IELTS Simulation Tests Academic Listening Test 01 (Online Test)

I'd like to welcome you all to our Active Outdoor Club. I'll start by telling you a little bit about the history of the club and all that it can offer and there will be a chance for you to ask questions over tea and coffee in the lobby afterwards. You'll also be able to pick up pamphlets from the table at the back of the hall and, if you wish to purchase any of our products, Bill will serve you at the front counter.

As most of you probably know, the club was founded by Nick Noble about 30 years ago. He thought of placing an advertisement in the local newspaper or erecting a billboard somewhere but it was the radio that he decided on to reach the most people—you know, other people who might be interested in outdoor pursuits, just basic activities like walking or tramping—anything active that could take place in some of the beautiful outdoor settings that this country has to offer.

Nick was overwhelmed by the response he got and the club soon grew from a dozen or so friends and enthusiasts to around 200 members 20 years ago, and steadily since then to reach a membership of over 2,500 now. You don't have to be a hardened athlete or extreme adventurer—on the contrary, it's a group that encourages friendship and fellowship through social and recreational activities. The club tries to cater for all levels of maturity and both genders—in fact, anyone who has the physical ability and a moderate level of health and fitness to participate in open-air activity on a regular basis. I think our youngest member is a 5-year-old boy and our oldest member is a 75-year-old man. Of course we have more challenging opportunities for those who are up to it but all excursions are graded according to level of difficulty and there will always be something for those families with small children. More about that later...

I'm sure you realize that it's part of the focus of the club to ensure that our natural environment is kept as pristine as possible. We all have a keen interest in conservation and many of our members contribute their time, or give a monetary donation, to organisations that work to enhance and beautify our natural heritage.

Okay, now going back to the grades of activity...First of all, tramping. This is very popular with singles and couples without children but is certainly not restricted to those groups. Tramping is arranged for Tuesdays and Saturdays throughout the year. Most tramps are of a duration of 3 to 5 hours depending on the weather and the terrain, and of course, the time of year. You would need to check the newsletter or the website to find out place and time and, if you wish to participate, phone the coordinator who can give you more information.

I'll move on now to walking which is very popular with families but open to everyone and walks are arranged for every Thursday and every Sunday over the course of the entire year. Walks last no more than 3 hours, although the Thursday walks might be shorter; and again, you would have to check the newsletter for details of the time and area to meet and get in touch with the walking organiser to confirm your participation.

Now, the Wanderers are what you might call a sub-group of the Active Outdoor Club. This group was set up to cater for the less active, more elderly, or families with very young children who still want to enjoy the great outdoors but without quite so much exertion. Bear in mind that the length of these activities is variable but we're always home before dark. Any member of the club is welcome to join in their activities on a Sunday which include visiting some of our more beautiful parks and botanical gardens, beach walks, picnics and even boat trips to visit some of the small islands off the coast. Often guided tours can be arranged if there is enough interest. If you'd like to see what the Wanderers are up to, check the website and then phone the leader for more information.

I'll bet you're all ready for that cup of tea now, but before I finish, I really must mention something that can be a lot of fun, a great opportunity to form new or strengthen existing friendships, and a chance to explore a part of the country that you may never have seen before. These are our "Mystery Weekends". The Committee puts a lot of time and effort into the organisation of these weekends away not only for health and safety reasons but also to ensure that everything runs smoothly and everyone has a good time. There will be a charge to cover travel and accommodation costs but, apart from that, it's an affordable and exciting weekend away from the city. For more information call the chairman of the committee—you'll find his phone number in the newsletter.

So, that's all I have to say at this point—please enjoy the refreshments, chat with others, and feel free to ask questions. All the committee members are wearing large red name badges so they're easy to find.

ADVISOR: Come in and take a seat.

STUDENT: Thank you.

ADVISOR: Now, you've made an appointment to see me with regard to one of the papers you want to enrol in next semester.

STUDENT: Yes, that's right. It's the "Globalisation and Educational Change" paper, GEC 692.

ADVISOR: Ah, well, I know the one you mean but all the code numbers are going to change next semester so, although the course name will stay the same, the code will be ED 995. Now you have to worry about that.

STUDENT: But the content will be the same, right?

ADVISOR: Oh, yes, to a large extent. The objectives are still to provide you with the skills and knowledge for analysing the challenges that globalisation poses for education.

STUDENT: Yes, that's what I'm really interested in—the future of education—not where we are now, but where we're heading.

ADVISOR: Well, you'll most likely enjoy the course because it'll give you the opportunity not just to explore... but also to document...the advancement of new educational developments.

STUDENT: And, there'll be quite a lot of analysis involved?

ADVISOR: Yes, obviously, but once you've examined how education has been affected by cultural values and socio-economic structures, you'll go on to debate the pros and cons of the restructuring of public education in view of rapid globalisation.

STUDENT: I see but, when you say 'public education', do you mean worldwide?

ADVISOR: No, no. That would be far too large an undertaking for just one paper. You'd probably choose to work with the education system within your own state or country.

STUDENT: Sounds interesting. But isn't it a bit restrictive?

ADVISOR: Not at all. From there you'd move on to explore the impact of internationalisation on curriculum diversity in both developing and developed countries. Have you had a chance to look at the assessment criteria yet?

STUDENT: Actually, I have, and it makes me a bit nervous just thinking about it.

ADVISOR: Why's that?

STUDENT: Well, I see that the first assignment starts with an illustrated power point presentation to the rest of the class. I've never done one before.

ADVISOR: No need to worry. You can get help with that. Anyway, this presentation isn't graded—it's what we call a formative assessment—the feedback you get will help you to finalise the written review.

STUDENT: That's a review of those academic articles in the first part of the reading list, right?

ADVISOR: Yes. But you only have to choose five of them. That first assignment is worth 30%.

STUDENT: And the second assignment?

ADVISOR: There are two parts to that also and both are graded. Twenty marks will go towards your participation in a seminar and then there's a 5,000-word essay which will be graded out of 50.

STUDENT: Thanks.

ADVISOR: Is there anything else I can help you with?

STUDENT: Yes, the reading list is quite long. Where do you think I should start?

ADVISOR: Well, I'd suggest you leave the articles until the semester is under way, but a good preparation would be to look at some of the major texts: these ones here.

STUDENT: In any particular order?

ADVISOR: You could start with this one by Tower here at the bottom of the page.

STUDENT: Sorry? Who?

ADVISOR: Tower T-O-W-E-R, 2007: Comparative Education. That should give you a good basis. Then move on to Elliot: Educational Issues of the New Millennium—but be sure to get the 2008 edition not the original 1998 edition because so much has changed since 1998. The new edition has extensive revisions and a lot of new material.

STUDENT: Okay, so that's Tower first, then Elliot. I think I could handle a couple more over the summer break.

ADVISOR: Well, in that case, look for Brown's Education and Globalisation published in 2009—actually there are quite a few books by Brown but I'd start with that one and leave his others till much later...and I'd also really recommend this one here: Globalisation and Knowledge Policy by York published quite recently in fact—2010.

Good afternoon and thank you for your warm welcome. This will be the first talk in a series of five on Health interventions—protection and prevention. Could I start by asking for a show of hands—how many of you had a flu vaccination at the beginning of winter? Mmm...I thought so. You young ones always think you're indestructible.

Well, as you are no doubt aware disease-spreading germs or pathogens are everywhere. On a daily basis the human body has to ward off attacks by various harmful bacteria and viruses. A healthy body has a good defence system against many of these germs but the defence only operates well against micro-organisms that it has already encountered, in which case it is said to be immune. There are two ways in which humans acquire natural immunity: actively, when a person has first suffered and then recovered from an illness, and passively, when ready-made protection is transferred into the body, for example, from the maternal blood via the umbilical cord to an unborn child, or through breast milk.

Now, artificially acquired immunity can help the body to fight disease so we can use active immunisation as a preventative measure. This is when a person is vaccinated against an illness by injection or oral ingestion of a tiny amount of weakened or inactive germs—not enough to actually cause him or her to contract the illness but sufficient for the body's defence system to recognise and respond to the threat by forming antibodies.

Intervention using passive immunisation, on the other hand, is a method of curing an illness after it is too late for prevention. It is less effective than active immunisation and takes longer to work. It is used when the body has already been invaded by bacteria and the person is ill. In this case there is no time for the body to make antibodies of its own so proteins—usually taken from the blood of animals—are injected to equip the patient with the essential antibodies to combat the particular illness.

Let's have a quick look at a bit of history: The discovery of vaccination to boost the body's immune system by making it sensitive to particular disease-causing bacteria was made by an eighteenth-century English doctor called Edward Jenner. He noticed that survivors of smallpox, a common but extremely dangerous disease, never contracted the disease a second time. In other words, they were immune. He studied a similar disease in cows called cowpox and realised that people in contact with the infected cows became ill with symptoms resembling smallpox. However, this disease was quite mild by comparison and those who contracted cowpox were then immune to smallpox. He conducted an experiment by injecting a child with a small amount of pus taken from a cowpox pustule. The child subsequently became ill but soon recovered. Later, he injected the child with pus from a smallpox pustule and the child did not get sick. He had developed immunity to the more dangerous disease. The antibodies produced to fight the cowpox bacteria had been able to fight off the smallpox bacteria.

What are antibodies? Well, antibodies are made by white blood cells called B-lymphocytes. And this is done in response to the presence of antigens, or other bacterial toxins, which have been released by the micro-organisms (what we commonly refer to as 'germs' ) that have invaded the body. These Y-shaped antibodies (or you can think of them as 'anti-toxins') may stop the toxins or repair the damage they have done by what is known as the antigen-antibody reaction which takes place within the plasma of the blood. A correct antibody (for that disease) clings to a particular antigen in order to render it harmless. Large numbers of these pairs clump together to form a bigger unit. This is called agglutination and is able to be seen by the naked eye which is very helpful for doctors and other specialists to determine which illnesses a patient is immune to.

Inoculation, or active vaccination, can protect people from serious diseases. The vaccine may make a person feel unwell for a few days when the immune system starts to produce antibodies to match the introduced antigen. This is called a primary reaction. If that particular antigen should ever enter the body again later, a secondary reaction takes place. The body is then able to produce large numbers of corresponding antibodies within a short time so the invading antigens are quickly wiped out without the person suffering any harm from the disease.