IELTS Listening Practice Test 195

1. Wintle
2. Run/ charity run
3. Swimming
4. 3138859
5. 13/ thirteen
6. £25/ 25 pounds
7. Dance
8. Club lounge
9. 3/ three
10. Personal trainer
11. C
12. A
13. B
14. C
15. Animals
16. River/ river system
17. 3/ three
18. Nature survey
19. Tree house
20. 14/ fourteen
21. Student association
22. 18/ eighteen
23. Open plan
24. Individual
25. Wind
26. 30/ thirty
27. Local council
28. Digital
29. Benches
30. 22/ twenty-second
31. Particles
32. Waste
33. Structure
34. 1968
35. Meyer
36. C
37. A
38. B
39. A
40. C

SECTION 1

W: Good morning, Best Fitness!

M: Hello Best Fitness! Help me, I need to get fit!

W: Well then, you’ve certainly phoned the right place. Here at Best Fitness we offer a wide range of activities and facilities to help people of all sizes and ages improve their fitness levels

M: Sounds perfect for me. So, what do I need to do?

W: Well the first thing is to take some details from you… wait, have you been amember here before?

M: No, I’m new. In fact this is the first time I’ve been to a fitness centre of any kind.

W: No need to worry about that, we’ll look after you. So can I ask your name?

M: Yes, it’s Tom Wintle.

W: Ah, like the season, you know I prefer the summer.

M: No no! Wintle. W-I-N-T-L-E. Everybody makes that mistake!

W: Oh ok, sorry about that. Right got it now. So, why do you want to join Best Fitness?

M: Well, that’s actually a bit of a long story. basically I’ve decided to raise some money for charity, for personal reasons, and I thought of several things to do, like organise a 24-hour football match, or have a cake sale.

W: I see..

M: But then my friends suggested I try and do a charity run and I thought yes, that’s a great idea, and then I thought, I need to join a gym!

W: Haha! Absolutely, yes! Ok that’s great. I’m sure we can find the right course of training for you. Apart from that are you interested in any other activities?

M: What have you got?

W: What haven’t we got! There’s tennis coaching, spinning. we have a climbing wall too.

M: Hmm I think I’ll do mountain climbing for the next charity event! But put me down for tennis, definitely. And of course you have a swimming pool.

W: Of course! The biggest in the region!

M: Well I’ll certainly use that too.

W: Great, so just a few more details.Can I get a contact phone number from you?

M: Right yes it’s not always easy to catch me at work, and my mobile’s not working at the moment, so the best thing is to reach me at home in the evening at 3138859.

W: 3138855.

M: Not 5 at the end, 9!.

W: 3138859. Got it. Ok, and we also need your date of birth please.

M: Thirteenth of January nineteen seventy-seven.

W: You said the thirteenth not the thirtieth right?

M: That’s right!

W: Now that’s sorted, let’s talk about some membership options.

M: Yes, that’s probably a good idea! How much is it going to cost me to get fit?

W: Well that depends on you of course. Basically, we have three membership packages, Starter, Silver and Gold, and obviously the bigger package you choose the more benefits you get.

M: I’m guessing Starter is the cheapest…

W: Correct! And obviously the most basic, but for access to all our main facilities, apart from the pool, we think that 10 pounds a month is very reasonable.

M: Pool’s extra eh? Does Silver include the pool?

W: It does, and it’s half the price of our Gold package which includes everything of course, unlimited access for £50 a month.

M: So £25 a month for Silver? Hmmm.

W Well with Silver there are some excellent benefits which you don’t get with Starter.If you fancy yourself on the dance floor you can join our lessons every Thursday, learn to move to the music!

M: I’ll save my dancing shoes for Saturday night I think! Tell me more about the Gold membership.

W: Well, one very exclusive advantage of choosing this package is not only unlimited access to all the facilities, as well as the dance classes I mentioned, but a chance to relax in theclub lounge after your session. There’ are complementary drinks and we also have a massage room for those aches and pains.

M: Now that’s tempting. anything else?

W: Yes, with Gold and Silver we ask you to renew your membership every year, every 12 months to be precise, but people who choose Starter are usually those who are not so serious about training, and obviously we want them to continue so.

M: It’s a six-month renewal then.

W: Actually, it’s three months! We think it encourages people to keep coming back.

M: I can see why.

W: One last thing, we have a restaurant on site too. You can get a discount there on other food and drinks – that’s included in the Silver package too, I forgot to say – but with Gold we also offer you one private session with one of our personal trainers – now that’ll really help your training!

M: Haha you’re a good saleswoman! But I must say that does sound interesting – let me have a think and get back to you………

W: No problem, we’re always ready at Best Fitness!

SECTION 2

Good morning everyone and welcome to historic Brimley Castle! My name is Brian Thomas and I will be your guide for the duration of this morning’s tour. We will be exploring the castle and its grounds from the past to the present, learning about some of the most important events and personalities that have made this site such a unique and wonderful place.

So, first of all, a question! Can anyone tell me when the castle was built? Anyone…what’s that I heard? 1520? Haha well, that’s what most people think! Actually, that was when it was constructed for a second time, after it was burnt down in 1502. No, the original castle was founded on this site in 1482, in the reign of Edward the Fourth

Now does anyone know why the castle was built in the first place? Well, some of you might have noticed that the castle is positioned not on a hill but on a relatively flat piece of land near the River Brim, certainly not well-protected from invaders! Now then, if you look up at the tower you can see a series of little barred windows which suggest that prisoners were kept here, and certainly they were at some point, although this wasn’t the castle’s main function. No, perhaps surprisingly, the castle was in fact created by the second Lord Brimley as a present for his wife! Imagine if this had been built for your birthday!

The running of the castle was taken over in 1872, and I’m afraid some of the descendants didn’t do a very good job. As you can see a large part of the main building, here, had to be rebuilt. The castle didn’t open its doors until 1964 even though the original plan had been to let in the public in 1924, then things were delayed even further by the war.

Right, history lesson over for now, let’s have a look at some of the distinctive features. The tower is the obvious one; its style is such a good example of that time. And look at that magnificent window! Some of you also probably know the castle was the first in this region to have its own water-mill. But have another look at the glass up there! Yes the strangest thing is that when the sun shines, you can see reflections of the second Lord Brimley on the floor!

So please have your fact sheets ready now as we move through the gardens. Now, can anyone see a dog? Yes? What about a snake? Well done! And look, there’s a sleeping lion. The most noticeable things about the gardens are these interestingly-formed hedges and bushes; we’ve counted over a hundred different animals in the grounds. What the gardens themselves are lacking, I’m sure you’ll agree, is any kind of distinctive water feature. The mill of course used to be a main attraction but the stream has long dried up and there are not currently any plans to re-route it, but, more excitingly, over the next year work will start on a river system through the lands, connecting the different ponds.

Now, from here, there’s an excellent view of the tower, built in 1495. Towers in those days were built in the classic way, four sides usually, and sometimes eight, but can anyone tell me something curious about the tower on Brimley Castle? That’s right, there are only three walls, so it forms a kind of triangle. As you can see it needs some reconstruction and work will be under way in the next few months.

Over there, you see the forest. We hope to finish a full nature survey of the area by next February but I can tell you there are over a thousand different plant and tree varieties — and it’s also the site of some of our most interesting activities, like nature night walks and there is also an amazing tree house which pupils from Brimley school put up last year.

And finally, we get to what remain of the castle walls, built after the main castle in 1490. They’re not very impressive now but I can tell you that when they were constructed they ran the whole way around the castle, approximately twelve metres high, in some places even higher than that. Early records state that this part, where we are now, stood an incredible fourteen metres, way above the rest! Soon this section will house the Wall tea-rooms, a perfect place for refreshment. Well, that concludes the tour, I hope…

SECTION 3

Liz: Hi there, thanks for coming today. I’m Liz Shaw, the Project Manager for the construction of the new university library.

Sally: Hi, we’re Sally and Ben from the Student Association. Thanks for inviting us today.

Ben: Yeah, hi Liz.

Liz: As you know, planning permission for the new site was granted last week, so we are all very excited about that.

Ben: Yeah, great news! We had a big meeting last week and everyone cheered when it was announced; I think they’ve all had enough of the old place.

Liz: Ha, yes it can get a little chilly in winter! Now, we are currently consulting with different interest groups. Obviously, students are going to be the main users of the library so any thoughts you guys can offer will be extremely valuable.

Sally: OK, great. So, opening should be in around 9 months, is that right?

Ben: Longer than that, about 18 months isn’t it?

Liz: That’s right, Ben, although delays are also possible. Now, I just wanted to go over some of the key points in the document, things that will be of most interest to students.

Ben: Fire away.

Liz: Well, perhaps the biggest change for the new library is the open plan design. We basically wanted to get away from having all the rooms separated from each other; that old traditional stuffy library atmosphere. Our plan is more like a shopping mall, with escalators taking students from one level to the next and then different browsing sections along the walls of each floor.

Sally: Erm, but won’t it get a bit noisy?

Liz: Well it might, but also on each floor there will be soundproof reading rooms, so there will be no noise coming in. These rooms will also contain individual pods that can be hired for an even more focused study experience. 

Sally: Oh, sounds impressive.

Ben: Um, Liz, obviously nowadays with building design there are concerns about environmental impact, but I think I saw something in the plans about making use of green energy?

Liz: That’s right! The library will have over 200 windows, including what will be the U.K.’s largest oval-shaped window at the top of the building, to allow as much natural light into the building as possible, good for sunny days! The roof of the building will also have a number of small wind turbines, and our target is that these will generate at least 20% of the energy needs of the building.

Ben: Oh, that’s great.

Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 26 to 30.

Now listen and answer questions 26 to 30.

Liz: So, those are a few of the core features of the new library; so now feel free to ask any questions you have.

Sally: Thanks. Well, as Ben mentioned earlier, a few questions came up in our meeting last week. Firstly, the proposal to get rid of a lot of the library computers is a concern for some.

Liz: Well, yes, it’s true that we are reducing the number of provided computers to 30 from the previous 100. What we would prefer is for students to bring their own laptops, and we are significantly increasing the number of plug-in points for these.

Ben: OK, that sounds reasonable. On a related point, Internet speed is something of an issue in the current place, especially when the library is full, presumably those problems will be ironed out?

Liz: Yes, that is a priority, and also the local council have promised us extra funds – they want this to be a flagship project for Wi-Fi connectivity in the city, and the aim is to make it the fastest among national universities.

Ben: Fantastic! Oh, another thing that came up was book availability – with the new building design it seems like the number of books on shelves at a given time will decrease. 

LIZ: Yes, it’s true that we are moving away from rooms stuffed with books towards a more modern and spacious environment. However, we will still have the computer stations so that students can find and order books to borrow. Also, we are developing our digital library considerably.

Sally: I was just about to ask about digital access! Erm, about seating – with the new place being more spacious will there still be room for chairs and tables? Lots of students like to be near the books when they are studying so they can just get up and grab something.

LIZ: Well, for browsing bookshelves, we are more likely to just be having benches, as our research shows that most users prefer a separation of browsing and study areas, but that’s something that can be adjusted if necessary.

Ben: I also wanted to ask about disabled access, but we are waiting on feedback from a survey sent out to the Equal Access Committee.

LIZ: OK, but rest assured that easy access for people with disabilities is a priority for the project management team, especially things like wheelchair ramps.

Sally: Liz, thanks again for meeting with us today, the new library sounds amazing! Lots to report back to the association. Oh, before we finish could we fix a date with you for the next meeting? How about 21st of January, 2 weeks from today?

LIZ: Erm, let me just check my diary…well I’m actually pretty busy that day, how about the day after, at 10am, same place?

Sally: OK with you Ben? Great, well, see you then

SECTION 4

Morning, everyone. Please take your seats and open your books to Chapter 3. Today, we’ll be talking about the ocean environment; specifically, The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I know it’s a maybe a little strange to be talking about oceans and garbage at the same time. Generally, we think of broader terms, like pollution, when considering these areas of the Earth. But this garbage patch is actually a swirl of marine litter particles in the central North Pacific Ocean. It was discovered between 1985 and 1988 and extends over a very large but uncertain area. I say uncertain because its range depends on the degree of plastic concentration used to define the area. That is to say, the scientists measuring the density of these particles can’t always agree on what standard to use when considering an area to be polluted or not.

Now, the patch itself is characterized by exceptionally high concentrations of ocean plastics, chemical waste and other litter that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific ocean. But, its low density prevents detection by satellite photography or people in the area. The structure and movement of the ocean’s waters push and hold this litter together over time.

The great Pacific garbage patch was first described in a 1988 research paper based on results obtained in the mid 1980s. What they did was measure plastic in the North Pacific Ocean, finding high concentrations of marine litter piling up in regions controlled by ocean currents. They then used their findings from the Sea of Japan to estimate that similar conditions would occur in other parts of the Pacific where the main currents were favorable to the creation of relatively stable waters. Turns out they were right.

It was a Mister Curtis Meyer, that’s M-E-Y-E-R, who actually named the region of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and we’ve been using that name, ever since. Of course, that name is used whenever the area is featured in media reports as an exceptional example of marine pollution. But, even up close, the patch is not easily seen because it consists of tiny pieces almost invisible to the naked eye. Most of its contents are trapped beneath the surface of the ocean due to the structure and movement of currents mentioned just a moment ago. More recently, a similar patch was found in the Atlantic Ocean by a Mister Christopher Norman, N-O-R-M-A-N, and, as you might imagine, is called the North Atlantic garbage patch. We scientists are a creative bunch! 

Moving on, it is thought that, like other areas of concentrated marine litter in the world’s oceans, the Great Pacific garbage patch formed gradually as a result of ocean or marine pollution gathered by oceanic currents. As you can see on page 83 in your books, the garbage patch occupies a large and relatively stable region of the North Pacific Ocean. The rotational pattern of the currents in this region draws in waste material from across the North Pacific Ocean, including the coastal waters off both North America and Japan. As material is captured in the currents, wind-driven surface currents gradually move floating litter toward the center, trapping it in the region.

Despite some strong opinions, there’s actually no definite scientific data concerning the origins of ocean plastics. In a study published in 2014, researchers sampled many locations throughout the world’s oceans and determined that discarding fishing gear, such as buoys, lines, and nets, accounted for more than 60% of the mass of plastic marine litter. A 2011 report indicated, and I quote, “The primary source of marine litter is the improper waste disposal or management of garbage and manufacturing products, including plastics from littering and illegal dumping… this litter is generated on land at ports, rivers, harbors, docks, and storm drains and at sea from fishing vessels, fixed platforms and transport ships.” That’s a lot of potential sources, so it’s really just too difficult to find and blame any one industry or country. If we could do that, we might be able to get someone to clean it all up. But, as it stands, that’s simply not the case.

I suppose that the most shocking part of all this is the size of the garbage patch. Estimates of size range from 700,000 square kilometers, about the size of Texas in the U.S., to more than 15,000,000 square kilometers, which is up to 8% of the size of the entire Pacific Ocean, or, in some media reports, up to twice the size of the continental United States. Such estimates, however, are uncertain, given the complexities of sampling and the need to compare findings against other areas. Finally, although the size of the patch is determined by a higher-than-normal degree of concentration of ocean litter, there is no standard for determining the boundary between normal and elevated levels of pollutants to provide a firm estimate of the affected area.