Cookery Classes

ANNOUNCER: Section 1. You will hear a telephone conversation between a woman who wants to attend a cookery class, and an official at a tourist information center. First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 6. You will see that there is an example that has been done for you.

OFFICIAL: Hello, Tourist Information Center. Mike speaking. How can I help you?

WOMAN: Oh, hi. I wanted to find out about cookery classes. I believe there are some one-day classes for tourists.

OFFICIAL: Well, they're open to everyone, but tourists are always welcome. OK, let me give you some details of what's available. There are several classes. One very popular one is at the Food Studio.

ANNOUNCER: The first cooking class is at the Food Studio, so studio 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.

OFFICIAL: Hello, Tourist Information Center. Mike speaking. How can I help you?

WOMAN: Oh, hi. I wanted to find out about cookery classes. I believe there are some one-day classes for tourists.

OFFICIAL: Well, they're open to everyone, but tourists are always welcome. OK, let me give you some details of what's available. There are several classes. One very popular one is at the Food Studio. They focus on seasonal products, and as well as teaching you how to cook them, they also show you how to choose them. 1

WOMAN: Right, that sounds good. How big are the classes?

OFFICIAL: I'm not sure exactly, but they'll be quite small.

WOMAN: And could I get a private lesson there?

OFFICIAL: I think so. Let me check. Yes, they do offer those. 2 Though in fact most people who attend the classes find it's a nice way of getting to know one another.

OFFICIAL: And this company has a special deal for clients, where they offer a 20 percent discount if you return for a further class. 3

WOMAN: OK, but you said there were several classes.

OFFICIAL: That's right. Another one you might be interested in is Bond's Cookery School. They're quite new. They just opened 6 months ago, but I've heard good things about them. They concentrate on teaching you to prepare healthy food, and they have quite a lot of specialist staff. 4

WOMAN: So is that food for people on a diet and things like that?

OFFICIAL: Well, I don't think they focus on weight loss. It's more about recipes that help with specific needs, such as including ingredients that help strengthen bones. 5

WOMAN: Do they have a website I could check?

OFFICIAL: Yes. And if you want to know more about them, every Thursday evening they have a lecture at the school. It's free, and you don't need to book. It starts at 7:30 pm. 6

ANNOUNCER: 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.

OFFICIAL: There's one more place you might be interested in. It's called the Arretsa Center. 7

OFFICIAL: They do some meat and fish cookery, but they mostly specialize in vegetarian dishes. 8

WOMAN: Is it near the market?

OFFICIAL: Yes, it's right next to the market, so they can easily get fresh ingredients. 9

OFFICIAL: They also offer a special two-hour course on knife skills – including buying knives, sharpening them and different chopping techniques. 10

WOMAN: Right, well thank you very much. I'll go and check that out.

ANNOUNCER: That is the end of section 1. You now have half a minute to check your answers.

Traffic Changes in Granford

ANNOUNCER: Section 2. You will hear the chairman of the Highways Committee of Granford speaking to members of the public about proposed changes to traffic and parking in the area. First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 13. Now listen carefully, and answer questions 11 to 13.

PHIL SUTTON: Good evening everyone. My name is Phil Sutton, and I'm chairman of the Highways Committee. We've called this meeting to inform members of the public about the new regulations for traffic and parking we're proposing for Granford.

PHIL SUTTON: I'll start by summarizing these changes before we open the meeting to questions. So, why do we need to make these changes to traffic systems in Granford?

PHIL SUTTON: Well, we're very aware that traffic is becoming an increasing problem. It's been especially noticeable with the increase in heavy traffic while they've been building the new hospital. But it's the overall rise in the volume of traffic of all kinds that's concerning us. 11

PHIL SUTTON: To date, there's not been any increase in traffic accidents. But that's not something we want to see happen, obviously.

PHIL SUTTON: We recently carried out a survey of local residents, and their responses were interesting. People were very concerned about the lack of visibility on some roads due to cars parked along the sides of the roads.

PHIL SUTTON: We'd expected complaints about the congestion near the school when parents are dropping off their children or picking them up. 12

PHIL SUTTON: But this wasn't top of the list, and nor were noise and fumes from trucks and lorries, though they were mentioned by some people.

PHIL SUTTON: We think these new traffic regulations would make a lot of difference, but we still have a long way to go.

PHIL SUTTON: We've managed to keep our proposals within budget, just. So they can be covered by the Council. But of course it's no good introducing new regulations if we don't have a way of making sure that everyone obeys them. 13

PHIL SUTTON: And that's an area we're still working on with the help of representatives from the police force.

ANNOUNCER: Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at questions 14 to 20. Now listen and answer questions 14 to 20.

PHIL SUTTON: OK, so this slide shows a map of the central area of Granford, with the High Street in the middle and School Road on the right.

PHIL SUTTON: Now we already have a set of traffic lights in the High Street at the junction with Station Road, but we're planning to have another set at the other end at the School Road junction. 14

PHIL SUTTON: To regulate the flow of traffic along the High Street.

PHIL SUTTON: We've decided we definitely need a pedestrian crossing. We considered putting this on School Road just outside the school. But in the end, we decided that could lead to a lot of traffic congestion.

PHIL SUTTON: So we decided to locate it on the High Street, crossing the road in front of the supermarket. 15

PHIL SUTTON: That's a very busy area, so it should help things there.

PHIL SUTTON: We are proposing some changes to parking. At present, parking isn't allowed on the High Street outside the library.

PHIL SUTTON: But we are going to change that and allow parking there, but not at the other end of the High Street near School Road. 16

PHIL SUTTON: There'll be a new no parking sign on School Road. 17

PHIL SUTTON: Just by the entrance to the school, forbidding parking for 25 meters. This should improve visibility for drivers and pedestrians, especially on the bend just to the north of the school.

PHIL SUTTON: As far as disabled drivers are concerned, at present they have parking outside the supermarket, but lorries also use those spaces.

PHIL SUTTON: So we've got two new disabled parking spaces on the side road up towards the bank. 18

PHIL SUTTON: It's not ideal, but probably better than the present arrangement.

PHIL SUTTON: We also plan to widen the pavement on School Road. We think we can manage to get an extra half-meter on the bend just before you get to the school on the same side of the road. 19

PHIL SUTTON: Finally, we've introduced new restrictions on loading and unloading for the supermarket.

PHIL SUTTON: So lorries will only be allowed to stop there before 8 am. That's the supermarket on School Road. 20

PHIL SUTTON: We kept to the existing arrangements with the High Street supermarket.

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

Jack – Seed Germinatio

ANNOUNCER: Section 3. You will hear two biology students called Emma and Jack discussing an experiment they are going to do together. First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 25. Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25.

EMMA: We've got to choose a topic for our experiment, haven't we, Jack? Were you thinking of something to do with seeds?

JACK: Hmm, that's right. I thought we could look at seed germinatio , how a seed begins to grow.

EMMA: OK, any particular reason? I know you're hoping to work in plant science eventually.

JACK: Yeah, but practically everything we do is going to feed into that. No, there's an optional module on seed structure and functio in the third year that I might do, so I thought it might be useful for that. 21 If I choose that option, I don't have to do a dissertation module.

EMMA: Good idea.

JACK: Well, I thought for this experiment we could look at the relationship between seed size and the way the seeds are planted.

EMMA: OK, we'd need to allow time for the seeds to come up.

JACK: That should be fine if we start now. 22 A lot of the other possible experiments need quite a bit longer.

EMMA: So that would make it a good one to choose.

JACK: Yeah, we need to have a word with the tutor if we're going to go ahead with it though. We need to be sure we're the only ones doing it. 23

EMMA: Yeah, it would be a bit boring if everyone was doing the same experiment.

JACK: Did you read that book on seed germination on our reading list?

EMMA: The one by Graves? I looked through it before. I found it quite hard to follow, lots about the theory which I hadn't expected. 24

JACK: Yes, I'd been hoping for something more practical.

JACK: I read an article about seed germination by Lee Hall.

EMMA: About seeds that lie in the ground for ages and only germinate after a fire?

JACK: That's the one. His analysis comparing the times of fires and the proportion of seeds that germinated was very detailed. 25

ANNOUNCER: Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 26 to 30. Now listen and answer questions 26 to 30.

EMMA: Anyway, shall we have a look at the procedure for our experiment?

JACK: Right. First we have to find our seeds. I think vegetable seeds would be best, and they mustn't all be the same size. 26

EMMA: About four different kinds should be enough.

JACK: Then for each seed we need to find out how much it weighs. 27

JACK: And also measure its dimensions, and keep a careful record.

EMMA: We'll also need to decide how deep we're going to plant the seeds – maybe right on the surface or a few millimeters or centimeters down. 28

JACK: Then we get planting.

EMMA: No, I think we need a different plant pot for each seed. 29

JACK: Right, and we'll label them with different colored labels.

JACK: Then we wait for the seeds to germinate – probably about three weeks – and record how tall the plants grow. 30

EMMA: Then we just analyze the numbers and see if there's any relationship.

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

Effect of Urban Environments on Animals

ANNOUNCER: Section 4. You will hear part of a lecture on an environmental studies course about recent research on how animals are adapting to urban environments. You have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Now listen carefully, and answer questions 34-40.

SPEAKER: Hi. Today we're going to be looking at animals in urban environments, and I'm going to be telling you about some research on how they're affected by these environments.

SPEAKER: In evolutionary terms, urban environments represent huge upheavals – the sorts of massive changes that usually happen over millions of years.

SPEAKER: We used to think that only a few species could adapt to this new environment. One species which is well known as being highly adaptable is the crow.

SPEAKER: Another successful species is the pigeo , because they are able to perch on the ledges of city buildings just like they once perched on cliffs by the sea.

SPEAKER: But we're now finding that these early immigrants were just the start of a more general movement of animals into cities.

SPEAKER: Researchers are especially interested in the speed with which animals are adapting to city life.

SPEAKER: We're not talking about gradual evolution here – these animals are changing quickly.

SPEAKER: For example, at the University of Minnesota, biologist Emilie Snell-Rood studied museum specimens of small mammals such as mice and gophers collected over the last hundred years.

SPEAKER: She discovered that these urban mammals had experienced an increase in brain size compared with rural mammals.

SPEAKER: Since the sizes of other parts of their bodies didn't change, this suggests something cognitive may be happening.

SPEAKER: Snell-Rood believes this reflects the cognitive demands of adjusting to city life, such as finding food in new places and dealing with new dangers.

SPEAKER: Another researcher, Catarina Miranda at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, has been studying blackbirds.

SPEAKER: She focused on their behaviour rather than anatomy.

SPEAKER: Urban blackbirds tend to be quite bold and willing to face threats that would frighten rural birds.

SPEAKER: However, they are easily frightened by anything new that they haven't experienced before.

SPEAKER: Another scientist, Jonathan Atwell from Indiana University, studied how animals respond to stress in cities.

SPEAKER: He discovered that their endocrine systems reduce the amount of certain hormones, such as corticosterone, released into the bloodstream.

SPEAKER: This adaptation helps animals avoid becoming constantly stressed by city noise and disturbances.

SPEAKER: Another study by Sarah Parta examined how squirrels communicate in cities.

SPEAKER: She found that squirrels frequently communicate by waving their tails. 39

SPEAKER: This visual signal may be more effective than sound in noisy urban environments.

SPEAKER: Looking ahead, these adaptations may lead to the development of entirely new species in cities.

SPEAKER: However, it's also possible that some of these adaptations will not be permanent once animals become accustomed to urban life.

ANNOUNCER: That is the end of Section 4. You now have half a minute to check your answers.