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Practice dictation & shadowing on the Cambridge IELTS 13 Academic Listening Part 3 Test 3.
Cambridge IELTS 13 Academic Listening Test 3 Part 3
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Total Correct Answers:
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Speaker 1 (1)
Okay, Jim. You wanted to see me about your textile design project.
Speaker 2 (2)
That's right. I've been looking at how a range of natural dyes can be used to colour fabrics like cotton and wool.
Speaker 1 (3)
Why did you choose that topic?
Speaker 2 (4)
Well, I got a lot of useful ideas from the museum, you know, at that exhibition of textiles.
Speaker 2 (5)
But I've always been interested in anything to do with colour.
Speaker 2 (6)
Years ago, I went to a carpet shop with my parents when we were on holiday in Turkey, and I remember all the amazing colours.
Speaker 1 (7)
They might not all have been natural dyes.
Speaker 2 (8)
Maybe not. But for the project, I decided to follow it up.
Speaker 2 (9)
And I found a great book about a botanic garden in California that specializes in plants used for dyes.
Speaker 1 (10)
Okay. So in your project, you had to include a practical investigation.
Speaker 2 (11)
Yeah. At first I couldn't decide on my variables.
Speaker 2 (12)
I was going to just look at one type of fibre, for example, like cotton.
Speaker 1 (13)
And see how different types of dyes affected it?
Speaker 2 (14)
Yes. Then I decided to include others as well.
Speaker 2 (15)
So I looked at cotton and wool and nylon.
Speaker 1 (16)
With just one type of dye?
Speaker 2 (17)
Various types, including some that weren't natural for comparison.
Speaker 1 (18)
Okay.
Speaker 2 (19)
So I did the experiments last week.
Speaker 2 (20)
I used some ready-made natural dyes.
Speaker 2 (21)
I found a website which supplied them.
Speaker 2 (22)
They came in just a few days, but I also made some of my own.
Speaker 1 (23)
That must have taken quite a bit of time.
Speaker 2 (24)
Yes. I thought it'd just be a matter of a teaspoon or so of dye, and actually that wasn't the case at all.
Speaker 2 (25)
Like, I was using one vegetable, beetroot, for a red dye, and I had to chop up a whole pile of it.
Speaker 2 (26)
So it all took longer than I'd expected.
Speaker 1 (27)
One possibility is to use food colourings.
Speaker 2 (28)
I did use one. That was a yellow dye, an artificial one.
Speaker 1 (29)
Tartrazine?
Speaker 2 (30)
Yeah. I used it on cotton first. It came out a great colour.
Speaker 2 (31)
But when I rinsed the material, the colour just washed away.
Speaker 2 (32)
I'd been going to try it out on nylon, but I abandoned that idea.
Speaker 1 (33)
Were you worried about health issues?
Speaker 2 (34)
I’d thought if it's a legal food colouring, it must be safe.
Speaker 1 (35)
Well, it can occasionally cause allergic reactions, I believe.
Speaker 1 (36)
So what natural dyes did you look at?
Speaker 2 (37)
Well, one was turmeric. The colour's great.
Speaker 2 (38)
It's a really strong yellow.
Speaker 2 (39)
It's generally used in dishes like curry.
Speaker 1 (40)
It's meant to be quite good for your health when eaten, but you might find it's not permanent when it's used as a dye. A few washes and it's gone.
Speaker 2 (41)
Right. I used beetroot as a dye for wool.
Speaker 2 (42)
When I chop up beetroot to eat, I always end up with bright red hands, but the wool ended up just a sort of watery cream shade. Disappointing.
Speaker 1 (43)
There's a natural dye called Tyrian purple. Have you heard of that?
Speaker 2 (44)
Yes. It comes from a shellfish, and it was worn in ancient times, but only by important people as it was so rare. I didn't use it.
Speaker 1 (45)
It fell out of use centuries ago, though one researcher managed to get hold of some recently.
Speaker 1 (46)
But that shade of purple can be produced by chemical dyes nowadays.
Speaker 1 (47)
Did you use any black dyes?
Speaker 2 (48)
Logwood. That was quite complicated.
Speaker 2 (49)
I had to prepare the fabric so the dye would take.
Speaker 1 (50)
I hope you were careful to wear gloves.
Speaker 2 (51)
Yes. I know the danger with that dye.
Speaker 1 (52)
Good. It can be extremely dangerous if it's ingested.
Speaker 1 (53)
Now presumably you had a look at an insect-based dye, like cochineal, for example?
Speaker 2 (54)
Yes. I didn't actually make that.
Speaker 2 (55)
I didn't have time to start crushing up insects to get the red colour, and anyway, they're not available here.
Speaker 2 (56)
But I managed to get the dye quite easily from a website, but it cost a fortune.
Speaker 2 (57)
I can see why it's generally just used in cooking and in small quantities.
Speaker 1 (58)
Yes. It's very effective, but that's precisely why it's not used as a dye.
Speaker 2 (59)
I also read about using metal oxide.
Speaker 2 (60)
Apparently, you can allow iron to rust while it's in contact with the fabric, and that colours it.
Speaker 1 (61)
Yes. That works well for dyeing cotton.
Speaker 1 (62)
But you have to be careful as the metal can actually affect the fabric, and so you can't expect to get a lot of wear out of fabrics treated in this way.
Speaker 1 (63)
And the colours are quite subtle, not everyone likes them.
Speaker 1 (64)
Anyway, it looks as if you've done...