LISTENING TRANSCRIPT

PART 1
ROB: Good morning. Stretton Festival box office. How can I help you?
MELANIE: Oh, hello. My family and I are on holiday on the area, and we’ve seen some posters
about the 1 ___________________ this week. Could you tell me about some of the
events, please?
ROB: Of course.
MELANIE: First of all, are there still tickets available for the jazz band on Saturday?
ROB: There are, but only £18. The £12 seats have all been sold.
MELANIE: OK. And the 2 ___________________ is the school, isn’t it?
ROB: Yes, that’s right, the secondary school. Make sure you don’t go to the primary school by
mistake! And there’s an additional performer who isn’t mentioned on the posters –
Carolyn Hart is going to play with the band.
MELANIE: Oh, I think I’ve heard her on the radio. Doesn’t she play the oboe, or flute or something?
ROB: Yes the flute. She usually plays with symphony orchestras, and 3
___________________ this is her first time with a jazz band.
MELANIE: Well, I’d certainly like to hear her. Then the next thing I want to ask about is the duck
races – I saw a poster beside a river. What are they, exactly?
ROB: Well, you buy a yellow plastic duck – or as many as you like – they’re a 4
___________________ each. And you write your name on each one. There’ll be several
races, depending on the number of ducks taking part. And John Stevens, a champion
swimmer who lives locally, is going to start the races. All the ducks will be launched into
the river at the back of the cinema, then they’ll float along the river for 500 metres, as far
as the railway bridge.
MELANIE: And are there any 5 ___________________?
ROB: Yes, the first duck in each race to arrive at the finishing line wins its owner free tickets
for the concert on the last night of the festival.
MELANIE: You said you can buy a duck? I’m sure my children will both want one.
ROB: They’re on sale at a stall in the market. You can’t miss it – it’s got an 6
___________________ sign showing a couple of ducks.
MELANIE: OK. I’ll go there this afternoon. I remember walking past there yesterday. Now could you
tell me something about the flower show, please?
ROB: Well, 7 ___________________ is free, and the show is being held in Bythwaite Hall.
 MELANIE: Sorry, how do you spell that?
ROB: B-Y-T-H-W-A-I-T-E. Bythwaite.
MELANIE: Is it easy to find? I’m no very 8 ___________________ with the town yet.
ROB: Oh, you won’t have any problem. It’s right in the centre of Stretton. It’s the only old
building in the town, so it’s easy to recognise.
MELANIE: I know it. I presume it’s open all day.
ROB: Yes, but if you’d like to see the prizes being 9 ___________________ for the best
flowers, you’ll need to be there at 5 o’clock. The prizes are being given by a famous
actor, Kevin Shapless. He lives nearby and gets involved in a lot of community events.
MELANIE: Gosh, I’ve seen him on TV. I’ll definitely go to the prize-giving.
ROB: Right.
MELANIE: I’ve seen a list of plays that are being performed this week, and I’d like to know which
are suitable for my children, and which ones my husband and I might go to.
ROB: How old are your children?
MELANIE: Five and seven. What about ‘The Mystery of Muldoon’?
ROB: That’s 10 ___________________ at five to ten-year-olds.
MELANIE: So if I take my children, I can expect them to enjoy it more than I do?
ROB: I think so. If you’d like something for yourself and your husband and leave your children
with a babysitter, you might like to see ‘Fire and Flood’ – it’s about events that really
happened in Stretton two hundred years ago, and children might find it rather 11
___________________.
MELANIE: Oh, thanks for the warning. And finally, what about ‘Silly Sailor’?
ROB: That’s a comedy, and it’s for young and old. In fact, it won an award in the Stretton
Drama Festival a couple of months ago.
MELANIE: OK. Well, goodbye, and thanks for all the information. I’m looking 12
___________________ to the festival!
ROB: Goodbye.

PART 2
Good morning, and welcome to the museum – one with a remarkable range of 13
___________________, which I’m sure you’ll enjoy. My name’s Greg, and I’ll tell you about the various
collections as we go round. But before we go, let me just give you a taste of what we have here.
Well, for one thing, we have a fine collection of twentieth and twenty-first century paintings, many by
very 14 ___________________ artists. I’m sure you’ll recognise several of the paintings. This is the
gallery that attracts the largest number of visitors, so it’s best to go in early in the day, before the crowds
arrive.
The there are the nineteenth-century paintings. The museum was opened in the middle of that century,
and several of the artists each 15 ___________________ one work – to get the museum started, as it
were. So they’re of special interest to us – we feel closer to them than to other works.
The sculpture gallery has a number of fine exhibits, but I’m afraid it’s currently closed for refurbishment.
You’ll need to come back next year to see it 16 ___________________, but a number of the sculptures
have been moved to other parts of the museum.
‘Around the world’ is a temporary exhibition – you’ve probably seen something about it on TV or in the
newspapers. It’s created a great deal of interest, because it presents objects from every continent and
many countries, and provides information about their social 17 ___________________ – why they
were made, who for, and so on.
Then there’s the collection of coins. This is what you might call a focused, specialist collection, because
all the coins come from this country, and were produced between two thousand and a thousand years
ago. And many of them were discovered by 18 ___________________ people digging their gardens
and donated to the museum!
All our porcelain and glass we left to the museum by its founder, when he died in 1878. And in the
terms of his will, we’re not allowed to add anything to that collection: he believed it was perfect in itself,
and we don’t see any reason to disagree!
OK, that was something about the collections, and now here’s some more 19 ___________________
information, in case you need it. Most of the museum facilities are downstairs, in the basement, so you
go down the stairs here. When you reach the bottom of the stairs, you’ll find yourself in a sitting area,
with comfortable chairs and sofas where you can have a rest before continuing your 20
___________________ of the museum.
We have a very good restaurant, which serves excellent food all day, in a relaxing atmosphere. To
reach it, when you get to the bottom of the stairs, go straight ahead to the far side of the sitting area,
then turn right into the corridor. You’ll see the door on the restaurant facing you.
If you just want a snack, or if you’d like to eat somewhere with facilities for children, we also have a
café. When you reach the bottom of the 21 ___________________, you’ll need to go straight ahead,
turn right into the corridor, and the café is immediately on the right.
And talking about children, there are baby-changing facilities downstairs: cross the sitting area,
continue straight ahead along the corridor on the left and you and your body will find the 22
___________________ on the left-hand side.
The cloakroom where you should leave coats, umbrella and any large bags, is on the left hand side of
the sitting area. It’s through the last door before you come to the corridor.
There are toilets on every floor, but in the basement they’re the first rooms on the left when you get
down there.
OK, now if you’ve got anything to leave in the 23 ___________________, please do that now, and then
we’ll start our tour.
PART 3
SUPERVISOR: Hi, Joanna, good to meet you. Now, before we discuss your new research project.
I’d like to hear something about the 24 ___________________ study you did last
year for your Master’s degree. So how did you choose your subjects for that?
JOANNA: Well, I had six subjects, all professional musicians, and all female. There were
violinists and there was also a cello player and a pianist and a flute player. They
were all very highly regarded in the music world and they’d done quite 25
___________________ tours in different continents, and quite a few had won
prizes and competitions as well.
SUPERVISOR: And they were quite young, weren’t they?
JOANNA: Yes, between 25 and 29 – the mean was 27.8. I wasn’t specifically look for artists
who’d produced recordings, but this is something that’s just taken for 26
___________________ these days, and they all had.
SUPERVISOR: Right. Now you collected your data through telephone interviews, didn’t you?
JOANNA: Yes. I realised if I was going to interview leading musicians it’s only be possible
over the phone because they’re so busy. I recorded them using a telephone
recording adaptor. I’d been worried about the 27 ___________________, but it
worked out all right. I managed at least a 30-minute interview with each subject,
sometimes longer.
SUPERVISOR: Did doing it on the phone make it more stressful?
JOANNA: I’d thought it might … it was all quite informal though and in fact they seemed very
keen to talk. And I don’t think using the phone meant I got less rich data rather the
28 ___________________ in fact.
SUPERVISOR: Interesting. And you were looking at how performers dress for concert
performances?
JOANNA: That’s right. My research 29 ___________________ the way players see their role
as a musician and how this is linked to the type of clothing they decide to wear. But
that focus didn’t emerge immediately. When I started I was more interested in trying
to investigate the 30 ___________________ of what was worn on those listening,
 and also whether someone like a violinist might adopt a different style of clothing
from, say, someone playing the flute or the trumpet.
SUPERVISOR: It’s interesting that the choice of dress is up to the 31 ___________________, isn’t
it?
JOANNA: Yes, you’d expect there to be rules about it in orchestras, but that’s quite rare.
SUPERVISOR: You only had women performers in your study. Was that because male musicians
are less worried about fashion?
JOANNA: I think a lot of the men are very much influenced by fashion, but in social 32
___________________ the choices they have are more limited … they’d really
upset audiences if they strayed away from quite narrow boundaries.
SUPERVISOR: Hmm. Now, popular music has quite different 33 ___________________. Did you
read Mike Frost’s article about the dress of women performers in popular music?
JOANNA: No.
SUPERVISOR: He points out that a lot of female singers and musicians in popular music tend to
dress down in performances, and wear less 34 ___________________ clothes,
like jeans instead of skirts, and he suggests this is because otherwise they’d just
be discounted as trivial.
JOANNA: But you could argue they’re just wearing what’s practical … I mean, a pop-music
concert is usually a pretty energetic affair.
SUPERVISOR: Yes, he doesn’t make that point, but I think you’re probably right. I was interested
by the effect of the 35 ___________________ at a musical performance when it
came to the choice of dress.
JOANNA: The subjects I interviewed felt this was really important. It’s all to do with what we
understand by performance as a public event. They believed the audience had 36
___________________ expectations and it was up to them as performers to fulfil
these expectations to show a kind of esteem …
SUPERVISOR: … they weren’t afraid of looking as if they’d made an effort to look good.
JOANNA: Mmm. I think in the past the audience would have had those expectation of one
another too, but that’s not really the case now, not in the UK anyway.
SUPERVISOR: No.
JOANNA: And I also got interested in what sports scientists are doing too, with regard to
clothing.
SUPERVISOR: Musicians are quite 37 ___________________ physically, aren’t they, because the
movements they carry out are very intensive and repetitive, so I’d imagine some
 features of sports clothing could safeguard the players from the potentially
dangerous effects of this sort of thing.
JOANNA: Yes, but musicians don’t really consider it. They avoid clothing that obviously 38
___________________ their movements, but that’s as far as they go.
SUPERVISOR: Anyway, coming back to your own research, do you have any idea where you’re
going from here?
JOANNA: I was thinking of doing a study using an audience, including …

PART 4
As we saw in the last lecture, a major cause of climate change is the rapid rise in the level of
carbon dioxide in the 39 ___________________ over the last century. If we could reduce the amount
of CO2, perhaps the rate of climate change could also be slowed down. One potential method involves
enhancing the role of the soil that plants grow in, with regard to absorbing CO2. Rattan Lal, a soil
scientist from Ohio Stage University, in the USA, claims that the world’s 40 ___________________
soils could potentially absorb 13 per cent of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere – the equivalent of
the amount released in the last 3o years. And research is going on into how this might be achieved.
Lal first came to the idea that soil might be 41 ___________________ in this way not through
an interest in climate change, but rather out of concern for the land itself and the people dependent on
it. Carbon-rich soil is dark, crumbly and fertile, and retains some water. But erosion can 42
___________________ if soil is dry, which is a likely effect if it contains inadequate amounts of carbon.
Erosion is of course bad for people trying to grow crops or breed animals on that terrain. In the 1970s
and ‘80s, Lal was studying soils in Africa so devoid of organic matter that the ground had become 42
___________________ hard, like cement. There he met a pioneer in the study of global warming, who
suggested that carbon from the soil had moved into the atmosphere. This is now looking increasingly
likely.
Let me explain. For millions of years, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have been
regulated, in part, by a natural partnership between plants and microbes – tiny 43
___________________ in the soil. Plants absorb CO2 from the air and transform it into sugars and
other carbon-based substance. While a proportion of these carbon products remain in the plant, some
transfer from the roots to fungi and soil microbes, which store the carbon in the soil.
The invention of agriculture some 10,000 years ago 44 ___________________ these ancient
soil-building processes and led to the loss of carbon from the soil. When humans started draining the
natural topsoil, and ploughing it up for planting, they exposed the buried carbon to oxygen. This created
carbon dioxide and released it into the air. And in some places, grazing by 45 ___________________
animals has removed all vegetation, releasing carbon into the air. Tons of carbon have been stripped
from the world’s soils – where it’s needed – and pumped into the atmosphere.
So what can be done? Researchers are now coming up with evidence that even modest changes
to farming can significantly help to reduce the amount of carbon in the 46 ___________________.
Some growers have already started using an approach known as regenerative agriculture. This aims
to boost the fertility of soil and keep it moist through established practices. These include keeping fields
planted all year round, and increasing the variety of plants being grown. Strategies like these can
significantly increase the amount of carbon stored in the soil, so 47 ___________________
researchers are now building a case for their use in combating climate change.
One American investigation into the potential for storing CO2 on agricultural lands is taking place
in California. Soil scientist Whendee Silver of the University of California, Berkeley, is conducting a first-
of-its-kind study on a large cattle farm in the state. She and her students are testing the effects on
carbon 48 ___________________ of the compost that is created from waste – both agricultural,
including manure and cornstalks, and waste produced in gardens, such as leaves, branches, and lawn
trimmings.
In Australia, soil ecologist Christine Jones is testing another promising soil-enrichment strategy. Jones
and 12 farmers are working to build up soil carbon by cultivating grasses that stay green all year round.
Like composting, the approach has already been proved experimentally; Jones now hopes to show that
it can be applied on working farms and that the resulting carbon capture can be 49
___________________ measured.
It’s hoped in the future that projects such as these will demonstrate the role that farmers and
other land managers can play in reducing the harmful effects of greenhouse gases. For example, in
countries like the United States, where most farming 50 ___________________ use large applications
of fertiliser, changing such long-standing habits will require a change of system. Rattan Lal argues that
farmers should receive payment not just for the corn or beef they produce but also for the carbon they
can store in their soil.
Another study being carried out …