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Practice dictation & shadowing on the Cambridge IELTS 14 Academic Listening Part 3 Test 4.
Cambridge IELTS 14 Academic Listening Test 4 Part 3
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Speaker 1 (1)
Hello, Trevor.
Speaker 2 (2)
Hello, Stephanie. You said you wanted to talk about the course I'm taking on literature for children.
Speaker 1 (3)
That's right. I'm thinking of doing it next year, but I'd like to find out more about it first.
Speaker 2 (4)
Okay. Well, as you probably know, it's a one-year course.
Speaker 2 (5)
It's divided into 6 modules, and you have to take all of them.
Speaker 2 (6)
One of the most interesting ones, for me at least, was about the purpose of children's literature.
Speaker 1 (7)
You mean whether it should just entertain children or should be educational as well?
Speaker 2 (8)
Right. And whether the teaching should be factual, giving them information about the world, or ethical, teaching them values.
Speaker 2 (9)
What's fascinating is that the writer isn't necessarily conscious of the message they're conveying.
Speaker 2 (10)
For instance, a story might show a child who has a problem as a result of not doing what an adult has told them to do, implying that children should always obey adults.
Speaker 1 (11)
Oh, I see what you mean.
Speaker 2 (12)
That module made me realize how important stories are.
Speaker 2 (13)
They can have a significant effect on children as they grow up.
Speaker 2 (14)
Actually, it inspired me to have a go at it myself, just for my own interest.
Speaker 2 (15)
I know I can't compete with the really popular stories, like the Harry Potter books. They're very good.
Speaker 2 (16)
And even young kids, like my 7-year-old niece, love reading them.
Speaker 1 (17)
I'm very interested in illustrations in stories. Is that covered in the course?
Speaker 2 (18)
Yes. There's a module on pictures and how they're sometimes central to the story.
Speaker 1 (19)
That's good. I remember some frightening ones I saw as a child, and I can still see them vividly in my mind years later.
Speaker 1 (20)
Pictures can be so powerful, just as powerful as words.
Speaker 1 (21)
I've always enjoyed drawing, so that's the field I want to go into when I finish the course.
Speaker 1 (22)
I bet that module will be really helpful.
Speaker 2 (23)
I'm sure it will. We also studied comics in that module, but I'm not convinced of their value, not compared with books.
Speaker 2 (24)
One of the great things about words is that you use your imagination, but with a comic, you don't have to.
Speaker 1 (25)
But children are so used to visual input on TV, video games and so on.
Speaker 1 (26)
There are plenty of kids who wouldn't even try to read a book, so I think comics can serve a really useful purpose.
Speaker 2 (27)
You mean it's better to read a comic than not to read at all?
Speaker 2 (28)
Yes. I suppose you're right. I just think it's sad when children don't read books.
Speaker 1 (29)
What about books for girls and books for boys? Does the course go into that?
Speaker 2 (30)
Yes. There's a module on it.
Speaker 2 (31)
For years, lots of stories, in English at least, assumed that boys went out and did adventurous things, and girls stayed at home and played with dolls.
Speaker 2 (32)
I was amazed how many books were targeted at just one sex or the other.
Speaker 2 (33)
Of course, this reflects society as it is when the books are written.
Speaker 1 (34)
That's true. So it sounds as though you think it's a good course?
Speaker 2 (35)
Definitely.
Speaker 2 (36)
Have you been reading lots of children's stories to help you decide whether to take the course?
Speaker 1 (37)
Yeah. I've gone as far back as the late 17th century, though I know there were earlier children's stories.
Speaker 2 (38)
So does that mean you’ve read Perrault's fairy tales? Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, and so on.
Speaker 1 (39)
Yes. They must be important because no stories of that type had been written before. These were the first.
Speaker 1 (40)
Then there's 'The Swiss Family Robinson'.
Speaker 2 (41)
I haven't read that.
Speaker 1 (42)
The English name makes it sound as though Robinson is the family surname.
Speaker 1 (43)
But a more accurate translation would be the Swiss Robinsons because it's about a Swiss family who are shipwrecked, like Robinson Crusoe in the novel of a century earlier.
Speaker 2 (44)
Well, I never knew that.
Speaker 1 (45)
Have you read Hoffman's 'The Nutcracker in the Mouse King'?
Speaker 2 (46)
Wasn't that the basis for Tchaikovsky's ballet, The Nutcracker?
Speaker 1 (47)
That's right. It has some quite, uh, bizarre elements.
Speaker 2 (48)
I hope you've read Oscar Wilde's 'The Happy Prince.'
Speaker 2 (49)
It's probably my favorite children's story of all time.
Speaker 1 (50)
Oh, mine too. And it's so surprising because Wilde is best known for his plays, and most of them are very witty, but 'The Happy Prince' is really moving.
Speaker 1 (51)
I struggled with Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings,' 3 long books, and I gave up after one.
Speaker 2 (52)
It's extremely popular, though.
Speaker 1 (53)
Yeah. But whereas something like 'The Happy Prince' just carried me along with it, 'The Lord of the Rings' took more effort than I was prepared to give it.
Speaker 2 (54)
I didn't find that. I love it.
Speaker 1 (55)
Another one I've read is 'War Horse.'
Speaker 2 (56)
Oh, yes. It's about the First World War, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (57)
Hardly what you'd expect for a children's story.
Speaker 1 (58)
Exactly. But it's been very successful.
Speaker 1 (59)
Have you...