You'll hear a man telephone a travel company to book a holiday. First, you have some time to look at questions, 1 to 4

Now, turn to part 1.


PART 1

You'll hear a man telephone a travel company to book a holiday. 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.

Margaret: Good afternoon. Italia Breaks, my name is Margaret. How can I help you?

Man: Hi. I'd like to book a short break in Italy. Hotel and flights combined.
Margaret: Anywhere in particular?
Man: Yes, Venice. If possible.

The holiday destination is Venice. So Venice has been written in space.

Now, the test will 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.
Margaret: Good afternoon, Italia Breaks. My name is Margaret. How can I help you?
Man: Hi. I'd like to book a short break in Italy. Hotel and flights combined.
Margaret: Anywhere in particular?
Man: Yes, Venice if possible. We've been looking at some of your brochures, and I want to check if you have any special deals.
Margaret: Right. Let's have a look and see what we thought, Right... Hmm… Okay. I've got the screen up. Can you just give me a few personal details?
Man: Sure.
Margaret: First, can I just take your name, please? And the contact telephone number?
Man: Certainly. It's John Framlington. That's F-R-A-M-L-I-N-G-T-O-N and I'll give you my mobile number. Can’t always remember it. Yes. Here it is. It's O, seven, nine, eight, seven double four double one 92
Margaret: double four double 192.
Man: That's it.
Margaret: And how many people is it for?
Man: Just two adults?
Margaret: Okay, any particular price range?
Man: It's our first wedding anniversary and we…
Margaret: Oh, congratulations.
Man: Thank you. So we wanted somewhere nice but not too expensive. We would like to make it something to remember, maybe in the medium price range.
Margaret: Okay, how many nights do you plan to stay?
Man: Five nights only. That gives us plenty of time to do sightseeing and to relax.
Margaret: Right. That's five nights only and what type of hotel?
Man: We initially thought of going for a five-star. But that might be too expensive. So we've been looking at four star hotels.
Margaret: We got quite a few in our brochure, but the one I would recommend is the Hotel Scotland. It's four stars and I know there are rooms available because I have just made a booking for another client there.
Man: Oh, I didn't notice that one. Don't know how I didn't see it.
Margaret: It's easy to miss them. I've also stayed there myself as we sometimes have to go and check out the hotels and of all the ones I visited, this was my favorite.
Man: Oh, right.

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.

Man: What's the hotel Like?

Margaret: It has a courtyard for breakfast. It's got 50 rooms. It's just been renovated. And so it's very stylish.
Man: Is it in the brochure?
Margaret: It's on page 63.
Man: Oh, yes, I can see it's right next to the railway station. What appeals to me most of all, is that the hotel is very convenient for all the water buses.And the idea of having a terrorist with the room. I really find it very appealing. These are big pluses.
Margaret: It's probably the most central hotel we have. You might think it would be a bit noisy as it's in the main commuter area and a place where tourists go, but from experience, I can assure you the hotel is very quiet. Most of the rooms are facing away from the main thoroughfare. Can you tell me when you'd like to leave?
Man: The 17th of March. Coming back on the 22nd.
Margaret: Okay. I'll just check again if there are places available. Two adults sharing, Hotel Scotland. Yes, that's gone through.
Man: Okay, and how much is the break including flights?
Margaret: That is a special way at the moment because it's an off-season. For five nights, see it's seven hundred and sixteen pounds for a double room and flights. That includes airport taxes, but not insurance.
Man: Each?
Margaret: No, for two adults sharing.
Man: That doesn't sound too bad at all. What reductions do you have at the moment?
Margaret: Well, if you make the booking before the 17th of February, you get a further 15 percent reduction subject to availability.
Man: That's a big saving.
Margaret: Yes. It makes the price very reasonable indeed. Do you need travel insurance?
Man: Yes, I suppose, we better had.
Margaret: For seven day cover for both of you ,it's 17 pounds. 88.
Man: Okay.
Margaret: Do you want to book today?
Man: I think we should but can I just check with my wife? Can you hold the booking for me?
Margaret: I can hold it until 1 p.m.
Man: Okay. That's fine. I'll get back to you immediately.
Margaret: I'll just give you a reference for the reservation.
Man: Okay.
Margaret: it's FA P S J M 1 5
Man: thanks. I'll get back to you as soon as I can and definitely before 1 p.m. This is too good an offer to miss.

That is the end of part 1. You now, have half a minute to check your answers.

Now, turn to part 2.

PART 2

You will soon hear an informative talk given by Michelle on how to keep out burglars and keep your home safe. Before you listen you have a chance to read questions, 11 to 16.

As you listen to the first part of the talk, answer questions, 11 to 16.

Keep them out. There's no fail-proof way to keep out a burglar, but every little bit of deterrence helps. Even if you can't afford a security system, you can take a few minutes to make your home a little safer. Some relatively simple steps will greatly decrease the odds of a break-in, which means you can enjoy a bit more peace of mind. And isn't that what home is all about? Think like a burglar. If you were one, how would you get into your home? Evaluate your home from the inside and out, night and day, you might even try a mock break-in, trying window jumps and loose locks on your house perimeter. To keep out a burglar, the first thing to do is to secure the windows. The windows are relatively easy to break. The loud noise of shattering glass will deter a thief. If you're near other houses, don't leave windows open during the night. Whether you're at home or away, that's a common sense precaution. But a surprising number of people forget to do just that. Use a pick-proof locking device for your windows. Make sure the frames are solid. If you're beyond earshot of your neighbours, they won't hear the glass breaking. Consider installing a plexiglass sheet for the more accessible windows. This will make entry through them more difficult. Your doors should also be secured. If you don't have a peephole, install one in the front door. If you have one, make sure that you and your family are in the habit of using it. Don't open the door to anyone you don't know, especially at night. If the peephole is out of reach of your children, keep a stepladder or stepping box by the door for them to use. If there's any glass within two feet of your front door lock, consider a locking device that would be out of reach, if the glass is broken. Now a few tips on how to protect your valuables. Don't leave your valuables, stereo computer, jewelry, etc, where they can be seen from the window. If you don't want to hide everything from sight, consider blinds. Make a valuables inventory. Keep a record of your expensive and personally significant items. Not just a listing but a photographic or videotape record if possible. Store this inventory at another location. This is helpful for both the police and the insurance agency to identify the stolen goods. Use an engraving pen to mark these items with some kind of personal identifying information such as your initials in an inconspicuous place. This also helps record your possessions in case of any other mishap such as fire or flood.

Now. Look at question 17 to 20.

As the talk continues, answer questions 17 to 20.

Don't stop your security awareness and the outside walls of your house. Your yard areas, if any, also deserve your attention. In general, don't leave anything around the yard that might help a burglar get into your house. That is stackable boxes or any garden tools should be put away, preferably in a locked cabinet. Install a light in your yard that is sensitive to movement. Place it high and out of reach. Trim hedges or bushes that are near doors or windows. These can be good hiding places. Don't place outdoor furniture tables nearby the house. These could become an easy step ladder to the roof. When you're on vacation, create the occupancy illusion. Maybe you laughed at your mother for leaving the lights on and the radio playing while she left for vacation, but she had the right idea. Those steps are quite enough. So try these strategies. Buy electronic timers that turn lights on and off at different times. Hook up a timer to your TV for a few hours each evening. Turn up the volume too. Not enough to annoy the neighbors, just enough that a lurker at the window sill couldn't miss hearing it. Have your newspaper and mail delivery suspended. If you don't have time to do this, ask a neighbor to pick them up for you. Ask your neighbor to park in your driveway or parking place. Think about having someone house sit your home. If it's a relative or friend, it may cost you no more than the contents of your refrigerator. You can also find professional house sitters or house-sitting services that find someone to stay, while you're away. Leave your shades as they are normally or at least they'll close up everyone. One sign of a vacant house is closed shades during the day. Lock your garage door with a padlock.
That is the end of part 2, you will have half a minute to check your answers.

Now turns to part 3

PART 3

You're going to hear a conversation on animal protection. First, you have some time to look at questions, 21 to 25.

Girl: Thanks for joining us today, Mike. How did Baja California become a consideration for a condor release?

Mike: A recovery plan for California Condors requires us to re-establish the birds in as much as their former range as possible. Baja, being the southern most recent range for the California condor works well in that they were only recently lost from the area. Mid 1930s. And considerable habitat still remains. It is very isolated with very few people in the area. The mountains are spectacular ranging up to 10,000 feet or 3,000 meters. Our selected release site is at nearly 8,000 feet, two thousand four hundred meters.
Girl: Mike, how many birds do you envision flying free in this area of Baja in the future?
Mike: We will be releasing four to eight birds on a yearly basis and will reconsider the situation when we have 20 birds in the area.
Girl: What age do the birds have to be before moving them?
Mike: That's a good question. Typically, we move them at eight months to 18 months old. Birds are ready to fledge or leave from the nest at six to seven months of age. In our current release group in Baja, we have birds as old as 30 months. It will be interesting to see how they behave. I expect that they will want to range more than younger birds and make it challenging For us to keep up.
Girl: Is there a maximum number of birds a certain area can support?
Mike: Yes. It's called the carrying capacity for any area, for any species. In our case, our strategy to find that number is to saturate the environment to a level where we determined that the birds are showing difficulty either in finding food behaviorally, or in survivorship. That level is greatly determined by the availability of food in the area and nesting possibilities.

Now look at questions 26 to 30.

As the talk continues, answer questions 26, to 30.

Girl: What do you hope to accomplish with this release in the long run?

Mike: I expect that well within ten years, the Condors will be flying North and joining birds already released in Southern California. Hopefully, we will reach at least 150 birds in each of these populations within about 15 years.
Girl: What would you say is the biggest contribution to the California condor program's success?
Mike: That would have to be the fact that we were able to breed the birds in captivity from the 27 birds we started in 1987 to the 205 birds we have today. This is thanks to the cooperation between San Diego Wild animal park, the Los Angeles Zoo, and the World Centre for Birds of Prey in Idaho.
Girl: Are there any problems keeping track of and protecting your released animals outside of the US?
Mike: Nope. We are using radio transmitters and we'll be using the new satellite and GPS transmitters as well,
Girl: which system is better?
Mike: Using satellites. The advantages over radio television telemetry are numerous. It makes it possible to keep up with the birds’ flight without being led miles in a matter of minutes, it took the young condor only a week to migrate across the state and with just radio telemetry, poor weather can keep a plane grounded and not all roads are accessible to track them on ground. New technology will allow one to be able to track birds that are not accessible by playing. Also, It is a new way to gauge the effectiveness of reintroduction.
Girl: How, so?
Mike: If a condor transmitter works properly, researchers will get a location every 10 days for about two years.
Girl: Do you see an end insight for the need to breed condors in captivity?
Mike: Yes, that would be great. But it will take a while for us to establish the two wild populations and make sure that they are sustainable. Part of our recovery is to maintain a captive flock of 150 birds in various zoos around the country as a safety net for the future.

That is the end of part 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

Now, turn to part 4.

PART 4

You will hear a talk on the effect of architecture on people's mood. First, you have some time to look at questions, 31 to 40.

Now listen, carefully and answer questions, 31 to 40.

My group has been doing a project on the importance of architecture in people's lives and whether it has any impact on the lives of people in general. The main part I have played is in the collection of data. To find out what effect, if any, various buildings have on people's mood, i.e, whether ugly buildings make people unhappy and whether beautiful buildings do the opposite. We had originally thought of starting measuring people's reactions, by using a questionnaire with about 40 questions, which we were going to hand out to people, including students of the university. But we were worried that doing the questionnaire will be too time-consuming for people to fill in. So we gave up the idea. I then asked several of the postgraduate students for advice. One of them came up with the simple idea of showing people, images of various buildings from different eras and styles instead of getting out the questionnaire and asking them to indicate how they felt on a scale of one to five about the images, where one was unhappy and five was very happy. People would also be given the option of not saying what they felt. Using the scale meant that it would be much simpler to record people's reactions. I decided to follow this advice. And so, the first stage was to collect a large Number of images. I used Google to print off color images of views of houses, and apartment blocks where people live and different types of buildings where they work. I started with about 30 or 40 and then reduced them to ten images. Media resources in the Amary building at the Judge Street branch of the University helped me produce the final images. I had them blown up to A4 size and we used color rather than black and white to make the detail on the images clearer. We made five sets of images and for protection when handling, we pasted the images onto a hard card. Then using a machine to wrap them with plastic, we laminated the cards. Five of us targeted different age groups. We went to a local school where we obtained permission to ask a group of teenagers between 11 and 18. We also asked a sample of the general public including tourism all over the world as they exited the Tate modern in London., what they thought. We aim to ask people from different age groups, namely 20 to 40 and 50 and over. What our group learnt most from the project was first of all the value of teamwork and secondly, we found that we had to appoint a leader to stop us pulling in different directions and falling apart. So, this turned out to be an invaluable lesson for all of us. As to the findings, for us, that proved intriguing. In the end, the sample consisted of 311 respondents. I thought initially the people wouldn't be interested in taking part. With the youngest age group, their reaction was very mixed. It was clear that the youngest group had no pattern of preference at all as they frequently gave no reaction to the pictures. For the 20 to 40 age group, we found that they tended to score more than the middle range around 3. We found that out of the three groups, the most likely to be favorably affected by the images, that is they were more likely to score the images as five, with those aged 50 and above and nobody in this age group failed to say what their reaction was, which was unique for the three groups. In total, I have to say that about 71 people indicated that they had no reaction at all to an image. Our general conclusion is that we need to find out more about why people react as they do, perhaps giving them a chance to give reasons for their decisions. I would like to finish there and give my teammates a chance to add anything I've missed or take any questions or suggestions.
That is the end of part for you now have half a minute to check your answers.