Transcript for test 15

Section 1

Man: Good Times Holidays. John speaking. How may I help you?

Woman: Oh hello! I'm calling to complain about a holiday we've just had.

Man: Oh dear. I'm sorry to hear about that.

Woman: Yes, we're very disappointed.

Man: What I need to do is to take some information from you, so that I can look up the relevant
files, and then we can discuss the specific problems. Would that be alright with you?

Woman: Yes - I hope it doesn't take too long.

Man: Oh no - let me just get a form ready ... First, the name, please. Of the person who booked
the holiday.

Woman: Well, our surname's Sharpe. S-H

Man: Like a knife?

Woman: Yes, but with an E on the end.

Man: And a first name?

Woman: I'm Alice, but I think it was my husband who actually booked the trip - his name's
Andrew.

Man: Fine. And then the address, please.

Woman: It's Flat 4 Beaconsfield - that's B-E-A-C-O-N-S-F-I-E-L-D House. That's Winchester,

Man: Thank you. And could I take a telephone number?

Woman: We're on 0374 56561 at home, or - do you mean during the day? - then my work
number's 0374 double-5 793.

Man: I'll put the work one down, assuming that's normal office hours?

Woman: Oh, yes!

Woman: I think so ... would it start 7-4?

Man: Er, no, usually with two or three letters ...

Woman: Uh-huh ... is this it - MH ?

Man: That sounds like it.

Woman: And then double-6-G-4.

Man: Thank you. Right, what's next ... uh-huh, now, did you book in conjunction with any kind
of special offer?

Man: Or did you book directly with us? Or maybe through a scheme your employer's part of?

Woman: Oh, OK, no, I think - yes, we were using an offer from a credit card company. They
always seem to have offers on - you get something with every bill, don't you?

Man: Yes, so many. Fine, and ... now, insurance. Did you have an insurance policy that came
with your booking?

Woman: Well, no, I mean it came under our Gold Star Policy ... so we didn't need extra.

Man: No, that's fine, it's just to check. Alright, nearly there. Now, what type of holiday was it?

Woman: Well, not very ... no, OK, it was called a Mid-winter Break in the brochure.

Man: Thank you. And when was the holiday?

Woman: We just got back - on January the twenty-first. And we started on the sixteenth.

Man: Fine. Right, I'm sorry about all that.

Woman: No, I understand.

Man: So, what was the problem you encountered?

Woman: There were two things that disappointed us, actually.

Man: Right.
Woman: In the first place, we were told that when we arrived at the station a taxi would meet us
and take us straight to the house, but in fact there wasn't one there. We had to wait for ages,
and then pay for one ourselves. So that was inconvenient and expensive.

Man: Oh, I'll look into that, see what went wrong.

Woman: And the other problem was that we'd been promised there would be a bicycle for each
of us stored at the house, ready to use, but there were only three, which is no good for a family
of four.

Man: No, it wouldn't be. OK, well I'll check into that as well. Now, if you can give me a few
hours, I'll get back to you this afternoon, and then we can discuss ...

Section 2

After months of discussion and planning we are very pleased to announce that the renovations
will be made to the West Wing of the university dormitories. Now with this good news, comes in
bad, as there will be some disruptions to your living environment. But we think once you hear
our plans, you're going to be very happy with what we will be doing. Firstly, if you'll just take a
moment to look at the plans we gave you as you came in. Firstly, on the eastern side of the
wing, you'll notice that there will be a change in the existing front entrance. It will be removed to
another location on the opposite side of the wing. I'm sure that a lot of you will be glad for that,
as our present configuration didn't allow for enough lighting. With the renovations will also come
the removal of the existing staircase, but not the column beside it. Now as we move west we
come to the location of the new security entrance. As with the old one, there will still be a need
for some new lighting. So we’re planning to install a number of overhead lights, which will make
entering and exiting safer for you all. It'll be at this new security entrance that the new wall will
be built to a two storey height. This gives you an idea of the size of the construction. Overall, the
width will be around 6 meters with the overall length being around 10, which I'm sure many of
you are going to really enjoy. More room for all of you living in the West Wing. Are there any
questions?

Now, as I mentioned there will be some issues, we will have to overcome regarding the
renovations. The first will be relocating some of you to new dormitories. 30 students will be
moving for a total of six weeks. Now, of those who will be moving you will be distributed to three
other temporary locations, the north, south and east dorm wings. 10 students will be relocated
to each wing. This means that some of you are going to need to get packing.

Don't worry about your new location. We're doing all we can to make your new temporary dorms
as comfortable as possible. In fact, as I speak we're making steps to ensure that you have study
desks, lamps and computer facilities and all of the other facilities you require to successfully
continue on with your studies or even repainting several of the rooms and the preparation for
your arrival. The changes to your dorms will be starting within a week. If you have any
problems, don't hesitate to contact my office. Now, I'm sure some of you have questions. I'm
happy to answer them now.

Section 3

Dr Wilson: Hello David, Jane.

Jane: Hello.

David: Hi.

Dr Wilson: So, how's the local history project going? Are you making good progress?

Jane: Yes and no.

Dr Wilson: Oh?

David: Well, we anticipated problems of various kinds. None of the group has much experience
of collaborating on projects. But we spent some time discussing how to go about it, and
thrashed out what seemed a useful approach, but it seems that Jane and I are the only ones
actually following the plan. That's meant that the whole project has been lacking coordination
and so we've fallen behind our schedule.

Dr Wilson: I see ... that's tricky.

Jane: Yes, it is. We felt that the targets had been defined, so we'd all know what to deal with,
but, looking back, we probably should have really specified individual responsibilities. As it is,
we only have a loose sense of what should be done by who.

Dr Wilson: Well, this is quite a common problem, actually. I take it that you've had enough group
meetings, so you're looking for an effective solution. If you go to the Resource Centre, I think
you'd find the advice service they provide there helpful at this point.

Jane: Thanks - we'll go there later.

David: On a specific note, I think we've got carried away with recruiting people to interview at
the expense of building up the reference section which I don't think is going to be solid enough.
Do you think that'll be a major problem?

Dr Wilson: Hmm, I'd have to see how much is there to be sure, but, well, you'll have to be
pragmatic at this point, I think. What you'd better do is ensure your methodology is really strong,
so at least you can't be faulted on that front. Then, if people challenge your results, at least
you've carefully reported how you reached them. Do you see what I mean?
Jane: Yes, I think one resource in relation to that that we haven't exploited as fully as we might
is the internet. I've taken a lot of journals off the library shelves to go through, but, actually, there
are websites where you can call up lists of approaches or data sets really quickly.

Dr Wilson: I think that's a good idea, yes.

Dr Wilson: Now, let's think about the field trip, and at least make sure that goes as well as
possible. You're going to Cambridge on the twenty-second?

Jane: The Monday, yes.

David: It's quite soon, now.

Dr Wilson: And in the morning, you'll be travelling and then getting settled into the hotel.

Jane: Uh-huh.

Dr Wilson: But you need to get down to work after lunch, of course. Now, I've arranged for you
to have a look at some useful visual material, especially photographs and old magazines and
newspapers, which is included in an exhibition at the library in the university.

David: That sounds like a good starting point.

Dr Wilson: There's quite a lot on show, so that'll occupy most of the afternoon. Then the
following morning, I want you to go and talk to someone in the City Library. His name's Jarvis
Gregson. He works in the Education Section there, and he's an expert on the area’s history.
Don't, of course, forget to take a tape recorder with you so that you can record what he tells
you.

Jane: And to have our questions ready.

Dr Wilson: Indeed. OK, and the afternoon's free for you to wander around, get the feel of the
place.

David: Do some sightseeing ...

Dr Wilson: As you wish - it's a beautiful city ... But it's back to work on Wednesday morning.
Concentrate on the central area, and walk around methodically. You'll have the plans I'm getting
ready for you from different periods and your task is to compare those with the make-up of the
city today. Make notes on how different kinds of shops and businesses have grown up, what's
gone, and so on.

Jane: I hope the weather's good!

David: We'll try! And when do we travel back?

Dr Wilson: That's up to you. You can either ...

Section 4

Good afternoon! In our lecture today, we will continue our study of people who inhabit the
northernmost regions of the world. Our focus will be on the native inhabitants of Alaska and
Canada, the Inuit Eskimos. They have been called the native inhabitants, as the Inuit were the
people who had most recently migrated across the gap between Alaska and Siberia. Distinctly
Asian in origin, the Inuit, which is literally translated the people in their native language,
developed their civilization in what is now the Bering Sea region about 1,000 years ago. their
culture spread Eastward and is called the “Thule culture” after the place in Northern Greenland
where archaeologists first discovered it. The first Europeans to meet Inuit people were “Norse
settlers” in what is now Northern Newfoundland Canada. These settlers lived there for a short
time around 1080. Approximately 500 years later, beginning in the 1500s, European Whalers
fishing cruise and explorers met many Inuit along the coast of Labrador. Russians and other
Europeans first met Alaskan Inuit in the Seventeen hundreds. 100 years later in the mid
eighteen hundreds, Whalers began to hunt in the Arctic. Some Inuit were employed by Whalers
and traded with them during that time. Perhaps, one of the most interesting aspects of the Inuit
is how they were able to survive and grow in such a harsh Arctic environment.

Firstly and not surprisingly their homes were well adapted to the freezing conditions. They lived
in predominantly two types of housing that would keep them warm. In the cold summer, they
would live in tents that were made from the skin of the animals they had hunted for food and
they also travelled in boats. These were called “Umiacts” by the natives. In the winter, they
would live in houses made of salt and when on hunting trips, they would commute by dogsled
and build temporary houses made from ice. These igloos, which is the Inuit word for house
when uniquely made with a sharp blade carved out of walrus tusk. They would cut large blocks
of hard pack snow about 3 meters wide out of the ground; the blocks would then be used to
build a 6-meter dome over a wide shallow hole. Within one or two hours an igloo upto to 10
meters in length could be built. It was weatherproof and large enough to house an entire family.

Very early in their history, they managed to develop the technology to hunt the huge bowhead
whale which was the staple food source for them at that time. They also hunted walruses and
seals. On land, they hunted polar bears, moose and various other game. The harsh
environment in which they lived meant that a steady supply of food was often difficult to come
by. Therefore the Inuit were people constantly on the move, looking for food, which meant that
their dwellings had to be easily built and easily dismantled. They inhabited the wide open land
and as such, moved freely around it in search of food. Today, the traditional way of life has
basically ended for the Inuit. They live in wooden homes rather than in snow houses, salt
houses or tents. They wear modern clothing instead of animal skin garments. Most Inuit speak
English and Russian. Some speak Danish while fewer still continue to hold onto the cultural
roots by passing on to the younger generation, their native language. The kayak and iniak: their
principal means of travel have given way to the motorboat and the snowmobile has replaced the
dog team. The combined percentage of the Inuit population in Alaska and Canada stands at
63%. The latter being 29% and the former around 34%. Some Alaskan Inuit live in towns and
cities but the majority live in small settlements and hunt and fish for most of their food. Most of
those in Canada live in towns and housing provided by……………….