Mock Test 16 | Listening Test

Part 1:

You will hear two graduate students talking about their job.

                   Before you listen, you have 30 seconds to read questions 1 to 5.

James:         Hello Annie. Haven’t seen you for ages.

Annie:         Hi James. You’re right. I’ve been working really long hours.

James:         How’s your job going?

Annie:         Pretty well. And yours?

James:         I’ll have to admit, it’s not what I expected, but at least I’ve got a job. Plenty of people who graduated with me are still looking.

Annie:         You’re working in the city archives, aren’t you?

James:         Yes, near Central Library. It’s a terrific Q1 location.

Annie:         Lucky you. The one thing I don’t like about my job is all the Q2 travelling. I’d no idea how big the region was until I had to catch so many buses, trains, and taxis.

James:         Why don’t you drive?

Annie:         I haven’t saved up enough for a car.

James:         Too bad.

                   I’m sure you’ve told me before, but what exactly is your job?

Annie:         I’m a biodiversity advisor for the council.

James:         What does that involve?

Annie:         A lot of Q3 surveying.

                   There are four divisions in our team: Q4 Ecological Assessment; Native Species Management; Ecosystem Restoration; and … I’ve forgotten the last one. Anyway, I’m in (4) Ecological Assessment.

James:         What kind of land do you survey?

Annie:         All kinds.

James:         And who do you advise?

Annie:         Anyone who manages or owns property- public or private. [Crack IELTS with Rob] When a person wants to make changes, we run through his or her legal obligations, and suggest the Q5 best use of the land, while protecting or restoring ecosystems.

James:         Ecology was your major at university, wasn’t it?

Annie:         Yes, but the real world is rather more complex than the one we described in our assignments.

Narrator:    Before you listen to the rest of the conversation, you have 30 seconds to read questions 6 to 10.

James:         What are you working on at the moment?

Annie:         A development application. A farmer wants to reduce her reliance on sheep by planting olives. She’s also liketo build some tourist accommodation, plus some walking tracks, and a road.

James:         That’s quite a lot of works.

Annie:         It is. Moreover, there’s a deep volcanic crater on her property as well as a large wetland, home to a rare bird.

James:         So, what should she do?

Annie:         The tourist accommodation will be relatively straightforward as long as it’s on high ground. With the track into the crater, where there are unusual rock formations and steam, she’ll need to consider health and safety regulations, but they shouldn’t be too hard. Q6 It’s the wetland that presents a challenge. I doubt she’ll be able to drain it. Q7 At some expense, she might be able to build a road around it, but it’s more likely she’ll have to forgo new access to the olive grove.

James:         I’d no idea development applications were so detailed.

Annie:         Well, this process means a carefully controlled use of land, for which I believe future generations will be grateful.

James:         Q8 Future generations…

                   Working at the archives, I’m completed immersed in the lives of past generations.

Annie:         I bet.

James:         Although the technology’s up-to-date- we’ve got amazing scanners.

Annie:         Really?

James:         I spent all last scanning tram tickets and timetables from 1902 to Q9 1956.

Annie:         Why?

James:         The archives keep all kinds of documents.

                   1902 was when the electric tram began here, and (9) 1956 was when buses took over completely.

Annie:         But didn’t you major in Q10 Psychology?

James:         Yes, I did. The archives are about as far away from that as you could imagine. [Crack IELTS with Rob] Although, working with so many different staff and the public means I do have to apply some (10) psychology from time to time.

Narrator:    You now have 30 seconds to check your answers.

                   That is the end of Part 1.

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Part 2:

You will hear a man being interviewed on the radio about his work as a musician and a guitar maker.

                   Before you listen, you have 30 seconds to read questions 11 to 14.

Juliette:       Great to have you here today, Hamish. I’ve been a fan of yours for ages. Q11 The very first rock concert I went to, when I was thirteen, your band was playing.

Hamish:      Gosh!

                   I’d like to thank this station, too, Juliette. If I remember rightly, Ray Rogers’ interest in Sound Whole’s second album put us on the map.

Juliette:       Good old Ray.

                   Alas, who could forget when Sound Whole broke up, and Q12 Ray wept, live, on his show!

Hamish:      But to set the record straight, Sound Whole isn’t getting back together despite rumours on social networks. My performing days are over.

Juliette:       Even solo?

Hamish:      Especially solo.

                   Frankly, solo gigs were a nightmare. Q13 I was so anxious every time I went out onto a stage. Live audiences seriously scare me.

Juliette:       Yet you’ve got such a rapport with them. You look so relaxed in those clips on Youtube.

Hamish:      Yeah, well…

                   One thing the social networks did get right is the reason I quit performing.

Juliette:       Oh?

Hamish:      I was manic when I was on the road with the band- crazy; I’d stay up days on end. [Crack IELTS with Rob] Back home, I was horribly depressed; I’d sleep for a week.

                   Q14 My life was a mess. My first wife left me, and second wife left me. I’ve got three children I hardly know. My son sent me a card, just before Sound Whole split up, in which he’d written seen more of me on TV than in the flesh!

Narrator:    Before you listen to the rest of the talk, you have 30 seconds to read questions 15 to 20.

Juliette:       So, how long have you been making acoustic guitars, Hamish?

Hamish:      Full time for about three years. My sister and I work together. She sources the materials, and does the books; I build the instruments.

Juliette:       I checked on the Internet last night, and it’s a long process to make a guitar.

Hamish:      You bet. There’s at least fifteen steps. I won’t go into them all now, but sourcing the wood- the first step- is crucial. Cheap guitars use softer wood, which equates with poorer sound quality; but harder wood is scarce these days. For instance, the back of a great guitar, historically, was made from Brazilian rosewood, but the supply is miniscule now. I use East Indian rosewood, which will also disappear soon. Likewise spruce was once preferred for the top of guitar, but I use cedar, which is more plentiful.

Juliette:       I thought guitars were mainly mahogany.

Hamish:      Cheap guitars, yes, but only the necks good ones. The neck must resist distortion when pulled by the strings, and it mustn’t swell or contact with changes in Q15 temperature and humidity. Mahogany’s perfect for the neck.

Juliette:       I like wavy pattern you get on the tops and backs of guitars. How’s that done?

Hamish:      That pattern is called book matching. A thickish block of wood, about half the size of the body, is sliced horizontally. The two pieces are laid together, with the grain continuous, before they’re glued.

Juliette:       Right.

Hamish:      The next two steps are to saw the top of the guitar into that sensual shape, and cut out the sound hole.

Juliette:       What’s inside the guitar to control its vibration and improve its Q16 tone?

Hamish:      Braces- narrow little bits of wood- glued in an X-pattern. The process is known as strutting. The back also has strutting to reflect sound waves.

Julliete:       Interesting. 

                   How’s the neck made?

Hamish:      It’s carved from a single piece of mahogany, and a metal rod is driven up into it for Q17 reinforcement.

Juliette:       How’d you get those lovely curved sides?

Hamish:      Strips are cut, sanded, and soaked in water. [Crack IELTS with Rob] They’re moulded until they’re set in that shape. When everything’s been glued together- the beck, the sides, the top, and the neck- the guitar is put into clamps Q18 for several days. There are some other reinforcements too, like end blocks and bindings.    

Juliette:       I guess precision is the key to much of this work.

Hamish:      Absolutely.

                   Q19 In fact, guitar-making has improved my mental health everything’s nice and slow, and precise. I’m alone in my workshop, dealing with wood. It has a calming effect.

Juliette:       It seems as though you sound whole again?

Hamish:      Pu-lease! No more silly puns on the name of our band. I spent 14 years explaining that (Q20 ‘Whole’ was spelled with a ‘W’.

Narrator:    You now have 30 seconds to check your answers.

                   That is the end of Part 2.

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Part 3:

                   You will hear two students discussing a new trend in landscape design called vertical gardening.

                   Before you listen, you have 30 seconds to read questions 21 to 25.

David:         Hi Marina, how are you?

Marina:       Fine, David, but this assignment’s taking longer than I’d hoped.

David:         Yes, it’s quite detailed.

Marina:       Q21 Designing two small vertical gardens doesn’t seem too hard, but there’s so much stuff online about Q22 large-scale projects that read like propaganda.

David:         I know what you mean. Vertical gardening is flavour of the month, when all it amounts to is growing plants on surfaces not used in the past.

Marina:       Tricky surfaces at that.

David:         Yes. Walls do present challenges.

Marina:       Vertical gardening is popular in warmer climates, and where there’s cash to spare. I can’t see people in my country adopting it, or indeed anyone who doesn’t own their own home- all that construction effort, then watering your plants five times a day. However you transport your wall if you moved?

David:         We should certainly include your concerns at the end of our presentation when we assess whether vertical gardening will become a design fundamental or remain a passing fad.

Marina:       OK.

How are we going to divide up the presentation? I’m happy to do the second part.

David:         Our domestic designs?

Marina:       Yes. [Crack IELTS with Rob] I’m afraid I can’t get interested in the (22) large-scale works, like the wall at the Caixa Forum Museum in Madrid- they seen gratuitous to me.

David:         Don’t worry, I’ll comment on them. However, I do think the vertical garden in the Rue d’Alsace in Paris is amazing. It’s like having a vast mossy forest floor up on its side amidst all the concrete and tarseal.

Marina:       So we just need to work on the first part together- the history of the movement and the reasons for its Q23 growth.

                   I read that a French botanist, Patrick Blanc, invented vertical gardening in 2008.

David:         And I read that he got the idea from Q24 tropical rainforest in Malaysia, where plants grow at any height, and their superficial root system don’t need any soil.

Marina:       Q25Still, I don’t understand why the movement took off, and companies from Sydney to Tokyo commission him to cover walls with plants, especially when the walls need so much watering.

David:         I suppose businesses want to show how green they are.

Narrator:    Before you listen to the rest of the conversation, you have 30 seconds to read questions 26 to 30.

David:         So how do you build a vertical garden?

Marina:       The principle’s quite simple. Firstly, you need a wall, either the wall of building or a boundary wall. This is called Q26 a supporting wall. Vertical wooden battens and Q27 a PVC panel are secured to it. Currently, Japan is the only country where PVC is recyclable, meaning, (elsewhere, vertical gardens are not environmentally friendly inside.

David:         What happens after (27) the PVC panel is in place?

Marina:       Irrigation piping and two layers of (28) matting are attached. The Q28 matting is made from felt or woven plastic that lasts a long time outdoors, but it can’t be recycled either.

David:         Speaking about recycling, unless it comes off a nearby roof, the great amount of water needed to keep the wall growing seems the biggest drawback to me- especially when watering five times a day, as you mentioned.

Marina:       In a tropical rainforest, there’s plenty of water, but no so in downtown Paris. [Crack IELTS with Rob] Also Parisian water has few nutrients, so Q29 the amount of fertiliser for vertical gardens is high- 0.4 grams of macronutrients and 0.2 millilitres of trace elements per litre of water. If a designer can ensure the fertiliser is absorbed by the plants or drains into a fishpond, that’s OK, but (29) if it goes into the main water supply- which I bet it does most of the time, it just adds to pollution.

David:         Good point.

                   How exactly do the plants grow?

Marina:       They sprout from slots cut into the matting.

David:         What are your designs?

Marina:       One is a mosquito-repellent wall, containing scented plants that drive mosquitoes away. The other is a culinary wall, with herbs, salad plants, and strawberries.

David:         Sound delicious.

Marina:       (29) Personally, I’d be happier planting my veggies in pots on the balcony.

David:         Q30 Perhaps. But I do find the giant vertical gardens in Madrid and Paris inspiring. Once obstacles like the plastic components and frequent irrigation are overcome, vertical gardening will be aesthetic and environmental achievement. I’m not sure the whole world will take it up, but richer countries will do so.

Narrator:    You now have 30 seconds to check your answers.

                   That is the end of Part 3.

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Part 4:

                   You will hear a lecture on self-fulfillment.

                   Before you listen, you have 45 seconds to read questions 31 to 40.

Lecturer:     As you may know, I’ve been working as a psychologist since the 1990s. In the past few years, in this city, we’ve enjoyed unparalleled prosperity. All the same, people come to me with concerns about the future. Or should I say, their future. Q31 One trend I’ve noticed is an increase in clients who- at least on paper- lead ideal lives, yet worry that they’re not fulfilling themselves, however exclusive that might be.

                   Let me give you an example. [Crack IELTS with Rob] A woman in her late twenties came to me a month or so ago. She’s an HR manager for a big company; she lives in a nice part of town; and, she’s been engaged for nine months. Her last holiday was to Tibet, and she’s just resumed sailing. In good health, she appeared not to be suffering from clinical depression. Nevertheless, she felt the world owed her more.

                   I questioned her about her career choice and life partner-were they really right for her? In both cases, the answer was ‘yes’. I asked if she spent time with her family, Indeed- and everyone got along fine. I queried her on her friends- she had some from college and some more from work. I asked if she’d ever done any voluntary work. Again, ‘yes’ was her reply. After graduation, she’d spent two months at an orphanage in Nepal, before trekking in the Himalayas. In her current life, however, she felt she didn’t have time to volunteer, what with work, her fiance, sailing, and a love of travel- she hopes to go to Argentina if she can inveigle her boss into allowing her an extra week’s leave. I asked my client what she thought self-fulfillment might be, but she couldn’t put a finger on it. Q32 I saw her three times, and suggested she read Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, but she didn’t keep her fourth appointment.

                   So, why did I suggest Mandela’s book? I could equally have directed her towards the writing of Dietrich Bon- Hoeffer, Martin Luther King, or a philosopher, like Emmanuel Kant. None of whom seemed aggrieved about missing opportunities for self-fulfillment or trips to Tierra Fuego; and two of whom gave meaning to their lives through decades of Q33 self-sacrifice. That is: they did what they had to do.

                   As do people who live just a two-hour-drive from here- I mean, those in Q34 rural areas or towns that are virtually ghost towns, not to mention the billions in the developing world. If they do get through school, they don’t leave declaring: ‘Now, I must do what I love doing. Now, I must be fulfilled.’

                   Even my Q35 mother did what she had to do. Originally from Puerto Rico, she brought up her children on her own, while working three jobs. She considered it more important to put us through college than to go herself, even though she was clever enough. Likewise, she nursed her sister with cancer, and cooked meals for elderly neighbours. I’m not saying I was raised by a saint, but, in mature people, the notion of sel-fulfilment seldom arises.

                   Let’s return to Martin Luther King, who believed there are three dimensions to our lives: Length; Breadth; and, Height. Length refers to self-love; and Breadth, to the community and care of others. For some of us, especially (Q36 the young, Height may be difficult to accept or to find. For King, it was unequivocally God, although the transcendent doesn’t have to be a religious experience. It could translate roughly as ‘being part of something Q37 greater than oneself’. It could be ideal, like equality or Q38 justice. The reason Height may be hard for the Me Generation to come to grips with is that it requires a disciplined willingness to submerge one’s own desires. In a world of instant gratification, that’s a big ask.

                   In my own work as a psychologist, I’ve now questioned my years of guiding clients towards the do-what-you-love principle. It may be elitist, denigrating Q39 work that is dome not from love, like my mother’s dawn shift in a bakery, which no amount of free donuts could sweeten. I don’t believe gifts come from God, so it’s our duty not to squander them, but I am persuaded that focussing one’s talents on things outside oneself is more important than constant self-improvement.

                   Of course, it’s wonderful to do what we like, particularly when we’re good at it, but, from time to time, we should also do what we hate for the benefit of Q40 others. If this is a bitter pill to swallow, relish the bitterness. There, lies your self-fulfillment.

                   That is the end of Listening test.       

                   You now have ten minutes to transfer your answers to your answer sheet.