Collins Practice Tests For IELTS 2 General Training Listening Test 3 (Online Test)

Presenter: Hi again. I'm joined today by Ben Knightly from the Media and Arts Centre. He's here to tell us about the launch of the city's arts festival. Hi Ben. This year has a particular focus, doesn't it?

Ben: It does, yes. This year we want to encourage more people who would not normally describe themselves as being creative to get involved with some of our many events and workshops. Not simply turning up as spectators but to get involved themselves, to get their hands dirty as it were. There's such a wide offering this year that I'm sure we'll have something to suit all tastes.

Presenter: You were telling me earlier how beneficial being creative can be for us.

Ben: Absolutely. I recently attended a drawing workshop, and even if I do say so myself, came away with a very good sketch I'd done. But what was particularly surprising for me was my feeling of pride and joy when I looked at the sketch again and showed it to the family. It really took me back to the feelings I had as a youngster when I'd made something. I realised that even as an adult we can get just as much pleasure and happiness from creative activity. Actually, research has shown that the more we allow ourselves to be creative, the happier we feel; and the more positive our frame of mind, the more creative and the more curious we become about the world we live in.

Presenter: Well, you've certainly persuaded me. So, what kind of events can we look forward to?

Ben: We want to try and include as wide a range of people as possible this year, from people already involved in the creative arts through to elderly people who haven't been creative in years. So for example, we're inviting people in the creative industries who occasionally suffer from writer's block to join us on one of our creative walks. Walking has been proved to aid creative thinking and we're running a series of walks during the spring and summer around some of the many beauty spots in and around the city. Then there's our knitting programme. We're working with schools in the area to invite grandparents in to teach kids how to knit. It's a great opportunity to bridge the generation gap and rekindle that interest in knitting you may have forgotten about. We also aim to inspire and support people without jobs through a series of free courses starting with creative writing workshops. These courses will give them an insight into the basic ingredients of a good short story and help participants get their ideas into shape. And for anyone out there who is looking for the chance to explore their creative side, come along to our printmaking workshops. You'll have the chance to study some fantastic prints by local artists, explore different print processes, and take home a print of your own to hang on a wall.

Presenter: Excellent. So how do we go about getting involved?

Ben: If anyone is interested in joining one of these sessions, it's important that you contact us first as places need to be booked beforehand. We ran similar sessions last year and demand was high. As I said previously, there's no charge for any of the workshops, and materials where appropriate will be provided on the day. You can get further information on our website and if you don't have access to the internet, call us on 514 2261. The booking office is open Monday to Friday from nine to five, but closes early on a Saturday at 12.30.

Presenter: Many thanks, Ben.

Judy: Hi Graham. How you doing?

Graham: Hi Judy. I'm fine, thanks. And thanks for popping round. I was hoping I could pick your brains about transferring to another course.

Judy: Yes, I remember you saying you wanted to do something else. Are you planning on staying here, or are you looking to go to a different university?

Graham: No, I'm happy to stay here. I just feel I need to do something else. How did you go about your transfer? You did History of Art originally, didn't you?

Judy: That was the course I initially wanted to transfer to. I'd studied Art at college and wanted to continue but my parents persuaded me that English would be more useful, so I took their advice. But I really didn't enjoy it and tried to transfer to History of Art but the course was full. Anyway, I spoke with the course tutors and they told me about the Fine Art programme. They thought I had the talent to do it, so that was that.

Graham: I see. How did your parents take the news?

Judy: They were OK about it, really. They just want me to do what I enjoy, so everything's fine there. So, you're hoping to transfer as well, then?

Graham: Yes, I think I've given the German course a good try but I'm not really happy. Most of the other students on the course seem to have at least one German parent or they've spent a great deal of time in Germany, so their German is much better than mine. We get huge novels to read and I'm still struggling with the first chapter while they're already finished and writing their assignments. I thought about doing a combined degree, German with another course, as the workload would be less but in the end I feel a complete change would be best. One of my other subjects at school was History and I realise now I'm actually more interested in that. One of my housemates is doing History and it sounds like a great degree, so I've decided to focus on that.

Judy: Well, people do transfer, so it's not out of the ordinary. But won't you miss the opportunity to study abroad for a year? You spend Year 3 in Germany, don't you?

Graham: I know. Not only Germany, actually. You have a choice of Germany, Switzerland or Austria. That would be exciting, I know, but that's really the only thing I like about the course and I can always do some travelling after I've finished my studies. I still don't know what I want to do as far as a career is concerned, so I think it's best I study something I enjoy, first and foremost. Anyway, I thought I'd ask you about how you went about your transfer before taking it any further.

Judy: Well, the first thing you have to do is make sure you're clear in your own mind why you want to transfer. You'll need to persuade people that it's a good idea, so get your arguments clear. Then ... I'm sure you've already done this, but check what the entry requirements are for History and whether you've got the necessary qualifications. They might be more flexible now you're actually here but you need to show them you'd be able to keep up with your studies.

Graham: Well I've got History qualifications, so I'm hoping that won't be a problem. Who do I have to speak to?

Judy: Well, they always tell you to speak with your course tutor first in case there's a way of making the course you're on more appealing to you. But it sounds like you've definitely decided to get out, so I'd go to the Careers Service next, just to make sure there aren't any restrictions on transferring. It shouldn't be a problem but it's best to check first. And then there's your funding. I'm no expert but I would imagine this won't be a problem; German's a four-year course and History is three, so you could just start from Year 1 next September. If the Careers Service think it's OK and there are no funding problems, go and speak to the Admissions Tutor in the History Department, just to see if they're happy with your qualifications - and if there are places.

Graham: OK. Well, I'm hoping it'll be OK. I'm planning to transfer at the beginning of next year rather than half-way through this year.

Judy: Yes, hopefully it'll be alright. If they accept you, it's pretty straightforward after that. It's not like you're going to another university. You just have to complete a form - I think it's called an internal transfer form. Your current Head of Department and the one for the course you're transferring to have to add their signature as well. And that's it.

Graham: Well, thanks for that, Judy. I'd better start making my case for transferring, I suppose.

Lecturer: Today we're going to look at a fascinating condition that challenges the idea that we all see and experience the world around us in a similar way. For example, what do you see when I mention a day of the week or a month? What colour is the letter A? Or the number 10? If you often find yourself having more than the normal sense sensations, you too could have a condition known as synaesthesia.

Synaesthesia is a harmless but fascinating condition which is often described by psychologists as the joining of the senses. We normally experience our senses individually, so we see a colour or hear a word, whereas people with synaesthesia will find two or more senses being stimulated at the same time by a single stimulus. Some people will see or feel a colour when they hear a sound. Others will experience a taste or smell when another sense is stimulated. This happens automatically - the sensation can't be managed.

People often go through life unaware that they have the condition. A common response from individuals who learn for the first time that they have synaesthesia is one of surprise to discover that other people don't experience the same thing. It's a normal part of life for them and they will rarely describe the symptoms negatively.

To estimate the numbers of people with synaesthesia, one group of researchers sat people in front of a computer and showed them letters and numbers in black. Participants were asked to choose a colour for each character they saw. A small proportion of participants, namely those with synaesthesia, consistently described the same characters as having the same colours. On the basis of the results, researchers were able to predict that synaesthesia affects about one per cent of the population. This number has been confirmed in other research.

Synaesthesia takes many different forms but the most common is to see or feel a colour in relation to letters and numbers. It's commonplace for people to identify A with red, B with blue, and so on. Some people will actually see a colour, but in most cases it's a question of feeling or sensing the colour. However, it's just as commonplace to see days, months, letters and numbers spatially, that is in lines or circles, for example. People might say they see Monday up high, Tuesday just below Monday, Wednesday on the left, Thursday on the right, and so on.

This doesn't mean that people with synaesthesia always agree on what they sense. Two synaesthetes will often argue over the colour of a letter, for example. But patterns emerge if a large enough sample of people are observed, providing clear evidence of this condition despite individual variations.

Colour and spatial synaesthesia are amongst the most common forms of the condition but they are by no means the only way people experience it. One of the more interesting combinations is word-taste synaesthesia. This occurs when words lead the person to experience tastes or certain taste sensations. So a person's name might have the flavour of a particular sweet, places might be associated with the taste of particular snacks. Taste needs to be seen in a wider context here. The sensation may be a feeling on the tip of the tongue or at the back of the throat and will differ from person to person.

Some researchers believe we are all born with the condition and that it's most prevalent in our early years but it then tends to become less noticeable as we enter childhood. It's a fascinating thought that as infants we experience the world around us through our senses in a different way than as adults. However, testing this hypothesis will be challenging, bearing in mind the difficulty of getting feedback from young infants!

Research also points to the fact that synaesthesia runs in families. In fact, as many as 40 per cent of synaesthetes, as they are called, know of someone in the family with a similar condition. This won't necessarily be a close family member and the condition may be traceable back to previous generations or to an extended family member such as a cousin or uncle.

There is evidence that synaesthetes are often creative and will often have artistic hobbies or interests. Researchers think this is not necessarily because synaesthesia makes them naturally more talented in this area but the fact that they have multiple sensory experiences generates an interest in, for example, art or music.

So that's synaesthesia. Apart from its intrinsic interest, for psychologists it's a fascinating indication that we may all experience the world around us in different ways. Once upon a time, these findings would have been regarded as highly subjective, lacking evidence and not of any scientific worth. However, we now have a much greater interest in how the brain helps us make sense of the world, and the study of synaesthesia is one way for us to discover more about this.