IELTS LISTENING
Marathon-tips for spectators
Sweater: Now we’re grateful to Fred Mckinnon for coming into the studio today to give everyone a few tips about the city marathon that’s taking place next Saturday.
Fred Mckinnon: Thanks Yes, we’re all very excited about the big event. Let me just remind listeners that Marathon is a 26-mile or 42-kilometer Race and this year, we have 12,000 runners taking part. So if you’re thinking of going out to support the runners and I know that many of you are. Here are some tips to help make your day more enjoyable. First of all, be certain to Q11 plan your day. Don’t leave everything to the last minute. Many roads are going to be closed.
We don’t have exact times for these closures yet, but my big advice to you is don’t rely on your car to get you anywhere. In fact, the best way to get around the town will be Q12 on foot. You may choose the cycle, but you still won’t be able to go on roads near the runner’s route. No, we did a broadcast last week in which we told all our runners to wear the right kind of shoes on. I’m going to tell you to put on Q13 sensible clothes. A lot of visitors will be coming to the city. You may be hunting for someone in the race that you want to support. The Q14 weather may be hot or it may be wet, which leads me on to another thing. Make sure you look at the forecast on Friday night. It is going to rain taken umbrella and it is going to be hot take some drinks. However, please don’t try to pass these to the runners. We already have hundreds of Q15 volunteers who will be standing on the roadside, so let them give out the drinks. When you get into the town, find yourself a spot to stand in. You may well want to walk up and down the route, but please don’t cross the road. There could be thousands of people running towards you, some very tired and not able to focus clearly, we don’t want any Q16 accidents and runners don’t want obstacles like you in their path. What they do need is your support, particularly when their energies is a low, so cheer them on and for once. Don’t worry about noise. The louder the better. Lastly, if you have friends or relatives who are taking part in that run, please don’t say that you’ll see them at the Q17 finish line. If everyone does that, the whole area will be terribly congested and you won’t be able to find anyone. Well, that’s most of the advice. But no, I mentioned transport earlier, and I’ve just got a few more bits of information about survival on the day. As I said before, roads in the town center will be closed. But Q18 if you need to be picked up at your home, then you could take a taxi some of the weeks. Unlike the trams and trains, however, they’ll be held up on the roads, so passengers shouldn’t expect them to be as punctual as they normally are. Don’t be put off by this, too. They’ll be extra drivers working that day on, you’ll get one eventually. Q19 If you’re meeting up with friends and want to be around when the runners set off, that’s 9 a.m. by the way, whatever end of the city you’re coming from, I see used the trams. They still have roots. That crossroads on this will inevitably lead to some problems, but they’re likely to have more reliable timetables than buses at this time of day. And as you know, unlike taxis, they can carry plenty of passengers. Lastly, Q20 the buses quite a number of bus routes will be altered slightly, and it’s already been decided that some will be closed. There won’t be fewer drivers, but they will be operating on different routes and some will have longer breaks than they normally do. We’ll be including a full list of all the bus routes and numbers and where they’ll be going in this week’s local paper. So we’ll look out for that. Well, that’s it for me. Back to you, sweater.
Sweater: Thanks very much, Fred.