SECTION 1
AGENT: Hello, Elite Travel, this is Emily speaking, how may I assist you today?
CUSTOMER: Hi, I have a group visit to plan, and I wonder whether you could help me decide on which hotel to book. I have narrowed it down to either the Winchester, the Royal Hotel, or the Star Hotel. I am wondering if you have a recommendation.
AGENT: I would be happy to help! Those three are excellent choices. If everyone is booking hotel rooms independently, an easy way to do it is online booking. The Star Hotel offers online bookings at no additional charge.
CUSTOMER: It sounds fine!
AGENT: Yeah, and you can even book the gorgeous sea view rooms (Q1) if you act quickly.
CUSTOMER: Hm, I will consider that. It would be great since we are mostly first-time visitors to the area to get a nice view of the water. Now, are there handicap accessible rooms?
AGENT: Yes, all three options have access for the physically disabled (Q2).
CUSTOMER: Great. I should also mention that we will be on a tight schedule, so we won't have much time to go out for meals. Which of these hotels serve food?
AGENT: There is a limited continental breakfast menu at the Star and at the Winchester. For a full restaurant and room service, the Royal Hotel is your best bet (Q3).
CUSTOMER: Oh wonderful! Could you tell me more about the restaurant?
AGENT: Absolutely. In the morning there is a gourmet buffet or a la carte item, and after 11 a.m. lunch is served in the dining room. Dinners are in a nice, low-key but high quality setting in the hotel's private dining room (Q4) and Fridays feature the house jazz band.
CUSTOMER: How lovely! Is there a group discount?
AGENT: No, sorry. Not at the Royal hotel. Let me check on the others, though. Could I place you on hold for just a second?
CUSTOMER: Sure, thanks.
AGENT: It looks like there is one at the Winchester – 15% off when you book 8 or more rooms (Q5).
CUSTOMER: Really? Sold! We'll book at the Winchester. Wait – is it suitable for children though? We'll have a few little ones in our group, and it would be great to have a way to keep them occupied.
AGENT: Yes. In fact, it has a play place (Q6) that kids just love, with slides, and swings and everything. Definitely a good hotel to bring the kids.
CUSTOMER: Okay, great.
CUSTOMER: So now I know where we'll be staying, what next? Should I go ahead and book transportation and assign rooms and everything?
AGENT: Well, for now, there are only a few things for you to take care of. We will hold a block of rooms for you as soon as you send a deposit (Q7). I recommend booking as soon as possible, so you probably want to send the invitations (Q8) as soon as you know how many rooms to hold.
CUSTOMER: Oh, right. Okay, I'll send the invitations and put down the deposit. Is there anything else I should take care of?
AGENT: Great! And don't worry about this now, but sometime before you arrive do let US know if you'll be requiring our transport (Q9) service to and from the airport.
CUSTOMER: I'll make sure to let you know. Does that incur a service charge? Or perhaps a tip, or some presents to show our gratitude for the personal car service?
AGENT: Oh, don't worry about it. It is a free service, so if you would like to tip you are welcome to do so, but hotel drivers do not accept gifts (Q10).
CUSTOMER: Thanks for your help!
AGENT: My pleasure. Enjoy your stay at the Winchester!
SECTION 2
Ladies and Gentlemen of Durham, start your engines! Skip Gordon here inviting you to the eleventh annual Durham County Car Exhibition! That's right, it's that time of year again! Mark your calendars – the pre-opening event kicks off on the 18th, and the exhibition officially opens to the public on Saturday, March 19th (Q11). Take it from me – you won't want to miss Durham's most attended public event of the year 5 times running. You don't have to be a motor head to appreciate the finest cars both new and old in existence today, but it helps! Be one of the 70,000 (Q12) people to see everything from big rig monster trucks to good old fashion classic hot rods.
Get your tickets now! Admission is £10 for adults and £5 (Q13) for children during off-peak times, and £20 for adults and £10 for children and senior citizens on weekends and for full-day passes.
Come see vintage classics, bid in the auctions, and even test out a few on the Winner's Circle Racetrack. An insider tip – weekends are the exact time when all of the best attractions take place, but to avoid Saturday crowds join us this Sunday (Q14). You'll see me – Skip Gordon – and all your friends from WKXP there this Sunday at our very own booth, so stop by and say hi and you might just win a prize of your own.
A new attraction this year will be the addition of a new car category – electricity (Q15), namely the electric car class. See displays from Toyota, Honda, and – you guessed it – Tesla! Watch as the first generation of fully electric cars compete on style, ride, and watch the main entertainment as there's going to be a fabulous show of racing car (Q16) to see who takes home fastest battery powered car. While not typically known for their speed, this new class is guaranteed to surprise you.
Get tickets before they sell out! Last year's tickets sold out fast, so we upped the attendance this year. That's right, more seats! But don't wait – act now and save! (Q17) That's right – if you buy your tickets before this Friday, you'll get two for the price of one. That's right, TWO for the price of one!
And don't worry kids, just like last year, there's something specially for you! Wreak havoc on the road with the Kids Krazy Cars ride, and then Race around the Tiny Tykes Track in your favorite child-sized race car (Q18). Meanwhile Mom and Dad can take a spin in a ride a bit more than their size. We're rolling out a massive dirt track so you can get behind the wheel and test drive something a little more adventurous. Put the pedal to the metal in a 4 by 4 SUV (Q19) as you go over bumps and navigate through twists and turns – you'll want to buckle up!
You heard it here – act now to get in on the fun at thé Durham County Car Show before it's too late. Come for prizes, good prices, and good old fashioned family fun. We had a lucky draw for a NEW car last year (Q20), but this year our main event is the Monster Truck Rally, where one lucky fan will win a chance experience the thrill from behind the wheel – well, next to the wheel as they ride with legendary driver Smash Tate! Feel the speed first hand and talk to a living legend in a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
For tickets, go online to www.durhamcountycars.com, or call 1-888-CAR-SHOW now. We'll see you there! And always remember to buckle up!
SECTION 3
Syria: Hi, Greg. How did it go w:th the research on renewable energy? Have you found anything?
Greg: Yes. But I think it's about time we exchange our findings and discuss our next move.
Syria: You read my mind. Right. I'll start first. Germany is the very first country I dug into in order to find innovative means of creating clean energy because 15% of its national electricity supply conies from renewable sources. I found that apart from the traditional fossil fuel industry, there's a German firm that has initiated a project using kites to generate power.
Greg: Really, I've never heard of it before. How does it work?
Syria: As a substitution for traditional fossil fuels that release toxic gas into the atmosphere, the power-generating kites can function in any weather (Q21). Compared to conventional wind turbines, such kites can produce twice as much energy because the overall power density is proportional to altitude.
Greg: Sounds like an efficient way of producing power. Okay, now let me tell you what I have found. There is an American company manufacturing school buses and city buses depending solely on electricity instead of gasoline (Q22). The all-electric vehicles can save up to 20 gallons of fuel on a daily basis. This could reduce transport budgets by over $10,000 each year, not to mention maintenance savings.
Syria: Wow, impressive. If only there were more of these electric vehicles around.
Greg: Well, over the years, South Africa has attached great importance to clean energy. The nation encourages using propane gas, which can either be extracted from natural deposits or be produced organically. It is normally stored in gas canisters as a type of cooking gas. To reduce the number of kitchen accidents, a new type of composite gas canister made of fiber was introduced. It is much safer and less likely to explode even when engulfed in fire. (Q23)
Greg: Now, about the survey, do you have any clues as to what kind of interviewees we should include?
Syria: How about local companies doing business on clean energy products?
Greg: Probably not the best choice of respondents. Remember the last time we asked corporate employees tc do the questionnaire, only about 5% of them were actually willing to participate.
Syria: That wouldn't be enough then. It seems we have to drop that idea. Then maybe we can ask the professors and administrative staff here to help us. They could provide their insights and understanding on energy production.
Greg: It would be ideal if they would, but I'm afraid most of them are too busy to respond to the list of questions we've prepared. I guess the students here at the university would be more suitable. (Q24)
Syria: You're right. And it is a much bigger sample pool too. Also, I think we should include the locals. Their opinion is key to the promotion of renewable energy here in the town. (Q25)
Greg: But wouldn't it be difficult to collect data? There's no way the two of us could go from door to door to interview all the residents.
Syria: There's no need to worry about that. We'll make it telephone interviews. That way we'll have enough time to get sufficient data.
Greg: Good idea. What should we present in our speech?
Syria: Due to lack of media coverage, the majority of people actually have a limited understanding on renewable energy (Q26). Most of them aren't able to identify various types of renewable sources. So I feel we could start by clarifying what it is and the benefit of it compared to fossil fuels.
Greg: That makes sense. We could start with wind energy. For centuries, wind has been used to do work. With the help of windmills, farmers used to pump water from wells or turn large grinding stones to grind wheat or corn. The windmills today generate electricity. The only problem is that it might not be windy all the time, so it is crucial to choose the appropriate site for wind farms. (Q27)
Syria: Well, I think we can also include comparisons between clean energy and traditional energy resources like coal, oil and natural gas.
Greg: Maybe we can look into the prospect of these conventional sources of energy (Q28). The rising cost of fossil fuels and the threat of climate change is a concern to many
Syria: Totally. These traditional resources will deplete eventually. Renewable energy currently makes up less than 2% of the world's primary energy supply, and although growing very rapidly, it is not on course to fill the fossil fuel gap.
Greg: Nuclear energy is another type of energy we ought to mention. Nuclear power plants can produce dependable power constantly and release far less greenhouse gases than other traditional power plants. But most people feel that this type of energy is unsafe because radiation isn't easily dealt with, especially in nuclear waste and maintenance materials. (Q29)
Syria: What should we end the speech with?
Greg: Have you heard about a new type of energy called hydrogen fuel? It is an infinitely renewable fuel that doesn't have detrimental environmental effects. The only problem is that it is so expensive that only wealthy individuals can afford it. But I think overall the benefits overshadow its high cost.
Syria: I think that even though this new type of renewable energy is too expensive to use at the moment, in the long run, its price will go down and become more accessible. (Q30)
SECTION 4
Good morning, everyone. Today, I'm going to talk about the research project I've been involved in on time measurement.
Do you know how time is measured? Consider how we measure length, and how with time we encounter a difficulty. Before we could grasp it, it would slip through our fingers. In fact, as we can see, we are forced to have the recourse to measure something else—the movement of something in space, or a set of movements in space. All the methods that have been employed so far really measure time by a motion in space. The measurement of time is no easy matter; a scientific unit only arrives at after much thought and reflection.
As the most primitive form of measurement, the sun seems to be natural. Ever since man first noticed the regular movements of the sun and stars, we have wondered about the passage of time. Prehistoric people first recorded time according to the sun's position. To start off, let us take noon, which is when the sun is on the meridian at the highest point of its course across the heavens, and when it casts the shortest shadow. But this measurement, which was regarded as a major one in ancient times, was less important than the natural events that occurred. (Q31)
The earliest natural events that had been recognised were in the heavens, but during the course of the year there were many other events that indicated significant changes in the environment. Seasonal winds and rains, the flooding of rivers, the flowering of trees and plants, and the breeding cycles or migration of animals (Q32), all led to natural divisions of the year, and further observation and local customs led to the recognition of the seasons.
Years later, precise measurements were invented, because the passage of time was extremely important for astronomers and priests who were responsible for determining the exact hour for daily rituals and for important religious festivals. Apart from the connection with religion (Q33), accurate time measurement was also related to the government (Q34), since they divided the day or the night into different periods in order to regulate work and various events. For thousands of years, devices have been used to measure and keep track of time. The current sexagesimal system of time measurement, dates back to approximately 2000 BCE from the Sumerians. It was found that the earliest ancient time keepers were mainly invented and used in Mesopotamia, where the water clock was introduced from, as well as in North Africa (Q35), especially in the area of ancient Egypt.
So now, I'd like to introduce you to some of the most well-known ancient timekeepers, as well as the disadvantages of them, for which they were replaced by various new forms of clocks that were used afterwards.
A sundial is a device that tells the time of day by the apparent positioning of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat plate and a gnomon which casts a shadow onto the dial. As the sun appears to move across the sky, the shadow aligns with different hour-lines which are marked on the dial to indicate the time of day. However, it was quickly noted that the length of the day varied at different times of the year (Q36), therefore there could have been a difference between 'clock time' and 'sundial time'. In addition, the sundial was of no use at night, so a water clock was invented.
The water clock, or clepsydra, appeared to have been invented around 1,500 BCE and was a device which relied on the steady flow of water from or into a container. Measurements could be marked on the container or on a receptacle for the water. It was reliable, but the water flow still depended on the variation of pressure and temperature from the top of water in the container. (Q37)
As the technology of glass-blowing developed, from some time in the 14th century, it became possible to make sandglasses (Q38). Originally, they were used as a measure for periods of time like lamps or candles, but as clocks became more accurate they were calibrated to measure specific periods of time. The drawback however, as you can imagine, was the limited length of time they could measure. (Q39)
The last timekeeper to be introduced is the fire candle clock. Candle clocks take advantage of a simple concept: the slow and consistent nature of a burning wax candle. By utilising this process, our ancestors were able to keep steady track of the time. The clocks were created by engraving the length of the candle with evenly spaced markings. Each marking represented a single unit of time, and as the wax burned down, each hour would disappear. However, the draughts and the variable quality of the wax mainly influenced the time of burning (Q40). Like oil lamps, candles were used to mark the passage of time from one event to another, rather than tell the time of day…
