IELTS Practice Test Plus 3 General Training Listening Test 3

Narrator: Test 3, section 2. You will hear part of a podcast for visitors to the popular holiday region called the Trellor Valley. First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 14. Now listen and answer questions 11 to 14.

Speaker: The valley and estuary of the River Trellor forms an unspoilt beautiful landscape, rich in both wildlife and sites of historic interest. There are many ways to explore the area and public transport links are good. It is possible to leave your car behind and travel by boat, train, or bus, with just short walks in between stops.

Speaker: The Trellor Valley passenger ferry runs between villages along the river estuary and provides a link with a train station at Berry, which is about 10 minutes’ walk from the riverside village of Calton. In the past, the river was the main form of transport in the area, and as in the past, today’s ferry service operates according to nature.

Speaker: The river estuary is tidal, and so the ferry timetable differs from day to day, according to the times and height of the tide. The ferry is also seasonal, normally running between April and September, depending on the weather. A timetable for the whole year can be downloaded from the internet by visiting www.trellorferry.co.uk.

Speaker: If you just want to sit and relax and enjoy the lovely scenery, you can take a river cruise to Calton and back from the nearby city of Plymouth. In the past, steamships brought early tourists along the same route. Queen Victoria and her family enjoyed such a trip in 1856. The journey is quicker these days. The round trip takes between four and five hours, depending on tides and weather. If you prefer, you can travel up river by boat and return to Plymouth by train. All cruise boats and trains have wheelchair access. For more information and for departure times, ring Plymouth Boat Cruises on 01752 823104.

Speaker: Trains run several times a day throughout the year between Calton and Plymouth, with various stops in between. They’re used by both local commuters and tourists who want to enjoy the beautiful scenery. The highlight of the journey is crossing the river on the stunning viaduct, which was built at the beginning of the 20th century and towers 120 feet over the water. It is unnecessary to book and tickets can be bought on the train. For information about fares and timetables, contact National Rail Inquiries by phone or online.

Speaker: The bus service in the Trellor Valley now connects all train stations and villages in the area. Especially for holidaymakers, there’s a rover ticket, which can be used at weekends and on national holidays, and allows unlimited journeys on those days. The rover ticket provides great value for money and is now even cheaper than it was last year. An adult ticket costs 5.50 pounds a day. Senior citizens can travel for 4.50 pounds and a family ticket for up to five people costs just 12 pounds. Tickets can be bought on the bus.

Narrator: Now you have some time to look at questions 15 to 20. Now listen and answer questions 15 to 20.

Speaker: At the center of the Trellor Estuary area is the historic riverside village of Calton. The main road comes into the village from the south, and for those of you who are arriving by bus, it turns left just before the bridge and stops in the layby on the left-hand side.

Speaker: From there, it’s just a short walk to Calton’s various attractions. If you’re arriving by car, you have to leave it in the main car park. Go over the bridge and take the first turning on the right. Then go on until you come to the end of that road. It’s the only place to park in Calton, but there’s no charge.

Speaker: If you’re interested in local history, there’s a museum in Calton with farming, fishing, and household implements from the late 19th century. As you come in from the south, cross the river and go straight on the same road until you reach the end.

Speaker: Also on the subject of history, you can go and see the old mill, which has recently been renovated and put back into use. Turn left before you come to the bridge. Then go straight on and then take the first turning on the right. This leads straight there.

Speaker: If you’re interested in arts and crafts, there’s a pottery studio where you can watch the artist at work. After crossing the bridge, turn left and it’s the second building on the left. Finally, when you feel a need of refreshments, there’s a cafe opposite the old boathouse and a picnic area near the mill.

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

Narrator: Test 3, section 3. You will hear two geography students talking. An older student called Howard is giving advice to a younger student called Joanne on writing her dissertation. First you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24. Now listen and answer questions 21 to 24.

Joanne: Hi Howard, I haven’t seen you for a while.

Howard: Hi Joanne. Yeah, they’re keeping us really busy on the postgraduate program. But how are you? You’ll be starting your dissertation soon, won’t you?

Joanne: Yeah, tutorials start next week. I’ve got Dr. Peterson. You’ll remember it all from last year, of course.

Howard: It’s not something you forget easily. But seriously, although I didn’t expect to enjoy writing my dissertation, and in fact I didn’t really find it much fun, I wouldn’t have missed the experience. I found it really improved my understanding of the whole degree program, you know, from the first year on.

Joanne: Right. So what are you doing yours on?

Howard: Glaciated landscapes. Although I haven’t decided exactly what aspect yet.

Joanne: Hmm, I did mine on climate systems, so I can’t help you much, I’m afraid. But you’ll be fine once you start your tutorials. Dr. Peterson’ll help you focus.

Howard: I know, and he’ll set me deadlines for the different stages, which is what I need. My concern is that I’ve got tons of material on the topic and I won’t be able to stick to the word limit, you know?

Joanne: I remember I had different concerns when I was doing my dissertation last year.

Howard: Oh?

Joanne: Yeah. Before my first tutorial, I did a lot of fairly general reading, because I hadn’t fixed on my topic at that stage. I actually enjoyed that quite a lot and really improved my reading speed, you know, so I was getting through a lot of material. I was frightened I wouldn’t remember it all though, so I got into the habit of making very detailed notes.

Joanne: So did you find your tutor helpful in getting you started?

Howard: Yeah, we certainly had some interesting discussions, but it’s funny, I saw a brilliant program about climate change, and it was that that really fired me up. It was talking about some recent research which seemed to contradict some of the articles I’d been reading.

Narrator: Now you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30. Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30.

Howard: So you say your tutorials start next week?

Joanne: Yeah.

Howard: Well, the first month’s crucial. You’ve got to meet your tutor and decide on your focus, but don’t become too dependent on him. You know, don’t see him every week, only when you want to check something.

Joanne: Right.

Howard: Once you’ve got the focus, you’ve got to get reading. It’s helpful to look through the bibliographies for all the course modules relating to your topic, and get hold of any books you think you’ll need.

Joanne: I haven’t got much money.

Howard: I mean get the books from the library. Far better.

Joanne: And I suppose I should prepare a detailed outline of the chapters?

Howard: Yeah, absolutely. But don’t feel you have to follow it slavishly. It’s meant to be flexible.

Joanne: Okay. Now, I’m someone who likes to get writing quickly. I can’t just sit and read for a month.

Howard: Not like me then. But if that’s what suits you, you know, your natural approach, then you really ought to start immediately and write the first chapter.

Joanne: Right. Now, Joanne, about the library. It’s worthwhile getting on good terms with the staff. They aren’t always helpful with undergraduates.

Joanne: I suppose they focus on postgrads more.

Howard: Maybe. But show them you’re serious about wanting to do good work.

Joanne: And what if I can’t find what I need?

Howard: Well, there’s inter-library loans.

Joanne: Borrowing books from other libraries, but I’ve heard it isn’t all that reliable.

Howard: You’re right, but you probably won’t need it anyway. Be positive. The library is likely to have most things you need. And during the dissertation writing period, you can take out 15 instead of the usual 10 books.

Joanne: Should I look at previous years’ dissertations?

Howard: You can do…

Joanne: But I won’t know which are the good ones.

Howard: The library only keeps the best, and the staff can advise you.

Joanne: Are they willing to do that?

Howard: Oh, yeah.

Joanne: And I’m worried about getting journal articles from the electronic library. Have you tried to find any yet?

Joanne: No.

Howard: Well, you should. It’s really straightforward.

Joanne: That’s obviously something I’ll have to look into.

Howard: Dr. Peterson will help.

Joanne: Yeah, I know I can go to him if I have any worries.

Howard: Except he will be away in the second month. It’s the holidays. You should ask him what to do while he’s away.

Joanne: Gosh, yeah. But I suppose I can get a lot of support from coursemates. I know a couple of people who are thinking of doing the same topic as me.

Howard: Take care. Collaboration can become dependency. I think you’d better see how that works out, what the people are like.

Joanne: You’re probably right. About other reading, I suppose Dr. Peterson’ll recommend plenty of good articles to get me started.

Howard: One thing I’d find out is what his attitude is to internet sources.

Joanne: Surely not in this day and age? I’d better get that sorted out right at the beginning.

Howard: I would if I was you.

Joanne: And I’ve also got some questions about the research sections. How much time I should spend explaining the process.

Howard: Well, I think that’s up to you. You can see how it develops as you’re writing.

Joanne: Okay.

Howard: It’s the same with things like time management. That’s something a tutor can’t really help you with.

Joanne: I agree.

Howard: So is there anything else you need me to go over?

Narrator: That is the end of section 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

Narrator: Test 3, section 4. You will hear a psychology undergraduate describing the research she is currently doing on expertise in creative writing. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Now listen and answer questions 31 to 40.

Student: For my short presentation today, I’m going to summarize the work I’ve done so far on my research project to explore expertise in creative writing. Essentially, I’ll share with you the process I underwent to gather my interim findings.

Student: First of all, I should give a little relevant background information about myself. Before I started my current degree course in cognitive psychology, I studied English literature, and as you can imagine, this meant I spent a great deal of time thinking about the notion of creativity and what makes people develop into successful writers.

Student: However, the idea for this research project came from a very specific source. I became fascinated with the idea of what makes an expert creative writer when I read a well-known 20th-century writer’s autobiography. I won’t say which one at this stage, because I think that might prejudice your interpretation.

Student: Anyway, this got me thinking about the different routes to expertise. Specifically, I wondered why some people become experts at things whilst others fail to do so, in spite of the fact that they may be equally gifted and work equally hard. I started to read about how other researchers had explored similar questions in other fields.

Student: I began to see a pattern: that those studies which involved research in a lab were too controlled for my purposes, and I decided to avoid reading them. I was quite surprised to find that the clearest guidance for my topic came from investigations into what I call practical skills, such as hairdressing or waiting tables. Most of these studies tended to use a similar set of procedures, which I eventually adopted for my own project.

Student: I’ll now explain what these procedures were. I decided to compare what inexperienced writers do with what experienced writers do. In order to investigate this, I looked for four people whom I regarded as real novices in this field, which proved easy, perhaps unsurprisingly. It proved much harder to locate people with suitably extensive experience who were willing to take part in my study.

Student: I asked the first four to do a set writing task and as they wrote, to talk into a tape recorder, a technique known as "think aloud". This was in order to get experimental data. Whilst they were doing this, a research assistant recorded them using video. I thought it might be helpful for me in my transcriptions later on.

Student: I then asked four experienced writers to do exactly the same task. After this, I made a comparison between the two sets of data and this helped me to produce a framework for analysis. In particular, I identified five major stages which all creative writers seem to go through when generating this genre of text. I think it was fairly effective, but still needs some work, so I intend to tighten this up later for use with subsequent data sets.

Student: I then wanted to see whether experienced writers were actually producing the better pieces of writing. So I asked an editor, an expert in reviewing creative writing, to decide which were the best pieces of writing. This person put the eight pieces of work in order of quality, in rank order, and using his evaluations, I was then able to work out which sequence of the five stages seemed to lead to the best quality writing.

Student: Now my findings are by no means conclusive at this point, I still have a long way to go, but if any of you have any questions I’d be happy to answer them and go…

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.