Cambridge IELTS 4 Test 2 — Listening Dictation Practice
Part 1: A Conversation between Sally and Peter about Their Day's Plans in a City
Section 1. You'll hear two tourists, Sally and Peter, talking in a coffee shop. You have some time to look at questions 1 to 5. You'll see that there is an example that has been done for you. On this occasion only, the conversation relating to this will be played first. Peter, there you are. You've been ages. What kept you so long? I'm sorry I'm so late, Sally. Have you been waiting long? Oh, half an hour, but it doesn't matter. I've had a coffee, and I've been reading this guidebook for tourists. Sally has been waiting half an hour for peter, so, c, has been circled. Now, we shall 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 5. Peter, there you are. You've been ages. What kept you so long? I'm sorry I'm so late, Sally. Have you been waiting long? Oh, half an hour, but it doesn't matter. I've had a coffee, and I've been reading this guidebook for tourists. Sit down. Hmm. You look very hot and tired. Oh. What would you like to drink? I'd love a really chilled mineral water or something. Uh. Will you have another coffee? Yes, I will. The waitress will be back in a moment. Why were you so late? Did something happen? Yes, you know, I went to the bank to cash some traveler's checks. Hmm. Well, the exchange rate was looking healthy, but when I went to the teller, they told me the computer system was temporarily down, so they couldn't do any transactions. They said the problem would be fixed in a few minutes, so I waited. And then I started talking to another guy in the bank, and I forgot the time. Ha ha, really? Someone you met in the bank? Does he work there? No, he was a tourist from New York. His name's Henry. And he's been here for a week, but he's moving on to Germany tomorrow. He's an architect, and he's spending four weeks traveling around Europe. Just like us, yeah, just like us. He told me the names of some places where we should eat. Great food and not too expensive, he said. Oh, and he also gave me this map of the bus system. He said he didn't need it anymore. That's useful. Pity he's moving on tomorrow. Ah, here's the waitress. Let's order. Ah. Do you want anything to eat, or should we just have a drink? Well, I'm hungry, and we've got a lot of sightseeing to do, so let's just have a snack and a drink. Sounds good to me. Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6 to 10. Now listen and answer questions 6 to 10. Well, let's decide what we'll see today. I guess the best place to start is the Cathedral, and then the Castle. Uh. What are the opening times for those two? Well, according to this guidebook, the Cathedral is only open from 9:30 in the morning until midday. Oh, oh, no, hang on. That's the Cathedral museum. Ah. The Cathedral itself is open morning and afternoon. Hmm. The Castle is just open from 1 to 5, so we can't go there until after lunch. Hmm. I really want to spend some time in the art gallery, because they've got this wonderful painting by Rembrandt that I've always wanted to see. Um. What else should we see? Well, the guidebook says the Botanical Gardens are worth spending some time in. And they're open all day from 8 to 6, so we can go there anytime. Hmm. I'd like to go to the markets near the river too, but oh, no, wait, that's only in the mornings too. As well as today and tomorrow, we can see some other places on Monday, you know. But I don't think the markets will be open then. They only open on Thursdays, so we've missed them for this week. Maybe we should go to the Cathedral today, because it's Sunday tomorrow, and even though it's open every day, it might be more difficult to get in tomorrow because of the church services. Hmm. That's true. But the art gallery isn't open on Sundays at all, so we'll have to go there today. Hmm. The Castle is open every day except Mondays, so we're OK there. And the gardens of course only close at night. Are all these places free, or do we have to pay to go in? Uh uh. What does the guidebook say? I think there's a charge for all of them, except the botanical gardens. Hmm. Oh, and the markets of course you don't pay to go in. OK, well it looks like our plan is this. We'll go to see the painting you like first, the Rembrandt, uh, then have lunch, and go on to the Castle after that, and then the Cathedral. OK, it says here that the roof of the Cathedral is really beautiful. Is that right? What I really want to do at the Cathedral is climb the tower. The view is supposed to be spectacular. OK, well, that'll be more than enough for today. Then tomorrow, let's go to the botanical gardens and have a picnic. Hmm, I want to sit by the river and watch the swans. This city is famous for them. That is the end of section 1. You now have half a minute to check your answers.
Part 2: Counseling Services for University Students
Section 2, you'll hear part of a talk given by an international student counselor, speaking to a group of overseas students during their orientation week. First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 14. Now listen carefully, and answer questions 11 to 14. So the counseling services we offer deal with any problems arising from your studies or in your life outside the university. Let's take academic counseling. If you're confused about subjects or how to combine them in your degree, then we can advise you and discuss the career you are aiming for. So that you can see it all in context. We can also chase up your tutor if you're not getting proper feedback on how you are getting on in your subject. Besides help with academic problems, you may also need personal counseling. If you think you're already under stress, well, just wait till classes begin next week. You'll have to start adjusting to teaching and learning methods. That may be unfamiliar to you, as well as the mounting pressure as the deadline for that first assignment creeps up on you. And of course you have to cope with all this without your usual social network. You know the social contacts, family and friends, you could normally rely on for help. All of this causes anxiety. Studying overseas can trigger a personal crisis. You may have left a lot of what you might call unfinished business back in your own country, or you may have interrupted personal relationships, or even sometimes have broken them off to come overseas. And so the student often feels lonely, unhappy, unmotivated, and unable to concentrate on studying. Or there may be other things bothering you. Our resident chaplain can offer you spiritual guidance if that's what you want, or we can put you in touch with community groups that can provide you with social contacts and friendship. Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 15 to 20. Now listen and answer questions 15 to 20. What about exam stress? It affects nearly everyone to some extent, but especially overseas students like yourselves. There may be a huge amount of family pressure on you to succeed. And if you fail a subject or drop out of a course because it's too difficult, then your self-esteem can suffer. But it's not the end of the world if you don't pass an exam. I had to resit First Year Anthropology, so I can certainly offer you a sympathetic ear. Anyway, exam failure can lead to worrying changes in the way you normally behave. You may also be off your food, or you may have dietary problems because the local food is not to your liking and upsets you, and this can affect your health and studies. Glenda Roberts is our dietitian in the health service, and we can put you onto her. And we all have money problems, don't we? But remember full-time students can get a low interest loan. Of up to $600 to buy books, and for similar study related expenses. That's right. And you can get double that amount if you can't afford an item of equipment you need for your course, uh, musical instrument for example. And it doesn't stop there. When you move into a flat, starting up expenses including furniture for it can be covered by a loan through the welfare service. See Jill Freeman for details. Can we help you? Well, last academic year, in spite of staff cuts, we counseled 240 international students for a total of twenty-six hundred hours counseling. And finally, we won all but just one of the 12 appeals that we launched on behalf of students. Not too bad for an understaffed service, don't you think? That's all from me. Thank you. That is the end of section 2. You now have half a minute to check your answers.
Part 3: Discussion on Assignment for Social Science Data Collection Methods
Section 3. You'll hear three friends discussing an assignment they're going to work on together. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26. Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26. Oh, there you are, good. Oh, sorry, I'm a bit late. There was a long queue. So, have you worked out how to deal with this assignment then? Not yet. We've only been here a couple of minutes ourselves. Can you just remind me what the task is exactly? Well, there are two, uh, no, three parts to it. First we've got to write an essay about ways of collecting data. Then, what's the title of the essay exactly? I've got it here. Uh. Assess the two main methods of collecting data in social science research. And how much do we need to write? Fifteen hundred words. That's for the essay. Then for the second part of the assignment, we have to choose one method of data collection, and carry out a small scale study, making appropriate use of the method chosen to gather data from at least five subjects. And then we have to write a report on the study. That's right, of three to four thousand words. Did you get as far as discussing which form of data collection we should go for? Questionnaire or interview, isn't it? Yeah, I think we should use a questionnaire. It'll be so much less time consuming than organizing interviews, I reckon. Once we've agreed on the wording of it, we only have to send it out and wait for the responses. Yes, I think it probably would be quicker. But what did that article he gave us last week say about the quality of data from questionnaires? I'm pretty sure it recommended questionnaires as a source of highly reliable data. As long as you design the questionnaire properly in the first place, the data will be fine. No, I'm sure it talked about drawbacks as well, didn't it? Something about the response rate and the problems you get if it's too low. Yep, but we only need data from 5 subjects anyway. I suppose so. Another drawback I remember it mentioned was that questionnaire data tends not to reveal anything unexpected, because it is limited to the questions fixed in advance by the researcher. Come on, Rosa. This is only a practice. It's not meant to be real research, is it? Well, I'm not sure about that. Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 27 to 30. Now listen and answer questions 27 to 30. Maybe I'd better go through the article again, just to be sure. Can you remember what it was called? Sample surveys in social science research, I think. By Mehta. MEHTA. Yeah. And he also recommended a more recent book called Survey Research, by Bell, I think. It's in that series published by London University. And if we try to use interviews instead, I saw a book in the departmental library that'll be helpful. It's called Interviews That Work by Wilson, published in Oxford in 1988. Right. Oh, I've got a tutorial now. Can we meet up again later this week? What about Friday morning? Suits me. 11 o'clock? Fine. Before Friday, I think we should all look through the reading list. That is the end of section 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers.
Part 4: Corporate Crime: Ignored, Costly, and Consequential
Section 4. You'll hear the beginning of one lecture in a series of lectures about crime. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Now listen and answer questions 31 to 40. So far in these lectures, we've been looking at crimes like robbery and murder, both from a historical viewpoint, and also in contemporary society. And we've seen that the preoccupation in western society with crime and with lawlessness is part of a long and continuous tradition, rather than something which is new and unique to modern society. But over the past 70 years or so, there has been a massive increase in one type of crime, which is what's known as corporate crime. Corporate crime is crime which as the name suggests is connected with companies, with business organizations. It includes illegal acts of either individuals or a group within the company. But what is important is that these acts are normally in accordance with the goals of the company, they're for the good of the company, rather than the individual. It's been defined as quote crime which is committed for the corporate organization, the company, not against it. Unquote. So crimes like theft by employees, things like embezzlement or fraud against one's actual employer are excluded, according to this definition. The employees may be involved, but they're acting in the first place for the company. They may not even realize they're committing a crime, or they may realize but they feel it's excusable because it's policy, or because otherwise they may lose their jobs. So here really we're talking about the links between power and crime. Now this is one area that much less is generally known about than conventional or traditional crime. It has been relatively ignored by the mass media. For example, it tends to be under reported in comparison with conventional crime in news broadcasts, and in crime serials and films and so on. They very rarely deal with corporate crime, and it also tends to be ignored in academic circles. There's been far more research on conventional crime, and far more data is available. There are several reasons for this lack of interest in corporate crime compared with other types of crime. It's often very complex, whereas with conventional crime, it's usually possible to follow what's going on without specialist knowledge. As well as this, whereas conventional crime usually has a lot of human interest, corporate crime often has much less. The third reason, and possibly the most significant one, is that very often the victims are unaware. They think their misfortune is an accident, or that it's the fault of no one in particular. They're unaware that they've been victims of a crime. So when we look at the effects of corporate crime, we may find it's very difficult to assess the costs, but these costs can be very considerable in both their economic and social aspects. Let's look at the economic cost first. For example, if a company is producing fruit juice, and it dilutes its product so that it's just a little below the concentration it should be. Many millions of people may be paying a small amount extra for their carton of orange juice. Now small amounts like this may seem insignificant for individual customers, too small to worry about. But for the company, this deception might result in massive illegal profit. However, all studies of corporate crime agree that the individuals are in fact deprived of far more money by such crime than they are by conventional crime like robbery and theft. In addition to this, we have to consider the social costs of corporate crime, and these are again very difficult to assess, but they are considerable. They're important. Because they can undermine the faith of the public in the business world, and also more importantly, because the main group of people they affect are in fact not the richer sections of society. But the poorer. So here companies are robbing the poor to benefit the rich. There are two more points to do with corporate crime that I'd like to illustrate with reference to a specific event, which occurred several years ago. This was an explosion of a large oil tanker. Which caused the loss of more than 50 lives of the crew. It was an explosion which never should have happened, and a subsequent inquiry laid the blame not on anyone who had actually been on the tanker at the time. But on the owners of the tanker, they had deliberately decided not to carry out necessary repair work on the tanker, as it was due to be sold. And it was this lack of repair work, which was directly responsible for the explosion. Now this illustrates two points to do with corporate crime. First of all, that it does not have to be intentional. The owners of the tanker certainly did not intend it to explode. But very serious consequences can result from people or organizations not considering the possible results of their actions seriously enough. The main crime here was indifference to the human results, rather than actual intention to harm anyone, but that didn't make the results any less tragic. And this leads me to my second point, that corporate crime can have very severe consequences. It's not just a matter of companies making bigger profits than they should do. But of events which may affect the lives of innocent people, and yet very often companies because they say they didn't intend to harm anyone, can avoid taking responsibility for the results of their actions, and that has been a very dangerous loophole in the law. A further example of corporate crime was... That that is the end of Section 4. You now have half a minute to check your answers.