Listening 2026 May–Aug Practice Set 4

Narrator: Section 1. Darren: College Accommodation Bureau, Darren speaking, how may I help you? Woman: Oh, good morning. I am starting at the college in September and I need to find some accommodation. Darren: Right. Well, there are various options. The first one is to stay in college accommodation. That'd be a single room. Woman: How much would that cost? Darren: Well, it depends. For a standard room, you'll look at 3276 pounds for the year. That's just for a room with wash basin. Or 3834 pounds if you want a normal suite. That's with your own small bathroom. Woman: I see. That's more than I expected. Darren: It doesn't include heating. That's quite a saving because energy costs can be high, especially in winter. Woman: Hum, does it include meals as well? Darren: No. All our rooms are self-catering now. There is a shared kitchen on each corridor where you can cook if you want to. Or there are plenty of places to eat out on campus. Woman: OK. And you said that is the price for the whole year? Darren: Well, you pay annually. But actually it’s for 36 weeks. It doesn't include holidays. You have to vacate the room then. Woman: Oh, hum, I need somewhere to stay in the holidays. I can't afford to go home. The flights are too expensive. Darren: Well, there is another option. Several families who are the workers at the college or have children study in here offer visiting students a room in their homes. Woman: Oh? Darren: We call this arrangement 'Home Welcome'. And we’ve still got a few places left at the moment. You pay 150 pounds per week and that includes breakfast, a packed lunch and dinner, as well as heating. Woman: Is there a contract? Do you have to stay for the whole year? Darren: No. It's flexible. Woman: Hmm, it sounds really good, but I'm not sure. I really want to be a little more independent. Woman: What about finding somewhere to live off campus? Darren: Yes, you can rent a property in town privately. You might want to rent a room in a shared house. You'd have a room of your own and shared kitchen and bathroom with other students. Woman: What about if I don't want to share? Darren: You can get what we call a studio. They are often quite small but they'll have everything you need. Woman: Right. How much would those two options cost? Darren: Well, prices vary, depending on which part of the town the property is in. Generally speaking, the cheapest is around 275 pounds a month for each student. Woman: Oh, that's not too bad. Darren: Yes, but it can also be as high as 490 pounds and then you have to pay all your other bills. Woman: What sort of amount would I be looking at for those? Darren: Well, last year, students were paying on average about 43 pounds per month each for gas and electricity. This year, it would probably be somewhere in the region of 48 pounds. Woman: That's a lot. Darren: Yes, they've gone up quite a bit. And on top of that, you have to pay for water and that would probably be around 9 pounds. Woman: That didn't occur to me. And I guess I'd have to pay for transportation, too. Darren: That's right. Most of these properties are quite a long way from the college. Woman: Oh, that just gets worse and worse. What's the minimum contract on this type of accommodation? Darren: Six months. And you have to pay a deposit. But of course, you can stay there over the holidays. Woman: That’s true. Darren: And you'd have to provide references. They want two from someone in this country. Woman: I see. That's not a problem. Darren: If you do choose this option, we can't find the property for you. You'd have to go through the estate agent which manages the property for the owner. Woman: Right. Thanks. Well, I think I'd like to see what's available privately. Could you give me the estate agent details... Narrator: Section 2. Woman: Welcome to the Global Museum, located at the heart of this truly multi-cultural city which is home to more than 60 different nationalities. Woman: The museum has a number of exciting displays and exhibitions. And this audio guide is designed to help you make the most of your visit. Woman: Altogether, the museum has 18 different galleries, and this season sees the opening of three new exhibitions. Woman: We recommend that you begin your tour by visiting this season’s highlights. Woman: The Heritage Closes Exhibition is located in Gallery 5 of the museum. Woman: People who live in the area have spent two years preparing this exhibition, which brings together some of the fascinating garments, traditionally worn in their own communities. Woman: They researched the history of their communities' clothing traditions and the customs and rituals associated with them. Woman: Altogether, 16 countries are represented, from Ghana to Korea, from Turkey to Nepal. Woman: The photographs that accompany each display case were taken by some of the city's college students who are studying design and show the clothes being modeled by the real people who wear them in the course of their everyday lives. Woman: Another highlight of the season is the exhibition called 'Toys from the Past' which can be found in Gallery 9. Woman: This exhibition, which appeals to people of all ages, is on tour throughout the country and will be here for ten weeks only. Woman: The exhibits include dolls made over a hundred years ago with beautiful porcelain faces and in some cases real hair. Woman: The collection covers the favourite toys such as wooden train sets from many different generations and provide plenty of interest for children and adults. Woman: The gigantic board games which are laid out on the gallery floor are one of the most popular activities in the exhibition and should not be missed. Woman: This exhibition concludes with the special display of miniature toys. Woman: These small objects are all on loan from countries all over the world and in some cases measure no more than a few centimetres. Woman: There is a tiny car made from match sticks, a toy aeroplane complete with pilot and passengers made out of seashells, and some exquisite little buildings no higher than 4 centimetres. Woman: The final gallery highlight of the season is the Biscuit Gallery No. 15. Woman: Many years ago, this city was famous for its biscuits. Although today the factory no longer exists. Woman: Did you know for example that before biscuits were packed in paper cardboard boxes, biscuit tins were fashion items? Woman: The factory made tins round, square, triangular, hexagonal for a whole range of different occasions to celebrate national events, festivals, famous faces and so on. Woman: One fascinating display deals with people's favourite biscuits. There are sweet biscuits and savory ones, biscuits filled with jam and biscuits filled with currants, biscuits with pink, yellow and white sugar icing or coloured sugar flowers. Woman: When the factory finally closed, it announced people's favourite biscuit was not as you might expect a chocolate biscuit or one filled with jam and cream, but a plain savory one which was eaten with cheese. Woman: When you get to the end of the exhibition, there is an entertaining hands-on activity to fill your own biscuit tin. Woman: All the biscuits ever produced by the company are piled up on the table along with various tins. Woman: The biscuits are made out of thin pieces of wood, but the weight, colours and shapes replicate the original biscuits. Woman: Your job is to fill the tin with biscuits so when the lid is taken off, they sit there as neatly as they did when the job is done by machine. It is not as easy as it looks. Woman: If you would like to buy a memento of your visit, there is a museum gift shop selling postcards, souvenirs, and hand-made pottery next to the information desk on the ground floor. Woman: And finally, if you don’t want to carry your coats and bags around with you during your visit, please make use of the free lockers provided by the museum. Woman: Enjoy your visit. Narrator: Section 3. Tutor: Come in, Helen, how can I help you? Helen: Well, I'm doing research for the anthropology assignment. And I was hoping to check a few details. Tutor: Sure. You chose the topic of Pacific tapa cloth, didn't you? What have you found out so far? Helen: Well, I was going to introduce my assignment by saying that tapa cloth is fiber made from bark, just the outer layer of the trees. It's particularly common in the Pacific Islands, but not exclusive to them. In fact, many other people around the world have made high quality cloth from bark. But what sets Pacific tapa apart is the incredible variety of roles it's played in this region. Tutor: Yes, nice introduction, though I think you can be more specific regarding dates. OK, so what about raw materials used? Helen: Well, tapa cloth is made from several species of tree. In the Pacific, the paper mulberry tree is most common, but it doesn't thrive in all conditions. In fact, it wasn't originally found in the islands, but was carried in the canoes by the first migrants. Tapa is also made from the breadfruit tree, which is convenient, because its fruit is the staple food. The paper mulberry tree is only grown for tapa making. Tutor: Yes, that's good. Now what about the Maori people here in New Zealand? Helen: But the Maori don't make tapa now. Tutor: That's right. And you need to account for it. We know that when Maori migrated here from the other Pacific islands, they were prepared to make tapa because they brought the paper mulberry tree with them. The thing was, after they'd been in New Zealand a bit, they found the flax plant which is superior to tapa, because it makes the stronger fabric. By the time Europeans arrived in the 18th century, Maori were making all their fabric from flax and had been for some time. Helen: OK. So, with the production process itself, first the inner bark is beaten with a wooden hammer to soften the fibers. Then the different pieces are glued together using adhesive paste made from the Aloe root tuber. This is the only way to make large pieces of cloth because bark strings are too fine to be woven together and stitch isn't strong enough. Tutor: So now you need details about different countries. Helen: Where would you start? Tutor: I think Samoa is the obvious place. It's famous for its very fine clothes called Siapo which is hand painted with representations of the ancestors. Still today, at the most profound events in lives, such as births, funerals, weddings and the investiture of chiefs, Samoans use Siapo robes to add significance and meaning to the ceremony. Helen: OK. Then I can talk about Tonga. It seems to me that the great innovation in Tonga has been developing a simple coarse cloth, which is quick and easy to make. This is suitable for all sorts of everyday functions around the house, like bed covers, mosquito nets and curtains. Tutor: Good point. Now what about Cook Islands tapa? Helen: Well, the soil there is poor quality, so the breadfruit tree is often used. One type of thick cloth called Tikoda was wrapped around the poles and used to make the entrances to places of worship, so was highly regarded in local culture. Tutor: You might mention Fiji as well, which is interesting, because tapa was actually used as currency there. Fijians used to sail between the islands and exchange tapa for other commodities like canoes or pigs. Helen: I know that in Tahiti, the tapa cloth is different, because the patterns are in colour, which is considered more valuable than the usual brown patterns. Tutor: You are right about the Tahitians using coloured pigments, but they aren't more valuable. The colours are only a decoration. People enjoy wearing bright robes especially for dancing and competitive games and do it just for fun. Helen: Oh, I'll make a note of it. Well, the last place I was going to mention was Tikopia. Even today it's commonplace to see people wearing clothes made of tapa cloth. And in many of the other islands, the tapa only comes out on special occasions. But here you see people working in the gardens wearing tapa. Tutor: Sounds promising, Helen. I'll look forward to reading your assignment. Narrator: Section 4. Lecturer: My talk is about a research study I did over a period of five years on learner persistence. Why do some people stick at academic study better than others? Lecturer: As teachers, you will know that there is a tremendous variation in the learner's response to certain things. For example, a short period of illness might completely destabilize some students and cause them to give up their degree studies. Other learners may overcome tremendous difficulties to stay the course. I am particularly interested in the second group, who are the ones with learner persistence. Lecturer: What I decided to do was design a research study using a sample of my university's third-year undergraduate students, 295 in all, who obviously had already stayed the course pretty well. The sample was drawn from a range of ages but there were deliberately a significant number of mature students. And all respondents were living at home in the local region. Lecturer: I wanted to have this element of consistency, not having some coming from outside the area living in university accommodation. It should be noted though that there was significant variation in home background to reflect the variation in our student population. Lecturer: I designed questionnaires which were devised to elicit what their concerns had been as they started the course and what had sustained them throughout the three years. Findings from the first section indicated that their worries when they started varied from financial concerns, though this had not been as strong as I expected, to career prospects. But mature students with children tended to emphasize uncertainties about their relationship with them. Lecturer: The second section of my questionnaire looked at learner persistence under three main headings: social and environmental factors, other factors, and intrinsic or personal characteristics. I identified three levels of importance for each of these. Lecturer: At the first level, those points identified by participants as most important for learner persistence. For social factors, many respondents said how crucial it had been to have good support. There was no one specific source; it could be family or friends. Lecturer: As regards other factors, students are hardened not so much by high grades, but by what they regard as success in study. And for personal characteristics, many respondents reported that they took pleasure in challenge, and this was regarded as very significant. Lecturer: At the second level of importance, in the first category, a sizable percentage talked about the fact that they had enjoyed themselves in school as an important social factor. Lecturer: In the second column, other factors, a number of people said that what was of most importance was decent health. This had a fairly strong influence on their persistence in their studies. Lecturer: And then under the heading of personal characteristics, there were quite a large percentage of respondents who mentioned they felt it was important to have lots of interests in their everyday lives. This gave them a depth and sense of perspective which less persistent learners might lack. Lecturer: And then onto the third level, under social factors, several respondents talked about good relationships with their tutors. For other factors, they mentioned lack or absence of any problems in their families. And finally, under personal characteristics, they identified the ability to juggle several roles, what we might call their capacity for multi-tasking. Lecturer: Now these findings obviously helped form a design of activities that I mentioned. But in addition, a number of further recommendations emerged. Lecturer: Firstly, I propose that the department distribute questionnaires to first-year students to help get an idea of their maturity when starting the course. This is really our overriding concern. Lecturer: Secondly, I recommend we look into ways of offering induction courses for some selected students to allow them to take on the role of advisors. We think they are the best people to act in that role. This policy will make support much more accessible to our students. Lecturer: Thirdly, this help is often most needed in the evening and night when offices are closed. And so we should set up online services instead of the more traditional telephone services. Research shows that the services are actually more accessible to the majority of students. Lecturer: And finally, it is often important to be proactive. If students are not meeting deadlines, then someone should contact them rather than wait for them to come to us. Now, are there any questions about the points...