Audioscripts IELTS Practice 7 Listening Test 04

Part 1

You will hear a student talking to an internship coordinator about arranging a work placement.

First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5.

[Pause]

Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5.

Coordinator: Hello, university careers office. How can I help you today?

Student: Hi there. My tutor suggested I contact you. I'd like to officially apply for a work placement for next semester.

Coordinator: Excellent, you've come to the right place. Let me just open up a new profile for you and take down some basic details. What's your name?

Student: My name is Marco Rossi.

Coordinator: Could you spell your surname for me, please?

Student: It's Rossi. That's R-O-S-S-I.

Coordinator: And your first name?

Student: It's Marco. M-A-R-C-O.

Coordinator: Great, Marco. And just for our demographic records, what is your nationality?

Student: I'm Italian. I moved here for my studies.

Coordinator: Right. And could I have your university student ID number, please?

Student: Sure, let me just check my card. It's IT8942.

Coordinator: OK, let me type that in... I-T-8-9-4-2. And what age are you currently?

Student: I recently turned 21.

Coordinator: Now, do you reside at one of the student villages on campus?

Student: Yes, I'm currently living at Oakwood Village. In apartment 14B.

Coordinator: Right. 14B, Oakwood Village. Got it. And how long are you intending to do the placement for?

Student: I'm aiming for about six weeks initially, though I could stretch it to eight if the company really needs me to finish a project.

Coordinator: That's fairly standard. And what degree programme are you currently enrolled in?

Student: Well, I'm undertaking a Bachelor of Science, focusing primarily on Marketing, because I eventually want a career in advertising. I'm just starting the second semester of my second year.

Coordinator: OK, good to know. Now, do you have any preference for a placement with a large, established corporation or a small agency?

Student: I've thought about this a lot. I admire large corporations, but I'd much prefer to be placed with a smaller, more dynamic team. You know, a startup, somewhere I can get much more hands-on involvement.

Coordinator: OK, I'll note that down. And before we move on to your background, what about your technical skills? Are you proficient in coding or do you have any specific design software experience?

Student: Well, I am certainly not a programmer, but I don't mind learning basic HTML if required. However, I really excel at photography. I've got my own professional equipment and a solid portfolio.

Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6 to 10.

[Pause]

Now listen and answer questions 6 to 10.

Coordinator: That's a highly sought-after skill in advertising. And what would you say are your main soft skills?

Student: I'm quite confident at giving presentations and talking directly to clients.

Coordinator: Brilliant. Do you have any previous office or administrative experience?

Student: Yes, briefly. I worked on a front reception desk over the summer holidays, but to be honest, I didn't enjoy being stuck behind a desk all day, so I left after a month. However, right now I actually manage all the social media accounts for the rugby team on campus.

Coordinator: Oh, that's incredibly relevant experience for a marketing placement! I'll definitely highlight that. All right. Let's review the logistics. What about the commute? Are you comfortable using the local bus network to get to an office?

Student: No, I'm really not keen on that because I usually cycle everywhere. I've tried using the buses during rush hour a few times, but they are always packed and extremely uncomfortable.

Coordinator: I completely understand. What about the city's tram system?

Student: Oh, I much prefer using the tram. They are significantly more reliable and usually have more space.

Coordinator: Excellent. Now, let me just check the system and see what vacancies I've got that match your profile. Look, leave it with me for the afternoon. I'll review the current listings thoroughly and I will send you an email this evening with a few options.

Student: That sounds brilliant. Thank you so much for sorting this out for me.

Coordinator: Not a problem at all, Marco. Goodbye.

Student: Bye!

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

Part 2

You will hear a guide giving a tour of a historical dockyard.

First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 14.

[Pause]

Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 14.

Welcome, everyone. Can you all hear me clearly at the back? Excellent. I'm David, your guide for this walking tour of the Maritime Heritage Dockyard. I hope that you've all brought an umbrella just in case, as the weather here on the coast can be somewhat unpredictable. Right, let's get started on our journey through this fascinating site.

I'll begin today by giving you some historical context. There used to be a thriving shipbuilding industry in this harbour right up until the late 1980s. Developing the heritage site involved the painstaking restoration of many neglected waterfront structures. So, rather than factories, most of the impressive exhibition space around you was formerly used for crafting canvas sails and storing vast quantities of lumber.

The concept of transforming this industrial space into a public museum was first raised when a commercial consortium proposed building a high-end retail village, but the city council wasn't supportive. They rejected the initiative entirely. If the area was to be regenerated, they wanted to preserve the site for public education and historical preservation, completely dismissing the idea of a luxury shopping centre or even a modern conference facility.

Now, looking at the Dockyard itself. The site is essentially split into two distinct areas: an operational vessel repair facility where you can see real craftsmen at work, and an interactive museum zone filled with dynamic displays and galleries. While many visitors assume the towering old lighthouse serves as the centrepiece of the museum zone, that title actually belongs to the massive red-brick building directly ahead of us, known as the Great Store. It was built in 1840. So, if you'd like to follow me inside, we can see the main exhibits.

Before you hear the rest of the tour, you have some time to look at questions 15 to 20.

[Pause]

Now listen and answer questions 15 to 20.

Right, here we are on the top floor of the Great Store, and we're going to orientate ourselves by looking out of the large observation windows in each direction.

Let's begin by looking east. Those massive, grey structures about a mile away are actually part of the modern naval base. There's a dry dock for nuclear submarines, a deep-water berth for aircraft carriers, and a highly restricted testing facility for torpedoes and radar systems. If you look closely over the boundary wall, you can just spot the security checkpoints. The naval base has its own dedicated access road to ensure the smooth flow of military vehicles.

Now, the museum zone we are in contains some specifically designed interactive areas. If you gaze out of this window to the south, you can clearly see a large outdoor water tank used for wave simulations.

Sweeping around to the west, you'll see a green space where you can take a break and sit on the grass to watch the fascinating rope-making demonstrations taking place in the rigging yard.

And lastly, looking north, if you peer straight ahead now, there's a sheltered marina with a beautifully restored historic ship moored right in the middle. You can purchase boarding passes for the ship down at the ticket kiosk, which you actually cannot spot from this particular window. But if you look just past the yellow crane, you can see the souvenir shop, which sells some fantastic scale models of the ship.

Alright, let's head downstairs now. We will proceed to explore the working boatyard section of the site, which has recently opened up traditional boatbuilding to the public. The dry docks have been made much safer for visitors thanks to the raised viewing walkways installed during the recent renovation. You might assume that tourists would flock here primarily to study the intricate carpentry of the vessels, but actually, it's most frequently utilised for photography and is highly favoured by local camera clubs.

As we walk towards the southern boundary of the site, just beyond the metal fence, you can spot the old tidal pool, a natural geographical feature present long before the dockyard was even established. Right beside it, we have our apprentice workshop. While it's a popular destination for college trips, the facility is currently most often used by university engineering students for structural testing.

And to conclude, let's walk past the old lighthouse. This structure sits on a prominent point of the peninsula. That's exactly the reason the lighthouse balcony is a prime location for storm watchers, who gather there in winter to film the crashing waves. You can witness some dramatic weather, but on a calm day like today, the majority of visitors actually hope to photograph dolphins when they climb up to the balcony. We might be lucky enough to see a pod today!

Well, that brings us back to our initial meeting point, the main gates.

That is the end of Part 2. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

Part 3

You will hear two students discussing a sociology presentation they are going to give.

First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24.

[Pause]

Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24.

Sarah: Remind me, Mark, how long is the presentation scheduled for?

Mark: Professor Jones said there will be four presentations per session.

Sarah: So we have about 15 minutes in total.

Mark: Well... It'll actually be 10 minutes per presentation for the speaking part.

Sarah: And then an extra five minutes dedicated to Q&A and feedback?

Mark: Exactly. And by the way, is this one going to be formally graded?

Sarah: No, not this term, because it's essentially a practice run, you know, to get us used to the format.

Mark: Oh, that's a massive relief.

Sarah: Well, Mark, what are we going to include in our 10 minutes?

Mark: Well, do you think we ought to give some economic context to start with?

Sarah: Oh, no, absolutely not. We simply won't have time to cover the economy.

Mark: OK, fair enough, but I definitely think we ought to say something about the cultural traditions, because not a lot of people fully understand the local customs.

Sarah: Yes, OK, I agree with that. I'll type this up, shall I?

Mark: Yeah, that'd be a big help.

Sarah: So, cultural traditions. Got it.

Mark: Then we ought to provide a comprehensive summary of the whole healthcare system.

Sarah: Shouldn't we also say something about the demographics? You know, population density, age distribution and so forth?

Mark: Well, Professor Jones specifically said we shouldn't get bogged down in that sort of heavy statistical detail.

Sarah: But it's highly relevant when you think about it! You know, because the aging population directly impacts the healthcare system and how it functions.

Mark: Look, let's just keep that in mind for later, shall we? Let's see how our word count is looking first.

Sarah: OK, fine. So, summary of healthcare.

Mark: Of course. And then we must include the impact of globalization.

Sarah: No, that belongs in the international relations seminar, don't you remember?

Mark: Oh, are you certain?

Sarah: Absolutely positive. We shouldn't cross over into their module.

Mark: All right. So those are the main themes we're going to be tackling.

Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30.

[Pause]

Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30.

Sarah: Now we need to figure out what materials to gather. Professor Jones said she wanted us to incorporate plenty of visuals and data, and we might as well test them out when we're not being graded.

Mark: Well, the most crucial thing to sort out first is the presentation software itself.

Sarah: No problem. We'll just download that directly from the university portal. I must remember to install it on my laptop tonight.

Mark: Well, we'll need a graph to illustrate our points, obviously.

Sarah: Probably two. One showing the national average. I think a pie chart would work best for that.

Mark: And one showing the regional breakdown to compare the different districts.

Sarah: Well, the regional breakdown graph is straightforward. There's an excellent, up-to-date one in the textbook appendix.

Mark: Oh, yeah, of course, the course textbook. The national average chart is going to be trickier to track down, though.

Sarah: Tell you what, there's a very detailed chart of the latest figures in that government report I mentioned to you last week. Do you recall it?

Mark: Oh, yeah, that's right! We can just extract it from that government publication. That’ll look highly professional.

Sarah: We also need interview quotes on several different aspects of the system.

Mark: You mean regarding patient satisfaction?

Sarah: Yes, let's contact the local clinic for that. It makes a much better impression on the tutor to have our own primary data.

Mark: Good plan. How about quotes on waiting times for appointments?

Sarah: For that specific data, we can just ask the receptionist there to give us some general figures or anonymous comments from the waiting room.

Mark: Perfect. And we need some patient case studies to round it all off. How about looking through the latest medical journal?

Sarah: Actually, yes, that would be perfect for finding case studies. It has plenty of peer-reviewed examples we can reference.

Mark: Look, Sarah, it's nearly time for our next lecture. We can reconvene on Wednesday, but we really need to draft an outline before then.

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

Part 4

You will hear part of a lecture about a chemical compound called aspartame.

First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.

[Pause]

Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

In today's lecture, I'm going to discuss aspartame, or APM as it's occasionally designated in scientific literature. Now, aspartame, as you likely know, is a highly popular artificial sweetener, which is utilised predominantly in diet drinks and sugar-free chewing gum. Today, I am going to examine why it became so prevalent in the mass food industry, and more crucially, how exactly does it interact with the human body?

The primary reason why aspartame is so heavily utilized in diet products is simply its remarkable cost-efficiency. For many decades, manufacturers have actively sought a viable substitute for refined sugar in their recipes, as they quickly realised it had the potential to lower their overall production costs significantly. But it wasn't until 1965 that the specific compound responsible for this intense sweetening effect was actually synthesised. Interestingly, it was discovered entirely by accident as aspartame by a chemist who was working on developing an ulcer drug.

From 1965 until 1981, aspartame was tested rigorously in America through a very complex and exhaustive series of clinical trials. It was finally in 1981 that the safety of the additive was officially confirmed, and its commercial application expanded rapidly. It still continues to dominate the sweetener market to this day. In reality, millions of pounds of aspartame are consumed globally every single year.

So what precisely is aspartame? Well, the compound essentially comprises two amino acids: aspartic acid and phenylalanine, which are combined with a very small amount of methanol. Phenylalanine is actually an essential amino acid that can be sourced completely naturally in many dietary proteins. So, this encompasses everyday staples such as milk and eggs.

It is widely recognised by the general public that low-calorie sodas contain aspartame. But consumers often don't appear to be conscious that it is also routinely added to goods in other, far more unexpected categories. For instance, it is surprisingly present in many mass-produced breakfast cereals, in children's chewable vitamins, and across Europe, aspartame is frequently found in items like fat-free yoghurts.

So, how exactly does aspartame function biologically? Well, on the surface of the human tongue, we typically identify specific receptor zones, and I'm certain you're all acquainted with the basic mechanism for detecting different tastes.

Well, in the late 1960s, researchers discovered that aspartame binds tightly to these exact same sweet receptors. Furthermore, it is estimated that aspartame stimulates these naturally occurring sensors up to 200 times more strongly than regular granulated sugar.

It does make logical physiological sense that we should possess the capacity to detect and instantly desire sweetness, because historically, it is the sensory signal which is most associated with high-calorie survival foods. Dr. Susan Miller, a lead researcher at the Institute of Nutrition, proposes that this intense chemical stimulation triggers a neurological response just as natural sugars do.

She theorises that it immediately indicates to the brain the arrival of calories, in the exact same manner that a savoury taste implies that a meal contains muscle-building proteins. Sourness, she notes, is an evolutionary mechanism that warns us of unripe fruit, while extreme bitterness alerts us to potential poisons in plants. And saltiness indicates the necessary intake of electrolytes. So, what else do we currently understand about this artificial stimulant?

That is the end of Part 4. You now have half a minute to check your answers.