Narrator: Test 4, section 1. You will hear a man called Tim and a woman called Laura discussing preparations for their holiday. First you have some time to look at questions 1 to 6. You will see that there is an example which has been done for you. On this occasion only, the conversation relating to this will be played first.
Laura: Our plane tickets arrived this morning. It reminded me how much there is to do before we go.
Tim: Let's write everything down, shall we, so we don't forget anything?
Laura: Yes. And last time we went away, we almost forgot to collect our currency from the bank. So let's start with that.
Narrator: Laura says that they should collect their currency. So currency has been written in the space. Now we shall begin. You should answer the questions as you listen, because you will not hear the recording a second time. Listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 6.
Laura: Our plane tickets arrived this morning. It reminded me how much there is to do before we go.
Tim: Let's write everything down, shall we, so we don't forget anything?
Laura: Yes. And last time we went away, we almost forgot to collect our currency from the bank. So let's start with that.
Tim: Good thinking. And wasn't there an appointment you said you'd got to cancel?
Laura: Yes, the hairdresser. Thanks for reminding me. Can you write that down too? The shop will be closed now, but I'll do it first thing on Monday.
Tim: Okay. Then starting on Tuesday, we've got to take the tablets we got from the pharmacy. We really mustn't forget to do that. We're not protected against malaria until we've been taking them for at least seven days.
Laura: No, so that's really important.
Tim: And what about shopping? There's still a few things we've got to buy the next time we're in town. We need some more sunblock, don't we? We've only got that factor 10 stuff. It won't be strong enough.
Laura: I've already bought that. But what we do still need to get is sunglasses. The ones I've got aren't good enough, and I don’t think yours are either.
Tim: Okay, I've noted that down. And I think I'm going to get another bag too, just a small one. We always seem to come back with more things than we take.
Laura: Should we get an extra lock for our suitcase as well? Just in case the one we've got breaks. They don't seem to last long.
Tim: Yes, they are a bit flimsy. Okay, right. Oh yes, and we need an adapter for our electrical things. Your hairdryer and my shaver. The plugs on them are bound to be the wrong type.
Laura: We could get one at the airport. They always have them there.
Tim: Well, I'd rather get it beforehand, so I'm writing it down. And then I think that's it, isn't it?
Laura: I think so, as far as shopping's concerned. But we also need to order a taxi to take us to the airport. We should do that well in advance. My sister left it too late and she had to take the train with that huge suitcase of hers.
Tim: I know, she really struggled with it.
Narrator: Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 7 to 10. Now listen and answer questions 7 to 10.
Tim: Now let's see. Your mother said she'd come in regularly while we're away. So what do we want her to do? I'll write some instructions and we can give them to her tomorrow.
Laura: Good idea. Well, the cat's the main thing.
Tim: Okay, feed the cat.
Laura: We ought to leave her the vet's details as well, just in case there's a problem.
Tim: Yes, have you got them handy?
Laura: Hang on, I'm just looking. Yes. His name's Colin Jeffrey.
Tim: Is that spelled with a G?
Laura: Actually, it's J-E-double F-R-E-Y. Quite an unusual spelling, isn't it?
Tim: Hmm. And his number?
Laura: 0-triple-7, 594, 128. It's a mobile.
Tim: Okay.
Laura: And you should write down where it is. It's Fore Street. Not sure what number, but it's next to the bus stop, isn't it?
Tim: That's not a very good landmark, but it's on the other side of the road to the church. So I'll tell her that. Let's hope she won't need a vet anyway.
Laura: Yes. Right, apart from that, there are the plants to water. Ask her to make sure they don't dry out.
Tim: Oh yes. And I've already mentioned the problem with the boiler and your mom said she'd come round to meet the heating engineer and let him in.
Laura: Yes, it's a lot for her to do, but we really need to get the problem sorted out. And the earliest date I could get an appointment was April the 30th.
Tim: Isn't it the day after we go?
Laura: Yes, we leave on the 29th, and she'll have to hang around till the job's finished.
Tim: Oh well, she won't mind, I'm sure. She likes helping people out.
Laura: Yes, she does. Okay, that's it then, I think. Unless you can think of anything else.
Tim: Not at the moment. Leave the list there and I'll add to it.
Narrator: That is the end of section 1. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Now turn to section 2.
Host: Today we are pleased to have on the show Fatima Johnson, who is the organizer of the Adborn Film Festival. Welcome, Fatima.
Fatima: Hello.
Host: Can you tell us a bit about the background to the festival and what it brings to the town?
Fatima: Well, the festival was started in 1996 by the then Mayor of Adborn, Joanne Smith. She wasn't a filmmaker herself. She'd actually been a very energetic tourism development officer for many years. But Adborn had run a classical music festival which had been becoming less and less popular in recent years. Joanne was looking around for something to replace it and to use funds allocated to it to promote something which local people can enjoy.
Host: Great. So tell us about the festival nowadays.
Fatima: Well, it's held in the last two weeks of August every year and short films from all over the world are shown in three places: in the theater and our two cinemas. Several films are shown in one performance and the whole thing lasts about 90 minutes. Tickets are very reasonably priced. Under 12s used to get in for 50p, but now we charge just one pound, which is still very good value. 1.50 for students and 2.50 for everyone else. Performances are advertised all around town and also on our website, www.adbornfest.com. If you're interested in attending any performance, you can buy tickets online, of course, and you can also get them in the library, which is right next to the main shopping area. I'm afraid this year tickets are no longer available from either of the two cinemas because of restricted opening times.
Host: I understand you also run a film competition?
Fatima: Yes, for under 18s. We have a different theme every year. Last year, for example, the theme was "Future Planet" and the winner was a 10-minute documentary encouraging youngsters to be more aware of environmental issues, focusing on getting school kids to cycle to school instead of going by car. This year the theme is "Sporting Nation", so there'll also be lots of ideas to choose from. Now, we're always on the lookout for new local talent, so if you live in the Adborn area and are under 18, you should have a go. We have an excellent prize every year donated by local businesses: shops, hotels, etc. This year you can win a high-spec movie camera worth over 800 pounds. Application forms are on the website and the deadline for sending in your film to enter the competition is the last day of July. It's May now, so you'll have the whole of June to be working on it.
Host: And what are the judges looking for?
Fatima: Well, although we choose very topical issues like the environment, we're not looking for propaganda—you know, trying to get people to do something. Instead, we're looking for a new angle, a fresh way of looking at a theme. And of course, because it's a short film festival, it's not really about a fully worked story with well-rounded characters. It's more about good photography, conveying things visually.
Host: And who judges the films?
Fatima: A panel of three people who know a lot about film. We've used the same judges for many years and we're very happy with their expertise. One thing we probably will change next year, though, is we want to add another class and another prize for older filmmakers. We'll keep it at a maximum of 10 minutes, though—the length works well for our festival. We also want to use different venues for the film shows, such as community centers and at least one school. It might make performances more accessible to a wider audience. We did explore the possibility of having late-night showings, but that's unlikely to happen in the coming year. So, as I say, if anyone's interested in submitting a film for our competition, go onto our website and you'll be able to access everything you need.
Narrator: Test 4, section 3. You will hear two undergraduate students doing a research methods course, a girl called Lila and a boy called Jake, having a seminar with their tutor. Now you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24. Now listen and answer questions 21 to 24.
Tutor: So, the task I gave you both was to choose an article about a small-scale research project.
Lila: Yes.
Tutor: You were then required to try to reproduce the research procedures in your own context, i.e., try it out for yourself.
Jake: Yeah, and that's what we've done.
Tutor: Great. So, I'd like you to tell me a bit about the article and why you chose it.
Lila: Well, the article's written by two university lecturers who had started using crosswords to help their students revise terminology, for example.
Jake: And the crosswords were designed and set on computers.
Lila: And we selected the article because, well, it seemed an accessible topic even though we weren't familiar with the technique—you know, using IT to design crosswords for higher education.
Tutor: That's a good reason. So, these lecturers wanted to see how well this innovation was received by their students.
Lila: Yes.
Tutor: So, how did you go about reproducing the research?
Lila: Well, we drew up a list of terms from one of our own modules and designed a crossword for revising these terms.
Jake: Then we asked our classmates to try out the crossword and give us feedback, you know, their opinions on how they felt about using the technique.
Tutor: Was it easy to find participants?
Jake: It wasn't easy at first, but then we convinced them that by taking part in the research, they were actually benefiting themselves by preparing for an exam which is coming up later this term.
Lila: And it worked. Good.
Tutor: So, how did you find out what the students thought about doing the crossword?
Jake: A questionnaire. The original article used a two-page long questionnaire. There were lots of excellent questions on it, but the whole section on difficulties using IT is now obsolete—old-fashioned even—even though it had only been written a couple of years ago.
Tutor: So, you designed a shorter version.
Lila: Yeah, then we sent it to the 40 students by email and got 28 replies. I was taken aback by the fact that everybody we talked to thought this was a good return. I mean, the responses were well written, you know, people had taken a lot of care, but I was really disappointed with the low numbers.
Tutor: Yes, an important lesson to learn for an apprentice researcher.
Jake: Yeah.
Narrator: Now you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30. Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30.
Tutor: So, what results did you get?
Jake: Well, basically, the responses were extremely positive. The students said that doing the crossword on a computer helped them really focus on the work in hand and not be distracted, which is something that commonly happens with other ways of doing revision.
Lila: Yeah, that was really clear. But something that struck me was that having fun hardly featured in their responses, nor did anything to do with spelling of hard words, which I thought would be an obvious benefit.
Tutor: No? Okay.
Jake: Respondents also said that doing the crossword hadn't really increased their general motivation to study, but that it had highlighted the gaps in their memory, so they knew what further work was necessary.
Tutor: Right. So, how did your findings tally with those of the original researchers?
Jake: There were lots of similarities, but...
Lila: There were probably two main differences. We found that more males than females liked the technique, whereas the original study found the reverse.
Jake: Also, our respondents said they wouldn't mind doing a crossword as a final official exam, whereas in the original study, students said they would hate doing it even if it meant having a shorter test.
Lila: But of course, both sets of respondents said they'd be interested in doing more crosswords for informal purposes—revision and so forth.
Tutor: Right. So, let's have a think about the whole project and what you've learned from doing it.
Jake: Well, it was very time-consuming.
Lila: Yeah, and I don't think we managed that aspect very well.
Jake: It could have been worse. I mean, we didn't have a lot of data, so we didn't have to spend ages processing it. And of course, we'd already done a course on numerical data processing, so there wasn't much new there.
Lila: Yeah, that's true. Anyway, I think we designed our questions well so that they gave us manageable data.
Jake: Yeah, it really helped having the original study to guide us, as it were. And that helped us to see what a good research instrument is, what a good questionnaire should be like.
Lila: Absolutely, we got a lot from that. But when we were writing up the project, I'm not sure whether we'll know how to acknowledge the work of the original study—you know, our referencing.
Jake: No, that's something we'll both have to work on in the future.
Lila: Actually, that part's been great—finding ways to share and support another person.
Jake: That's the real plus from the project—learning ways to do that.
Tutor: Well, it's obviously been very successful.
Narrator: That is the end of section 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Now turn to section 4.
Narrator: Test 4, section 4. You will hear a postgraduate psychology student talking to other students about a job satisfaction study he has investigated. First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Now listen and answer questions 31 to 40.
Student: Good morning, everyone. For my presentation today, I'm going to report on an assignment that I did recently. My brief was to analyze the methods used in a small study about job satisfaction and then to make recommendations for future studies of a similar kind.
The study that I looked at had investigated the relationship between differences in gender and differences in working hours and levels of job satisfaction amongst workers. For this purpose, employees at a call center had been asked to complete a questionnaire about their work. I'll summarize the findings of that study briefly now.
First of all, female full-time workers reported slightly higher levels of job satisfaction than male full-time workers. Secondly, female part-time workers reported slightly higher levels of satisfaction than female full-time ones did. On the other hand, male part-time workers experienced slightly less job satisfaction than male full-time workers.
But although these results seemed interesting and capable of being explained, perhaps the most important thing to mention here is that in statistical terms, they were inconclusive. Personally, I was surprised that the findings hadn't been more definite, because I would have expected to find that men and women, as well as full and part-time workers, would experience different levels of satisfaction.
So I then looked more carefully at the methodology employed by the researchers to see where there may have been problems. This is what I found. First of all, the size of the sample was probably too small. The overall total of workers who took part in the survey was 223, which sounds quite a lot, but they had to be divided up into subgroups. Also, the numbers in the different subgroups were unequal. For example, there were 154 workers in the full-time group but only 69 in the part-time group. And amongst this part-time group, only 10 were male compared to 59 who were female.
Secondly, although quite a large number of people had been asked to take part in the survey, the response was disappointingly low. A lot of them just ignored the invitation. And workers who did respond may have differed in important respects from those who didn't.
Thirdly, as the questionnaires had been posted to the call center for distribution, the researchers had had very limited control over the conditions in which participants completed them. For instance, their responses to questions may have been influenced by the views of their colleagues. All these problems may have biased the results.
In the last part of my assignment, I made recommendations for a similar study, attempting to remove the problems that I've just mentioned. Firstly, a much larger sample should be targeted and care should be taken to ensure that equal numbers of both genders and both full and part-time workers are surveyed.
Secondly, the researchers should ensure that they are present to administer the questionnaires to the workers themselves and should require the workers to complete the questionnaire under supervised conditions so that the possibility of influence from other colleagues is eliminated.
Finally, as workers may be unwilling to provide details of their job satisfaction when they are on work premises, it's important that the researchers reassure them that their responses will remain confidential and also that they have the right to withdraw from the study at any time if they want to. By taking measures like these, the reliability of the responses to the questionnaires is likely to be increased and any comparisons that are made are likely to be more valid.
So, that was a summary of my assignment. Does anyone have any questions?
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.