IELTS LISTENING TEST 3

SECTION 1 Section 1. You will hear a conversation between a customer service representative and a customer who demands a full refund. First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 4. You will see that there is an example which has been done for you. On this occasion only, the conversation relating to this will be played first. Hello, and welcome to Under Pressure Enterprises, Customer Service Department. This is Kelly. How may I help you? Yes, I am calling about one of your rice cookers I just purchased. The customer says that he is calling about one of the rice cookers he just purchased. So, rice cooker 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 4. Hello, and welcome to Under Pressure Enterprises, Customer Service Department. This is Kelly. How may I help you? Yes, I am calling about one of your rice cookers I just purchased. What seems to be the problem, sir? Seems? There's no seeming about it. The blasted thing shoots hot steam all over the place, that's what. It nearly scalded my hand when I went to open it. Why, it could have killed the cat or something. It could have exploded and killed my wife and me. Sir, sir, please calm down. As long as the steam escapes the cooker, it won't explode. So you're telling me there's no problem? Are you calling me a liar? Sir, no one is calling you a liar. Yes, so I demand a full refund. Under Pressure will be happy to refund your money, sir. Now, I just need some basic information. OK, OK. Sorry, I do tend to get a little hot under the collar. My wife tells me to slow down. So, what do you need to know? Sir, don't worry. I just need to ask you the model number of the cooker. Hmm, where are my glasses? Ah, here. Let's see. Ah, it's R242. R242, OK. And how much did you pay for the product? £89.99. It was on sale, I guess I should tell you. Thank you, that's honest of you. Now, where did you buy the cooker? Which store and which branch? At that big electric life appliance store downtown. The city centre branch? That's the one. And you say the problem is that the steam escapes? Yes, it does. No problem, sir. If there's steam escaping, clearly the cooker is broken or defective. So, we have an R242 cooker with an escaping steam problem. It was bought from Electric Life city centre branch for £89.99. Is that correct? Yes, that is correct. Oh, I nearly forgot. When did you buy the cooker? Just as soon as my wife got the crazy idea she'll live longer if she stops eating good English food, roast beef and mash. No, all she says she wants is rice and vegetables and sauces you'd not soak your feet in. Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 5 to 10. Now listen and answer questions 5 to 10. Sir, sir, when did you buy it? Oh, there I go again. Let's see. We bought it just six months ago. We hardly use it either. But six months? Is that too long? I mean for the warranty? Very well. That's well within the warranty period. Now, what's your name and address? Name and address? What for? Sir, it is company policy. If you want your money, you must inform me. Money, you say? Oh, my name is Herbert Hewitt and my address is 84 Park Road. Is that here in Coventry? Yes. The postal code is B0241DJ. But I don't think sending things in the mail is very secure or very efficient. I mean... Don't worry, Mr. Hewitt, don't worry. We can credit the money to your credit card. You do have one, don't you? Yes. That's how we paid for the cooker. Oh, yes. We still have the number on the computer. I only need to ask your card's expiry date. I'm afraid I never give that sort of information out. I mean, once you have that, anyone could go charging things and... Sir, I said your expiry date, not your card's password. Oh, yes. Foolish me. Of course, you didn't say password. Let's see. That will be April 2008. April 2008. Very well. Your card still has nearly two months left to go. We'll get that refund right to you, probably by 5 o'clock this evening. You had better. If I don't get my money... Wait, wait. Yes, I know I'm losing my temper again. I really am sorry. I haven't had my medicine today. And, sir, just one more question for our records. How often do you go shopping at the city centre branch? Oh, well, it's hard to say. I suppose maybe once a month. But I can tell you this. If I don't get my refund, I'll never shop there again. Oh, I think it's time to start looking for another job. That is the end of Section 1. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Now turn to Section 2.

SECTION 2 Section 2. You will hear the organiser of a rock festival talking to the exhibitors and performers at a planning meeting. First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 17 on page 3. Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 17. Good evening, everyone. I'm glad you could all make this planning meeting for what promises to be the biggest and most colourful free rock festival ever held in the South East. So whether you're a performer, a craft exhibitor or an artist, we all extend a big welcome to you. Could we turn first to the plan so I can familiarise you with the layout of the site, which, as you know, is an old football stadium? We're really lucky to have so much space this year. You can see the main gate at the bottom of the plan. Have you found it? That's where most visitors will enter. It's also the entrance for those taking part in the craft fair. We've set the stalls just inside the gate on the left in a circle. If you walk straight ahead from the gate along the path without turning right, you'll come to some steps up to the football stadium. On the left of the steps is the fringe stage. This is for alternative artists. They include folk singers, poets and other acts which are more suited to a smaller stage. And they should also enter by the main gate. On the opposite side of the steps is a restaurant and adjoining that is the main festival information point. Here you can get extra programmes and up-to-the-minute information about events, and you can discuss any last-minute problems, although we hope everything will be running smoothly when the festival opens. Right, coming back to the plan, you go up the stairs to the stadium. The entrance for the rock bands is on the far side, and on your right is the main stage, which will have powerful illumination and amplification throughout the weekend. There will probably be TV vehicles adjacent. That's in this area only, for recording purposes. If you look at the outside of the plan, you can see a third gate for exhibitors, opening onto a side path. A little way down the path, before you get to the trees, is the building where the art exhibition's being housed. Then, finally, there's just one more building marked on your plan, quite near the main gate. It's divided into lock-up garages, so I hope you now feel quite familiar with the main festival area. Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 18 to 20 on page 4. Now listen and answer questions 18 to 20. We also hope that you'll have received your welcome pack. In it, you should find two parking tickets for yourself and anyone assisting you, an armband to indicate that you are an official visitor, one of our brilliant yellow badges with the new festival logo, a festival programme, and several sheets of information that we'd ask you to study carefully before the event. Please could you note that all setting up of stalls, displays, and so on, should be completed by 9.30am, and that, unfortunately, we won't be able to allow any vehicles to enter the festival area after that time. It's a big site, but even a few vehicles parked in the wrong place can block the paths. With crowds of people, and we are expecting several thousand, this can merely be a nuisance, but if there's an emergency, and access for an ambulance is blocked, the situation will become not just annoying, but also dangerous. And don't forget, it could be your mother or your child who needs help. Several exhibitors and craftspeople have asked us if any provision can be made for overnight storage of tables, chairs, and display items, rather than having to take them home and bring them again. We're pleased to say that a limited amount of space has been made available in the building near the main gate. You'll be issued with a yellow ticket to reclaim your property, similar to the red parking tickets, so do check you bring the right one. But please understand that this is entirely at your own risk, as we can take no responsibility for items lost or damaged. I think that's all I have to say at this point, but thank you all for your attention. That is the end of Section 2. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Section 3. You will hear a conversation between Cressida, a student of journalism, and her tutor, Dr Erskine, about a work placement that she has recently done. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26. Pause the recording for 30 seconds. Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24. So, let's hear what you're doing for your next project. I've decided to design a roof garden for a supermarket. I've been looking at some on the web and I think that a garden on top of a building is the up-and-coming thing. Okay, so you've done a bit of reading already. What benefits would there be for the client? Why do you think a supermarket chain would be willing to meet the expense of construction? You do realise that would be the first thing they raise. Yes, I know. But I'd explain that in spite of the initially high expense, they would save that much in approximately five years. Well, I'd have to do sums. I mean, calculate specifically. Yes, how would the saving come about? Mainly through lower heating and air-con bills. The extra insulation offered by having a layer of living plants in the soil would make a huge difference. Okay, but they might feel the expense of maintenance would be an issue. After all, supermarkets don't normally employ gardeners. What I thought was, if they made it a community garden rather than a simple low-maintenance green roof... So there'd be public access? Oh yes. Then there'd be a sense of ownership in the local community and people could take responsibility for it instead of the supermarket paying a commercial company and it'll really boost their public relations. That's a good point. And have you been looking into how roof gardens are built nowadays? I'm still exploring that. But if I take advantage of the latest technologies for roof gardens, it shouldn't be too difficult. But in any case, you have to use lightweight materials. But that's a matter of making the right choices. You can even use quite traditional ones such as wood for the planting areas. Yes, that's what I thought. It'll look good and it isn't too heavy. But for the basic construction, the issue you have to address first is the material used between the building and the garden. You mean the barrier fabric, which ensures there's no chance of rainwater leaking down into the building. Yes, nowadays that is very good and quite easily sourced. Then on the other hand, there's the business of water within the roof garden itself. You mean drainage? That's an important feature of the construction in any roof design. Yes, but I think most drainage issues have been well understood for quite a long time. OK, but another thing is with plants in an exposed situation, you usually need to find ways to optimise rainfall. Yes, because rainwater is best for the garden if you can store it for when it's needed. What I've been looking at are some buildings which use fairly conventional storage tanks, the kind that have been in use for decades, but have them linked to modern automatic watering systems. Sounds complicated. It's less so in practice than it sounds, I think. I've been researching them and actually the latest ones definitely work very well and they can be electronically regulated to suit the local microclimate. That sounds interesting. You seem to have been doing some thorough research. Make sure you reference all your sources when you write it up. Yes, sure. Um, there's one more aspect I'd just like to run past you if there's time. I want to include a light feature in the design. Of course. I've got a sketch here. Let's have a look then. Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30. Pause the recording for 30 seconds. Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30. Well, I was really impressed by something I saw on a roof in Cornwall and I'd like to design something similar. You have an area of planting and I'm thinking of installing this lighting in an area filled with low-growing evergreen shrubs. You'd have to have lights and things well away from anywhere children might be. But I can see this could be very effective, if a bit complicated. How would it work? On this drawing, this is a section view, you have this low wall on the right. Yes, that's it. This is just one element and these areas would be repeated all round the planted area. I think this will probably be a wooden wall using reclaimed timbers with an angled ceramic top surface. Perhaps even ridge tiles like they use on roofs? Oh yes, that'd be just the sort of thing. And that'd make it weatherproof. And then the heavy-duty electric wiring comes up through the floor just outside the planted area and into the wall. Then it's brought through to a projector low in the side of the wall and that sends a beam of light along the fibre optic cable. So there's no electricity in the actual lights. The fibre optic goes across the surface of the soil in the planting area. Yes, that's the beauty of it. The shrubs will soon grow to cover it up of course and then the cable goes past a wooden post which is between the shrubs and can be a support for them as they grow bigger and then runs up into each element of the installation. So the light beam is carried up to the top of each element and illuminates a kind of conical glass cap? I see. Is that the bit which would glow in the dark? Yes. And what's the cap supported on? Is it a wall? No, it's a slender acrylic rod like the stem of a flower or mushroom which the cable runs up inside of. Well, I'll be interested to see the final drawings. Thank you. I'm looking forward to putting it all together. That is the end of section 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers. You will hear a geography student giving a presentation about sand to fellow students. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Pause the recording for one minute. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40. First, I would like to tell you how the Argus computerised photography system has helped marine researchers. Then I shall talk a bit about sand collecting. Well, Argus is the system Dr Rob Holman developed when he was working at a research pier on the coast of North Carolina about 20 years ago. This pier stretches out over the water and it's the longest research pier in the world with an observation tower on the end of it. The researchers there make precise measurements of how the sand moves about under the waves. This research is critical to the study of beach erosion in places where the coastline is being worn away. The Argus system helps to solve the difficulties encountered by these researchers. The system correlates the data from under the water with what Dr Holman gets from his fixed camera, which is mounted above the water on the pier and uses time-lapse photography. Some of Dr Holman's results have changed the way people understand how sand moves. To quote S. Jeffreys Williams, a coastal geologist with the United States Geological Survey, the system is a critical piece of new technology and the Argus system allows us to quantify and document visually the changes to the coast on a variety of different time frames. A lot of these take place when there is a storm or at other times when it is difficult to have people out on the beach making observations and taking measurements. Up to now, Argus installations have been installed in places in Oregon, California, Hawaii, England, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Italy and Brazil, as well as in North Carolina. Now I'd like to introduce Dr Holman's sand collection. He started collecting sand in the 1980s and he still collects it now, even though he has around a thousand samples. They come from his travels and from geologists and amateurs all over the world and the collection includes sand from each continent, including Antarctica. People send him sand in envelopes, plastic bags, paper towels and all sorts. Each is stored in a glass jar, which Dr Holman labels by latitude and longitude of its origin, as well as he can work them out. Sometimes the information is a bit sketchy. Anyway, it's mainly geology students at the university who study his collection and they can learn a lot from it. For instance, one set of tubes displays sand from the east coast of the US, so you can see that the sand gets lighter and finer from north to south. By the time a grain of sand eventually washes up on a beach in Florida, at the southern end of that journey, it has been battered by waves for a long time, so the grains are fine and rounded, because most of the time sand is not stationary on the beach. Okay, so if you'd like to collect sand and maybe even send some to Dr Holman, how should you go about it? Well, the list of equipment is very short and easy to find, but you should keep a supply when you're travelling, as you never know when you'll come across an interesting sand sample. One really handy thing for digging sand, especially if it's hard or frozen, is a spoon. It's perfect for that. If you're travelling by air, it'll have to be plastic, but metal is preferable, as plastic tends to break. You need something to put the samples in that is damp-proof and easy to carry. You can just use plastic bags, but you need to record the location and date on the bag, so you must also have a permanent marker with you, because you can never assume you will remember where you gathered a sample from later on, and you don't want it to rub off before you get home. And that's about all you need in the field to collect sand. When you get home, your samples should be logged in a notebook or computer. You need to note the location and be really specific as to exactly whereabouts on the beach you gathered your sample low tide mark, under cliff area, etc. Then you store your sample. You want to keep everything in good condition and avoid contamination. So, first you make absolutely sure that each sample is perfectly dry. You don't need any complicated apparatus for this. You can just air it out on layers of newspaper, which is suitably absorbent. Most people find that's the best way. Then, lastly, but this is really important, before there can be any chance of confusing this later sample with another, you put it in a clean small bag or a jar, and you must stick an identification label on straight away. Some people put one inside as well, in case the outer label falls off, but that's up to you. Well, that's about all you need to know to get started as a sand collector. Any questions? That is the end of section four. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

SECTION 3 Section 3. You will hear a conversation between Cressida, a student of journalism, and her tutor, Dr Erskine, about a work placement that she has recently done. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26. Pause the recording for 30 seconds. Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26. Well, Cressida, that was an interesting presentation you gave yesterday on your placement at the TV News Centre. Thank you, Dr Erskine. I did work hard on it. Yes, and you did entertain the class. They enjoyed your humour, but you informed them too. But I felt there was a bit of a backstory, you know, something you weren't telling us. So how was it really? Yeah, well, I learned a lot, as I said. But I think some of the lessons weren't ones I wanted to share with the whole group. I mean, my expectations about what it would be like were too high. I'd been fantasising a bit about what I'd be doing. I mean, it all worked out OK in the end, but I got off to a bad start. Yes, I heard something similar from the producer, Ainsley Webb, who assessed your performance. He was quite negative about some of the things you did and your initial attitude, I'm afraid. Would you like to give me your version? I didn't prepare properly is the main thing. On my first morning, I hadn't checked my commuting route properly, and I didn't notice that it says the buses don't start till six. I had to run all the way to the studio, but I was still late and I looked a mess. Well, better at this stage of your career than later. To be honest, I made the same kind of mistakes when I was your age. But anyway, as I say, I think the presentation yesterday went extremely well and I will bear that in mind when I grade your work experience overall. Thank you for being so understanding. Right. Now, have you completed your diary of what you did there? Professor Jenkins hasn't received it, he says. Yes, I have finished it, but I wanted to just tidy it up a bit. Some of it was written in a bit of a hurry. I'll email it to him this afternoon. OK, but I'm afraid he says this will have to be the last time you submit late. Journalism is all about deadlines, and if you can't manage them on your course, he can't give you a diploma saying you're competent, can he? Yes, I'll do it straight after this. I didn't realise. Well, he can be a bit abrupt if he's kept waiting. It's the one thing he really doesn't like. I'm sure everything is going to be fine. You're getting very good grades on your work, so as long as you remember that. Yes. Now, did you manage OK generally, do you think? Yeah, OK, I think. Well, it took a while to get to grips with all the equipment. Some of it was quite old, not as fast as what we have here in college, and at first I kept thinking it was my fault, that I wasn't pressing the right buttons or something. The thing was, none of the TV centre staff asked me if I wanted instructions. If I asked them how to do some particular operation, they were perfectly civil and would show me, and even say thank you for what I did do. But I felt awkward to keep asking. 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. Now, well, let's just review where you are, your write-up, and what you're going to include going forward to next term. First of all, did you eventually feel you were given enough to do? The first couple of days were manic. The production team was short of staff and I was rushing all over the building, taking messages to various people and fetching things. Of course, I didn't know my way around, so I kept ending up in some storeroom or somewhere, instead of the studio I was meant to be in. Or I mistook some important visitor for a colleague because I didn't know who anyone was. Then, after that, things sort of calmed down, so sometimes I was hanging about until someone decided to give me a chore. But I had a piece of luck at the end of the week because they got a new bit of equipment, which was the same as we have in the editing suite here, and I knew how to use it, which none of them did. So that gave me a bit of status. Unfortunately, it meant I spent the next three days stuck in the editing suite. But by the end, I'd shown I wasn't just a silly student. So then, when the senior reporter needed someone to go out with him when he went to interview a junior minister, I got to go along because he knew I could handle the technical side. Well, that's good. Yes. Well, I know I need to learn from my mistakes. I mean, basically, I need to think more about forward planning. But on the other hand, I feel much more confident now. I did survive. I didn't ruin anything. I did actually make a contribution, according to the producer. One thing I want to take forward to my final assignment, though, is some reflections on ethics. Yes? I had a bit of an argument with one of the senior presenters. He was editing part of an interview, and he just changed something someone said. Ah. When I questioned him, he just snubbed me. I mean, this wasn't some public relations expert or government professional spokesperson. It was like a member of the public. But he said, oh, they never remember what they said anyway. Hmm. You want to develop this into part of your final assignment? Hmm. It would be a very positive line. I can give you some references. Oh, thanks. That would be great. That is the end of section three. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

SECTION 4 You will hear a talk by a meteorologist about weather forecasting. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Pause the recording for one minute. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40. I work for the National Weather Service, and as part of your course on weather patterns, I've been asked to talk to you about how we predict the weather. We're so used to switching on our TVs and getting an up-to-date weather forecast at any time of day or night that we probably forget that this level of sophistication has only been achieved in the last few decades, and weather forecasting is actually an ancient art. So I want to start by looking back into history. The earliest weather forecasts appeared in the 1500s in almanacs, which were lists of information produced every year. Their predictions relied heavily on making links between the weather and where the planets were in the sky on certain days. In addition, predictions were often based on information, like if the fourth night after a new moon was clear, good weather was expected to follow. But once basic weather instruments were invented, things slowly started to change. In the mid-15th century, a man called Nikolaus Kuser, a German mathematician, designed a hygrometer, which told people how much humidity there was in the air. To do this, Kuser put some sheep's wool on a set of scales and then monitored the change in the wool's weight according to the air conditions. A piece of equipment we all know and use is the thermometer. Changes in temperature couldn't really be measured until the Italian Galileo Galilei invented his thermometer in 1593. It wasn't like a modern-day thermometer because it had water inside it instead of mercury. In fact, it wasn't until 1714 that Gabriele Fahrenheit invented the first mercury thermometer. In 1643, another Italian, called Evangelista Torricelli, invented the first barometer, which measured atmospheric pressure. This was another big step forward in more accurate weather predicting. As time went on, during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, all these meteorological instruments were improved and developed, and people in different countries began to record measurements relating to their local weather. However, in those days it was very difficult to send records from one part of the world to another, so it wasn't possible for them to share their information until the electric telegraph became more widespread. This meant that weather observations could be sent on a regular basis to and from different countries. By the 1860s, therefore, weather forecasts were becoming more common and accurate because they were based on observations taken at the same time over a wide area. In 1863, France started publishing weather maps each day. This hadn't been done before, and other nations soon followed. So that was the start of national weather forecasting. And I'll now tell you how we at the National Weather Centre get the information we need to produce a forecast. Even today, one of the most important methods we use is observations, which tell us what the weather is doing right now. Observation reports are sent automatically from equipment at a number of weather stations in different parts of the country. They are nearly all based at airports, although a few are in urban centres. The equipment senses temperature, humidity, pressure and wind speed direction. Meteorologists also rely really heavily on satellites, which send images to our computer screens. What we see on our screens is bright colours. Orange represents dry air, and bright blue shows moisture levels in the atmosphere. The satellites are located 22,000 miles above the surface of the Earth, and it's amazing that despite that distance, it's possible for us to make out an individual cloud and follow it as it moves across the landscape. In addition to collecting data from the ground, we need to know what's happening in the upper levels of the atmosphere. So a couple of times a day, from many sites across the country, we send radiosondes into the air. A radiosonde is a box containing a package of equipment, and it hangs from a balloon which is filled with gas. Data is transmitted back to the weather station. Finally, radar. This was first used over 150 years ago, and still is. New advances are being made all the time, and it is one method for detecting and monitoring the progress of hurricanes. Crucial information is shown by different colours representing speed and direction. Radar is also used by aircraft, of course. All this information from different sources is put into computer models, which are like massive computer programmes. Sometimes they all give us the same story, and sometimes we have to use our own experience to decide which is showing the most accurate forecast, which we then pass on to you. So, I hope next time you watch the weather forecast, you'll think about how we meteorologists spend our time. And maybe I've persuaded some of you to study meteorology in more depth. That is the end of Section 4. You now have half a minute to check your answers.