test 1

The transcription is about an IELTS listening test. Section 1 is a telephone conversation between a man looking for a summer job and a woman who owns a farm. Section 2 is about the facilities at a new sports and leisure center. Section 3 is a discussion between two economics students about a survey on house prices in New Zealand. IELTS Listening, version 54299. You will hear a number of different recordings, and you will have to answer questions on what you hear. There will be time for you to read the instructions and questions, and you will have a chance to check your work. All the recordings will be played once only. The test is in four sections. Write all your answers in the listening question booklet. At the end of the test, you will be given ten minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet. Now turn to section 1 on page 2 of your question booklet. Section 1. You will hear a telephone conversation between a man who is looking for a summer job as a fruit picker and a woman who owns a farm. First you have some time to look at questions 1 to 3 on page 2. You will see that there is an example that has been done for you. On this occasion only, the conversation relating to this will be played first. The man's name is Ben Miller, so Ben Miller has been written in the space. Now we shall begin. You should answer the questions as you listen, because you will not hear the recording a second time. Listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 3. It's Ben Miller. And where are you from? I'm from the USA. Fine. Um, can I ask your age? I'm 20. You only take people over the age of 16, don't you? Yes, that's right. Are you able to work in the UK? Sorry? I mean, do you have a visa? Oh, yeah. I have a thing called a blue card. It's valid until November. That's fine then. We'll need fruit pickers from the middle of June until the end of September. What's your availability? When can I work? Um, I'd like to do July, August and September, and could do October if there's any work then. Okay. Did you find out about us through our website? That's right. It's much easier than going through an agency. Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 4 to 10 on page 3. Now listen and answer questions 4 to 10. I see you need most pickers in September for apples and pears, but the whole picking season can last about 16 weeks. Well, yes, but it's a question of the weather. It's not a question of the weather. It's a question of the weather. It's not a question of the weather. It's a question of the weather. Well, yes, but it's a question of the weather. That determines how much fruit we grow, of course. That's why I can't give you exact picking dates now. I see. Oh, well, no problem. Can you tell me what pickers earn? Well, that depends on age. The rate is £4.50 an hour for the under-18s, but as you're over 18, it would rise to £5.60 an hour. Uh-huh. Your website says that you don't provide accommodation for pickers, so I guess I should arrange that in advance. Yes, there is no accommodation on the farm, but there is a campsite about 15 minutes away. Is that walking distance? What do you think? No, maybe I should bring my bike to get around. Yes, we always recommend that. Some pickers bring a car but then find the roads rather narrow, and the bus is very infrequent. Do you have any questions? I know that fruit-picking is hard work, but is there anything special I need to bring with me? Well, firstly, documentation is extremely important. We will need proof of age, so we'll expect to see your passport. Pickers without one won't be allowed to work. Oh, even if their age is written on their driving licence? Sorry, a driving licence isn't suitable. Fair enough. I guess some lunch is provided for all the hungry fruit-pickers. I'm afraid not. You'll need to bring your own food for lunch, and more importantly, enough water to last a full day. It can get very hot, so drinking is vital. Right, like back home. Okay, well, thanks for all the information. What happens now? Well, I'll post a contract to you... That is the end of Section 1. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Section 2 Now turn to Section 2, on page 4. Section 2 You will hear the manager of a new sports centre talking to potential customers about the facilities there. First you have some time to look at questions 11 to 16, on page 4. Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 16. Good evening and welcome to Carrara's brand-new sports and leisure centre. First I'll tell you about our facilities, then feel free to wander around the centre. Now, as you can see from the map I've given you, we're sitting in our cafe, which we hope will be a favourite place to visit after exercising. To one side of us, and right in front of you as you enter the complex, is the shop. Be sure to have a look in there later as we've got some great opening specials on footwear. On the other side of the cafe, and ideally situated between the cafe and the child-minding facilities, we have the playground. You can sit and relax there while your kids have a great time on the equipment. And our childcare facilities are available to anyone using the centre. Let's talk a little bit about our heated swimming pool, which is also near the entrance, on the other side from the cafe. It has a five-metre water slide, which will be very popular with kids of all ages, and in the corner nearest the changing rooms we have a high-tech hot spa. The water is heated to 38 degrees centigrade, which is the ideal temperature to relax tired muscles after a workout. So, where can you do these workouts? Well, we have a large weights room located at the cafe end of the administration block. In the weights room you'll find all the latest equipment. We also have trainers there who can put a program together for you. Another place to get a good workout is in the gym, which is shown on the map to the right of the changing rooms. There will be all sorts of classes offered there. Our aim is to provide all your exercise and recovery needs. So, as well as the spa to help aching bodies, we also have a special area for massage. It's in the funny-shaped room close to the administration area. Its distinctive shape has already led to the nickname of the bullet room. We'll be offering Swedish and Chinese massage there, and we'll offer physiotherapy in the future. Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 17 to 20 on page 5. Now listen and answer questions 17 to 20. Now, let me tell you something about our different memberships. Firstly, we offer different types of membership to cater for different needs. If you are a fitness freak, then choose our all-in membership. This gives you access to everything in the centre, all the classes and sports. It's usually our most expensive option, but for a short time we're offering 12 months for the price of nine, which is a huge saving. If you prefer just the gym classes, you may want to consider the gym and weights package. It works out at $10 a week, which is good value. If you just want to swim, then we recommend getting a SwimPlus membership. With this, you have unlimited use of the pool and spa. The other package we've reduced for this month only is the Off-Peak. This is aimed at people who are happy to come at less busy times. And finally, we have the Family Pack. We believe in keeping the whole family fit and healthy, so this package works out cheaper than buying it separately. Your flyer has details of all the prices. So, anyone who signs up for a new membership tonight will receive two fantastic presents from us. We wanted to make these rewards something different from the norm. We could have just chosen a towel for you to use in the gym or some clothing from the shop, but we wanted to show our appreciation by giving you something special. So, not only are we going to give you a voucher for a session in our massage centre, a great way to unwind after your workout, but you'll also get this great device that measures your heart rate. And finally, just for turning up tonight, we'd like to give everyone here a drink bottle to take away with them. That's all I wanted to say. That is the end of Section 2. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Now turn to Section 3 on page 6. Section 3. Following instructions from their tutor, you will hear two economics students called James and Anna discussing a recent survey about the cost of buying a house in New Zealand. First, you have some time to look at questions 12 and 13. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 25 on page 6. Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25. OK, for this week's assignment, you're going to assess the value survey on house prices. What were the survey findings? Was it a reliable survey? Work in pairs, discuss what you've read and generate some ideas for the assignment. All right. Shall we work together, Anna? Sure, James. So, um, first, how did the value survey actually measure the cost of houses? Because there are lots of ways of calculating it. Well, it looked at all houses, didn't it? New and old. So it started with average incomes across the whole workforce and then worked out house prices in relation to that, I mean, to what people were earning. So it's about affordability, what people pay in real terms. There's no information about the size of a house a typical family can buy. No, that's a limitation. OK, then, in the assignment, we should give some background. I mean, what's different about the value survey? Yeah, there's lots of these surveys every year. Value is actually one of the newer ones, but it stands out because it gives figures for a range of the largest urban centres, which none of the others do. OK, good point. Then one finding was that New Zealand houses are relatively expensive. Why is that? Because most of them are built of wood, and that's quite cheap. Yeah, it is. But the problem is there are too many regulations and restrictions about where you can build. So if more building sites were created for housing, the costs would come down. That's it, isn't it? Because there are plenty of contractors ready to do the work. Exactly. So, um, what else? Well, what about transport? I mean, it's all very well to talk about new housing, but how are people going to get there? Is the survey proposing new roads, new rail networks? It should be a co-ordinated approach. Yeah, but the survey didn't mention it. It's a missed opportunity, because a commitment to funding public transport from the outset would improve air quality in our cities. True. OK, then, the next survey, what can we expect? It'll look at all the same places, right? Exactly the same. But the next one will give an idea of the way prices are moving. The government may have to think about how house prices are affecting society. Before you hear the rest of the discussion, take some time to look at questions 26 to 30 on page 7. Now listen and answer questions 26 to 30. Then in the assignment, we need to evaluate how reliable the survey was, so we should look at some of the criticism made by commentators. OK, so there's the economist Andrew Coleman. He actually questioned whether the survey was money well spent, because it only looked at a single year in isolation. A year when it was difficult to borrow money to buy a house, pushing up costs. So he thought the survey should consider a longer time frame. Did you get that article by Professor Massey? Because he's the leading authority on this topic. Yeah, interesting. He realised the method used to calculate how much money people had didn't take savings into account. So actually, people looking for a house were richer than the survey shows, making houses cheaper in real terms. All right. Then Richard Bernard. His criticism was original. He found out they were using quite outdated software to process all the information they gathered, which was crazy because they actually had the money available for an upgrade. So even though it was a highly regarded team of people, the way the statistics were interpreted was open to question. OK. Then Professor Lowndes. He thought the report was just badly written. That's right. After all the work that went into gathering valid information, the finished report was just too long and weakly structured, with too much unnecessary detail. And the last one, Maria Darling. She made a point about the properties that were evaluated. There weren't enough of them, you mean? No, it wasn't that. But they were never identified for privacy reasons. But she thought the actual properties used should have been revealed, you know. The process should have been transparent if the people are going to have full confidence in the survey. Right. So a lot of criticism. Yeah, but this sort of research is often controversial. That is the end of Section 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Now turn to Section 4, on page 8. Section 4. You will hear part of a lecture for teacher trainees on using drama activities in the classroom. First you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40, on page 8. You will hear part of a lecture for teacher trainees on using drama activities in the classroom. First you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40, on page 8. You will hear part of a lecture for teacher trainees on using drama activities in the classroom, on page 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You have 2 minutes left. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . You have 1 minute left. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Please stop writing and wait for your question booklet to be collected.