Cambridge IELTS 01 Academic Listening Test 3 (Online Test)

Guide:

Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Maritime Museum.

Now before we commence our tour I’d just like to tell you a little bit about the history of the museum As you can see, it’s a very modern building built in the post modern style and it was in fact opened by the Prime Minister of Australia in November 1991. It’s been designed with a nautical flavour in mind to remind us of our links with the sea. But the museum isn’t only housed in this building, there are a number of historic ships docked outside in the harbour which form part of the museum and which you are also free to visit, and we’ll be coming to them shortly.

I’d just like to point out one or two things of general interest while we’re here. Handicapped toilets are located on this floor and the door shows a wheelchair. The cloakroom where you can hang your coat or leave your bags is just behind us here. The education centre is on the top floor and there’s a good little library in there which you might like to use. Follow the signs to the Education Centre — you’ll see a lot of little green arrows on the wall. The green arrows will take you there. The information desk, marked with the small letter i on your plan is located right here in the foyer, so if you get separated from your friends, I suggest you make your way back to the information desk because we’ll be returning to this spot at the end of the tour. All right?

Now if you look out this window you should be able to see where the museum's ships are docked. If you want to go on a tour of the old ship, the Vampire, she's docked over there and you should meet outside on the quay. However a word of warning! I don't recommend it for the grandmas and grandpas because there are lots of stairs to climb. Right, now, let's move on. Oh, I almost forgot to give you the times for that tour. Now, tours of the Vampire run on the hour every hour. All right?

Let’s take a walk round the museum now. The first room we’re coming to is the theatre. This room is used to screen videos of special interest and we also use it for lectures. There’s a continuous video showing today about the voyages of Captain Cook, so come back here later on if you want to learn more about Captain Cook.

Now, we’re moving along the gallery known as the Leisure Gallery. This is one of our permanent exhibitions and here we try to give you an idea of the many different ways in which Australians have enjoyed their time by the sea: surfing, swimming, lifesaving clubs, that’s all very much a part of Australian culture. At the end of this section we’ll come to the Picture Gallery where we’ve got a marvellous collection of paintings all by Australian artists. I think you can buy reproductions of some of these paintings in the museum shop. Well worth a good look.

Now we’re coming to the Members’ Lounge. As a member of the museum you would be entitled to use the members’ lounge for refreshments. Membership costs $50 a year or $70 for all the family. So it’s quite good value because entry to the museum is then free.

And down at the far end of this floor, you’ll find the section which we’ve called Passengers and the Sea. In this part of the museum we’ve gathered together a wonderful collection of souvenirs from the old days when people travelled by ship. You’ll find all sorts of things there: old suitcases, ships’ crockery, first class cabins decorated in the fashion of the day. Just imagine what it must have been like to travel first class.

Now I’m going to leave you to walk round the museum on your own for a while and we’ll all meet back again at the information desk in three quarters of an hour’s time. I hope you enjoy your time with us at the museum today. Thank you.

T = Tutor

M = Mark

S = Susan

T: OK, everybody, good morning! It’s Mark’s turn to talk to us today so Mark, I’ll ask you to get straight down to business.

M: Right!

T: Now following on from what we were discussing last week in Susan’s tutorial on approaches to marketing, you were going to give us a quick run down on a new strategy for pricing which is now being used by many large companies known as “revenue management” … before we go on to your actual tutorial paper on Sales Targets. Is that correct?

M: Yeah, OK, well …

T: So what exactly is revenue management?

M: Well, it’s a way of managing your pricing by treating things like airline tickets and hotel rooms rather more as if they were perishable goods.

S: Yeah, I just tried to book a ticket yesterday for Perth and would you believe there are three different prices for the flight?

M: Right! And what was the rationale for that?

S: Well … the travel agent said it depended on when you book and the length of the stay, like it’s cheap if you stay away for a Saturday night, presumably because this isn’t business travel and even cheaper if you buy a ticket where you can’t get a refund if you have to cancel; in that case the ticket costs about half the price. You wouldn’t think it would make that much difference, would you?

M: Well it does, and that’s basically because the airlines are now treating their seats like a commodity. You see — if you want a seat today, then you pay far more for it than if you want it in three weeks’ time.

S: That seems rather unfair.

M: Well … not really … when you think about it, that’s just common sense isn't it?

S: I suppose so.

T: What this actually means is that in the same row of seats on the same flight you could have three people who have all paid a different price for their tickets.

S: And is this just happening in Australia?

M: No, no it’s the same all over the world. Airlines are able to “market” a seat as a perishable product, with different values at different stages of its life.

S: Well like mangoes or apples at the market.

M: Yeah, it’s exactly like that. The fact is that the companies are not actually interested in selling you a cheap flight! They’re interested in selling the seats and flying aeroplanes that are full.

T: Mark why do you think revenue management has come about?

M: Well, as far as I can see there are two basic reasons: firstly because the law has been changed to allow the companies to do this. You see in the past they didn’t have the right to keep changing the prices of the tickets, and secondly we now have very powerful computer programs to do the calculations and so the prices can be changed at a moment’s notice.

S: So you mean ten minutes could be critical when you’re buying a plane ticket?

M: Absolutely!

T: That’s right!

M: And I understand we have almost reached the stage where these computer programs that the airlines are using will eventually be available to consumers to find the best deals for their travel plans from their home computer

S: Heavens! What a thought! So the travel agent could easily become a thing of the past if you could book your airline tickets from home. Are there any other industries using this system, or is it restricted to the airline business?

M: Many of the big hotel groups are doing it now. That’s why the price of a bed in a hotel can also vary so much … depending on when and where you book it

T: It’s all a bit of a gamble really.

M: Yes, and hire car companies are also using revenue management to set their tariffs, because they are also dealing with a “commodity” if you like … so the cost of hiring a car will depend on demand.

T: Well, thank you, Mark, for that overview … that was well researched. Now let’s get on with your main topic for today…

Marketing Consultant:

Good morning. Welcome to this talk on Space Management. And today I’m going to look particularly at space management in the supermarket.

Now since the time supermarkets began, marketing consultants, like us, have been gathering information about customers’ shopping habits.

To date, various research methods have been used to help promote the sales of supermarket products. There is, for example, the simple and direct questionnaire which provides information from customers about their views on displays and products and then helps retailers make decisions about what to put where.

Another method to help managers understand just how shoppers go around their stores are the hidden television cameras that film us as we shop and monitor our physical movement around the supermarket aisles: where do we start, what do we buy last, what attracts us, etc.

More sophisticated techniques now include video surveillance and such devices as the eye movement recorder. This is a device which shoppers volunteer to wear taped into a headband, and which traces their eye movements as they walk round the shop recording the most eye-catching areas of shelves and aisles.

But with today’s technology. Space Management is now a highly sophisticated method of manipulating the way we shop to ensure maximum profit. Supermarkets are able to invest millions of pounds in powerful computers which tell them what sells best and where.

Now, an example of this is Spaceman which is a computer program that helps the retailer to decide which particular product sells best in which part of the store. Now Spaceman works by receiving information from the electronic checkouts (where customers pay) on how well a product is selling in a particular position. Spaceman then suggests the most profitable combination of an article and its position in the store.

So, let’s have a look at what we know about supermarkets and the way people behave when they walk down the aisles and take the articles they think they need from the shelves.

Now here’s a diagram of one supermarket aisle and two rows of shelves. Here’s the entrance at the top left-hand corner.

Now products placed here, at the beginning of aisles, don’t sell well. In tests, secret fixed cameras have filmed shoppers’ movements around a store over a seven-day period. When the film is speeded up, it clearly shows that we walk straight past these areas on our way to the centre of an aisle. Items placed here just don’t attract people.

When we finally stop at the centre of an aisle, we pause and take stock, casting our eyes along the length of it. Now products displayed here sell well and do even better if they are placed at eye level so that the customer’s eyes hit upon them instantly. Products here are snapped up and manufacturers pay a lot for these shelf areas which are known in the trade as hotspots. Naturally everyone wants their products to be in a hotspot.

But the prime positions in the store are the ends of the aisles, otherwise known as Gondola ends. Now these stand out and grab our attention. For this reason new products are launched in these positions and manufacturers are charged widely varying prices for this privileged spot. Also, the end of an aisle may be used for promoting special offers which are frequently found waiting for us as we turn the corner of an aisle.

Well, now, eventually of course, we have to pay. Any spot where a supermarket can be sure we are going to stand still and concentrate for more than a few seconds is good for sales. That’s why the shelves at the checkout have long been a favourite for manufacturers of chocolates — perhaps the most sure-fire “impulse” food of all.