IELTS Practice Test Plus 3 Academic Listening Test 7

Narrator: Test 7, Section 2. You will hear a podcast on Cambus Theme Park. Now you have some time to look at questions 11 to 16. Now listen and answer questions 11 to 16.

Presenter: Welcome to Cambus Park podcast. In the next few minutes, I’ll tell you a little about the park and the amazing things we have to offer. We like to think that Cambus offers more than other theme parks. Like them, we have a variety of exciting rides for people of all ages, but Cambus also places strong emphasis on the educational experience for its visitors—not boring facts, but lots of interactive exhibits. Although it’s mainly an outdoor experience, we do have some indoor activities if the weather gets too dreadful.

The park’s got a lovely well-established feel, set in 80 acres of beautiful countryside, about three miles south of the tourist resort of Dalchester. The park was set up in 1997 by the Cambus family, but then taken over by new owners in 2004, who have maintained the original vision of the Cambuses. It has lots of old trees, hundreds of flower beds, and a gorgeous lake.

Cambus has over 45 different rides, exhibits, and arcades. All but one of these is free once you’ve paid your entrance fee. We charge a small fee for our newest ride to reduce the length of the queues. You don’t pay anything for parking. A family ticket, for a family of four, works out at about eight pounds per person, which is amazing value. Full details of current prices are shown on our website, along with full details of rides, etc., and directions for getting to us.

We also have a number of special offers. For example, if you live locally, why not join our Adventurers Club, which entitles you to 50% off ticket prices all year round, and a special lane for all rides and exhibits, which means you don’t have to wait to get into any part of the park. See the offers tab on the website.

We’ve recently added a number of new exhibits to the park, and we’re particularly proud of our Future Farm zone, which houses over 20 different species of animals, from chipmunks to dairy cows. The emphasis is on getting near to the animals. All of them can be petted, and you can buy food for feeding the animals. Many of our younger visitors say that this is the high point of their visit.

And speaking of food, don’t let the animals have all the fun. We have a total of seven different catering outlets on the site. We’re open 10:00 to 5:30 all year round, and cold drinks and snacks can be bought at any time during opening hours. And hot food is available most of the day in the Hungry Horse Cafe from 11:00 until 5:00, just half an hour before closing time.

Narrator: Now you have some time to look at questions 17 to 20. Now listen and answer questions 17 to 20.

Presenter: Now, we want all our visitors to have an exciting time when they come to the park, but our first priority must be safety. Parents and guardians know their children’s behavior and capabilities, but here at the park, we have set certain conditions for each of the rides to ensure that all visitors get the maximum enjoyment out of the experience and feel secure at all times.

There are four major rides at the park. Our newest ride is the River Adventure, which is designed to reproduce the experience of white-water rafting. No amount of protective clothing would make any difference, so only go on this ride if you’re prepared to get wet. Children under eight can go on this ride, but all under 16s must have an adult with them.

Not all of our rides are designed for thrills and spills. Our Jungle Jim Roller Coaster is a gentler version of the classic loop-the-loop, specially created for whole family enjoyment, from the smallest children to elderly grandparents. Suitable for all levels of disability and health conditions. Carriages have comfortable seating for up to eight people with safety belts for each passenger, which must be worn at all times. Sit back and enjoy the scenery.

One of the best established and most popular of Cambus’s rides is the Massive Swoop Slide. Whiz down the polished vertical slide, nine meters in height, and scream to your heart’s content! There are no age or height restrictions. Be careful, though; you must have on long trousers so you won’t get any speed burns.

And then there’s the famous Zip Go-kart Stadium, with 16 karts: eight for single drivers and eight for kids preferring to ride along with Mom, Dad, or carer. Take part in high-speed races in our specially designed Formula 1-style karts, but no bumping other karts, please. All riders must be above 1.2 meters because they have to be able to reach the pedals, even in the shared karts. Full details of all safety features are available on our website at www.cambuspark.com. So come and make a day of it at Cambus Theme Park!

Narrator: That is the end of section 2. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

Helen: So, Brad, what did you think of the article on group work?

Brad: Oh, hi Helen. Yeah, it was pretty good, with helpful pieces of advice on how to make group work effective.

Helen: I think we were lucky to be given such a straightforward text to present at the management skills seminar.

Brad: Yeah, actually shall we discuss it now? Have you got time?

Helen: Sure. It’s only a 10-minute presentation, so we just need to explain and then give our views on the main points raised in the article.

Brad: I’ll jot down some notes. Right. So, there are three main sections. I suggest we start with listening.

Helen: Yeah, effective listening in groups, because it’s not something that’s frequently covered on courses in our field.

Brad: No, and we should say that in the presentation.

Helen: Yeah, and also effective listening’s pretty simple, you know. I don’t think it’s hard to learn.

Brad: Well, people think it’s easy, but in my experience, most of us tend to be very lazy listeners.

Helen: Okay, I wouldn’t argue with that. Something I do think we should emphasize is the power of the listener’s posture, gestures, etc. in making speakers feel respected.

Brad: Not that you’re just waiting for them to finish before jumping in with your own ideas.

Helen: Uh-huh. Okay, right. The next section is on goal setting. Let’s make sure we’re clear what the article says on this.

Brad: Yeah. Well, firstly, it says that all group members must be given time to explain their own goals.

Helen: That’s it, yeah. And then did it say that the whole group should agree on common goals?

Brad: That’s a bit too strong. It’s more that everyone’s agendas should be equally acceptable. But it does say that goals have to be realistic, you know.

Helen: Achievable within a particular time?

Brad: You’ve got it. That’s really what the article’s saying. There isn’t really any point in having ideals if group members know they won’t come to anything within a reasonable period. So, I think a summary covering those points will be enough for that part of the presentation, don’t you?

Helen: Yep. Now, the last section is about conflict resolution.

Brad: Actually, I thought it was the worst part of the article.

Helen: Me too. I don’t think it went into sufficient detail on the issue.

Brad: Actually, I thought it devoted too much space to it, but that it was all rather boring, you know. It didn’t mention some of the more radical theories.

Helen: Absolutely. I found that really irritating.

Brad: Right. And also I think it could have said more about conflict sometimes being healthy in groups.

Helen: Absolutely. It just mentioned rather glibly about how we should avoid thinking of winners and losers, and that quick resolution of conflict is always desirable.

Brad: Without explaining what these terms mean?

Helen: Well, it gives quite detailed definitions, but doesn't develop a proper argument.

Brad: Right. So for the presentation, I think we just give some definitions and...

Helen: And then explain what we felt were the weaknesses in the article's treatment of conflict resolution.

Brad: Yeah, good. So, let’s think about what we have to prepare for the actual presentation.

Helen: Well, I suppose we’ll use PowerPoint, but I’m hopeless at using it, especially if it has any visuals. I really have to look into doing a course on it because I know I’ll need it in the future.

Brad: Don’t worry. I’m quite happy using PowerPoint and I’ll put it together when everything else is ready.

Helen: That’s a relief. But yes, do that later.

Brad: Okay. Now, I heard the tutor saying we have to include some well-chosen quotations from the article.

Helen: I’m not sure if we do. I’ll email him to find out.

Brad: No need. I can just have a look at the specs he gave us when he set the task.

Helen: That’ll be quicker.

Brad: But the tutor definitely said we have to prepare a handout to go with the talk. I’m not really sure how we do that.

Helen: Sarah did one last year.

Brad: Who’s she?

Helen: She’s doing the same option as me in marketing. I’ll ask her advice on what to include.

Brad: Great. So that just leaves the bibliography at the end. I suppose it’ll mainly be articles.

Helen: Yeah, so we’ll just look on the web, and we can leave that to later.

Brad: But we’ve been advised against that.

Helen: Well, we could have a look through some journals in the library.

Brad: I think we should start by looking through module handbooks. I think that’ll give us some good leads.

Helen: Yeah, you’re probably right. So that’s all the topics covered.

Narrator: Test 7, Section 4. You will hear a lecturer talking to a group of engineering students about the design of a greenhouse. Before you listen, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Now listen and answer questions 31 to 40.

Lecturer: Good afternoon. This is the first of a series of lectures I’ll be giving about engineering for sustainable development. I’ll be presenting examples of engineering projects from a variety of contexts, and today I’m going to talk about a project to design a new kind of greenhouse for use in the Himalayan mountain regions.

First of all, I’ll tell you about the problem which was the context for this project. In the Himalayan mountains, fresh vegetables and other crops can only be grown outside for about 90 days during the summer, because the altitude of the region is around 3,500 meters and because the rainfall is so low. In winter, temperatures fall below -25°C, so fresh vegetables have to be imported. They arrive by truck in summer or by air in winter, which makes them expensive. Local people rely on dried leafy vegetables and stored root crops during the winter and rarely eat fresh vegetables.

But despite the sub-zero temperatures, the skies over the region are cloudless, and there are over 300 sunny days per year. So, an engineering solution was needed to exploit the sun’s energy and protect locally produced plants from freezing during winter. And in fact, there had been programs in the past to provide greenhouses, but these were unsuccessful. The greenhouses weren’t adapted for local conditions, so they tended to fall into disuse. So, a few years ago, a project was initiated to design a better greenhouse, one which would meet the criteria for sustainability.

So, what are the criteria for sustainability? Well, first of all, the new greenhouse is designed to be relatively simple, so construction is cheap. Locally available materials are used wherever possible. The walls are generally constructed of mud bricks made locally, although in areas of high snowfall, more resilient walls of stone are needed. Rammed earth is also used.

The main roof is generally made from locally available poplar wood, with water-resistant local grass for the covering. In addition, the construction and maintenance of the greenhouse is done by local craftsmen. So local stonemasons are employed to build the greenhouse walls, and specialized training is provided for them wherever necessary.

Then, the greenhouse is designed to run on solar power alone. There’s no supplementary heating. And lastly, families are selected to own one of the new greenhouses with great care. They have to have a site which is suitable for constructing it on. They also have to be keen to make a success of using it, and also to share the produce with the wider community through sale or barter. Potential owners are taken to see existing greenhouses before they make a final decision about having one.

So, those are the features which make the project sustainable. And now, I’ll briefly describe the design of the greenhouse. The greenhouses are oriented very carefully along an east-west axis, so that there’s a long south-facing side. The transparent cover on the south-facing side is made from a heavy-duty polythene, which should last for at least five years.

On the inside of the greenhouse, the walls are painted. The rear and west-facing walls are black to improve heat absorption, but the east-facing wall is white to reflect the morning sunlight onto the crops inside. Finally, there’s a door in the wall at one end, and vents are incorporated into the roof, the door, and the wall at the other end, to enable control of humidity and prevent overheating.

I’ll turn now to the benefits which have resulted from the introduction of these new greenhouses. These benefits are of various kinds, but for now, I’ll just mention the social benefits. First of all, people who own a greenhouse gain social standing in their communities because they provide vegetables for the wider community for regular consumption as well as for festivals, and they also earn income.

Secondly, because in rural areas it is women who usually grow the food, the greenhouses have increased their opportunities. They bring the benefits of improved nutrition and increased family income from the sale of surplus produce. And thirdly, as a result of their improved financial position, some families can now afford to educate their children for the first time.

Narrator: That is the end of section 4. You now have half a minute to check your answers. That is the end of the listening test. You now have 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the separate answer sheet.