Collins Practice Tests For IELTS 1 General Training Listening Test 4 (Online Test)

Presenter: Welcome to our monthly podcast for overseas students planning to study in the UK. This month we're looking at how to make your money last longer whilst studying here. And to help us find some bargains I have Jenny Lubeck from the student union. Jenny, students are renowned for being hard up but there are lots of savings to be made, aren't there?

Jenny: Well, as soon as students start their course at university or college they'll be able to buy their NUS extra card. This will enable them to get a wide range of discounts on essentials like books, clothes and eating out. The card only costs about £12 for one year and for about the same amount you can include an ISIC card. The ISIC is an internationally recognised discount card for full-time students. Discount offerings vary and usually include things like travel, guidebooks, music, eating out – that kind of thing. Students are told all about this when they start their studies but if your listeners want to find out more about these cards before they arrive I've put some details of websites on the podcast page.

Presenter: Now travel costs can mount up for students, can't they? I know the ISIC card is useful here but are there any other things students should be aware of?

Jenny: Understandably lots of overseas students like to take the opportunity to travel around the country whilst they're in the UK and for this reason I'd strongly recommend they invest in a Young Person's railcard. To be eligible you need to be between 16 and 25 ... mature students over the age of 25 can also apply so long as they're in full-time education. You can buy a one-year or three-year card, and it gives you a third off rail journeys across the UK. The card also gives you access to competitions and things like theatre discounts and holiday offers. At the moment, a one-year card costs £28, and it's £65 for a three-year card.

Presenter: And what about buses?

Jenny: Erm, well, as well as the railcard, it's also more than likely the local bus operators will offer discounted bus travel with their own travel cards. These aren't aimed specifically at students but can still save you a lot of money if you use the buses regularly. You can usually get these cards for a week, a month, a term or a whole year with bigger savings the longer the period. Another advantage of these cards is that as well as making it cheaper to commute to and from university you'll also find them very handy free transport whenever you need to do some shopping or visit friends in your area.

Presenter: Are there any cultural things that students coming to the UK might not be aware of that can save them money?

Jenny: Some overseas students are surprised by the amount of recycling that goes on in the UK and how much money can be saved in the process. They'll be a roaring trade in used coursebooks in the student union on campus. Lots of students who were on the same course as you the year before will be selling their books at the end of their course – they'll be a lot cheaper than buying them new. Off campus you'll find lots of charity shops in your local town centre with a good selection of novels and you'll often get some really nice clothes, CDs and DVDs that people have donated and all at very cheap prices. Of course, shopping in this way means you're contributing to a worthwhile cause as well. And check your local paper frequently for car boot sales. Car boot sales are a very British style of market where private individuals come together to sell home and garden goods. In fact they're a great way of recycling some of your own unwanted stuff and can help you make some money in the process. Finally there are websites and mailing lists where local people offer up items they no longer want, for free – as long as you agree to collect them ...

Tutor: Hi everyone. I know you have lots of questions about the college intranet – my inbox is full of messages! I thought it would be quicker and more useful to come in and talk to you rather than respond to all the messages. I'm happy to answer or try and answer any questions you have – about how to use it, when we'll be making things available online ... I'm the ICT champion for the department so hopefully I'll be able to help. Yes Mark – fire away.

Mark: Can you tell us when the assignments are going to be put online?

Tutor: If you're talking about your second assignment, that should be on already. I uploaded it last Monday .... Wait a minute – let me check the schedule ... Here we are ... No, tell a lie – it was the following day, the 14th, Tuesday 14th October. Have you logged into the intranet yet?

Mark: No. If the assignment's there I'll download it after we've finished. Are you putting all the assignments up?

Tutor: Yes. I've been waiting for your subject tutors to email them to me. As soon as I have them all I'll put them online. There's a deadline of 24th November ... all course assignments need to be online by then. That's college policy for all staff so they'll be there then for sure.

Mark: Will there be anything else? Timetables, trip information ... that kind of thing? Only there wasn't much online for our course last term.

Tutor: I know. But we're making more of an effort this time. We'll be releasing your marks for the first assignment soon – that'll be 17th November. You'll find them in your 'My Grades' area. Again, the timetables are already there, Mark. You need to log in! I made these available at the beginning of term in September. According to the schedule here, the booking forms for those who want to go on the Belgium trip will be available next week on 29th October, so don't forget to check then. You need to get these back to us quickly if you want to go ... the trip's coming up soon, isn't it? Let's see ... yes 19th November. Now, remember there are lots of learning materials on the intranet as well ... quizzes, weblinks ...

Claire: Sir, wouldn't it be easier if we were just given the documents ... so we don't have to go online to get them?

Tutor: I know it seems a little frustrating Claire but we're doing it this way for a good reason. We're trying to cut down drastically on the amount of paper we get through. I'm afraid that students are always losing documents we give out in class so we've decided to stop doing this. You have a limited printing allowance, which means you'll probably be more careful with any documents you have to print off. Besides, it means you'll always know where the information is when you need it. If you're at home and you forget an important date or need a document urgently you can always log in to the intranet and get it.

Claire: You said something about quizzes sir ...

Tutor: Yes, we've had permission from the exam board to put some of their past papers online in an interactive form. That means you'll be able to get answers immediately with some feedback ... They'll make a nice change from using the paper copies. Most of them are already online and I'll be putting the rest on over the next couple of weeks. As I said, these are authentic past papers so you'll get a really clear idea of your progress. Just to let you know, the technology tracks your scores so your tutors will be able to tell who's having problems and what areas of the syllabus you might need help with, so it's definitely worth spending some time doing them.

Good afternoon. Today we're continuing our investigation into obesity. We've looked at several factors causing obesity including lack of exercise and a general sedentary lifestyle and the role the media plays in promoting the consumption of high-calorific food. In the coming weeks we'll go on to examine serious eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

The decline in formal eating times within the family and the subsequent increase in the degree of 'snacking' that takes place have had a significant effect on obesity. Today we're going to turn our attention to an example of this, what has been termed 'emotional hunger' or 'emotional eating', as opposed to the consumption of food to satisfy a physical need. Studies have uncovered how our emotional state can lead to us eating more than we physically need. It was originally believed that negative emotions brought on through depression or anxiety were the main cause of this. But it is now acknowledged that positive emotions can have a similar effect on our eating habits.

Not everyone is susceptible to emotional eating, and even those who do suffer have highly individual symptoms. However, there are common themes. It seems that people who are already overweight are more susceptible to emotional eating when suffering negative emotions than those who are underweight. Equally, excessive eating of this kind can happen during or after happy events, when larger meals than normal tend to be eaten.

So what are the signs that someone is eating to satisfy an emotional stimulus? Well, there are several differences between emotional and physical hunger.

Those experiencing emotional hunger will feel the urge to eat all of a sudden. This compares to the gradual sensation of hunger that occurs with a physical stimulus.

Interestingly, and I'm sure many of you will recognise this, when you're eating to satisfy an emotional need for food, the craving will often be for a specific item like a pizza or something sweet like ice cream. In this kind of situation, nothing else will really satisfy the craving. When the urge to eat is driven by a physical need, you're far less bothered about what you eat.

Emotional hunger makes the individual feel the craving must be satisfied immediately by whatever the specific kind of food is. I'm sure we've all experienced that feeling: 'I must have some chocolate ... now!' In contrast, the need to satisfy sensations of physical hunger seems less urgent.

Emotional eaters will carry on eating even when they're full. A person eating to satisfy a physical hunger will be more likely to stop.

Finally and probably not surprisingly, feelings of guilt often follow emotional eating but not when eating normally.

This has serious consequences for those working with patients suffering with obesity. One way to deal with this is to educate sufferers into understanding the different symptoms of physical and emotional hunger and to try to help them identify the pressure points during a typical day when daily stresses occur. Being conscious of one's eating habits is the first step in dealing with the problem.