Listening Test 4
Section 3
ANNOUNCER: Listening Section 3. In a moment, you are going to hear a conversation between Teresa and Bob, two economics students. They are having a cup of coffee between lectures. Before you listen, look at Questions 22 to 33. Note the examples that have been done for you.
(Pause)
As you listen to the conversation, answer Questions 22 to 33.
TERESA: Mmm. This is yummy coffee, Bob. How's yours?
BOB: It's excellent. You know, Teresa, I just read an article about coffee last night. It was in that journal that Professor Clark recommended to us.
TERESA: Which one was that? Oh, I think I know. Food Economics Review.
Isn't that it?
BOB: That's the one. Anyway, in the article there were all kinds of interesting things about coffee that I'd never known before.
TERESA: Yeah? Like what?
BOB: Well, did you know that over 30 million people earn their living from some aspect of coffee farming?
TERESA: That's a lot of people. Coffee obviously has a lot of importance economically.
BOB: Absolutely. In fact, its the second most valuable commodity in the world after oil.
TERESA: Wow! Well, if it's that big, it's probably produced and controlled by a few large companies, just like with oil.
BOB: Well, this article said otherwise. It said that most coffee's grown by farmers with only 4 or 5 hectares of land. And coffee's usually all they produce.
TERESA: So who produces the most coffee? I mean which country?
BOB: It depends on what type of coffee bean you're talking about.
TERESA: Oh, of course. Each country's coffee has a different flavour. My favourite's Jamaican.
BOB: What you're talking about isn't type; it's just regional variation. What I'm talking about is the coffee bean itself. One common type of coffee bean is called Robusta. It's grown at altitudes of below 600 metres.
TERESA: Is that what we're drinking now?
BOB: Probably not. The coffee we're drinking is premium quality. Robusta is usually used to make instant coffee.
TERESA: Yuck!
BOB: Anyway, the premium coffee- like the stuff we're drinking now-is from a type of bean called Arabica. They grow it higher up, at between 600 and 2000 metres.
TERESA: So those are the two types of coffee, are they?
BOB: Actually, there's one more, called Liberica. It's grown below 1200 metres.
But apparently, it's not produced in very large quantities. It's used in blended coffees.
TERESA: Listen Bob. I'm still waiting for an answer to my question: who grows the most coffee?
BOB: Now that I've explained the types, Teresa, I can tell you. For the Arabica type, it's Brazil followed by Columbia.
TERESA: So Latin America's the biggest producer.
BOB: Only for Arabica coffee. But it's also grown in large quantities in Africa,
too. In fact, the number three Arabica producer is Kenya.
TERESA: What about the other type, er, Robusta?
BOB: The biggest producer of Robusta is Uganda. But the second largest is in Asia. That's Indonesia. In fact, Indonesia is the fourth largest producer of coffee, in general, in the world.
TERESA: So, tell me, Bob. Did the article talk about how people like their coffee?
BOB: Yes, it did: in terms of preferred styles of coffee in different countries.
The article divided these styles into instant coffee, espresso coffee and brewed coffee. It seems European countries tend to drink more brewed coffee. Countries like Sweden and Norway, for example. It's the same for the Germans. But strangely enough in the UK, instant coffee is king. Perhaps they like the convenience of instant.
TERESA: What about the Italians? I suppose espresso would be what they prefer. BOB: That's right. And while espresso's popular across the border in France, too, it's still outsold by brewed. In the US, people drink more cups of instant than anything else. But, interestingly enough, in Japan, brewed coffee is the number one.
TERESA: What about the producing countries?
BOB: Well, you're never going to believe this, Teresa, but Brazilians, for example, who grow all those beautiful premium beans, actually prefer instant. It's even more expensive than brewed!
TERESA: Is there any sort of large world body that watches over all the buying and selling of coffee? Like they've got for oil?
BOB: There is. It's called the International Coffee Organization -the ICO. It was actually set up by the United Nations in 1963 to try to stabilize the world
coffee market. There's something like over 100 countries that belong to it, both producing countries and consuming countries.
TERESA: So how does it work?
BOB: It's pretty complex from what I could gather from the article. But basically, the ICO reckons that by controlling the amount of coffee that's available on the world market, they can keep prices from going too low or too high.
TERESA: That sounds reasonable. Does it work?
BOB: Usually, but sometimes it doesn't. Back in 1975, Brazil produced almost no coffee at all because the coffee plants were killed before harvest by freezing weather.
TERESA: Which meant that there was a demand but not much supply.
BOB: Exactly. Especially with Brazil being such a large producer. Anyway, as you'd expect, prices shot through the roof. The ICO couldn't do anything to help.
TERESA: So people paid a premium for coffee, then.
BOB: Well, no, actually. The prices went so high for half a year or so that millions of people no longer bought coffee. They couldn't afford to. So you know what happened next?
TERESA: What? No, let me guess. Er. if nobody's buying coffee, the price had to come down, am I right?
BOB: Exactly right. The whole market collapsed, as a matter of fact, and coffee became cheaper than it had been for the previous 25 years. Unbelievable but true
TERESA: Shall we order another cup?
ANNOUNCER: That is the end of Section 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers.
Section 4
ANNOUNCER: Listening Section 4. In a moment, you are going to hear a talk given by Katherine Blakely, who is a lecturer in Management Studies. She will be discussing aspects of business meetings. Before you listen, look at Questions 34 to 41. Note the example that has been done for you.
(Pause)
As you listen to the talk, answer Questions 34 to 41.
KATHERINE BLAKELY: Hello, everyone. My name's Katherine Blakely. I'm Associate Professor of Management Studies here on campus. Today is the second in our series of talks on aspects of holding business meetings. Last week we talked about the most effective ways of leading meetings, and the advantages and disadvantages of different leadership styles.
Today, in this second talk of the series, I'd like to discuss the role of the facilitator in a meeting. For those of you who aren't aware, businesses and organizations in the past 20 years or so have turned to this idea of a facilitator. A facilitator is a person in the organization who's chosen to ensure that meetings are carried out efficiently. The facilitator works together with a meeting leader, but their roles are quite different. The meeting leader concerns himself or herself with the content of the meeting; by content, I mean, of course, what the meeting's for. The facilitator, on the other hand, is more concerned with the process of the meeting. This notion of process includes the rules for the meeting and making sure everyone has a chance to participate.
Ok. I next want to outline what are commonly known as the five global responsibilities of a facilitator. This is to give you a better idea of just what a facilitator does and why they're so important to meetings. One global responsibility is labelled 'blueprinting'. Blueprinting a meeting involves creating an agenda and clarifying rules for the meeting. Much of this work is done together with the meeting leader. Blueprinting also means learning about each of the participants and what their goals and interests are with regard to the topic of the meeting. It also involves printing and photocopying documents for the meeting and assembling equipment such as visual aids.
A second global responsibility is what we call 'pro-integration'. Pro-integration happens during the actual meeting. For this, the facilitator must listen carefully to what the participants are saying, then clarify any unfamiliar terms or phrases spoken by the participants. He or she then summarises what was said to ensure everybody at the meeting both fully understands and is fully understood.
Global responsibility number three is what I term 'focusing'. This is basically seeing that everyone keeps to the task at hand, not wandering off onto other topics. It's all too easy for discussion in a meeting to get off track. Here, the facilitator supervises the discussion, making sure all comments are relevant to the task. Focusing also involves knowing in which direction the meeting should be going, and making sure it goes there. We can compare the facilitator's role here to that of a bus driver, steering the group where they need to go.
This brings us to 'prompting', which is our fourth global responsibility. Not everyone at a meeting may feel confident enough to talk, and we must remember that just because they're quiet, it doesn't mean that they've got nothing to contribute. So a facilitator might prompt people, that is, ask people questions or use other activities to get members involved. The task of 'prompting' also means making sure that participants who tend to dominate allow the quieter members a chance to speak. After all, there's nothing more boring than having one or two people dominate a meeting.
When participants get into disputes or arguments with each other, then it's time for the facilitator to take on the role of 'friction manager'. This is the fifth global responsibility of the facilitator, and the last on our list. Friction management means handling conflicts in a positive and constructive manner. During meetings when members may have very different points of view, emotions can run high and people may begin to act negatively toward one another, getting into arguments or what have you. A good facilitator knows that this kind of negative behaviour serves no purpose at business meetings. Its effects are not constructive. So he or she then has to use his or her skills to return the group to a peaceful atmosphere, and maintain that atmosphere. There are various skills involved in friction management which I won't go into here, but basically, the notion of getting the group to focus on what they agree on -rather than what they disagree on -is vital.
ANNOUNCER: That is the end of Section 4. You now have half a minute to check your answers.
Pause
That is the end of Listening Test 1.
At the end of the real test, you will have ten minutes to transfer your answers to a listening answer sheet.
Sections 3 Questions 22 and 23
Questions 22 and 23
Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS or NUMBERS for each answer.
NOTES ON COFFEE
ExampleJournal: Food Economics Review
22 Coffee farming provides work for________________________
Great economic importance
23 Ranked____________ most important commodity in world
Most farmers produce coffee on 4-5 hectares of land
Questions 24-27
Complete the table.
COFFEE BEANTYPE GROWINGALTITUDE USED FOR LARGEST GROWERCOUNTRY
Arabica Example600-2000 metres premium coffee Brazil
Robusta (24) (25) (27)
Liberica Below 1200 metres (26)
Question 28-30
Country Style of coffee preferred
(28)Instant coffee (29)Espresso coffee (30)Brewed coffee
Brail \/
France \/
Germany \/
Italy \/
Japan \/
Norway Example
Sweden Example
USA \/
UK \/
Questions 31-33
Complete the sentences below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
31. The ICO was established by________
32. _____________destroyed the 1975 Brazil coffee crop.
Circle the correct answer.
33. Because of the Brazil coffee crop failure...
A the ICO had to supply the world coffee market.
B prices rose, then fell.
C prices remained high.
D premium coffee became unavailable.
Section 4 Questions 34-41
Questions 34 and 35
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
What is the main interest in a meeting...
34. for the meeting leader?_________
35. for the facilitator?________
Questions 36-41
Complete the table below by writing the appropriate letter A-E in each blank box
Link each task below to the appropriate global responsibility.
Facilitator's global responsibilities
'Blueprinting' =A
'Pro-integration' =B
'Focusing' =C
'Prompting' =D
'Friction management' =E
Tasks
writing an agenda Example A
defining technical terms (36)
maintaining harmony (37)
getting to know participants (38)
guiding discussion (39)
promoting agreement (40)
Encouraging everyone participation (41)
Key：22. 30 million
23. the second
24. blow 600 metres
25. instant coffee
26. blended coffee
27. Uganda
31. U.N
32. freezing weather
33.B
34. content
35. process
36-41. BEACED
Listening Test 6
Section 1
Listen to the conversation between Bob Wills, who is a foreign student adviser at a language school, and Angela Tung, who is a student, and complete the form. Write no more than three words or numbers for each answer.
Look at questions 1 to 8 on the form now.
Now we shall begin. You should answer the questions as you listen because you will not hear the recording second time.
First, you have another chance to look at questions 1 to 8.
Telephone rings
Bob: Hello. Foreign Student Adviser's office. This is Bob Wills speaking. Can I help you?
Angela: It's Angela Tung here, Bob. I'd like to make a request for special leave. Can I do that over the phone?
Bob: Hello, Angela. You can make that request by phone-but I'll have to fill the form out. Let me get the special leave form. Okay. Here it is. Hm. Tell me your student number, please.
Angela: It's H for Harry 5712.
Bob: H5712. Okay. What's your address, Angela?
Angela: I live at 10 Bridge Street, Tamworth.
Bob: 10 Bridge Street, Tamworth. And your phone number?
Angela: The telephone number's 810 6745.
Bob: Thanks. What course are you doing?
Angela: I'm in the writing class.
Bob: Writing. Who's your teacher this term?
Angela: Mrs. Green-she spells her name like the colour.
Bob: Thanks. Hmm. When does your student visa expire?
Angela: Let me look. July 15.
Bob: July 15. Okay. Which term do you want to take leave?
Angela: Do you want dates?
Bob: first, I have to write a term number. When do you want to take leave? Angela: In term one.
Bob: Okay. Term one. Now can you tell me what are the exact dates?
Angela: I'd like to be away May 31 to June 4.
Bob: Okay. I've got that. You'll miss four working days between May 31 and June 4. Is that right?
Angela: Only three. I'll be away over a weekend. I'll be back at my classes on June 5, so that's three days away.
Narrator: Look at questions 9 to 12.
Now listen to more of the conversation between Angela and Bob, and answer questions 9 to 12.
Bob: Why do you want to take leave, Angela?
Angela: I'm going to visit my aunt May. She's my mother's sister. She and her husband are my guardians while I'm here.
Bob: Where do they live?
Angela: About fifty kilometres from here, near Armidale.
Bob: Do you have to take so long if they live nearby?
Angela: My mother is coming with me. She's come for a holiday, so she wants to have some time with May, and I want to spend some time with my mother, too. Bob: Aren't you going home soon?
Angela: I've applied to extend my time here. I expect to go home in twelve months.
Narrator: That is the end of Section 1. You now have some time to check your answers. Now turn to Section 2.
Section 2
You are going to hear a tape recording of instructions and advice which a woman called Martha has left for her friend John, who is coming to stay at her house and take care of it whicle she is away. First, look at questions 13 to 18.
As you listen to the first part of the talk, answer questions 13 to 18.
Martha: Hello, John. Welcome to the house. I'm really pleased that you can be here to look after my house while I'm away.
Here are some things you need to know about the house. Important stuff like when the garbage is collected. In fact, let's start with the garbage, which is collected on Friday. Just write Garbage on the calendar on the days they take it away. Put it out on Friday every week, that'll be Friday 22nd, Friday 29th and Friday 5th. It's a really good service. The trucks are quiet and the service is efficient. The bin would be put outside of the house empty. It's a good idea to put it away quickly. This street can be quite windy. I once watched my next-door neighbour chase her bin the whole length of the street. Every time she nearly caught up with it, it got away again. The waste paper will be collected this Tuesday, that's Tuesday 19th. There's a plastic box full of paper in the front room: please put it out on Tuesday. The truck will come during the day. If you don't mind collecting old newspapers and other paper and putting them in the box I'll put it out when I come home-the paper people only come monthly. I have some things to give to charity in a box in the front room. Would you put it out on Monday the 25th please? It's a box of old clothes and some bed linen which I've collected, plus a few other bits and pieces. Be careful when you pick it up, because it's heavier than you might expect. The charity truck will come by during the day on the last Monday of the month. If you want to use the library, you'll find it on Darling Street. I've left my borrower's card near the telephone. It has a very good local reference section if you want to find out more about this city. I'm sorry to say we don't have a cleaner. Oh, yes! Filters! Please would you change the filters on the washing machine on the last day of the month, which is Sunday the 31st. We find that the machine works much better if we change the filters regularly. The gas company reads the meter outside the house, so don't worry about that. I think that's all the information about our calendar of events.
Narrator: Now look at questions 19 to 24. Circle the correct answer.
Martha: Well, John, I'm trying to think what else I should be telling you. As you know, I'm going to a conference in London. I hope to have a little time to look around. It's a great city! I do hope I manage to get to at least some of the theatres and museums. I'm looking forward to all the things I have to do at the conference, too. I'm giving a paper on Tuesday the 26th and there are a couple of really exciting events planned later in the conference program. I hope to meet up with an old teacher of mine at the conference. She taught English Literature at my old high school and we've kept in touch through letters over the years. She teaches now at the University of Durham, and I'm really looking forward to seeing her again. By the way, I expect you're hungry after your trip. I've left a meal in the refrigerator for you. I hope you like cheese and onion pie.
Would you do me a favour please? I haven't had time to cancel an appointment. It was made a long time ago and I forgot about it until this morning. It's with my dentist, for a check-up on Thursday the 28th. Could you please call the dentist on 816 2525 and cancel the appointment for me? Thanks a lot, John. One last thing. When you leave the house, make sure the windows and doors are shut, and set the burglar alarm. The alarm code number is 9_1_2_0 enter. Have fun! I'll see you when I get back. This is your friend Martha, saying goodbye.
Narrator: That is the end of Section 2. You will now have some time to check your answers. Now turn to Section 3.
Section 3
In this section you will hear a discussion between a college receptionist, Denise, and a student named Vijay about learning a language. In the first part of the discussion they are talking about the course Vijay will study. First look at Questions 25 to 29. Note the examples that have been done for you.
Using no more than three words or numbers, complete the table.
Denise: Hello. May I help you?
Vijay: Hello. is this the right place for me to register to study foreign languages?
Denise: Yes, it is. May I have your name please?
Vijay: Vijay. My family name is Paresh.
Denise: Vijay Paresh. Okay. Do you have a telephone number?
Vijay: Yeh. 909 2467.
Denise: Thank you. Now, which language would you like to learn? We offer French, Italian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Portugese…
Vijay: Ah. I'd like to learn Spanish, please.
Denise: Okay. Our classes are conducted in lots of different places. We have classrooms in the city and here in this building...
Vijay: What's this building called?
Denise: This is Building A.
Vijay: I work near here, so it'd be best to study in Building A.
Denise: What time do you want to come to lessons? They go on for three hours, and they start at 10.00 am, 4.00 pm and 6.00 pm.
Vijay: I wish I could come to the daytime lessons, but I can't, so 6.00 pm please.
Denise: That's our most popular time, of course. Umm. Have you ever studied Spanish before?
Vijay: No, I haven't.
Denise: We describe our classes by level and number. Your class is called Elementary One.
Vijay: Okay. When will classes start?
Denise Elementary One begins-ah-just a minute-ah-it begins on August 10. Vijay: Great! Now what else do I have to do?
Narrator: Now look at questions 30 to 32.
Choose the appropriate letters A to D and write them in boxes 30 to 32 on your answer sheet. Listen carefully to the conversation between Denise and Vijay and Anne.
Denise: Well, let's see. First, you have to go to...
Anne: May I have a minute please Denise?
Denise: Of course, Anne. Excuse me for a minute. Please, Vijay.
Anne: Did you file those forms for me last night?
Denise: Ah. No. They're still on my desk.
Anne: Oh, Denise, that's simply not good enough!
Denise: I'm really sorry, Anne. It won't happen again.
Anne: All right Denise. Go back to your customer. But please be more careful in future.
Narrator: Now listen to the directions and match the places in questions 33 to 36 to the appropriate letters A to H on the plan.
Denise: I'm sorry Vijay. What were you saying?
Vijay: I wanted to know what else I had to do.
Denise: Oh, of course. Please go to the building on the other side of Smith Street. I want you to go to the reception area first. It's just inside the floor on the left as you enter from Smith Street. Give them this form.
Vijay: Okay. Do I pay my fees there?
Denise: No, but the fees office is in the same building. Go past the escalators and you'll see a games shop. It's in the corner. The fees office is between the games shop and the toilets.
Vijay: Thanks. Er. Where can I buy books?
Denise: The bookshop is opposite the lifts. It's right next to the entrance from Robert Street.
Vijay: Your offices are spread out!
Denise: Not as badly as they used to be. By the way, we offer very competitive overseas travel rates to our students.
Vijay: Oh, I'd like to look into that.
Denise: Of course. The travel agency is at the Smith Street end of the building, in the corner next to the insurance office.
Vijay: Thank you very much. Bye.
Narrator: This is the end of Section 3. You will now have some time to check your answers. Now turn to Section 4.
Section 4
You will hear an extract from a lecture on traffic management. Listen to what the speaker says, and answer questions 37 to 41. First you have some time to look at the questions. Now listen carefully and answer questions 37 and 38. Tick all the relevant boxes in each column.
Tom Fisher: Good afternoon. I'm Tom Fisher, and I'll be lecturing you on traffic management this term. Before we go any further, I thought you should look at the sort of problems we've inherited-and inherited, or received as a legacy for those before us, is just the word for our situation. Many of our major cities were built long before the car was thought of, and the road system evolved from the goat tracks followed by the early inhabitants. These we can refer to as old-structure problems, and you can take the expression old-structure to refer to problems which were in place before we saw the need to build efficient road systems.
Old-structure problems are easily demonstrated in London, New York, Sydney and Paris. Let's look at each city in turn. London has a most confusing road system, which is forgivable because it's a very old city. I'll talk more about the ring roads later. New York is laid out on a grid which makes it easier to find your way around, but it's an enormous city and the sheer pressure of numbers strangles the roads. Sydney has narrow streets in the centre of the city, and the new road works are not keeping up. Paris has wide streets, but it's still the victim of old-structure problems, like Rome and Edinburgh. Tokyo is another city with old-structure problems compounded by a huge population, like New York. Cities which do not have these old-structure problems are Houston, Los Angeles and Dallas. The thing which saves some of these cities is an effective public transport system, usually below ground. London has an old but effective underground train system known as the tube, and a comprehensive bus and train system above ground. Hong Kong has cheap, swift and effective public transport in the form of Mass Transit Railway, buses and ferries. Paris has the Metro underground railway which carries tens of thousands of people daily, and a large bus system. New York has a comprehensive underground train system, but many people feel that it's dangerous to ride on it-there have been some nasty attacks. However, the trains themselves are efficient, so we have to call it a good system. Sydney has a good public transport system, but only part of it is underground.
Narrator: Now answer questions 39 to 41. Write no more than three words for each answer.
Tom: Notably absent from this discussion of cities with good public transport are the cities I nominated previously as not having old-structure problems: Houston, Los Angeles and Dallas. Let's start with Dallas, a very wealthy city in Texas which has grown up in an era when cars were considered to be essential to move about. It has an excellent road system, as does Houston, another new city with wise city leaders who insisted on good roads. However, the public transport system in both Houston and Dallas is extremely poor. As a result, travel in Dallas and Houston is easy except for peak hour, when a twenty-minute run can expand to more than an hour in traffic jams. Los Angeles suffers from chronic highway blockages, despite efforts to encourage people to use public transport.
Cities with good road systems and no old-structure problems can use other methods to reduce the number of vehicles traveling together at peak hour. Flexi-time is one good method: offices open and close at different times so people are traveling to and from work at different times. Vehicles carrying more than one person can use special priority lanes which means they can travel more quickly. There are even systems to make peak hour car use more expensive, with electronic chips recording the presence of a vehicle in a given high traffic area at a given time. So, what can we do? The rest of this course will be devoted to looking at the conflicting demands of road users, and relating the use of the private car to other aspects of the economy. Over the next three weeks we'll be discussing this in more detail...
Narrator: That is the end of Section 4. You now have some time to check your answers.
That is the end of Listening Practice Test 1.
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