7. We will hear a lecturer talking about these questions 31-40 on page 7. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31-40. Today, we are going to look at how the phenomenon known as gamification has really exploded in recent years. So what exactly is gamification? It has been defined as the use of games thinking and mechanics in non-game situations, such as for business. Up to now, its most common function has been marketing. It is extremely popular with big companies, but as we'll see, it also has many other uses. Gamification techniques work on our natural desire for competition. One way they do this is by providing a reward, for example badges or points or providing a type of virtual currency. But don't be fooled into thinking the concept is another one. Just think of the frequent flyer incentive schemes that were initiated by airlines to try and retain customers. In fact, it's been around for years. However, it has become more prolific with advances in technology. So how is gamification being used? Well, it is seen as an excellent way of obtaining almost instantaneous feedback through common social media sites. However, there are other areas where it is increasingly being used, in particular as a means of trying to convince people through fun activities to alter their behaviour. Another use is in education or training in the workplace, especially when it is just not feasible to train people on the real thing. Good examples of this are the aircraft simulators used by pilots or the urban simulators used by town planners. So let's look at a few examples of the successful implementation of gamification. One perhaps surprising use of gamification has been an official campaigns by governments and authorities who have quickly seen its potential. In Australia, the government developed a smartphone app called My FitBuddy, whose aim was to help people get off the sofa and exercise. The app provided plenty of motivational content to ensure people got the encouragement they needed to increase their levels of activity. Overseas in one city, instead of just punishing the drivers caught driving too fast, a local authority conducted a trial where they rewarded good drivers with free entries into a draw. The trial was so successful that it resulted in a 22% reduction in speeding. Gamification is also playing its part in helping people make healthy choices. In an attempt to get commuters to walk instead of using the escalators in an underground station, the staircase next to it was transformed into a piano. It had a touchpad underneath which played notes as people stepped on it. When it was in use, almost everyone opted to use the stairs instead of the escalator. Another example is a medical research company in Australia. They realised the potential of gamification to help the elderly recover much more quickly from accidents. When the elderly fall, the most common injury is not to the arm or the leg but to the hand, so they took an already popular computer game which involved people smashing fruit and adapted it so patients could practice their fine motor skills in a fun way. Now, there are a number of things to consider when using gamification. First of all, there is no way it can work unless it is fun. In fact, without that element, it could have the complete opposite effect on the consumer. In addition, as companies are often obtaining a lot more personal information and data on their customers this way, they should always be mindful of their legal obligations in terms of legislation relating to privacy. So now, it's over to you to think of other examples of gamification that you might have come across. That is the end of section 4. You now have half a minute to check your answers.