IELTS LISTENING TEST 41

SECTION 1 Hi, Altaf. I'm your settlement worker, and I'm called Jenny. It's great to meet you. Welcome to our city. You'll love Toronto. I'm sure I will. I have some general recommendations. First, Toronto's a big place. A lot of people who come here choose to live in the West. I see. Is there a reason for that? Well, yes. There's a great market in the neighborhood. All the local people know about it. Oh, that would be good for us. And I understand you have young children? That's right. So another advantage of this area is that it has quite a few parks where children can play. Oh, that's great. They really like being outside. I actually know of an apartment in the area that's available. I'll arrange for you to see it, but first let's look at the floor plan, and I'll tell you what to check when you see it. This room here is the kitchen. Be sure to open the refrigerator. To see if it's working properly? Yes, and to make sure that there's no nasty smell. Oh. Anything else? Well, it would be good to check the electrical situation. There's nothing worse than not having enough plugs. You'll need at least four. I'll look for those. Um, what's this on the plan? Well, now that's the living room, and this is where you go outside to a small balcony. Have a look at the door lock. Be sure it's not broken. I will. It'll be nice to have our own place to sit outside when we want. Yes, it's very nice on a summer evening after dinner. And, Altaf, have a good look around the living room. The condition of the room is important because it's your main living area. Look at the paint in particular. It may be time to redo it. I'll check that. Now listen and answer questions 7 to 10. Now, Altaf, this hall leads to the bathroom. When you look at that, do check below the sink. Often that's the place you'll find a leak. And the tiles in the bathroom should be in good shape. I agree. Then this room must be one of the bedrooms, and this must be the closet. My wife wants a large one. I'm sure. We all want lots of room for our clothes. You'll also want to look outside the bedroom window. It overlooks the street, and there might be a lot of noise at all times of the day and night. We're in a very busy city. I see. That would be a problem for my wife and the boys, too. I'll definitely remember to check that. Jenny, what other things are in the building? You mean the facilities? Yes. For example, where will we do our laundry? With a building of this type, it's probably in the basement, but it doesn't say. So you'll need to check where it is. You know what's also really good to check for? Know what? You need to check that there's a garbage room on every floor. Then you don't need to go outside. Right. Well, that's everything for now. Good luck, Altaf. We'll talk later today. Thanks for your help, Jenny.

SECTION 2 Now turn to part two. Part two. You will hear a man giving some people information about things to do in a seaside town. First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 15. Now listen carefully to the information talk and answer questions 11 to 15. Hello everyone, it's a lovely morning today and we're apparently going to get lots of sun later. Now here at the Seaview Hotel, we are very close to the beach and given the weather, I thought I'd just let you know what you can do there. If you leave the hotel from the back, take a left and follow the path down to the beach. You'll pass a mini golf on the way on the right. It's not that expensive and if you've had enough of the beach, it's a really fun way to spend an hour. When you get to the beach, you'll see the pier straight in front of you. It stretches out into the sea and is a nice walk out. It only costs a few dollars to walk on the pier unless you want to go fishing and then it costs a bit more. On the left of the pier when you face the sea, there is of course the beach. You can lie down here and sunbathe. Swimming is very safe but do check the large flags that the lifeguards put out. Lifeguards have their shed on the beach here just next to the pier. Green flag means that swimming is safe and this is usually what you'll see. Every now and then though, you'll see an orange flag. Then you shouldn't swim, usually because of a strong current. You'll see the flags at the back of the beach just behind the lifeguard's shed and the paved path which I'll tell you about now. So at the back of the beach, there is a large paved path. You can walk up and down this path at any time as cars are not allowed here. Cyclists are allowed but not between the hours of 9am and 6pm. A bit further down the beach, on the left as you walk down the path, you can rent a chair to sit on if you don't like lying on a towel, mat or on the sand. Now on the right of the pier as you face the sea is Moor Beach where you can lie down and relax. At the back of the beach and over the path just to the right of the pier is a nice restaurant. It serves all sorts of things from fish and chips to sandwiches and ice cream. They have a terrace on the roof where you can eat if the weather's nice or you can go inside if you've had enough sun or if the weather's bad. Further down the beach on the right, you can rent a kayak. This is great fun and you can take one out for two hours and get away from the crowds. It's essential if you rent a kayak that you know how to swim and they will ask you that if you want to rent one. Also, they won't rent a kayak to anyone under the age of 16. You now have some time to look at questions 16 to 20. Now listen to the rest of the information talk and answer questions 16 to 20. After you've had your nice day at the beach, you will have the evening to enjoy. If you fancy watching some live entertainment, there are two places you can go. Firstly, there is the Playhouse Theatre which this evening is presenting Murder in the Library. This is a crime play that is sure to be a lot of fun. This begins at 7.30 and ends at 10. Secondly, if you prefer some music, there is the Summer Show House that tonight has a battle of the bands for young people. This starts a little earlier at seven, goes on until 10.30. You'll be sure of getting a variety of different music from the young talent from the area. To find both of these places, go left out of the front of the hotel and walk down the road. You'll come to the Playhouse first. Then there's a garage and the Summer Show House is just after that. If you still fancy some more time on or near the beach, there is a firework display being held at 10 o'clock at the end of the pier. You won't be allowed onto the pier at this time, so I think the best place to see it is on the beach with some friends. This can be very popular, so make sure you arrive in good time to get a good view. If there's no room, you can watch from the path or the areas behind the path. Some people have asked me about food and there are plenty of restaurants and cafes all around the area near the hotel. A bonus for you is that there is a culinary festival this weekend. This takes place for around six in the town centre. There will be kiosks all around the square serving food and drinks from a variety of different cultures. Some of these will be fairly familiar, such as Chinese, Indian, French, Italian and Thai, but others will be less common. Examples will be Scandinavian, West African, Polynesian and Siberian, amongst others. This will all go on until around 12. Now, if it's raining and there is a storm forecast, everything will still be going on, but don't forget an umbrella. However, if the rain puts you off, there's a cinema about five minutes walk away from the hotel. Just turn right when you leave the hotel. Another option is the comedy club, but this starts a little later and is a bit further away, needing a taxi rather than a walk or a bus to get there. Doors open at nine and it goes on until midnight. It costs $10 to go in. That is the end of part two. You will now have half a minute to check your answers.

SECTION 3 Hello, Susan. My name's Edward. Hello. Thank you for agreeing to talk to me. I sent you a letter. Yes. I'm doing an education course and I'm looking at how local institutions interact with their community. I was a tourist here in Chumbay a few years ago and when I read about your science programme for schools, I thought I could use it as a case study. Fine. Go ahead and tell us what you want to know. Well, I know that since I first came here, you've expanded your activities. Yes, we have. Chumbay's always been important because it's a coral island and it's got a wide variety of wildlife species. But a few years ago, it became even richer in natural resources. Is that because there were increased safeguards? Yes. We were officially designated a nature reserve and now we've got more people coming from all over the world to study here in our ongoing research programme. Can you tell me about the background to the schools programme? Uh-huh. I know it started in 2004 and I think it was intended to link directly into the school's ecology syllabus? That's right. We responded to an approach by a local primary school teacher. He asked if he could bring his pupils here to do some nature studies with our rangers. Then we started organising field trips for other schools. We got government funding, initially for 12 months. That period was eventually extended, but the government sent a team to do a formal evaluation first. Do you mind just telling me briefly what their report said? They found that, in general, the field trips had been enjoyable and stimulating and they'd been effective in raising awareness, both in the children and also in their teachers, of the natural environment and the need to manage resources carefully. Great. And did they suggest any changes? Not exactly. They told us what the problems were and then they left it up to us to decide how to solve them. Uh, for example? Mm, the feedback suggested that the field trips could be even more beneficial if schools had materials to give them a better grounding in life sciences. I see. So, our staff here in Chum Bay started producing materials for schools. We're already distributing an information pack that we produced for use in class prior to the field trips and that material seems to be working well. And we've also begun work on another pack about coral reefs, specifically for teachers, which we'll be trialling in September. Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30. The feedback also told us that schools weren't certain what to expect when they came on the trips, so we decided to institute a preparatory visit by our staff to give a presentation. What does that involve? Uh, about a month beforehand, members of our education team meet teachers and pupils and talk them through a sample itinerary for their field trip. They also explain how they have to behave because we have to be very careful about health and safety. And I suppose you also have to make sure that the resources themselves don't suffer any damage? Exactly. Another thing the team does is explain the correct handling of snorkelling apparatus and children are allowed to try it out. We take it all along to the meeting. And now that you've introduced these changes, will there be another evaluation? Eventually, yes. But we've already had some very positive feedback informally. Teachers have told us they feel better prepared for the trip and have a better idea what to expect and that the pupils feel less nervous about the trips. And there have been a couple of unanticipated benefits too. Staff here say that the preparatory visits help them to gauge the level of the pupils in terms of their understanding of conservation issues. So you can tailor your programme more effectively to the needs of each group? Yes. And also, because our rangers have a chance to explain about the tides and the fact that the coral reef can only be visited on foot at specific times, schools have been getting here much more punctually. Great. Well, thank you for filling me in. That was very useful. Is there anything else we can help you with? Could I possibly see the formal evaluation report you mentioned? Yes, I can arrange to get you a copy. Do you want the materials packed too? Oh, that'd be great. Then I can take them back with me. I won't read them here. I've only got a couple of days. And I'd like to ask a few of the teachers who've been here some questions, if possible. We'll give you some contact details. But if you've got time, wouldn't you like to participate in one of the field trips? We've got a new group arriving here this afternoon. I'd really appreciate that. I was going to ask if I could just take some photos of them, but this would be even better. And my camera's not working right anyway. Good. Well, why don't you come and have lunch with us?

SECTION 4 Now turn to section 4. Section 4 You will hear the first lecture of a course in Development Studies. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to your first lecture in Development Studies. Development Studies, as a discipline, can be boiled down to a couple of core objectives. Basically, we are trying to understand how it is that societies experience particular kinds of change and how they progress as they develop. We're also trying to go beyond that, however, and work out how different sorts of actions can facilitate or even encourage these changes to happen. To achieve these objectives, there are two key approaches that underpin Development Studies. Firstly, there's a theoretical approach, which is all about the how of change. With theory, we can explore some of the big questions. What kind of change should we aspire to? And how can this be achieved? But we don't just talk. We've also got to apply some of this thinking. So, through the applied approach, we're looking at specific policies and trying to understand how they can most effectively be put into place. Although we try not to limit ourselves, we do focus on a few key areas. Due to our location, for example, the Asia-Pacific region is an important area of research for us. At the moment, we're doing a lot of work on urbanisation, and there are two elements to this. One is employment, as urbanisation leads to major employment problems. And the other is housing. With so many people moving to cities, many of them struggle to find a place to live. Other issues of particular interest to our staff are migration and, of course, trade. So, what will you be able to do with a degree in Development Studies? Well, firstly, you'll develop a full working knowledge of all aspects of development. You'll also learn how to gather data. We include sessions on how to gather statistics, but we mostly focus on textual data, that is, policy briefings, research reports, and so on. Once you've done your research, you need to know what it all means. After all, there's not much point in collecting a whole lot of data if you don't know whether it's significant or not. So, we're going to teach you how to critically evaluate your findings. And finally, teamwork is a big part of development work. Your major piece of research work for this class is done in groups of four, so you're going to learn how to cooperate as a team in order to plan and conduct this research assignment. I want to move on now to give you a brief overview of how development studies has evolved as a discipline since it was first established. The first thing to note is that, unlike other subjects such as mathematics or philosophy, development studies is very young. It began taking shape as a formal discipline only in the 1950s. At that stage, economic concerns were at the forefront of nearly all research efforts. Researchers assumed that development in general could be measured by indicators such as gross domestic product, GDP, or unemployment levels. In the 1970s, a new set of scholars took charge. These researchers, informed by the social movements of the 1960s, brought a new set of issues to the table. At that time, development studies grew increasingly critical of established practices and the assumptions that lay behind those practices. Questions were raised in three areas. The role of power in creating policy, the importance of environmentally sustainable change, and problems with inequalities in terms of gender. From the 1980s onwards, the economy staged a comeback as a centerpiece of development practice. A key factor here was the reduced significance of national governments, due to a number of market-led reforms in many countries around the world. In contrast to the 1950s, however, researchers have recently shown a heightened interest in smaller-scale economic projects. One significant innovation here is the idea of making tiny loans, sometimes only a few dollars, to help women in particular to start up a small business. And that brings us to today. So let's finish now by talking about... That is the end of Section 4. You now have half a minute to check your answers.