Cambridge IELTS 02 Academic Listening Test 1 (Online Test)

INTERVIEWER A dream came true in 1995, when over 96 days of the spring and summer, and expedition of four men undertook what they believe to have been the first and only complete end-to-end crossing of Morocco's Attora mountains. I talked to Charles Owen, the leader or the expedition group, about the trip. Charles, how much planning went on beforehand?

CHARLES Well, as you know, I run these walking trips across the mountains for tourists and over the years, I've collected maps and other data to prepare what I call a 'route book' for this trip and this book basically shows the route across the mountains that we took.

INTERVIEWER You actually broke records while you were out there, didn't you?

CHARLES Mmm. Yes, it was 900 miles in total and we managed to climb 32 peaks that were over 3000 metres high, including Toubkal, which is of course the highest in North Africa. We weren't actually out to make a name for ourselves—it just happened really.

INTERVIEWER What was the weather like?

CHARLES It got us right from day one and we were pretty taken aback really to find that it rained on quite a number of days, and so we were forced to start re-planning our route almost from the outset. One of the obvious problems is the heavy snow which blocks the mountain passes, so you have to make considerable detours. When we were on the way to Imilchil, for example, the snow forced us into a northern bypass which was new to us, but anyway, either way we would have been rewarded because we fell upon amazing, high meadows, huge gorges and wonderful snow-capped mountains. The scenery was as fine as any we saw on the trip and that was how it was every time—having to take another pass was never a disappointment.

INTERVIEWER It was in many ways a social trip, wasn't it?

CHARLES Yes, yes...we'd arranged to meet up with friends at various points on the journey. I mean this was actually one of the purposes of the trip...and we managed to keep all these dates, which is amazing really considering the detours we made. An old friend acted as a sort of transport organiser for everyone and the Hotel Ali in Marrakech was a good social base—I'd really recommend it, although I can't remember who runs it. Anyway, groups of friends actually joined us for three-week stints and others just linked up with us. Some, whom we hadn't met before the trip at all, tagged on for short bursts—people from the area—who just came along for the tide. But outside the major visitor areas like Toubkal we only met one other group of travellers like ourselves in the whole 96 days.

INTERVIEWER Were there any bad moments?

CHARLES We took two, I must say, long-suffering donkeys with us to help transport water and tents and things. I suppose if we were to do it all again we'd probably hire donkeys along the way. Taza and Tamri, as we called them after the last places in the trip, well, they made quite a unique journey between them, and...but it was continuously demanding for them. On both the really high summits, they took diversions that were quite out of character and I can only assume that it must have been due to tiredness.

INTERVIEWER Well, thank you...And Charles has put together a video about this journey and continues to lead groups to the Attora mountains, so if you want further information....

JANE Hi Tim! (Tim: Jane.) How are you? (Tim: Fine.) I'd been wondering when I'd run into you. Have you been here long?

TIM I arrived yesterday, on Sunday. How about you?

JANE I got here a few days ago, on Saturday. No—wait a minute, what's today? —Sorry Friday, not Saturday.

TIM But we didn't have to be here till today.

JANE Yes, I know, but I wanted to get my things moved into my room, and just take a look around. So, did you decide to do English in the end?

TIM No, I changed my mind and opted for history instead. And you're doing biology, if I remember correctly.

JANE Yes, although to start with I couldn't decide between that and geography.

TIM How much reading have you got? I was given an amazingly long list of books to read. See!

JANE Wow, it does look pretty long.

TIM Well, I counted 57. I could hardly believe it! What's your list like?

JANE Well, it's not as long as yours, but it's sitll pretty big. There are 43. I don't know how I'm going to get through them all.

TIM Well you don't have to read them all this week! You just have to stay ahead of the lectures and seminars. Have you got your class schedule yet?

JANE Yep. It came with the reading list. When's your first lecture?

TIM Tuesday. How about you?

JANE The day after. It's my busiest day; I've got two lectures in the morning and one in the afternoon.

JANE It's going to be different from school, isn't it!

TIM Yeah, particularly the lectures. Have you got any special strategy for listening to lectures?

JANE Well I'm going to use a cassette recorder and record them all.

TIM What! Are you allowed to?

JANE Sure. Lots of people do it nowadays. It means you can listen to the lectures all over again later, and make really good notes.

TIM I couldn't do that. I like to take notes as I'm listening. I usually find I get all the important points. Reading is different of course. My approach is to skim the book first to see what's important and what isn't. It saves hours of time.

JANE But what if you miss something?

TIM You don't mean you're going to read every word, do you?

JANE Well, that's what I usually do.

TIM Well, that's up to you, but I think you're crazy!

JANE What's your first lecture on, anyway?

TIM Oh, it's a lecture on the French Revolution.

JANE The French Revolution! How boring!

TIM It's not boring at all! It was an amazing period of history. It changed everything in Europe. So what's your first lecture about?

JANE It's about animal behaviour. It sounds really interesting.

TIM Look, I was on my way to the library. I'm going to get some of these books out and start reading for the first essay I've got to write.

JANE And what have you got to write about?

TIM Well, you'll never believe it, I think our professor must have a sense of humour. He's given us the title "Why study history?"

JANE That's a good one. When you find the answer, let me know!

TIM I'm going to enjoy writing it. Have you been given any writing assignments yet?

JANE Yes, I've got to write about animal language.

TIM Hmm! That sounds a challenge. I suppose you'll be off to the zoo to do field research.

LECTURER Welcome to further education Information Week. This is the Physical Education Faculty's session and I'm the Head of the Faculty. During the course of this morning we hope to give you a clear idea of what we offer in our training programs and we will look at the types of courses and the entry requirements, if any, for those courses. Some of these courses are open to school leavers, but for some you need previous qualifications, or relevant successful employment.

So firstly, the Physical Fitness Instructor's course is offered as a six-month certificate course which includes an important component of personal fitness but there are no specific entry requirements.

For Sports Administrators we provide a four-month certificate course but you should be aware that this is designed for those who are in employment. This employment must be current and related to sports administration.

For the Sports Psychologist course we offer a one-year diploma course, but this diploma course is available only to those who already hold a degree in psychology, so you need to make sure you have that before you apply to do this course.

Now...for Physical Education Teachers we offer a four-year degree in education. This degree course is designed for preparing students to teach in primary and secondary schools and needs no prior qualifications as it is entered directly by school leavers.

And lastly for the Recreation Officer's course we offer a six-month certificate. Entry to this course normally includes applicants of a wide range of ages and experiences, but we do not insist on any prerequisites for this course.

Remember that this is a vocational training institute. We train you so that you can take up a particular kind of job. So it is important that you know the main roles of the jobs—what the work is like and what kind of qualities you need to succeed at them.

A Physical Fitness Instructor works in health and fitness centres preparing individual programs for ordinary members of the public. Physical Fitness Instructors prepare routines of exercises to suit the individual client's age and level of fitness.

Sports Administrators run clubs and sporting associations. Their duties include such things as booking playing fields with local councils and organising the schedule of games or events for the club, so they need good organisational skills.

Sports Psychologists spend time with professional athletes helping them approach competition with a positive mental attitude to enable them to achieve their personal best. They do this by improving motivation and concentration or assisting with stress management.

Physical Education or PE Teachers instruct young students in how to exercise, play sport, and do other recreational activities correctly and safely. PE teachers help the development of co-ordination, balance, posture, and flexibility with things like simple catching and throwing skills. They are not expected to be experts in all sports, but must be able to show students the basic techniques involved in a wide range of activities.

Recreation Officers often find themselves working for local government authorities and local groups. Their aim is to raise people's awareness of healthy lifestyles and improved general fitness through arranging recreational activities for groups of all ages from the very young to the elderly.

There are many other job opportunities which our graduates can look forward to. If you are interested in any of these...