Full Listening Test 1

Transcript

Section 1

Daniel: Good morning, Riverside Leisure Centre, Daniel speaking. How can I help?

Farah: Hello. I'd like to join one of your adult swimming courses. A colleague at work told me about them.

Daniel: Of course. Let me take some details. Could I have your name, please?

Farah: It's Farah Siddiqui. That's F, A, R, A, H, and Siddiqui is S, I, D, D, I, Q, U, I.

Daniel: Thank you. And a contact number?

Farah: My mobile is zero seven seven zero zero, nine zero zero four eight one.

Daniel: Zero seven seven zero zero, nine zero zero four eight one. Got that. Now, which course are you interested in? We have beginners, improvers and an advanced class.

Farah: I can swim a little but I'm not confident, so I think improvers would suit me best.

Daniel: Good choice. The improvers class is on Monday evenings, at seven o'clock.

Farah: Oh, Mondays are difficult for me because I work late. Is there another day?

Daniel: Let me see. There is also a Tuesday class, at half past seven in the evening.

Farah: Tuesday is perfect. How much is it?

Daniel: It's forty-two pounds for the six week course, and that includes use of the pool for an hour afterwards.

Farah: That's reasonable. Can I pay today?

Daniel: Yes, you can pay by card over the phone now, or you can pay in person on the first day. Which would you prefer?

Farah: By card now, please.

Daniel: Fine. One more thing. You must wear a swimming cap in the pool, and you can buy one at reception if you don't have one.

Farah: I'll bring my own. And where do I go when I arrive? I've never been to the centre.

Daniel: The classes use the north entrance, which is on Park Road. Please don't use the main entrance on the high street, because it's closed in the evenings.

Farah: North entrance on Park Road. Thank you, that's very helpful.

Daniel: You're welcome. Now, your card number, please.

Section 2

Helen: Good morning everyone and welcome to the Harbour Maritime Museum. My name is Helen, and I'll tell you a little about the museum before you start exploring on your own.

Helen: First, some practical points. The museum is open from ten in the morning until five in the afternoon, Tuesday to Sunday. On Saturdays we stay open later, until six, because that is our busiest day. We are closed on Mondays.

Helen: Please leave large bags and coats in the lockers, which are on the ground floor next to the shop. The lockers take a one pound coin, which you get back when you return the key. You can take photographs in all the galleries, but please don't use a flash in the Navigation Gallery, because the old maps are easily damaged by light.

Helen: Now let me tell you about the layout. There are four galleries. As you come in from the entrance hall, the Ship Models Gallery is on your left. Many of the models there were built by retired sailors, and the oldest dates from the eighteenth century. Straight ahead is the Navigation Gallery, with maps, compasses and a working model of a ship's wheel, which children especially enjoy. Upstairs, the Cargo Gallery shows what ships carried, from spices to machinery. And at the back of the ground floor, beside the garden, you'll find our newest display, the Lighthouse Room, which opened last spring.

Helen: If you get tired, the cafe is on the first floor, overlooking the harbour. It serves hot meals until three o'clock, but you can buy drinks and snacks until closing time. There's also a quiet area next to the cafe for families with young children.

Helen: Finally, today at two o'clock there will be a short talk by a retired captain in the Navigation Gallery. It's free, and there's no need to book. Enjoy your visit.

Section 3

Dr Khan: Hello, Sara, Tom. Come in. You wanted to discuss your project proposal.

Sara: Yes. We've decided to look at how shops in our town could use fewer plastic bags.

Dr Khan: A practical topic. What did you have in mind for collecting information?

Tom: At first we planned to give a questionnaire to a hundred shoppers.

Sara: But we realised that's too many for the time we have, so we'll aim for fifty instead.

Dr Khan: Fifty is more realistic. Will that be enough?

Sara: We thought we could add interviews with three shop owners, to find out what they think the problems are.

Dr Khan: Good idea, because owners will show you a side that shoppers don't. Which shops?

Tom: We'd like one supermarket, one small grocery and one market stall.

Dr Khan: Make sure you ask permission before you interview anyone, and tell them how you will use what they say.

Sara: We will. Tom's going to contact the owners, because he knows the market traders already.

Tom: Right. And Sara's good at writing questions, so she'll design the questionnaire.

Dr Khan: Fine. And the analysis of the results?

Sara: We'll do that together, and we'll also prepare the slides together.

Dr Khan: Good. Remember the presentation should last fifteen minutes, with five minutes for questions.

Tom: Is there a word limit for the written report?

Dr Khan: Two thousand words, and it's due a week after the presentation.

Sara: Do we need to include graphs?

Dr Khan: Yes, at least two, but keep them simple and clear.

Tom: Thank you, Dr Khan.

Section 4

Lecturer: Today I want to talk about tidal energy, a form of renewable power that gets far less attention than wind and solar.

Lecturer: Let me begin with the basics. Tides are caused mainly by the pull of the moon on the oceans, with a smaller effect from the sun. This gives tidal energy one great advantage over wind and solar power: it is extremely predictable. Engineers can say when the tide will be high or low years in advance.

Lecturer: There are two main ways of using the tides. The first is the tidal barrage. This is a wall built across an estuary, with gates and turbines inside it. Water flows in as the tide rises and out as it falls, turning the turbines both ways. The first large barrage was built at La Rance, in France, and it opened in 1966. It is still producing electricity today.

Lecturer: So why aren't there barrages everywhere? The main problem is cost. A barrage needs a huge amount of concrete and takes years to build. There is also an environmental problem. A barrage changes the movement of water in the estuary, and that can harm birds that feed on the mud when the tide goes out.

Lecturer: The second method is the tidal stream turbine. These work rather like underwater wind turbines. Instead of air, they use the flow of the sea, and they are fixed to the sea floor. They cost less to build than a barrage and do far less damage to the surroundings. But they need a fast current to work well, and that means they can only be placed in a few locations around the coast.

Lecturer: To summarise, tidal power is reliable and predictable, but it is expensive and not available everywhere. In the next session we will look at how engineers compare the cost of different renewable sources.