Part 1

You will hear a woman telephoning an eco-farm. First, you have some time to look at
questions 1 to 5. Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5.
Good afternoon. Lakeside Eco-Farm. Mark speaking.
Oh, good afternoon. My name is Helen.
I was listening to a programme the other day,
and it said that you are a member of the Northern Hotel Group.
Yes, that's correct. Are you a member of the group?
Yes, I am.
And I would like to find out about staying with you for a week
during the school holidays.
No problem, Helen. May I have your full name?
Helen Pennington. That's P-E-double-N-I-N-G-T-O-N.
Thank you, Helen, and your email address.
Helen123 at email.com. No dashes or underscores.
Oh, sorry. Actually, it's probably better if I give you my work email address,
which is more convenient for me. That is Helen123 at greenfield.com
And Greenfield is one word.
Okay, and your home address.
It is 66 Lake Road, Sheffield.
May I ask where you heard about us?
You mentioned a programme. Is it on TV or...?
Actually, I heard about you on the radio,
and I thought it might be a good place to take my children during the summer holidays.
What kind of activities do you have?
Well, here we have lodges in the woods,
a couple of lakes, lots of activities, and great food,
so I'm sure your whole family will love it.
I can give you prices for all these,
but first, could I have your membership number?
Oh, yes. I think it's UK 765-042-GE,
but I will just check. It has been a while since I used it, just a moment.
Ah, actually, it is UK 765-024-E-G.
That's fine. Thank you.
Before you hear the rest of the conversation,
you have some time to look at questions 6-10.
Now, listen carefully and answer questions 6-10.
Can you see my information on your system?
Yes, I've found you.
So, regarding accommodation here at Island Eco Farm,
for families, I recommend our family chalets,
as they are large and suitable for both adults and children.
Ah, OK, that sounds nice.
But a lodge is probably too big for us, and I don't think we have much time and energy
for cleaning, so we would like to stay in a flat, preferably near the farm.
I'm afraid there's no accommodation near the farm.
Would you want to be located near the lake? It's got a great view.
Actually, my daughter would prefer to stay in the forest if possible.
That's fine. We have some lovely log cabins with room for four people, which would suit
your family.
Yes, that's the kind of thing we want.
I hope you have a wide range of food available.
My husband is a meat eater.
I like seafood, and my children like organic food, including plenty of vegetables.
Yes, we cater for all different types of diet, so you can get all of those preferences here.
Don't worry.
Great. So, what is the transport situation?
Can we get there by ferry or van, for instance?
No, the best way is by train.
There's a regular service from Sheffield, or there is a bike trail all the way here.
It generally takes about six hours to ride here from Sheffield.
That sounds good, but it might be difficult with our luggage.
It's a pity you don't have vans or ferry boats, but I think we will take the train.
So, what activities do you have there?
We have a gardening course on planting flowers.
Would that be suitable?
I was hoping for something a little more energetic to give us more exercise, a dance
course, for example.
That is something guests requested in the past, but it's not something we are doing at the
moment.
I will bear that in mind for the future, though.
Okay, that would be great.
I need to get back to work, so can you email me through the prices and all the details?
Certainly. I'll send all the details through to your work email address right now.
Great, thank you.
You're welcome, and we hope to see you here at Lakeside Eco Farm soon.
Thanks, goodbye.
Part 3. You will hear two students called Genie and Dan discussing some research on
the effects of music on consumer behavior. First, you have some time to look at
questions 21 to 26.
Hi Dan, how's it going?
Hello Genie, pretty well, thanks. Have you finished your research yet?
Yes, it's all done. I've spent several weeks on it from the very beginning of deciding the
topic to carrying out the research and writing the essay.
Congratulations, it seems like a big project. I know the research is to do with music, but
what is it exactly about?
Well, at first I didn't have a specific purpose until one day I read a report that said, if
appropriate music is played while people are eating, it may cause some changes in their
behavior, but the report didn't illustrate the changes in detail. So, I wanted to carry out a
thorough investigation into this.
That's quite unique, so how did you conduct your research?
I started by looking for five different restaurants and then went to each of the restaurants
to order some food and observe other people. I mainly focused on how the music is
played instead of how people eat. Findings of my observations indicate that the five
restaurants have something in common. They all have a special section to play the music.
More importantly, although the music is played at different times, the volume is
unchanged.
This sounds attractive. I've never read anything about this before. In addition to
observation, what other research methods have you used?
I also distributed the survey questionnaire to people dining there.
What questions are posing your questionnaire?
Well, the first section of the questionnaire asks subjects to indicate the number of times
they have been to the restaurant previously, the number of people they dine with, and
whether they think they will return to the restaurant. These early questions don't involve
musical preferences, but largely actors, distractors. The intention being that subjects will
be less inclined to think that the survey is about the music being played.
That sounds very reasonable. Did you design the questionnaire by yourself?
Actually, no. I read an assignment a student wrote last year, which was just kept beside a
dictionary in the library. I came across it when I was looking something up in the
dictionary.
Oh, you're so lucky. Is there any other question included in the questionnaire?
Yes. Subjects are also asked why they choose to dine at a particular restaurant. Several
reasons are listed in the questionnaire. I thought people would put service first, but that's
not the case. Only about 12% of them have chosen this reason. While the majority of
respondents think whether they will pick this restaurant depends on how many available
seats it has. They think it's terrible to eat in a crowded place.
Yes, everyone wants to enjoy a meal comfortably. Then I guess maybe the location of a
restaurant is an important factor, since no one likes to waste too much time on the way.
It used to be, but nowadays nearly every household has a private car, so they don't have to
be worried about the traffic problem. What I find interesting, however, is that a large
percentage of people say they will compare different restaurants in the neighborhood on
the internet first. If one of them stands out from its rivals, they will choose it. Wow, it's
really interesting.
Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions
27 to 30.
Now, listen and answer questions 27 to 30.
What also?
Well, the second section of the questionnaire asks subjects to respond to the music being
played by rating so that the relationship between music and perceived atmosphere could
be examined directly. As a means of examining purchase intention, the final section of the
questionnaire asks them to indicate the maximum amount of money they are prepared to
spend on their main meal.
So, what have you finally discovered?
I collected all the questionnaires and analyzed people's answers to get a clear idea of their
reactions to different music conditions. The result shows that music has become an
indispensable part of restaurants. If people find there isn't any music during the meal,
they will think the restaurant charges too much.
Yes, now music is everywhere in our life. Is there any difference in people's attitudes
towards different musical styles?
Yes, most people think that if jazz is being played when eating, they tend to stay at the
restaurant longer and order more food to enjoy the music. But this is quite the opposite of
what happens when classical music is played. Many customers think if the restaurant
plays classical music, they wouldn't like to stay there for another minute, but to finish the
food quickly and hurry away, because they don't like this type of music at all. And lastly,
about pop music. It's very popular these days, especially among young people, as I've
noticed in restaurants. They like listening to this type of music during their meals. As a
result, this greatly increases the possibility of their presence at the same restaurant.
Great, I've learned a lot from your research. I think it's meaningful and innovative.
Thanks for telling me, Jeannie.
You're welcome, Dan.
PART 4
You will hear an engineering student giving a presentation about a research project
on design features of the International Space Station.
First, you have some time to look at questions 31-240.
Now listen carefully and answer questions 31-40.
For my presentation I'm going to summarize the findings of a research project on life
aboard the International Space Station in the early days of its operation.
It's teething problems as it were. I'll start by giving a little background information.
The Space Station crew were essentially a constantly changing team of scientists from
different countries who lived on the Space Station for several months at a time.
And they conducted a number of experiments, including some studies of living
conditions in space, which is what I'm going to be looking at now.
So, what was life like on board in the very confined conditions of the Space Station?
Well, the early impressions recorded by the astronauts were very different from what
people had expected.
They'd expected that the air would smell stale or artificial, but the astronauts found that it
was fresh, so that was one very positive finding.
And although they were in such a confined space and people worried that it would get
very hot, in fact, they found that it was very easy to turn the temperature up or down in
order to keep it within a comfortable range.
The feedback on the food was also positive. Astronauts on previous space stations had
described the meals as boring, but the International Space Station meals were praised for
their variety.
So, that was another good piece of feedback. And something which is taken for granted
today, but was a key morale booster in those days, was communication between the
Space Station and Earth, which the astronaut said was clear and reliable.
So, in the early days, it seems that the mood was overall very positive.
However, after a few days, the difficulties and frustrations became clearer. Above all, the
crew complained about the constant noise caused by the air filters, which used to rattle
and buzz 24 hours a day, interrupting their sleep.
As well as that, the astronauts complained that the Velcro fasteners, which were
positioned all over the station, didn't work well. And so, a lot of the time, objects weren't
secure in the cabin, but floated about.
A particularly serious problem was that the systems used on the space station had been
developed in a number of different countries, and they didn't always work well together.
For example, it was impossible to mix the water produced from different systems because
it contained different sorts of preservatives, and these reacted together and blocked the
pipes.
Another problem was connected to repairs. At the best of times, these took up an
inordinate amount of time on the station, and the crew complained that many of the tools
that they'd been provided with weren't suitable for the jobs they had to do.
So, they had to improvise, which meant that jobs took a lot longer than they needed to.
Another related problem was to do with access to equipment that needed maintaining.
Because the instructions on the equipment were often located in places where they were
difficult to read, like on the back of equipment, it was often difficult or impossible to read
them.
So, having identified these problems, the researchers came up with a number of
suggestions about how conditions could be improved on subsequent missions.
First, it became clear that although there had been a great deal of consultation with the
crews, the systems and equipment on the space station needed much more wide-ranging
testing.
Then, the whole issue of language training came under review. Astronauts from different
countries had to be able to talk to the controllers on Earth and to understand them.
Now, although they'd had extensive language training, the astronauts sometimes had
problems comprehending what was said because they weren't familiar with the accent of
the speaker, and this sometimes led to quite dangerous misunderstandings.
Finally, and this is the point I found most surprising. The researchers felt that the
designers of the space station were paying too much attention to safety rather than
considering operating issues.
That is how the station could be run comfortably and smoothly. And the recommendation
was to make changes here at quite a fundamental level. So, those were the main points I
covered in the...
That is the end of part four. You now have one minute to check your answers to...