IELTS Trainer 2 Academic Listening Test 2 (Online Test)

Melanie: OK so, next up on this morning’s show – Dan Johnson’s going to tell us what’s on in the city this weekend. Dan.

Dan: Well thanks Melanie and there’s certainly a great program of entertainment this weekend – something for everyone. So first, it’s the Writers’ Festival again, and just like last year the Festival has attracted more than 250 writers from around the world. The writers will be talking about their latest books and there’s always an opportunity for audience members to ask the writers about their work. In the past the Festival has been based at the Victoria Theatre, which wasn’t really big enough. So this year they’re going to be using a number of other venues as well. More information and tickets are available from the website.

Now something I’m really looking forward to is Wearable Art on Saturday evening. This fashion show’s always been held in the capital, so it’s very exciting that it’s coming to our city for the first time and I’ve already got my ticket. And they’ve just announced a 20% discount on all tickets, to encourage a good turnout. Tickets can be bought online, or at the door.

Something slightly different is Ocean Times – that’s on Sunday morning at Bright’s Beach. Now you might be thinking it’s the wrong time of year to go to the beach for a swim or build sandcastles with the kids, and you’d be right. But what’s happening is, there’s going to be a number of large tents put up on the beach, for workshops, displays and presentations. It’s a chance for the whole family to learn about the science of the ocean and marine eco-systems and how to protect them. Sounds like a good way to spend your Sunday.

Now, you may already have seen the advertising for the Artscape Exhibition. This is an outdoor exhibition of sculptures and installation art that officially opens this evening and you can go along whenever suits you over the weekend. It’s being held up at the Sanctuary Reserve and the idea is, you wander wherever you want around the Reserve, enjoying the artworks in a natural environment. I’d recommend you take a warm coat, though, because it can get quite windy up there.

Now, the Civil Theatre is open for tours this weekend, too. This is a great chance to go backstage at the city’s largest theatre and see all its secrets. This event is only held once a year so these opportunities to tour the Civil aren’t too frequent. I went last time and can tell you it’s well worth it.

Dan: OK, so what I’ll do now is just run through a few more events that are on over the weekend. So every Friday night, of course, is the Night Market – a great place to eat delicious street food from around the world. If you haven’t been before, it’s in the old Smith Street warehouse, just a short walk from Central Station. This is often really popular so get there in good time to be sure you beat the rush.

There’s also the local Buskers’ Festival, on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. This is a chance for buskers and street performers from across the city to perform at an organised event. If you’re interested in going along please note – it was going to be in King’s Square, but actually it’s now going to be held down on the waterfront, where there’ll be plenty of space for everyone.

Now later this afternoon it’s Stand Up For Kids. This is a stand-up comedy show aimed particularly at children aged from 5 to 10. This is being held in the hall at Swanson College at 4 p.m. today. Just bear in mind that the roads around the college can get pretty congested at that time on a Friday, so allow plenty of time to get there. But it’s bound to be a great show and the hall at Swanson is huge so you shouldn’t find it hard to get a seat.

Then it’s Sunday Unplugged on Sunday afternoon, with a number of local bands playing at the old post office building in Morningside. There’s a great range of acts this week – check online for details. Though it’s the usual issue with the old post office venue – no parking at all in that part of the central city. And the train service is suspended on Sunday for repairs, so if you’re taking the bus, leave early.

And on Saturday evening it’s the Ignite Dance Finals. This is the final of the inter-school dance competition so I know there’ll be a huge turnout. If you haven’t already got your ticket I’d do so without delay to avoid disappointment. It’s being held in the Ridgeway Theatre, same as last year, so there’ll be a great atmosphere.

Now one other…

Maia: So, Daniel, shall we compare a few ideas for our assignment on how babies and children learn?

Daniel: Good idea, I’ve started the reading. One thing I read about was these ‘learning videos’.

Maia: Oh yeah, I read about learning videos. The baby watches a short film with some basic vocabulary, maths and science, and they learn as they watch – that’s the idea. Certainly, babies will pay attention to videos for long periods of time.

Daniel: Yeah, but there’s been research to show that babies don’t learn effectively from screens. Actually, they learn by interacting with their parents and other caregivers – that’s the best approach.

Maia: Mmm, it’s interesting. Another issue with learning videos is that babies ought to have play time.

Daniel: You mean in a group?

Maia: Not necessarily, it can be alone, actually. But what’s important is that they investigate their own environment. They should examine the objects around them and experiment. So they discover information for themselves. And they don’t get that sitting in front of a film.

Daniel: That’s a good point. Then, I also thought I’d write about the ‘present research’ in my assignment.

Maia: Oh yeah, I read a bit about the present research. And it’s true, isn’t it? When you give a baby a present or gift, some of them are more interested in the wrapping paper than the present itself.

Daniel: But it’s not some of them. The research shows that pretty much every baby prefers the paper to the present, whether male or female – it’s just a human characteristic.

Maia: Really? I’d thought there’d be more exceptions.

Daniel: Apparently not. It seems that playing with the paper, or ribbons, or box, stimulates the baby’s senses. They touch everything, climb into the box, put the ribbon into their mouths. And brain scans have shown that sight, sound, touch, smell and taste are all stimulated in this way.

Maia: It’s amazing the research has produced so much specific information, just from studying presents! I hadn’t expected that. The results cover so many different aspects of baby behaviour.

Daniel: Yeah, exactly. But it shows us that babies learn by playing.

Maia: So we shouldn’t stop wrapping up babies’ presents.

Daniel: No, definitely not!

Maia: Then I also read about babies and second languages. There was a really interesting bilingual experiment in Spain. They tried teaching English to a group of 280 Spanish children in different preschools.

Daniel: So the research subjects were in different schools?

Maia: Yes, but the researchers deliberately selected teachers who all had the same education. They’d been trained to use a style that focused on play and social interaction. So because of that, the experiment was standardised across all the schools, that’s really important.

Daniel: Yeah, I agree, that was a great idea.

Maia: The subjects were aged between 7 months and 3 years old. And the children were given a one-hour English lesson for 18 weeks.

Daniel: Did they seem to enjoy the lessons?

Maia: I don’t have any information on that. But at the end of the experiment, each child could produce an average of 74 English words or phrases.

Daniel: But did they remember them?

Maia: Well, follow up testing showed that the classes had a long-term benefit, yes.

Daniel: Wow, that’s remarkable, especially considering some of the children were so young.

Maia: I think so too. It really shows how babies and small children can learn through playing.

Daniel: Yeah, I wonder if other schools will try the same thing in future.

Maia: It’ll be interesting to see what happens.

Daniel: So, Maia, let’s discuss some more ideas about how babies learn. What other research have you read about?

Maia: Well, I read about Dr Pritchard’s study. In her experiment, babies were given toys to play with. And their caregivers sometimes repeated the same movements as the baby, and sometimes did something different. And Dr Pritchard monitored the baby’s electrical brain activity. The results showed that babies were happiest when parents or caregivers imitated their behaviour.

Daniel: Maybe that could be used as a teaching tool?

Maia: Yeah, absolutely.

Daniel: Then I read about a study of 3-year-olds. This was interesting. The researchers experimented by doing things like dropping a pen or knocking something off a desk.

Maia: And did the children do the same thing?

Daniel: No, what they often did though, was pick up the pen. They wanted to give someone assistance if they could, if they thought someone else had a problem. So I think that shows how babies are more likely to learn by working with caregivers and teachers, rather than in isolation.

Maia: Then have you heard of Professor Michelson?

Daniel: Is he a linguist?

Maia: You’re thinking of someone else. Professor Michelson did a study where babies had to push buttons. Some buttons switched on a light and some didn’t. And after a little experimentation, the babies nearly always pushed a button that switched on a light.

Daniel: You mean, they knew the light would come on?

Maia: Professor Michelson thinks so. He believes they recognised that a certain thing would happen, as a result of a certain action. So maybe that has implications for learning.

Daniel: Interesting. I also looked at a study in the United States. This showed that babies as young as 16 months have some knowledge of how language is structured. In a simple sense, they seemed to know the function of nouns and verbs. And the researchers believe this is linked to the way they learn the meaning of new words.

Maia: Oh, really? Amazing they start so young. I’d like to read about that…

Student: Well, hi everyone. In my presentation today I’m going to be talking about Sarah Guppy, a female engineer in Britain in the 19th century.

So, first some background. Um, so in Britain at that time, there weren’t many women engineers. But the 19th century was a time of great change in Britain and women were becoming increasingly active in many aspects of society. So one example would be Jane Harrison, who was a linguist and an expert on ancient civilisations. Jane Harrison is credited with being the first woman to be employed as an academic at a British university. And slowly women were being employed in more fields during this period. Let me just give you a few statistics to illustrate. Um, so, by the end of the 19th century, there were thousands of female musicians and actors and more than half in each group were women. When it came to the professions, the numbers were much lower. So dentists – there were 140 women, and there were 212 women who were employed as doctors at the end of the century.

OK, so moving onto Sarah Guppy herself. Sarah was born in 1770 in the city of Birmingham into a family of merchants. Aged 25 she married Samuel Guppy and moved to the city of Bristol. Then in 1811, she patented her first invention. This was a method of building bridges that were so strong they could withstand even severe floods, which might otherwise have destroyed the bridge. Her idea was used by the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel when he built the famous Clifton Suspension bridge. Sarah was not directly involved in this project as an engineer. However, she is known to have constructed models representing the entire structure, and these were of great assistance to Brunel when he built the Clifton Suspension bridge. What’s more, Sarah was involved in the project to build the Clifton Suspension bridge in another way, too. Together with her husband, Sarah was an important investor in the project, and did well out of it financially.

Student: However, Sarah’s talents as an engineer and designer went beyond bridges. One of her inventions was the so-called ‘barnacle buster’. This was a device that increased the speed at which ships could sail, by preventing tiny creatures like barnacles growing on them. Sarah also had an interest in railways. Now, the 19th century was a time when a huge number of railway lines were being built across Britain. Frequently, this involved digging ‘cuttings’, where the railway line was cut into a hill. And Sarah encouraged trees and vegetation to be planted in cuttings to reduce the problem of erosion – a technique that is still commonly used today.

I’d also like to mention that some of Sarah Guppy’s machines are quite amusing when we look back at them today. One that stood out for me was a machine that made tea, kept toast warm and boiled an egg all at the same time, so you could sit down for a typical British breakfast without waiting for anything. It’s quite strange to look at but I guess it might have been convenient! Then there was one area where Sarah was really ahead of her time because she designed an early type of equipment that’s very common today. This was a sort of gym machine that you could keep at home. And in the last 150 years or so that’s an industry that has really taken off.

OK, so in conclusion, what can we say about the career of Sarah Guppy? She certainly wasn’t the only woman engineer in 19th century Britain. I mean, for example there was Ada Lovelace, who is sometimes described as the first computer programmer and Hertha Marks Ayrton, a mathematician and electrical engineer. But still, Sarah’s contribution was highly unusual. Just by way of illustration, it’s worth noting that it wasn’t until 1906 – 54 years after Sarah’s death – that a woman studied engineering at university and graduated as an engineer for the first time. Now one other thing…