IELTS LISTENING TEST 5

SECTION 1 You will hear a conversation between a clerk from a moving company and a woman who wants to relocate to the United States. First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 6. 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. Good morning, ma'am, and welcome to Australia's Moving Experience. How can I help you? Well, I hope you can help me. I'm so up in the air right now. Just calm down now. Let me guess, you're moving and it has you a little confused. That's it exactly. You see, I'm relocating to the United States next month and I'm having a hard time getting organised. Here, fill out your name and address and let me ask you a few questions. Oh, what should I call you? My name is Jane, Jane Bond. The woman says that her full name is Jane Bond, so Jane Bond 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 6. Good morning, ma'am, and welcome to Australia's Moving Experience. How can I help you? Well, I hope you can help me. I'm so up in the air right now. Just calm down now. Let me guess, you're moving and it has you a little confused. That's it exactly. You see, I'm relocating to the United States next month and I'm having a hard time getting organised. Here, fill out your name and address and let me ask you a few questions. Oh, what should I call you? My name is Jane, Jane Bond. OK, Jane, first of all, what's your work phone number? In case I have any questions about things. My work phone is 9463 5550. But please try not to call me too often there. My boss hates personal calls. So does mine, ma'am. So does mine. And what address should we ship your things to? My new company is letting me stay temporarily at 509 Clark House. That's C-L-A-R-K. 1137 University Drive in Seattle. Seattle. Beautiful city I hear. Mountains right beside the ocean almost. Cooler than Australia too. OK, and when should we come pack your things? I guess that would be on Monday, March 11th. Do you want any help with an after-packing clean-up? We do that for a small additional charge. Yes, that would be helpful. I promised the landlord I'd give her the keys back by 5pm on Thursday the 14th. Great. We'll just schedule the clean-up for that day. That way, the place will smell clean and there'll be no dust. Well, you do think of everything. Oh, how much is this going to cost? Here is a list of our basic prices. Oh dear. This seems rather expensive. Yes, ma'am, but you're paying for the best. We're careful and we're fast. Like we say, the only thing we break are speed records getting you moved. Well, maybe that's so. Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you. I don't want my furniture shipped with me. I won't be looking for an apartment till after I arrive in America. Would it be possible to put my furniture in storage here for a month, then have it sent along later? Of course, we do that all the time. A couple of other things. Here at A Moving Experience, we try to pack your things logically. We don't just throw stuff in boxes. Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 7 to 10. Now listen and answer questions 7 to 10. Do you have any special requests? You know, things you want packed in some special place, so you know where to find them. Like what? Oh, I don't know. Things like dishes, maybe. Not to be rude, but you look like a lady who likes to eat. Ah, yes. I need my dishes and things where I can find them quickly. Great. We'll put those dishes and cutlery in what we call the emergency pack. Can you think of anything else? I do have an antique tea kettle my great-grandmother gave my mother. I wouldn't want to lose that. So I guess you'd better put that in storage with the furniture. Grandma's tea kettle with the furniture. Got it. Say, how about things like your alarm clock? You don't want to miss your plane on the big day, right? Well, you certainly think of everything. Yes, that's right. I'll also need my alarm clock where I can find it. Fine. We'll put that in your personal package. And of course, we'll give you a list of where we pack everything. So all you'll have to do on Thursday the 14th is grab your luggage on your way out the door. Um, I couldn't help noticing the new CD player you're carrying. Is that a Samsung? Why, yes it is. One of their best. Cost me nearly $100, it did. Do you want to take special care of it? I mean, it's brand new. Take care of it, but nothing special. You can just put it in storage with the furniture. That looks like everything we need here. I guess you're all set. That was certainly quick. Thank you, young man. This has been a most moving experience. That is the end of Section 1. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Now turn to Section 2.

SECTION 2 You will hear a first aid officer talking to a group of factory workers about emergency first aid. First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 17. Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 17. Hello, everyone. Now you know why I'm here. You all work in a factory, and in this environment, there always remains a significant possibility of accidents happening, in which case first aid will be necessary. What is first aid? It is the provision of emergency on-site care when an injury occurs, and it is essential for everyone to know, if only simply, the steps which must be followed. There are, of course, minor injuries which may happen, not needing further medical care beyond the intervention of the first aider, but you can never be sure, thus the following steps must always be followed. These can be abbreviated to the words DRABC. In other words, D-R-A-B-C. The D stands for danger, and that's the first issue to keep in mind. When an accident happens, immediately ascertain that the environment is safe. That, for example, nothing else will fall or break or cause accidents. If you, the first aider, are also injured, the problem is even worse. The R stands for respond. You must then ascertain the best response. Once all the danger has been eliminated, and the distress call sent out, the appropriate action is, obviously, to help the injured party. All right, that leads to A, which stands for airway. In order to stay alive, all people need to have an open airway to allow breathing. A conscious person will automatically clear their own airway. But if unconscious, this may not happen. The brain is stopped or hindered from properly directing the body, and, obviously, in the worst case, death can result. For this reason, the injured person is normally put into the recovery position. Placed on the side, tilting the head back and ensuring that there are no blockages in the mouth. To free any such blockages, the back can be slapped or the chest compressed, allowing anything to be spat out. Now that the airway is free, check for B, or breathing. If breathing is not happening or is irregular, the first aider may have to assist with what is technically known as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or more commonly, CPR. This involves breathing for the patient through mouth-to-mouth contact, while periodically massaging the heart through compressions to the chest. This combination allows blood and oxygen to flow around the body, keeping the patient alive, hopefully until medics, such as doctors, advanced first aiders or ambulance staff arrive. Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 18 to 20. Now listen and answer questions 18 to 20. Now it's certainly good to have knowledge of emergency first aid, but, obviously, the best situation is simply not to have accidents occur in the first place. For that, you need to be aware of safety issues, but just saying, be aware, does not usually achieve much. It is more important to have an appointed person whose job is to ensure awareness and work safety. Safety inspections would obviously be part of their job, whereby they can make sure, for example, that the first aid boxes are fully equipped. Another idea is to put posters on the walls, but, interestingly, research has proven that these tend to be ignored, becoming just part of the wallpaper, seen but not put into practice. It is much better if everyone is just instilled to not be reckless, that is, to not rush into situations without thinking about the possibility of accidents. And instilling this mindset is part of the job of the safety officer. Some other suggestions are ongoing first aid training and no accident reward or star systems. These have had some success, but nothing beats a regular meeting, say once a month, in which the subject of safety is brought to the attention of everyone, and any outstanding issues related to this are thoroughly discussed. That is the end of section 2. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Now turn to section 3.

SECTION 3 You will hear two students, Frank and Nicole, discussing their research on university waste. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 25. Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25. Hi, Nicole. As you know, we've got to decide on the best ways this university can reduce its waste. You inspected the Eastern campus and I did the Western buildings. Did you do all the interviews as well? Yes, I interviewed all the staff who made some good observations and I interviewed some of the students. The students said little that was interesting. They don't seem to care that much. It was the cleaners, surprisingly, who revealed the most relevant facts. That's not surprising to me. They empty all the bins so they see the waste first hand, whereas the staff just throw things away without thinking. What item was most commonly disposed of? Well, it really depended on where I interviewed. In the cafeteria precinct, obviously paper plates and cups were thrown away all over the place. There was almost no attempt at recycling. However, across the university in general, it was paper copying that filled up most bins, far more than plastic or other forms of waste. Do people care about this then? Well, some do, if you can believe them. I must have interviewed about 30% of customers in the cafeteria and the results were mixed. Out of all the people I interviewed, well over half, maybe about 55% of them were quite honest about it, telling me that they had little concern. The other fraction, 45%, were more troubled. Yes, but do they do anything about it? Surprisingly, quite a significant percentage do do something, even if they aren't particularly concerned. I mean, small things. About 10% bring their own cups to the cafeteria, for example, and at least one third said they use recycling bins. So, in total, it's an equal split between those who do something or those who don't. So why do so many people remain inactive, particularly over an issue they should care about more? I think they do care, and many of them are prepared to do something. Obviously, there's an element of laziness, but I'd say that it's relatively small. If they knew what to do, and if stringent systems existed, or if the importance of this was made clearer to them, I'm sure you'd see a much larger percentage of people actively working towards helping our environment. Well, there's cause for optimism, at least. Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 26 to 30. Now listen and answer questions 26 to 30. Clearly, then, there's a significant waste of paper here at this university, so I've worked out one practical suggestion which could help reduce it, specifically, the waste from the excess photocopying. Let me hear it, then. Ah, obviously, for a start, we've got to ensure that people, including the staff, without exception, copy both sides of a page. We can't tolerate single-sided copying. It's just far too wasteful. Absolutely. Just more trees being chopped down. But as people are doing copying, there may be adjustments and practice copying, producing single-sided copies or blank pages not wanted and not intended for use. These need to be deposited into a tray for intended recycling, you know, for re-copying onto the blank side of the page. But people don't usually do that. I'm afraid it's just human nature. No matter how unimportant the copying is, they prefer to use fresh paper. Yeah, I agree with you, which is why you need to display these papers right in front of everyone with a clear sign, please reuse, to make it easy for them to do so. They still won't do it. I know. That's why you take some of these papers and regularly stack them inside the copier in a special tray once a day, say in the morning. Well, that's getting better, making it easier for them to use the paper. But still, I'm afraid many won't. That's why you allow everyone to select this tray when copying. You distribute numbers or codes to every person, giving them special access to this recycling tray. Every time they use papers from this, it's tallied up to their account. I know I'm sounding a bit negative or even cynical here, but why should they bother using that tray? Because the person who does the most copying from this recycling tray gets, say, a cinema pass or lottery ticket or some other sort of reward. Oh, right. Now that's a system which might just work. Let's trial it in the office and see what happens. That is the end of section 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Now turn to section 4.

SECTION 4 You will hear an introduction of the exhibition named Two Centuries of the Bike. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you to our exhibition, Two Centuries of the Bike. Let's stroll around the exhibition, shall we? Although there were a few early efforts back in the 1700s, you didn't really see many bikes till, say, the 1830s in England. Bikes were a response to the rapid growth of cities early in the 19th century. Cities like London were getting too big to walk across. The early bike let people travel with less effort than walking. Plus, a bike was a lot cheaper than a horse. Think of it. No one invited a bike for, what, 5,000 years of human history. Why did people do it then? Probably because this was the start of the machine age. People wanted machines to do all the work. There were some drawbacks, however. For one thing, there were no pedals. You simply pushed yourself along using your feet, kind of like today's skateboard. That meant you went fairly slow, and uphill you actually worked harder, pushing that two-wheeler. Plus, the wheels were made of wood covered with metal, as you can see from this model. So the downside was that the ride was quite uncomfortable on most roads. Only a few gadget lovers had or used them. By the 1860s, though, improvements were being made. As you can see from this specimen, metal frames had become the rule. They're more durable than wood, and they don't warp in the rain. The biggest improvement, however, was the development of the chain and sprocket system. They're connected. This meant you did not push the bike. You used pedals, just like today. You had to try harder to balance, so it took some practice to figure out how to use the pedals. But it made the ride so much easier. As a result, the good thing was that you could ride a lot more smoothly, and with very little effort. By the 1880s, another big change was the use of rubber wheels. These became pretty common at that time. Though the first ones were solid rubber, the ride was a good deal more comfortable than the old iron and wood system. This is a big consideration, because the faster you go, the more you feel every bump. Air-filled tyres, pneumatic tyres, didn't really come into use until around the year 1900, as you can see from this exhibition over here. That made the ride even more comfortable. So by 1890 or so, people were going a lot faster and a lot more smoothly. There was one problem when you were going quickly and comfortably. Oh no, how do I stop? Yes, we all laugh now, but for a long time, the only way to stop was to drag your feet. That didn't work very well, and it would be dangerous if you were going fast. In the crowded cities of those years, New York, Chicago and so on, you'd get killed if you couldn't stop for, say, a streetcar. Plus, look at this bike. The front wheel is nearly a metre and two-thirds tall. They made them that way so you could see over people in wagons, but you couldn't drag your feet. This model is called a velocipede, a speed pedal. Another characteristic of the bike in this period is that it has two equal-sized wheels, which signalled a big change in bikes. For with the velocipede, brakes appeared. If you wanted to stop, you just pushed the pedal backwards. Doing that stopped the back wheel of the bike. This technique worked a lot better than dragging your feet or jumping off the high seat there. This meant that bikes became a great deal safer. It would have been safer if people wore helmets, but the first bicycle helmet wasn't invented until years later, and even then, it was little more than a leather ball cap. It really wasn't until the 1970s that the bike helmet was modified to provide some real protection. Before continuing on to look at developments since the 1890s, let's say a word more about safety. Everyone knows if you're going downhill, you can get going dangerously fast. To go more than 100km an hour isn't all that difficult, but even on level ground, it's easy to go too quickly. On a city street, today's bicycles can be ridden at a speed of over 40mph over a short distance. That's about 64km an hour. Remember, you're on a bike, not in a car. There's nothing to protect you. People are killed in single bicycle accidents every day just from hitting the road. A good rule to remember is, if you're going faster than the cars, slow down, and please wear a helmet. Nearly one quarter of the epilepsy cases come from head injuries in accidents on bikes and motorcycles. I don't mean to scare you, but safety is everyone's business. What? Now that's a good question. Why are today's bikes so much faster? Well, it's not just that today's athletes are faster. The answer is partly mechanical. If you look closely here at the back wheel, you'll see a number of gears. Changing gears is what makes those fast speeds possible. You can shift gears depending on the terrain and how hard you wish to pedal. So you can put it on a higher gear for downhill and a lower gear for uphill travel to make it easier to climb that slope. You'll notice this gear-shifting mechanism is attached to the back wheel. And when the rider shifts on the handlebar gear shifter, the chain moves to the appropriate sprocket. And speaking of changing gears, let's look over here at our Tour de France exhibit. That is the end of section four. You now have half a minute to check your answers. That is the end of the listening test. In the IELTS test, you will now have ten minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet.