Section One. You will hear two friends called John and Anna talking about a holiday Anna has just had on
Jackson Island.
Hi Anna. How was your holiday to Jackson Island? — It was good. There's quite a lot to see. It's quite a
big island really. — Yeah. I was thinking of going in the summer. So where would you recommend going on
the island? — Well the capital of course, Camford. I stayed there with my cousin.
What did you do there? — Well actually I spent most of my time there shopping. — So has it got good
shopping centres? — Yes, but they're the same as at home really. So I did all my shopping in the market,
which is great. — What kinds of things are good to buy there? — Everything but bags and shoes
especially. Just make sure you've got 1cash with you as most of the stalls don't take credit cards.
Okay, that's good to know. Where else did you go? — Well my cousin and I went to Newtown. She said it was
famous for its modern architecture. We only had half a day there so we took a bus tour around the town.
But if I were you I'd give the bus tour a miss. Unless you know a lot about architecture, the buildings
all look the same. There's a 2museum
though, that's supposed to be good. You might like that. — Okay, I'll give it a go.
Then after that we headed for Golden Beach because we were going to meet up with an old friend that I
hadn't seen for years. But we had to stay in a 3caravan as the hotels were all booked up. — Is it as pretty as it
looks in the brochures? — Yes, it's very picturesque. We did some 4sailing on the most beautiful blue sea. It was so clear that you
could see the bottom, even quite far out to sea. That part of the trip was great and I'd have liked to
have stayed even longer. I'd suggest staying there for a minimum of 5four days if I were you. We had two days there and it wasn't
nearly enough.
Sounds great. I'll put that on my must-do list. Was that the end of your trip? — No. From Golden Beach we
drove into the centre of the island to 6White
Mountain. — White as in the colour? — Yes. The island's great because you can go from the
beaches up to the snowy mountain in a couple of hours. We took a tent because we were going to camp. But
the weather was so cold — in fact it was snowing when I was there — that we stopped in a motel instead.
— Did you go skiing then? — No. But we tried 7snowboarding and it was harder than it looked. It looked so easy
when you see other people doing it. But it took me ages to get the hang of it. I wish I'd had some
lessons. But you had to make your bookings in advance.
So are there any other tips or advice you could give me? — Let me think. Oh, one place you should try to
visit is this very quaint cafe which is at the foot of the mountain. It has the best 8cakes ever. It's worth going there just for them. —
I'll have to try those. So what other advice would you give? — So how did you get around when you were
there? — We wanted to get a motorbike at first. They're very cheap to hire and great fun to ride as the
roads are very good. But it turned out not to be a good idea because the weather is so changeable. You'd
be much better off in a 9car. There
are plenty of places where you can hire them. And the roads are well sign-posted so you won't get lost.
— And presumably I can get a map when I get there. — Well, you can. But they are expensive. It would be
better to get a 10map here before you
go. — Great. That's been really useful. Thank you.
Section 2. You will hear an Art Centre Director giving information to a group of people attending an Arts
Weekend.
Welcome to Grampic Arts Campus for our annual residential arts weekend. I'm Bob Grayne, Director of the
program. It's a large campus, it's quite easy to get lost, so I'm going to give you a quick overview of
the most important places here. Right, I'm glad you all found your way here to reception. First a word
about parking. We do have a free temporary car park here and for those of you coming by bike, the 11bike sheds (G) aren't far from
reception. You'll see them on your left as you walk down South Lane towards the residential rooms.
Now dinner is in the dining room at 7.30. If you need something to eat now, the 12snack shop (E) is still open. The quickest way to
get there is to leave here, go straight through the office, they won't mind, the ornamental ponds in
front of you and the snack shop is the building on your left. The fitness facilities are even better
this year. We've outgrown the old fitness rooms, which were next to the office. To find the new 13fitness rooms (A) from here, walk up
to North Road, they're at the end in the last block next to the dining room.
Now, your bedrooms are quite near. You can see the single rooms in the tall block to the far left of us
across South Lane. Couples and families are in our 14family rooms (F), right next door to them. I'm afraid there
aren't any TVs in the rooms — we ask you to keep the noise down, please. We have a 15TV room (H). You can probably see it from here.
It's right opposite us in the big red building.
But there are gaps in our timetables for some extra options. Firstly, the drama option. I'm afraid our
theatre and practice rooms here are being refurbished and are out of use. We decided against using our
sports hall and instead we're going to use our 16lecture rooms (C), which we've converted into a theatre for the
weekend.
There are also changes to the photography option. This year, this option isn't open to everyone. We
decided for practical reasons to reserve it for 17beginners with no previous experience (A). Let me remind you
that you don't need any special equipment. That's provided. The tutors have said that unfortunately they
can't accept parents with children because that proved too disruptive last time. But if you're over 18,
that's fine.
Onto the writing option. Previous courses looked at starting your novel. This year, we wondered about
focusing on the techniques of writing different types of poetry. However, as a result of many requests,
we've decided the workshop will concentrate on helping each participant write one or more 18short stories (B). Poetry may be some
future time.
Now, music. The brochure says you'll go to a concert. That's a misprint. Instead, you'll be writing and
putting on your own 19performance
(C), a concert for yourselves. Unfortunately, the singing tutor is ill. It's too late to
replace her, so we've had to cancel singing lessons.
Finally, the creche. This is available for all families on the program and there are still some places
left. I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that the 20charge for this hasn't increased since last year (A). Lunch is
included, but of course parents are welcome to collect their children and spend the lunch break with
them. May I remind you that any fees for this service must be settled in full at the end of the last
day.
Section 3. You will hear two trainee teachers called Dean and Hannah talking about their recent teaching
practice in an elementary school.
Hi Dean. Did you have a good weekend? — Yes. It was good to relax after a whole week of teaching
practice. Anyway, are you okay to talk about the report we've got to write on the geography lesson we
taught together? — Sure. Let's begin with our lesson aims, shall we? — Right. Well, I know the main one
was 21-22getting the class to think about
how people in different parts of the world are connected to each other through the things they buy
and sell (A — global interdependency). — Yes. We took that from the syllabus for grade four
and then we decided to use pencils as our example. And we also wanted to get the class thinking about
21-22how things are moved around the world
in different ways from the farms and the mines to the factories and then the stores (D — transport
systems). That wasn't in the core syllabus. I think we added that ourselves. — Yes.
Okay. Then the last section of the report contains a post-lesson analysis. We have to mention any
problems we identified. So, any ideas? — Well, I know we were really satisfied with our handouts and
worksheets. They'd been at just the right level, and I think we worked well as a team. — Absolutely.
Neither of us was too dominant. Personally, the thing I think we didn't get right was 23-24the way we paced things. Some things seemed to be
rushed and others seemed to drag out too long (E — the timing). — The same as you. If we did
the same lesson again, I'd want to make some adjustments to that but keep the same basic lesson plan. —
Okay. But there's one other thing. At the time, I seem to remember we both thought that 23-24organizing the children in sets of six
didn't work very well and that pairs would have been better for certain tasks (B — the student
grouping). — Yes. I remember that too.
Now should we go over our lesson plan together? Well, the whole lesson was based on the production and
distribution of pencils. First, we gave out the pencils and got the students to decide what they're made
of. Then when they'd come up with all five of the component materials, we talked about which countries
produce most of these materials. And we got volunteers to come to the front and mark the location of
those 25producers (G) on a map of the
world.
Right. Then we brainstormed all the different ways of getting goods from one place to another and what
the advantages and disadvantages of each one would be — the 26methods of transport (H). I remember one girl talking about
using horses.
Yes. After that, we put them in small groups and each group represented each of the countries on the map.
They had to use their atlases to decide an itinerary for sending their raw materials to the USA,
specifying the different ports and places on the way there — their 27export routes (A). — And by the time they'd done that, it was
break time.
And after the break, they had to imagine they were pencil manufacturers in Chicago and fill in details on
a 28worksheet (E) about how they
dispatch their pencils to different parts of the country.
And then we had a class discussion about whether people will still be using pencils in 2050 and whether
the design of pencils is likely to change — the 29future (B) of pencils. And to round the lesson off, the kids had
to spend 10 minutes planning a short 30presentation / talk (C) for another class about possible
developments. And that was it.
Section 4. You will hear a lecturer talking to a group of environmental science students about fuel made
from biomass.
Good afternoon everyone. Today I am going to talk about the use of biomass. For those of you who don't
know what biomass is, it's plant material, usually agricultural waste such as sawdust or straw, and
briquettes made out of biomass are used as fuel either in the home or in industry. I'll start with the
benefits. Using briquettes has a financial benefit because they make use of waste products as raw
materials, so there isn't any 31cost
involved for that. Another advantage is convenience. Handling briquettes is cleaner than handling
materials like wood or charcoal. Also briquettes are less trouble to 32store because they are a uniform size and shape.
Right, let's look briefly now at how these briquettes are made. There are two basic methods of
manufacture. The first method uses machinery. At the initial stage all the loose plant material is
ground into a 33powder and then mixed
with other materials. Next a machine compresses the biomass mixture and that process raises the
temperature and causes it to melt. The machine forces the biomass mixture out through rectangular or
circular 34holes. Then as the
pressure decreases the mixture cools and becomes solid again. It's important to point out that with this
method electricity is essential to operate the machinery, and generally the amount of 35electricity / energy required is only 3% to 9% of
the energy that's produced by the briquettes when they are burnt.
The second method involves making briquettes by hand. This method is suitable when the biomass is mainly
composed of material that doesn't melt, like paper. The biomass is made into a paste by adding water
and, in addition, something sticky such as 36starch. This mixture is then shaped using either a simple metal
press or bare hands.
So where is biomass fuel used? It's been used for several years in Europe and the USA, mainly for 37agriculture, and since 2000 there's
been a rapid increase in the production and use of briquettes made out of wood waste. Moving further
east, both India and China have been producing biomass briquettes since the 1990s. In China in 2002 the
number of 38factories producing
biomass briquettes had increased to approximately 600, and production is still growing.
I can give you an example of one company in Uganda which is producing briquettes. Most of the company's
customers are public institutions like schools and universities that provide hot meals for their
students. The other main users are 39businesses that need a source of heat for producing their
products. Okay, how viable are biomass fuels in economic terms and what is likely to happen in the
future? The answer depends partly on the price of the fuels that they replace, but in general the 40demand for biomass fuels is almost
certain to grow, and that can only benefit the environment.
