Audioscripts Listening Practice Test 34

SECTION 1

AGENT:                Good morning. City House Services. How may I help you?

CUSTOMER:       Good morning. I’d like to arrange to have my house cleaned.

AGENT:                Certainly. I just need to ask a few questions. First, could I take your name?

CUSTOMER:       Yes, it’s Barbara Hill. (Example)

AGENT:                Thank you. Next, is your house in London?

CUSTOMER:       Yes, it’s in Kingston in Southwest London. (Q1)

AGENT:                OK, Southwest London and… er, what’s the postcode?

CUSTOMER:       SW105.

AGENT:                And what is the square footage and what rooms will we be cleaning?

CUSTOMER:       The whole house is 268 square feet, and there is no need to clean all the rooms. I only want to have my bedrooms cleaned.

AGENT:                OK, how many bedrooms does the house have?

CUSTOMER:       Three bedrooms. Oh no, sorry, we used to have three bedrooms, but we only have two bedrooms now.

AGENT:                Are those single bedrooms or doubles?

CUSTOMER:       Doubles. (Q2)

AGENT:                Fine, two doubles…

CUSTOMER:       There is one more room which needs cleaning. It was used as a bedroom before, and now we have converted it into an office. (Q3)

AGENT:                I understand. Three rooms have got to be cleaned, and are all of those rooms upstairs?

CUSTOMER:       Yes. Then, downstairs we have a kitchen-diner, conserva​tory, and lounge (Q4). The kitchen-diner is quite large and has the usual equipment – cooker with oven, refriger​ator, cupboards, and worktops. The conservatory has a lot of plants, but there’s no need to take care of them. The lounge has a leather three-piece suite and a large coffee table.

AGENT.                Thank you. And do you keep any pets?

CUSTOMER:       Yeah, I really love keeping them. I’ve got two dogs and three cats.

AGENT:                OK, then if our staff come over to offer the service, please take your pets away. Have you looked at our services packages?

CUSTOMER:       Yes, I have one in front of me.

AGENT:                Excellent.

AGENT:                Any extra services you need (Q5) – switching bed linen, work​ing in the garden, cleaning the glass in the conservatory, that kind of thing?

CUSTOMER:       Err… no… err… actually, replacing the bed linen (Q5) …yes… that would be good.

AGENT:                No problem. I’ll just make a note of that. How about cur​tains, mats, and carpets? What would you like us to do with those items?

CUSTOMER:       The curtains… I’ll have to think about that. I think we should have the carpets cleaned really well every quarter (Q6). Mats can just be done with the laundry.

AGENT:                Of course. How about clothes? We can have our staff wash and iron them, or we can have them taken to a dry cleaner’s.

CUSTOMER:       Washing and ironing. No, just ironing (Q7). That’ll be OK..

AGENT:                OK, fine. I know quite a bit about what you want now. I should let you know that we locate on 12 Amyes (Q8) Road, that’s A-M-Y-E-S.

CUSTOMER:       Em.

AGENT:                And we work from Monday to Sunday except Tuesday and Wednesday. Could you let me know when is conveni​ent for you?

CUSTOMER:       Next Friday… err… no, that’s no good. My son invites his friends over in the afternoon that day. Perhaps next Thursday or next Saturday. Let me check, OK, next Thursday. (Q9)

AGENT:                When is it convenient for us to come over and provide the service? Is it OK if we come in the morning? Or we may come in the afternoon? It depends on your schedule. I’m OK with any time. Just give me a call to let me know you’re coming before you arrive.

AGENT:                Sure, we will.

CUSTOMER:        By the way, how long would it take for the service?

AGENT:                We usually work 1-3 hours for house cleaning, and the work will take three hours at most. And of course, if it takes more than three hours (Q10), you should pay extra for it.

CUSTOMER:        Er… fine.

AGENT:                So, let me just do some calculations…

SECTION 2

Hi everyone, and welcome to Sydney Airport. Today, I’ll be giving you the inside information on the day-to-day operations of the Australian Quarantine Service here. We hope to provide you with a better understanding of why such heavy security regulations are necessary by educating you (Q11) on how we operate and why we do the things we do.

We’re not here to try to persuade you to fly through Sydney Airport, though we hope you’ll find your experience relatively stress-free and comfortable.

First things first, our personnel. Can anyone guess how many people work at Sydney Airport? We have 200 alone working in Terminal 2, so can you guess how many in the whole airport? I heard someone say 360, that’s getting closer… What? Did someone say 2,000? That’s way too high. Sydney Airport actually employs 440 people (Q12). A lot, right? And about half of those employees work in security-related matters..

Moving on to our not-so-human employees, let’s come and see our favourite pooch, Milton. Milton is our best drug-sniffing dog on the force. He’s friendly to most people – you can even come pet him at the end of our tour. Burnouts beware, though, he’ll find everything.

Notice that even though there are so many of us around him, Milton stays quite calm. This is the precise reason he was chosen for the job. (Q13)

Dogs that are chosen are not predisposed to sniff out different nar​cotics – that’s something we teach them already.

So here’s a part of the airport most people never notice – the cargo transport terminal. This is where packages are shipped to and from.

Normally we ship around 4,400 packages per month. In this airport alone, over 52,000 packages were shipped in and out over the past year (Q14). We ship to and from 170 different countries. Not bad, eh? Prob​ably it will go up to over 72,000 packages this year. And despite over 100 flights in and out of here daily, the number of lost or delayed packages is impressively low. If you send your package through here, rest assured we’ll get it where it’s going.

Let’s move on to the area most of us are familiar with, the passen​ger terminals. In order to be allowed into this area, you must pass through security with your ticket and if you’re travelling internation​ally, your passport. If you’re travelling domestically, you just need a legal form of ID. If you don’t have those, you will not be allowed to pass through security and board your flight.

During the security scan, your carry-on items will be checked for dan​gerous items such as weapons, sharp objects, and liquids that exceed our specified limit. If you attempt to pass any of the prohibited items on this list posted at the entrance, Qyou are still allowed to board the plane, but you’ll be given a warning (Q15) and your item will be confiscated.

Don’t worry, we will not arrest you for having too much shampoo in your bag, or anything like that.

We also search your carry-ons and parcels for any perishable items.

We prohibit the transportation of local vegetation and prohibit par​cels containing any insects in them. You may or may not have learned about this in Biology class, but when some plants are introduced to a new environment, they spread wildly and wipe out the current species around it. It is important to control the introduction of new plants into an ecosystem, so we must prohibit the transport of any fertile seeds. (Q16)

So what happens to parcels containing possibly suspicious items? It’s of course something we do not take lightly here. If an object passes through the scanner that appears suspicious in any way, it is separated out for manual search by a member of our trained security per​sonnel. If an illegal plant or simple sharp object like a pocket knife is found, it is simply disposed of in our biohazard waste containers (Q17), and the package itself is returned to the sender (or passenger, if it is for a passenger flight). More serious weapons are reported to higher authorities for investigation.

As far as parcel security, the material of the parcel is important. For shipped goods, the most common material used (and the most widely accepted) is paper (Q18). Make sure it is packed sturdy enough, with no rips or tears. We’ve definitely had packages rip open before due to haphazard packing. A more common problem, though, is the package labels (Q19). When an item does not make it to the right place, this is the most common reason. The label may not be in the right place or marked clearly enough.

If you’re receiving any items from abroad that must be declared, please remember our guidelines in order to ensure the timely delivery of your item. Make sure it is packed correctly, and we ask that you notify customs between 2 and 10 (Q20) days within the item’s scheduled arrival date.

Okay, before we move on, are there any questions?

SECTION 3

MR. SMITH: Welcome! Please come in and gather over here around the tables. My name is Adam Smith, and I’m the librarian here. I’ll show you around today and explain how to use these facilities. Hopefully when I’m done with it, you’ll know the ropes, and please feel free to let me know of any questions or concerns that you may have. Now, we’re at the gate of the library. Upon entering into the door, you’ll find that the restrooms are on your left-hand side, and opposite them is a Photocopy Room. Many of you are wondering about the check-in and check-out process. What you have to do is go to the Circulation Desk, which is to the east of the Photocopy Room. The Reading Room is a really large area in the centre of the library, just to the north of the Circulation Desk (Q21). I’m sure you won’t miss it. If you’re here to do research, this is where you should bring books to look through. However, if you’re here to do any group projects or other interactive activi​ties, I advise you to use one of the study rooms, which are just to the east of the Reading Room. Moving on to the southeast corner, we have the Periodicals Section, just next to the study rooms (Q22). We have a collection of dif​ferent newspapers and magazines in this section. You can get last week’s weather reports, or all the top stories five years ago – our periodicals can be traced back 20 years to the time when our school library was built. Ah, our first question! Yes?

STUDENT:           Can we check out magazines from the library?

MR. SMITH: I’m sorry, but you cannot take any periodicals out of the library. You’re welcome to read them for as long as you want while you’re here, but you cannot check them out.

STUDENT:           I wonder if there is any place where we can get some food in the library. Do we have a store here?

MR. SMITH: Of course. The Food Service Centre is just metres away from the study rooms. It’s on the northeast corner as you look at the map (Q23). The Food Service Centre offers different kinds of snacks though it’s not big. Well, moving on along to the west, you will Find the Video Resource Centre on your right hand (Q24). We have educational videos and documentaries, as well as major motion pictures. We ask that you pay attention to the tag on the video that you pick up, as many of our documentaries are for on-site viewing only and may not be taken out of the library. To the west of the Video Resource Centre is our Satellite TV Station (Q25). Here we stream the news from Channel 19 for most of the day.

STUDENT:           How many channels does it have?

MR. SMITH: (laughs) It does have nearly 200 channels, but we general​ly will give top priority to channels with some big events, like presidential addresses or other breaking news. Dur​ing the coverage of the presidential debate, students will take a break from studying and flock to watch it. Last but perhaps most important is the Enquiry Desk. It’s just on the left-hand side when you walk into the library (Q26), so it’s impossible to miss it. If you have any questions about how to use equipment or where to find something, come and ask the assistant. Don’t be shy, because that’s what they’re here for!

MR. SMITH: Speaking of questions, one of the questions we get asked is how to actually check out a book once a student has picked one out. If it’s a fiction or non-fiction book, look for the pink and yellow (Q27) check-out card inside the back cover of the book. You can also find information about the book on these cards, including its publishing date, genre, ISBN, and a log of dates it’s been checked out be​fore. Present this card to me or any library assistant, and we’ll stamp it and then the book can be kept for three weeks. You can find general information on a field of study by using one of our subject (Q28) guides. We have them on paper here, but any of our computers will allow you to search within fields as well.

STUDENT:           What if the library doesn’t have a resource we’re looking for?

MR. SMITH: Great question, I’m going to address that. Our library is in a network with a number of other universities in the area, so if there is something you’re looking for and it’s available somewhere in the area, we’ll be able to get it for you. However, there are universities (Q29) which are not part of the network, so we do not share resources with them. If you want more information about the library and its resources, you’ll find it in a labelled blue folder (Q30) on my desk in the enquiry section. Okay, so that’s a lot of information all at once, and I don’t expect you to remember it all. The most important thing is, please be respectful of the staff and if you need help with anything at all, come and ask me or one of the as​sistants. Alright, any questions?

SECTION 4

Good morning. Today, we will continue our study of Crocodylus niloticus by talking about its living habits. We’ve already discussed the evolutionary attributes that set it apart from its crocodile rela​tives. Does everyone remember that?

Yes, it has an extremely narrow snout, and three or four rows of pro​tective scales on its back, as compared to two rows on other members of the Crocodylus genus.

Let’s take a look at how these carnivorous man-eaters live, where they live, and finally, whether they really deserve their vicious reputation.

To start, I’d like to address a great question posed to me by a stu​dent during yesterday’s office hours. We talked about the distri​bution of crocodiles in Africa and saw that they are highly concen​trated in the South and West of the continent. This student noticed that on the map displaying the distribution of crocodiles across Af​rica, there were no crocodiles in the Northern Region, and found no mention in the literature of the existence of crocodiles in the North of Africa (Q31). Why might there be no crocodiles in North Africa? Let’s save this question for later in the lecture.

To find out more about the social habits of the African crocodile, one researcher named Tara Shine of the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland conducted a survey of the wetlands in Mauritania and received reports of 46 crocodiles living in one group, or float as we say when referring to crocodiles, though the usual number is a little less than half of that. (Q32)

In general, crocodiles are more highly concentrated in wet, subtropical environments near bodies of water and rich vegetation (Q33). While South American crocodiles thrive in cool rainforests, the African crocodile is more equipped for heat. Though they can survive at the hot tem​peratures found in some deserts, they are not equipped to handle dry climates and thus cannot survive in places like the Sahara Desert of North Africa. As cold-blooded animals, crocodiles’ core temperatures fluctuate from their average of 38 degrees Celsius as external condi​tions change, thus they need to avoid extreme temperatures. Others live an underwater life, keeping a body temperature close to that of the water. As their own unique method of regulating their body tem​peratures, some African crocodiles have made dens by digging holes in the ground to provide themselves with a cool, dark place to retreat from the hot African sun. (Q34)

Speaking of the hot African sun, let’s go back to the question asked at the beginning of the lecture. We know that there used to be croco​diles in Northern Africa, yet today there are none. What are some possible explanations for this?

Some students have suggested that the African crocodile has evolved from a desert creature into a wetland creature, thus causing them to migrate south for more appropriate condition. Others presume that the crocodile was hunted out of Northern Africa by a fiercer preda​tor. While these are intelligent guesses, the real story is a little bit different.

The key to this migration is that the Sahara Desert did not always cover the North of Africa. About 8,000 years ago, the land was fertile wetlands perfect for breeding crocodiles. Over time, though, the area dried out and the wetland slowly turned to desert, leading the African crocodile to migrate south to the marshlands they call home today. (Q35)

Some crocodiles did, however, adapt to living in dry conditions. In Mauritania, some crocodiles have learned to survive in an area where they can go up to 8 (Q36) months with no water by spending the driest of times in what’s called a torpor, or short period of hibernation. To utilise every bit of rainfall, these desert crocodiles dig underground caves that collect runoff, thus staying cool and hydrated.

During the mating period in November and December, males attract females to their viciously protected territory through a number of behaviours that range from snapping their jaws all the way to send​ing infrasonic pulses through the water. Afterwards, the female digs a hole up to 60cm in depth (Q37) to store the eggs for an 80-day incubation period. The female protects these eggs during the period, and some​times even helps crack the eggs with her snout at the end.

These teeth-gnashing carnivores are softer than we think. Although these vicious creatures have attacked humans on a few occasions, the residents are not afraid of (Q38) them. In fact, they show a great deal of rev​erence towards these wondrous creatures. Some say that crocodiles bring water to their habitat, so if they leave, they will bring the water with them. Obviously this is not true, but it demonstrates the admir​ation the inhabiting people have for crocodiles.

Generally, crocodiles do not predate on humans. They attack (Q39) when humans populate the crocodiles’ habitat, instilling fear and uneasi​ness in the crocs. Like any other species, crocodiles are known to at​tack when feeling fear.

There’s still a lot more to be discovered about the African crocodile.

Researchers want to know more about the population size, how many crocodiles inhabit Africa in all, how they form separate floats, etc.

There is still also much to learn about migration patterns (Q40), and relations to other populations of crocodiles now found in other parts of the world.

Next time, we’ll examine a few specific case studies of crocodile popu​lations in Southern Africa.

Listening Practice Test 34