Tag Archive for: LISTENING

IELTS LISTENING

Monsodium Glutamate

Lecturer 1: In today’s lecture, I’m going to talk about monosodium glutamate, or MSG, as it’s more commonly known. Now. MSG, as you probably know, is a flavour enhancer, which is used particularly in Chinese and Japanese cooking. Today I am going to explore why it is so popular in these cuisines and more importantly, how does it enhance the flavour of food? The main reason why MSG is more commonly used in Japanese meals is tradition. For many thousands of years, the Japanese have incorporated a type of seaweed known as kombu in their cooking as they discovered it had the ability to make food taste better. But it wasn’t until 19 0 wait that the ingredient in kombu, which was responsible for the improvement in flavour, was actually discovered to be glutamate by scientists working there from 19 0 wait until 1956 glutamate was produced commercially in Japan by a very slow and expensive means of extraction. It was in 1956 that the speed of the process was improved and industrial production increased dramatically and still continues to increase to this day. In fact, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of MSG are produced all over the world today. So what exactly is chemistry? Well, monosodium glutamate contains 78.2% glutamate, 12.2% sodium and 9.6% water. Glutamate is an amino acid that can be found naturally in all protein containing foods. Um, so this includes foods such as meat and cheese. It is widely known that Chinese and Japanese food contains MSG, but many people don’t seem to be aware that it is also used in foods and other parts of the world. For example, it is found in commercially made Italian pizzas in American fast food, and in Britain, MSG is used in things like potato crisps. So how exactly does MSG work well in the Western world, we commonly talk of four tastes, and I’m sure you’re all familiar with the concepts of sweet, sour, bitter and salt. Well, in 19 0 wait, he could not. A Ikeda identified 1/5 taste, and it is thought that MSG intensifies this naturally occurring taste in some food. It does make perfect evolutionary sense that we should have the ability to detect or taste glutamate because it is the amino acid, which is most common in natural foods. John Prescott, an associate professor at the University of Chicago, suggests that this fifth taste serves a purpose just as the other tastes, too. He suggests that it signals to us the presence of protein and food in the same way that sweetness indicates that a food contains energy giving carbohydrates. Bitterness, he says, alerts us to toxins in the food, while sour nous warns us of spoilage and saltiness signals the presence of minerals. So what else do we know about this fifth taste

 

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IELTS LISTENING

Geography Presentation

Student A: Remind me, Trevor, how long is the presentation?

Student B: Dr. White said three per hour.

Student A: So about 20 minutes.

Student B: Well, it’ll be 15 minutes per presentation on five minutes for questions. And is this one gonna be assessed?

Student A: No, not this time around. Because it’s the 1st 1 You No good news. Well, what are we going to include?

Student B: Well, do you think we ought to give some historical background?

Student A: Oh, no, definitely. No, we won’t have time.

Student B: OK, but I think we ought to say something about the geographical location because not a lot of people know where the islands are.

Student A: Yes. Okay, I’ll take note. Shall I?

Student B: Yeah, that would be a help.

Student A: So, geographic coop location.

Student B: Then we would have given an overview of the whole education system.

Student A: Shouldn’t we say something about the economy, you know, agricultural, produce, minerals, and so forth?

Student B: Well, doctor, wife said we shouldn’t go into that sort of detail,

Student A: but it’s pretty important when you think about it, you know, because it does influence the education, sir. System.

Student B: Look, let’s think about that. Would later, shall we say, Let’s see how we doing for time.

Student A: Okay, So, general overview. Off education,

Student B: of course. And then the roll of English language?

Student A: No, that goes in the language policy seminar. Don’t you remember?

Student B: You sure?

Student A: Positive.

Student B: What? So those are the topics we’re going to be to be covering

Student A: We need to think about what to prepare. Dr. White said he wanted us to use plenty of visuals and things, and we might as well try them out when we’re not being assessed.

Student B: Well, the most important thing is thea overhead projector.

Student A: No problem. We’ll get that from the media room. Must remember to book it.

Student B: Well, we’ll need a map, of course,

Student A: probably to one of the island’s large scale on one of West Africa. Well, the West African one is no problem. There’s one in the resources room.

Student B: Oh, yeah, of course. The resources room. The island’s gonna be more of a problem.

Student A: Tell you what, There’s a very clear map of Santiago in that tourist brochure I showed you last week. Don’t you remember it? Oh, yeah, That’s right. We can just use the tourist Russia. We also need statistics on several different things.

Student B: Literacy writes?

Student A: Yes. And school places. How about the Encyclopaedia? No, not up to date. Enough. Mmm. Why don’t we call the embassy? Oh, someone’s enthusiastic. Well, if something’s worth doing, I know it’s worth doing well. Okay.

Student B: We confined our statistics on school places from them as well.

Student A: Much as well.

Student B: Look, Julie, it’s almost time for our tutorials. We can meet again on Monday, but we need to prepare some stuff before then.

 

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IELTS LISTENING

TOTAL INSURANCE INCIDENT REPORT

Insurance Agent: Good morning. Total insurance duty speaking. How may I help you?

Michael Alexander: I recently shipped my belongings from overseas back here to Australia and I took out insurance with your company. Some items were damaged during the move, so I need to make a claim. What do I have to do?

Insurance Agent: Okay. Well, first I need to get a few details about this. Can you give me your name, please?

Michael Alexander: Yes, It’s Michael Alexander.

Insurance Agent: Okay. And your address, please.

Michael Alexander: My old address or my current one?

Insurance Agent: Your current one.

Michael Alexander: It’s 24 Manley Street Mill pere. Nice, Sidney.

Insurance Agent: What was the suburbs? Sorry.

Michael Alexander: Mill para M I l e Ah A

Insurance Agent: Right now. Who was the shipping agent, Mr. Alexander?

Michael Alexander: You mean the company we used?

Insurance Agent: Yes. The company were packed everything up at the point of origin.

Michael Alexander: Oh, it was, um, at first class movers.

Insurance Agent: Okay, Where were the goods shipped from

Michael Alexander: China. But the ship came via Singapore was there for about a week.

Insurance Agent: Don’t worry. All of that information will be in the documentation. Now. The dates Do you know? When the ship arrived,

Michael Alexander: it left on the 11th of October on Got to Sydney on the 28th of November.

Insurance Agent: Okay, I need one more thing. There’s a reference number. It should be in the top. Right hand corner of the pink form they gave you.

Michael Alexander: Ah, let me have a look. So many. Yes, here it is. It’s six. So one a ck. Gee,

Insurance Agent: thanks. I need to take down a few details of the actual damage over the phone before you put in a full report. Can you tell me how many items were damaged and what the damage? Wass?

Michael Alexander: Yes, Well, four things. Actually, I’ll start with the big things. My TV. First of all, it’s a large one. Very expensive

Insurance Agent: insurance doesn’t cover electrical problems.

Michael Alexander: It isn’t an electrical problem. The screen has a huge crack in it, so it’s unusable,

Insurance Agent: I say. Any idea of the price to repair it?

Michael Alexander: No. Well, I don’t think it can be repaired. It will need a new one.

Insurance Agent: Okay, I’ll make a note of that, and we’ll see what we can do. And now, what was the second item?

Michael Alexander: The cabinet from the bathroom was damaged as well. It’s a lovely cabinet. We use it to keep our towels in.

Insurance Agent: And what is the extent of the damage?

Michael Alexander: Well, the back in the sides seem okay, but the door has a huge hole in it. It can’t be repaired. I’m really not very happy about it.

Insurance Agent: And how much do you think it will cost to replace it?

Michael Alexander: Well, when I bought it last year, I paid $125 for it. But the one I have seen here in Sydney is a bit more expensive. It’s $140

Insurance Agent: right? And what was the third item?

Michael Alexander: My dining room table. It’s a lovely table from Indonesia. It must have been very hot inside the container because one leg has completely split down the middle. The top of the other three look. Okay. Thank goodness.

Insurance Agent: Any idea of the price to repair it?

Michael Alexander: Well, I had an estimate done on this, actually, because it is a very special table. Tow us. They quoted as $200 which is really pricey, so I hope the insurance will cover the total cost.

Insurance Agent: I’m sure that will be fine. What was the last item, Mr Alexander?

Michael Alexander: Well, we have a lovely set of China plates and dishes, you know, with matching cups sources. The lot. They were all in the one box, which must have got dropped because some plates were broken. Six, actually.

Insurance Agent: And can you tell me the replacement value of these?

Michael Alexander: Well, it’s hard to say because they were part of a set, but they could be up to $10 Each is it’s such a good set.

Insurance Agent: Okay, so that would be around $60. All

 

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IELTS LISTENING

Enquiry About Booking hotel Room For Event

Andrew: Good morning, Claire House Hotel on Drew. Speaking on the events manager.

Samantha: Good morning, Andrew. My name’s Samantha. I’m arranging a party for my parents 50th wedding anniversary on bringing to ask about hiring a room sometime next September. Also, my parents and several of the guests will need accommodation.

Andrew: Okay, I’m sure we can help you with that. Will you be having a sit down meal or a buffet?

Samantha: Probably sit down on DH.

Andrew: Do you know how many people will be

Samantha: around 80? I think.

Andrew: Well, we have two rooms that can hold that Number one is the Adelphia Room, that conceit 85 or hold over 100. If people are standing for a buffet, right. If you have live music, there’s room for four or five musicians in the gallery overlooking the room. Our guests usually appreciate the fact that the music can be loud enough for dancing, but not too loud for conversation.

Samantha: Yes, I really don’t like it when you can’t talk

Andrew: exactly. Now the Adelphia Room is at the back of the hotel, and there are French windows leading out onto the terrace. This has a beautiful display of pots of roses. At that time of the year,

Samantha: which direction does it face?

Andrew: South west, so that side of the hotel gets the sun in the afternoon and early evening. Very nice. From the terrace, you can see the area of trees within the grounds of the hotel, or you can stroll through there to the river. That’s on the far side so it isn’t visible from the hotel. OK, then, another option is the Carlton Room. This is a bit bigger. It can hold up to 110 people on DIT has the advantage of a stage, which is useful if you have any entertainment or indeed, a small band, conf it onto it.

Samantha: Andi, can you go outside from the room?

Andrew: No, The Carlton room is on the first floor, but on one side the windows look out onto the lake.

Samantha: Lovely. I think either of those rooms would be suitable.

Andrew: Can I tell you about some of the options we offer? In addition,

Samantha: please do

Andrew: as well as a meal. You can have an M. C. A master of ceremonies who will be with you throughout the party?

Samantha: What exactly is Thie emcees function?

I suppose they make a speech during the meal. If we need one, do they?

Andrew: That’s right. All our emcees, they’re trained as public speakers so they can easily get people’s attention. Many guests. They’re glad to have someone who can make themselves heard above the chatter, and they’re also your support. If anything goes wrong, the emcee will deal with it so you can relax.

Samantha: Great. I’ll need to ask you about food. But something else that’s important is accommodation. You obviously have rooms in the hotel, but do you also have any other accommodation like cabins, for example?

Andrew: Yes, there are five in the grounds, all self contained. They each sleep 2 to 4 people and have their own living room, bathroom and small kitchen.

Samantha: That sounds perfect for what we’ll need. Now you have various facilities, don’t you? Are they all included in the price of hiring the room, the pool, for instance?

Andrew: Normally you’d be able to use it, but it will be closed throughout September for refurbishment. I’m afraid the gym will be available, though at no extra charge. That’s open all day from six in the morning until midnight, right on the tennis courts. But there is a small additional payment for those. We have four courts, and it’s worth booking in advance if you possibly can, as they can be quite a long waiting list for them right now

Samantha: Could we discuss the food? This would be dinner around seven o’clock.

 

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IELTS LISTENING

Research on questions about doctors

Shona: I’ve been doing some research into what people in Britain think of doctors, the ones who work in general practice, the first call for medical care and comparing this with the situation in a couple of other countries. I want to talk about the rationale behind what I decided to do now. I had to set up my programme of research in three different countries, So I approached postgraduates in my field in overseas departments, contacting them by email to organize things for me. At Baron, I thought I would have trouble recruiting help, but in fact everyone was very willing, and sometimes their tutors got involved, too. I had to give my helpers clear instructions about what kind of sample population I wanted them to use. I decided that people under 18 should be excluded because most of them are students or looking for their first job. And also, I decided at this stage just to focus on men who were in employment and set up something for people who didn’t have jobs and for employed women later on, as a separate investigation, I specifically wanted to do a questionnaire and interviews with a focus group with the question there, rather than limiting it to one specific point. I wanted to include as much variety as possible. I know questionnaires air a very controlled way to do things, but I thought I could do take interviews later on to counteract the effects of this. And the focus group may also prove useful in future by targeting subjects I can easily return to as the participants tend to be more involved. So I’m just collating the results now. At the moment, it looks as if in the UK, despite the fact that newspapers continually report that people are unhappy with medical care. In fact, it is mainly the third level of care, which takes place in hospitals that they are worried about. Government reforms have been proposed at all levels, and although their success is not guaranteed, long term hospital care is in fact probably less of an issue than the media would have us believe. However, I’ve still got quite a bit of data to look at. Certainly, I will need to do more far reaching research than I had anticipated in order to establish if people want extra medical staff invested in the community or if they want care to revert to fewer but larger icky medical units, the solution may well be something that can be easily implemented by those responsible in local government with central government support. Of course, this first stage has proved very valuable, though I was surprised by how willing most of the subjects were to get involved in the project. I had expected some unwillingness to answer questions honestly, but I was taken aback and rather concerned that something I thought I’d set up very well didn’t necessarily seem that way to everyone in my own department. I thought you might also be interested in some of the problems I encountered in collecting my data. There were odd cases that threw me. One of the subjects who I had approached while he was out shopping in town decided to pull out when it came to the second round. It was a shame as it was someone who I would like to have interviewed more closely, and one of the first year students I interviewed wanted reassurance that no names would be traceable from the answers. I was so surprised because they think nothing of telling you about themselves and their opinions in seminar groups. Then one of the people that I worked with got a bit funny. The questions were quite personal, and one minute he said he’d do it. Then the next day he wouldn’t and in the end he did do it. It’s hard not to get angry in that situation, but I tried to keep focused on the overall picture in order to stay calm. The most bizarre case was a telephone interview I did with a teacher at a university in France. He answered all my questions in great detail. But then when I asked how much access he had two dangerous substances, he wouldn’t tell me exactly what his work involved. It was a really eye opener that is the end of selection for you. Now have half a minute to check your answers. That is the end of the listening test in the aisles test. He would now have 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet

 

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IELTS LISTENING

Field Trip Proposal

Tutor: Right centre. You wanted to see me to get some feedback on your group’s proposal, the one you’re submitting for the Geography society field trip competition. I’ve had a look through your proposal, and I think it’s a really good choice. In fact, I only have a few things to say about it. But even in an outline document like this, you really have to be careful to avoid typos and problems with lay out in the proposal and even in the contents page. So read it through carefully before submitting it. Okay, well, d’oh! And I’ve made a few notes on the proposal about things which could have been better sequenced.

Sandra: Okay,

Tutor: As for the writing itself, I’ve annotated the proposal as and where I thought it could be improved. Generally speaking, I feel you’ve often used complex structures and long sentences for the sake of it. And as a consequence, although your paragraph ing and inclusion of subheadings help, it’s quite hard to follow your train of thought at times. So cut them down a bit. Kenya.

Sandra: Really?

Tutor: Yes. And don’t forget simple formatting like numbering.

Sandra: Didn’t I use page numbers?

Tutor: I didn’t mean that. Look, you’ve remembered to include headers and footers, which is good. But listing ideas clearly is important. Number them or used bullet points, which is even clearer. Then you’ll focus the reader on your main points. I thought your suggestion to go to the Navajo Tribal Park was a very good idea.

Sandra: You know, I’ve always wanted to go there. My father was a great fan of cowboy films and the Wild West, so I was subjected to seeing all the epic, many of which were shot there. As a consequence, it feels very familiar to me, and it’s awesome both geographically and visually. Throw it somewhere. I’ve always wanted to visit the subsequent research I did, and the online photographs made me even keener.

Tutor: Interesting, right? Let’s look at the content of your proposal now.

Sandra: Did you find it comprehensive enough?

Tutor: Well, yes and no. You’ve listed several differrent topics on your contents page, but I’m not sure they’re all relevant.

Sandra: No. Well, I thought that from the perspective of a field trip, one thing I needed to focus on was the sandstone plateau and cliffs themselves. The way they tower up from the flat landscape is just amazing. The fact that the surrounding softer rocks were eroded by wind and rain, leaving these huge outcrops high above the plain. It’s hardly surprising that tourists flocked to see the area

Tutor: Well, yes, I’d agree with including those points and then the fact that it’s been home to Native American Navajos and all the social history that goes with that.

Sandra: The hardships they endured trying to save their territory from the invading settlers. Their culture is so rich, all those wonderful storeys.

Tutor: Well, I agree it’s interesting, but it’s not immediately relevant to your proposal, Sandra. So at this stage, I suggest you focus on other considerations, I think an indication of what the students on the trip could actually do when they get there should be far more central. So that certainly needs to be included and to be expanded upon. And I’d like to see something about the local wildlife and vegetation, too. Not that I imagine there’s much to see. Presumably, the tourist invasion hasn’t helped.

Sandra: Okay, I’ll do some work on those two areas as well. But you’re right. There’s not much apart from some very shallow rooted species, although it’s cold and snowy there in the winter. The earth is baked so hard in the summer sun that rain water can’t penetrate. So it’s a case of flatter drought.

Tutor: Really? So I understand now before we look at, everything in more detail. I’ve got a few factual questions for you. It would be a good idea to include the answers in your finished proposal because they’re missing from your draught. Fine. So you mentioned the monoliths and the spires, which was good, but what area does the tribal park cover? Do you know?

Sandra: 12,000 hectares And the plane is it about 5850 metres above sea level. Larger than I expected.

Tutor: Okay, where’s the nearest accommodation? That’s a practical detail that you haven’t included. Have you done any research on that?

Sandra: Yes, there’s nowhere to stay in the park itself, But there’s an old trading post called Goulding. Quite near all kinds of tours start from Golding to

Tutor: what kind of tours?

Sandra: Well, the most popular are in four wheel drive cheat. But I wouldn’t recommend hiring those. I think the best way to appreciate the area would be to hire horses instead and trek around on those

 

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IELTS LEARNING

Australian Aboriginal Rock Paintings

Lecturer: Good morning, everyone. I’ve been invited to talk about my research project into Australian Aboriginal rock paintings. The Australian Aborigines have recorded both real and symbolic images of their time on rock walls for many thousands of years. Throughout the long history of this tradition, new images have appeared and new painting sells have developed, and these characteristics can be used to categorise the different artistic styles. Among these are what we call the dynamic am and modern styles of painting. One of the most significant characteristics all the different cells, is the way that humans are depicted in the paintings. The more recent paintings show people in static poses, but the first human images to dominate rock art paintings over 8000 years ago were full of movement. The’s paintings showed people hunting and cooking food, and so they were given the name dynamic to reflect this energy. It’s quite amazing considering there were painted in such a simple stick like form in the yam period, there was a movement away from stick figures tow a more naturalistic shape. However, they didn’t go as far as the modern style, which is known as X ray because it actually makes a feature of the internal skeleton as well as the organs of animals and humans. The Yan style of painting got its name from the fact that it featured much curvy of figures that actually resemble the vegetable. Call the M, which is similar to a sweet potato. The modern paintings are interesting because they include paintings. At the time of the first contact with European settlers, Aborigines managed to convey the idea of the settlers clothing by simply painting the Europeans without any hands, indicating the habit of standing with their hands in their pockets. Size is another characteristic. The more recent images tend to be life size or even larger, but the dynamic figures are painted in miniature. Aboriginal rock art also records the environmental changes that occurred over thousands of years. For example, we know from the dynamic paintings that over 8000 years ago aborigines would have rarely eaten fish and sea levels were much lower this time. In fact, fish didn’t start to appear in paintings until the end period, along with shells and other marine images. The paintings of the yam tradition also suggests that during this time the aborigines moved away from animals, is their main food source and began including vegetables in their diet Is Thies feature prominently. Fresh water creatures didn’t appear in the paintings until the modern period from 4000 years ago, so these paintings have already taught us a lot. But one image that has always intrigued us is known as the Rainbow Serpent. The Rainbow Serpent, which is the focus of my most recent project, gets its name from its snake or serpent like body, and it first appeared in the Yam period 4 to 6000 years ago. Many believe it is a curious mixture of kangaroos, snake and crocodile, but we decided to study the Rainbow Serpent paintings to see if we could locate the animal that the very first painter’s based their image on the end period coincided with the end of the last ice age. This brought about tremendous change in the environment with sea levels rising and creeping steadily inland. This flooded many familiar land features and also caused a great deal of disruption to traditional patterns of life. Hunting in particular, new shores were formed, and totally different creatures would have washed up onto the shores. We studied 107 paintings of the Rainbow Serpent and found that the one creature that matches it most closely was the ribbon to pipe fish, which is a type of seahorse. This sea creature would have been a totally unfamiliar sight in the inland regions where the image is found, and it may have been the inspiration behind the early paintings. So at the end of the ice age, there would have been enormous changes in animal and plant life. It’s not surprising, then, that the Aborigines linked this abundance to the new creatures they witnessed. Even today, Aborigines see the Rainbow Serpent as a symbol of creation, which is understandable given the increase in vegetation and the new life forms that featured when the image first appeared.

 

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IELTS LISTENING

Improvements to Red Hill Suburb

Carol: Good morning and welcome again to your city today.With me today is Graham Campbell, a counsellor from the City Council. You’ll be telling us about the plan to improve the fast growing suburbs off Red hill. Good morning, gramme and welcome to the show.

Graham: Morning, Carol.

Carol: Now Graham, I understand that there has been a lot of community consultation for the new plan.

Graham: Yes, we try to address some of the concerns that local groups told us about people we’ve heard from the mainly worried about traffic in the area and in particular, the increasing speed of cars near schools. They feel that it’s only a matter of time before there’s an accident. Has a lot of children walk to school? So we’re trying to do something about that.Another area of concern is the overhead power lines. He’s a very old and a lot of people we spoke to asked if something could be done about them. Well, I’m happy to report that the power company have agreed to move the power lines underground at a cost of $800,000.I think that really improve the look of the area as well as being safer.

Carol: That’s good to know. But will that mean an increase in rates for the local businesses in that area?

Graham: Well, the power company have agreed to bear the cost of this themselves after a lot of discussion with the council. This is wonderful news, as the council now has an extra funds for us to put into other things, like tree planting an artwork. Now we’ve also put together a map, which you send out to all the residents in the area and on the map with Mark proposed changes. First Evil plant mature pine trees to provide shelter and shay just to the right of the supermarket in days road. In order to address the traffic problems. The payments on the corner of Carberry and Thomas street will be widened. This will help to reduce the speed of vehicles entering Thomas Street. We think it’s very important to separate the local residential streets in the main road, so the roadway at the entrance of Thomas Street from Days Road will be painted red. This should market more clearly and act as a signal for traffic to slow down. One way of making sure that the pedestrians are safe is to increase. Sign it. The intersections keep clear. Sign will be erected at the junction of Evelyn Street and Hill Street to enable traffic to exit at all times. Something we’re planning to do to help control the flow of traffic in the area is to instal traffic lights halfway down Hill Street, where it crosses days road. Now we haven’t only thought about the cars and traffic. Of course, there’s also something for the children began to get schoolchildren in the area to research a local storey. The life of a local sports hero, perhaps, and an artist will incorporate that storey into paintings on the wall of a building on the other side of Hill Street from the supermarket. And finally, we’ve agreed to build the new children’s playground, which will be at the other end of Hill Street, close to the intersection with Carvery Street.

Carol: Wonderful. Now what’s the next stage?

Graham: Well, the final plan

 

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