talAudio Test 1.

mp3

Speaker 1 [Link] I am listening. Version 16208. You will hear a number of different
recordings and you will have to answer questions on what you hear. There will be time for
you to read the instructions and questions and you will have a chance to check your work.
All the recordings will be played once only. The test is in four sections. Write all your
answers in the listening question booklet. At the end of the test, you will be given 10
minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet. Now turn to section one on page two
of your question booklet. Section one. You will hear a man phoning to ask about a festival
in a town called Beacon. First you have some time to look at questions 1 to 6 on page two.
You will see that there is an example that has been done for you on this occasion. Only
the conversation relating to this will be played first. Beach and festival offers.

Speaker 2 [Link] Oh, hello. I want to check some details about the festival. I know
tickets are running out fast and I haven't got access to the Internet at present. My
computer's down.

Speaker 1 [Link] Okay, well, the first activity is on June the 19th at 7pm, and it's a
concert with local musicians performing.

Speaker 2 [Link] Hmm. Lovely.

Speaker 1 [Link] The activity on June the 19th is a concert. So a concert has been
written in 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. Beach and festival offers.

Speaker 2 [Link] Oh, hello. I want to check some details about the festival. I know
tickets are running out fast and I haven't got access to the Internet at present. My
computer's down.

Speaker 1 [Link] Okay, well, the first activity is on June the 19th at 7pm, and it's a
concert with local musicians performing.

Speaker 2 [Link] Hmm. Lovely. Is it in the theater, like, last year?

Speaker 1 [Link] Yes, that's right. And for the next activity on the 20th, the times
changed.

Speaker 2 [Link] Is that the tour?

Speaker 1 [Link] Yes. Now, it does say on the tickets that it's a 3.40 start, but that's
an error. There wasn't time to update them, unfortunately. So it should say 4.30 instead.
The correct time is on the website, though.

Speaker 2 [Link] Oh, right. Because one of my friends wants to go there to see Beach
with an expert and find out about the town and its history. Does she need to get a ticket in
advance?

Speaker 1 [Link] No. Just turn up at the station where the guide will be waiting. They'll
start from there. And I think the plan is to stop for a break in the park. And there's no
charge for the tour. And the tour will finish with a visit to the 16th century mill where they
used to make flour. It's recently been restored.

Speaker 2 [Link] Fine.

Speaker 1 [Link] And then on the 21st, there's an all day event for children.

Speaker 2 [Link] Oh, that could be good for my visitors. They're bringing theirs, you
see.

Speaker 1 [Link] Right. Well, the plan was to have a painting competition for the kids,
but it's now going to be cooking instead. And there'll be prizes for all the different age
groups.

Speaker 2 [Link] Oh, great.

Speaker 1 [Link] And it's in the beach and community center.

Speaker 2 [Link] Oh, yes, I know where that is.

Speaker 1 [Link] They don't need to bring any ingredients, but they'll need to have a
plate to put whatever they've made on so they can display it and then take it home.

Speaker 2 [Link] Sounds good. And are they going ahead with the fireworks in the
evening? Or is that canceled? There was an article in the paper after last year's display
which suggested it might not be happening again.

Speaker 1 [Link] That's right. No, that's still on. It's getting more popular each year
and having it in the town square was starting to be a bit difficult because of the numbers,
which is why it's next to the river this time. It'll be easy for large numbers of people to get
to.

Speaker 2 [Link] Yes, of course. I'm sure there's lots to look forward to.

Speaker 1 [Link] Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to
look at questions 7 to 10 on page two. Now listen and answer a question. 7 to 10.

Speaker 2 [Link] Okay. Now, I just want to check how it's going to impact me as a
local resident. I mean, some people last year thought it was too noisy at night.

Speaker 1 [Link] Yes, I know. And that's why this year, evening events won't go on
beyond 11.15. Now, I know that previously some activities lasted until 11.45. And the new
time applies now to all the events every evening.

Speaker 2 [Link] Okay.

Speaker 1 [Link] And another change perhaps you know about this already is that
because of high visitor numbers, parking in the town center isn't going to be allowed.
It'll be outside town.
Speaker 2 [Link] Oh, yes. To keep the streets clear, I suppose, for all the visitors. I did
know, actually. And it's not really going to be a problem for me, right? I mean, I could just
walk into town from my home.

Speaker 1 [Link] Okay. Well, anyway, if you want to check any more details about the
festival, once you're back online, you can look at [Link], and you'll be able to
comment on what activities you enjoyed and what would really help the organizers would
be if people could use the Web site to give feedback about what they enjoyed and that
kind of thing. This will help them plan for next year.

Speaker 2 [Link] That's probably a good idea. And with pricing, I know local residents.

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Speaker 1 [Link] That is the end of Section one. You now have half a minute to check
your answers. Now turn to section two on page three. Section two, you'll hear a tour guide
talking to some tourists who are going on a walking holiday in Spain. First you have some
time to look at questions 11 to 14 on page three. Now listen carefully and answer
questions. 11 to 14.

Speaker 3 [Link] Well, good evening, everyone. My name's Gary Payne, and I'll be
the leader for your walking holiday in Spain. And the purpose of this evening's meeting is
for us all to get to know each other in advance and for you to ask any questions you may
have about the holiday. So I'll begin by telling you a little bit about what to expect now. The
ferry crossing from England to Santander in Spain takes about 24 hours. We'll be sailing
on the Prince Regent, which was first launched in the 1980s, as well as the crew of 160.
It can accommodate about 2000 people and 600 cars and its sales at an average speed
of 37 kilometers an hour. There'll be an on board map on one of the decks (sàn tàu) which
charts the ship's progress during the voyage. Although our mini bus will be on one of the
vehicle decks in the boat, access to these decks is prohibited during the crossing. So
when you leave our bus, you'll have to take everything that you're likely to need with you,
like toiletries (đồ tắm rửa) or books and magazines (= reading material). In fact, it's
probably a good idea to put these things in a separate bag beforehand. You shouldn't
need snacks on board as meals are provided, and they're quite substantial. And if you
don't feel well or get a headache, you can get tablets from me. I always carry an
adequate supply. Now, once we're in Spain, we'll be based at a hostel in a small village
called La Vega de la Barna, about 120 kilometers from Santander. It's a very picturesque
area that's retained a lot of its traditional industry and culture. The hostel accommodations
are fairly simple. There are bunk beds and each room holds 4 to 8 people (not single
bedroom). But the bathrooms and showers are of a high standard (= good washing
facilities). The hostel residents have the use of tennis courts nearby. If you feel like a
game, we'll be given breakfast and an evening meal at the hostel. In general, the hostel is
relaxed, but there are a few rules which the owners enforce strictly. Smoking is not
allowed anywhere inside the building (allow in the gardens) and food and drink is
banned in the dormitories. Any chairs or tables which you take outside into the
gardens must be returned every evening to their original place (allowed). And finally,
the doors are locked after midnight, out of consideration for other guests who are
trying to sleep. ( not allowed to enter the hostel after a certain time)

Speaker 1 [Link] Before you hear the rest of the talk, you have some time to look at
questions 15 to 20 on page four. Now listen and answer questions. 15 to 20.
Speaker 3 [Link] Now that's enough about travel and accommodation. But before I
move on, I should say something briefly about equipment. There's a list in the guide book
you've been sent, but I'll just elaborate on one or two items. First boots. Make sure that the
ones you bring have thick soles （đế dày). That's the most important thing. Don't bring
trainers for walking in. Apart from anything else, they're dangerous because they slip. It's
important to bring spare socks (tất tự phòng) then about waterproofs. I'd strongly advise
you not to come with anything heavy, you know, with a thick lining. The ideal things are
those lightweight ones because they fold up small, and although they do keep the wind
out, they don't make you too hot. Right next sun cream. This is absolutely essential. And
regarding the strength. Make sure you get what's known as Total BLOCK (khả năng bảo
vệ toàn diện và hiệu quả của sản phẩm).

. Even factor 25 isn't good enough for those latitudes in July. Then let's see. Bring a folder
to keep your map and other papers in. You know, one of those plastic ones. It's not very
likely to rain, but if it does, you'll find it soaks everything. So that's the practicalities over.
Now, let me tell you a little bit about the area in Spain where we'll be walking the Picos de
Europa. It's a very popular area for tourists because of its spectacular peaks, although
they're only 25 kilometers from the sea. The highest peaks are more than 2600 meters
high and have year round snow caps on the highest peaks. You've got alpine plants
that are only free of their snow cover for a few months a year. Then you've got
Meadows( đồng cỏ) that are full of wildflowers at certain times of the year. Then the
northern slopes are covered by woodlands (rừng), giving homes to rare species such
as wolves and bears (= wildlife). And because of the variety of plant life which survives
in that part of Europe due to the traditional way of life. There you are.

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Speaker 1 [Link] That is the end of section two. You now have half a minute to check
your answers. Now turn to section three on page five. Section three. You will hear two
students called Sally and Steve discussing Sally's project on peer assessment, a system
where students mark each other's work. First you have some time to look at questions 21
to 24 on page five. Now listen carefully and answer questions. 21 to 24.

Speaker 1 I can't believe you're still in the library, Sally. You've been here all day. Are you
still working on your peer assessment project?

Speaker 4 [Link] Hi, Steve. Yes, I'm still here, and I'm nowhere near finished. I'm still
processing the reading I've done on peer assessment. I'm interested to see if students
mocking each other's work is beneficial. I know a lot of the other students are pretty
skeptical about its value as a way of assessing their performance (A). They think the
tutors are in favor of it because they don't have to spend so long marking besides
disagreeing. I think we can learn a great deal from it. Yes, I can see one advantage being
that it saves time spent going over things in class.

Speaker 4 [Link] Well, initially it doesn't seem to work that way, and it can be quite a
time consuming business because sometimes things have to be marked again if the
teacher thinks the student's assessments aren't reliable. The real game is the fact that the
students learn to stand back and assess their own assignments objectively because
they're much more familiar with the marking system.

Speaker 1 [Link] Yes, I can see that. It gives them an opportunity to reflect on
their own performance. (= B - increase students’ self-awareness)
Speaker 1 [Link] And how do they feel about having another student mark their work?

Speaker 1 [Link] Is that good for rapport?

Speaker 4 [Link] In some cases, yes. In some cases, no (not C). I think more
research is needed to answer that question.

Speaker 1 [Link] What happens if a tutor notices that the marks for a particular
assignment seem wrong?

Speaker 1 [Link] Should the students mark them again?

Speaker 4 [Link] That might not make any difference. So in that case, the tutor
would have to remark on all those assignments (B) and then go through the marking
criteria really carefully with the students on the next assignment with some sample
answers. Right. I've been reading about a research project on peer assessment. The
researchers invited a group of students from two different universities to attend a one day
conference. They also invited some university lecturers to attend. Each student gave a
short presentation on a project of their choice. Each of these presentations was assessed
individually by all the participants, both students and lecturers (A), to support their
marking. They used a set of assessment guidelines that had been prepared the day before
by a random selection of students.

Speaker 1 [Link] Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to
look at questions 25 to 30 on page six. Now listen and answer our questions. 25 to 30. So
were the student markers reliable?

Speaker 4 [Link] Well, comparisons were made between certain categories of student
markers and the group as a whole, including the lecturers. The findings showed that there
were some variations in the way different groups marked gender did come into play. For
example.

Speaker 1 [Link] I expect the male students were more generous when marking
female presenters. Were they?

Speaker 4 [Link] Quite the reverse (25B), actually. They were harder on the female
presenters than on the males, which wasn't what I'd expected either.

Speaker 1 [Link] Did female students show any bias towards male presenters?

Speaker 4 [Link] Interestingly, not. (26C)

Speaker 1 [Link] So. Does that suggest women are fairer and more reliable
markers than men?

Speaker 4 [Link] Well, I wouldn't go that far. It's only a small sample. But
significantly, the results showed that when women marked other women, this didn't
affect the grades they gave. Mm. (27C)

Speaker 1 [Link] What about age? Were you able to come to any conclusions about
that?
Speaker 4 [Link] Yes, because we had some mature students presenting and we
found the marks awarded to them by their younger peers. Well, rather more generous.
(27A)

Speaker 1 [Link] Oh, well, I wonder why that is. Now, you said there were groups of
students from two universities. Did they tend to favor students making presentations from
their own universities?

Speaker 4 [Link] It didn't seem to influence marking one way or the other (28C),
which is quite encouraging. We've been interested to see if students' personal
relationships affected their objectivity. One striking variation, though, was in the students
who'd been asked to help devise the criteria for the marking scheme. They were actually
the toughest markers of all, marking consistently below the tutors. (B)

Speaker 1 [Link] Really? Well, it sounds as if it's generated lots of useful data. I
expect you. We have a debt.

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That is the end of Section three. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Now
turn to section four on page seven. Section four. You will hear part of a linguistics lecture
about a language called Bish Llama that is spoken in the Pacific Islands. First, to have
some time to look at questions 31 to 40 on page seven. Now listen carefully and answer
questions. 31 to 40.

Speaker 3 [Link] Good morning and welcome back to the series of linguistics lectures.
Today I will be talking about the language Bish Llama, which is a form of pidgin English.
Linguists use the term pidgin to describe new languages that are created by combining
two or more existing languages, often in a simplified form. The study of pidgin languages is
important because it provides us with information about language change and
modification. The Pidgin English known as Bish Llama, is used in the South Pacific nation
of Vanuatu, a group of islands where 81/1 languages are still regularly used by the local
people. There are a further 17 local languages that are in danger of dying out and eight
that have been identified as extinct. This gives a total of 106/1 languages in all, a very
high number for a small country with a population of just 200,000 people. Then thinking
about foreign languages. English is the most important and has official status, largely
because it is the medium for all education purposes. However, it has been lamented as
the most widely spoken language in the country, used regularly by more than 90% of the
population. We should note here that in earlier times some people had negative feelings
towards the language. In fact, for many years it was commonly referred to as a broken
language, and its use was discouraged. But attitudes have changed dramatically. And
today the people of Vanuatu are very proud of this unique language. It is only when we
understand the historical context that we can comprehend just why Bishop Palmer
developed in Vanuatu. The first form of pidgin English in this region can be traced to
around 1800 when foreign traders arrived and local people were recruited to work as
sailors. On board multilingual ships, there was an obvious need for a common tongue and
pidgin English was born. This early former bush llama continued to spread as trade in the
Pacific developed in sandalwood and other local commodities. Then from about 1860, a lot
of people from Vanuatu traveled to Australia to work on the new plantations as
laborers again because of the multilingual nature of these workplaces. It was very
important to have a common language. Finally, in modern times, there have been other
pressures that have maintained the need for a common language like many other parts of
the world from about the 1950s. Vanuatu experienced a significant migration of its people
from small villages into the city. And it has been here that Bulama has really established
itself as the country's first language. So then how can we describe the language itself? In
general terms, pidgin languages can be defined as extremely simple versions of the
original language. However, this is not a satisfactory definition in this case, and linguists
prefer to describe Bulama as a developed pidgin because it has more rules and ideas
than most simple pidgin languages found in other parts of the world. Let's think first about
the vocabulary, because Britain was a colonial power. The majority of Bislama’s
vocabulary is derived from English. However, some care needs to be taken here. For
example, the word from Belgium can also mean because of. So we need to be aware that
words can have a wider range of meanings. Ambitious drama. Indeed, there are
numerous other potentially misleading terms. And English is not the only contributor to the
vocabulary. Again because of the region's history. There are some words around 5 to
10% that are derived from French. Then a relatively small number of words have been
taken from local Pacific languages. Usually this is the case where there is no English
equivalent for naturally occurring phenomena or to describe some aspect of the culture
that is unique to the country. Finally, a word about grammar. Although the vocabulary is
based largely on English, it's important to note that the grammatical structure of llama is
derived from patterns common in the local languages of Vanuatu. So for example, there
are two distinct pronouns meaning we. One means I and you. And another means I. And
some others. But not you. Sounds confusing in English, but in the local languages. Such
distinctions are common. A different example concerns the word long. It is almost the
only preposition and best lama and may be used in place of a whole range of
English words such as at two with on, in and so on. Well, that is the end of the formal
part of the lecture. If you have any questions now, I'll be most happy to.

Speaker 1 [Link] That is the end of Section four. 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 listening answer sheet. You have 2 minutes left. You have one minute
left. Please stop writing and wait for your question booklet to be collected.