Practice Test A - Listening Transcripts - Close

Practice Test A - Listening Transcripts
Voice1:

WOMAN: Oh, hello. Is it possible for you to help me, please?

MAN: Surely. Welcome to Kingfisher Travels. How may I help you?

WOMAN: Oh, well, I need to book a flight to Montreal. I plan to visit my Mimi and other family members. The whole family is getting together to celebrate Mimi’s one hundredth birthday. I’d like to go on May 20 and spend the week there.

MAN: Oh, I’m afraid I’m not from Quebec, but I believe you are referring to your grandmother?

WOMAN: Yes. I am.

MAN: Well, congratulations. So you would be departing on May 20 and want to return after a week. Let’s see. That would be on Saturday the twenty-seventh.

WOMAN: We’d like to leave on the twenty eighth, if that is possible.

MAN: Ah, let me check on it. I’m afraid there are no flights available for May 20.

WOMAN: What other dates are there?

MAN: Well, there is one for the day before on the nineteenth. I could book you for that one.

WOMAN: Actually, my husband and I were hoping to leave on the evening of the twentieth. We both have to work on that day. That’s why we want an evening flight. Is there any flight the next day?

MAN: Let me check. There is a flight on the twenty second, but it departs at 1AM. The next flight would be on Tuesday the twenty fourth. Is that okay?

WOMAN: No. It wouldn’t. I suppose I’ll have to talk to my husband first before making a decision.

Voice2:

MAN: Welcome back. Have you made a decision?

WOMAN: Yes. I have. I talked to my husband and we decided to take the early morning flight in twenty seconds.

MAN: Oh, good. Shall I book you a flight then?

WOMAN: Well, what can you tell me about the flight?

MAN: The airline is Northwestern. It departs Yellowknife at 1AM and travels to Vancouver, which is a three hour flight.

WOMAN: Vancouver. How long will we be in Vancouver?

MAN: You will have to switch planes there, but your layover will be for three hours. Your second flight departs Vancouver at 9AM, and you’ll arrive in Montreal at 5PM local time.

WOMAN: Yuck. That’s a whole night and day of traveling. Isn’t there anything else?

MAN: I’m afraid that’s the only one. Oh oh, wait. I’m sorry. I just noticed there is another flight. It’s an Air Canada Express flight. It leaves Yellowknife at 01:30 to Vancouver. You’ll have a forty five minute layover. The second flight leaves Vancouver at 05:45 AM and will arrive at 01:45PM.

WOMAN: Alright. I’ll go with that.

MAN: Alright. I’ll need the IDs of both you and your husband in order to book the flights. Do you have those?

WOMAN:I have my ID. Can I still purchase the tickets even though I don’t have my husband’s?

MAN: Oh, I’m afraid not.

WOMAN: I guess I’ll have to come back this evening with my husband then. Voice3:

MAN: Welcome back. I was expecting to see you this evening. You returned rather quickly.

WOMAN: Thanks. I just met my husband on the way for lunch, and he gave me his ID.

MAN: That sounds great.

WOMAN: So I want to book the Air Canada Express leaving at 01:30.

MAN: Okay. You said that you wanted tickets for both you and your husband, right?

WOMAN: That’s right. Let me give you the IDs. This is mine, and here is my husband’s.

MAN: Thank you. Everything seems to be in order, missus Osborne. Now, let’s run up the total for you. Two tickets to Montreal from Yellowknife aboard Air Canada Express will be $429 each. Your total is $858. How would you like to pay?

WOMAN: Well, I don’t keep that much cash with me. I can pay either by card or by check. Will either do?

MAN: We take both. So check or card?

WOMAN: I’ll try my credit card. Here you go.

MAN: Thanks. I’m afraid I can’t take this card. It’s expired.

WOMAN: Expired? Let me see. Oh, yes. I’m sorry. I guess I’ll have to write a check. Whom do I write it to?

MAN; Kingfisher Travels, LLC.

WOMAN: Kingfisher Travels, LLC. Alright. You said $858? Alright. Here you go.

MAN: Thank you, missus Osborne. Let me print your tickets for you and you’ll be all set.

WOMAN: Great.

Voice4:

MAN: Hi, Ethel. You’re late for lunch.

WOMAN: Oh, hi, Fred. Yeah. I know. I was busy finishing up the project I’ve been assigned.

MAN: I guess it’s really important. Otherwise, you would never miss lunch,

WOMAN: I know. I know. Anyway, the deadline is today, and I wanted to finish it before lunch. Now I can start the next project, our new course.

MAN: Which course is that?

WOMAN: Business English.

MAN: It sounds interesting, much better than accounts. I’m finding it boring. All day, it’s nothing but numbers.

WOMAN: Well, maybe you can transfer and try something new.

MAN: I would, but I’m planning to become a financial planner. I want to help people build wealth.

WOMAN: That sounds exciting. How are you getting on with that?

MAN: Well, I’m in my final year, and once I pass, I will have to take the CPA exam. That will allow me to practice within the province. From there, I could start my own business or get a job elsewhere as a CPA. So do you have any special plans for your future?

WOMAN: Actually, no. I mean, I’m fine where I’m at in life. I have my husband and children. I really like my job. We own our house, so I have no complaints. I wouldn’t mind taking some courses at the college, but right now, I don’t have the time as the kids are still quite young.

MAN: Well, maybe you can work something out with your husband so that you could do that. You know, maybe take some night classes while he watches the children.

WOMAN: That sounds like an idea. Thanks.

MAN: No problem. Hey. I better get back to work. I’ll see you around.

Voice5:

WOMAN: I want to thank you for your time. I understand that you are a railroad historian, and I’m eager to learn about the transcontinental railroad of Canada.

MAN: You’re quite welcome. While I was serving as the curator of the Canadian Railways Museum, I’d written a number of books on the history of Canadian railroads, and one of them mentioned about it.

WOMAN: Amazing. What can you tell us about Canada’s Continental Railroad? I know prior to 1860, there were a number of railways operating in Canada, but it wasn’t until then when a transcontinental railroad was attempted.

MAN: Actually, that’s not really true. You see, it wasn’t until the eighteen sixties when the first successful attempt at a transcontinental railroad was completed. It took twenty years for the Canadian Pacific Railway to accomplish this. Now prior to 1849, there were only two railways operating in Canada. Both were short lines, serving a predominant area.

WOMAN: What were these railroads?

MAN: The first was the Champlain and Saint Lawrence Railroad, which opened in 1836 in Montreal. It operated seasonally and linked traffic between the Saint Lawrence River Valley and Lake Champlain. Goods would be collected on the Saint Lawrence River and then transported to Lake Champlain and then be carried to other areas by ship.

WOMAN: How many other attempts were made after this?

MAN: Well, there weren’t other attempts to create a transcontinental railroad. But when the guarantee act of 1849 was passed, an increased expansion of railways was seen through all Canadian territories because the government guaranteed profits. This not only allowed for excessive growth in areas that were not profitable, but it also resulted in bankruptcy of many territorial governments.

WOMAN: So going back to what you said earlier, the Canadian Pacific Railroad was the first successful attempt. Why was that so?

MAN: Well, because the territorial governments were bankrupt, the financing for the railroad required a different approach. This was done by allowing financing through private funds and massive land grants in the Canadian Prairies. Moreover, the government was able to provide $25,000,000 and guaranteed a monopoly of all rail traffic to the company that did this. So this led to the formation of the Canadian Pacific Railroad as a private company.

WOMAN: Were there any stipulations that the Canadian Pacific Railroad had to keep?

MAN: Yes. And it was this. The railroad had to be constructed completely under the government’s control.

WOMAN: Wow. When was the railroad completed?

MAN: It was finished in 1885 with the final spikes being driven in several places. The most significant was the final spike in British Columbia, which marked its end at the western portion of the continent. Effectively, the railway linked British Columbia in the West to the Maritime Provinces in the East.

WOMAN: This must have been a very significant achievement.

MAN: Yes. Of course. It allowed for the unification of all Canadian territories. Also, it led to a booming of the Canadian economy for the next thirty years.

WOMAN: I would imagine it also opened up large areas of Canada for settlement.

MAN: Indeed, it did. And it was the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railroad that marked the golden age of the Canadian Railways.

Voice6:

WOMAN: Halifax born skater, Christy Hendrix, won the silver medal in the women’s mass starting during the world distance speed skating championships held in Switzerland on Tuesday.

For those who do not know what mass start refers to, it’s a format in which a large number of people participating in a race begin all at once. Halifax residents and Canadians as a whole are proud of Hendrix who finished the race in twenty nine point twenty four seconds.

The race was a close match between Hendrix and the winner, Helga von Buskirk of Germany. It was so close that the two were neck to neck for nearly the entire race. Von Buskirk finished one eighth of a second ahead of Hendrix.

Unfortunately, what may have caused the delay for Hendrix was that she suffered a misstep as she was attempting to overtake Russian skater, Irina Sarapova, during the eighth lap.

She quickly recovered and was able to keep up with Von Buskirk and even overtook her for a brief period during the ninth lap. Her silver medal was the third medal earned for Canada during the competition, which followed the women’s sprint who earned a gold and a bronze in the single sprint.

For team Canada, Canadian skaters finished in the top 10 for all the races. For Hendrix, she now holds four medals in the mass start since it was introduced several years ago. She won silver medals in the world championships in 2015, ’20 ’16, as well as gold in 2017.

Video:

MAN1: Well, that was a wonderful session. I’ve never had such a massive fitness session before. I enjoyed it to the core. We should inculcate this routine more often. No? How did you find it, Diana?

WOMAN: Indeed. It was amazing. I really love dancing. And when it comes to Zumba, I can’t stop myself. And, yeah, you’re right. Let’s have more of such sessions. It will really give everyone an essential break from the hardcore workout routine. What’s to say, John?

MAN2: A? Yes. It does. But I don’t buy into making it part of routine. Such breakout sessions should be carried out once in a blue moon. Otherwise, we’d just be losing the charm of such sessions. I rather feel that we must introduce our gym members to HIIT.

MAN1: What’s HIIT?

MAN2: You don’t know about HIIT? Well, it is high intensity interval training, and it’s really trending. I mean, we should definitely go for it. Since we’re known for keeping up with new fitness trends, this must be our new pitch.

WOMAN: I think we’re already offering a lot of such sessions, and adding to the list would make it more complicated. I don’t find it fitting in. What’s your take, Nick?

MAN1: Yeah. I also really don’t find it appealing since we’re already doing something similar. Plus, how would we manage the additional costs? Asking the members to pay for it won’t be easy.

MAN2: But guys, it’s different from those we’re actually providing. The harder you work out, the more you burn fat and calories. That’s the basis of HIT, and that’s what makes it popular everywhere.

WOMAN: I see it as yet another form of shredding that contributes to cutting down the fat. I guess we should move on. Let’s think of something fresh.

MAN: Why don’t we plan for some super weekends where we can carry out unique fitness activities? To pull in more crowds, we surely need to add value to our services. We could even try doing some promotional campaigns, maybe something like a boot camp.

WOMAN: Now we could wait for that. Instead, we must rely on our social media handles. One of my friends is a social media analyst. After all, that’s where today’s youth spend most of their time. We can really promote our brand there and get more people. Let’s start and we’ll keep an eye on the results.

Voice7:

WOMAN: The Manitoba ban provisional government has voiced its decision to ban the use of cell phones in all classrooms. While some may herald this ban, there are many who are voicing concerns that this ban will be both ineffective and impossible to enforce.

The ban is to begin at the start of the next school year according to a press release by education minister Leon Russell. She goes further by stating that this decision is supported by a survey in which 97% of the respondents have endorsed such a ban.

Whilst this may be true, many educationalists and parents argue that the government is moving too quickly to introduce such a ban and cite that there’s not enough evidence to support the scope of such a ban.

Robert Reid of the Manitoba Institute of Education Studies at Winnipeg University believes that one can’t simply ask students to get rid of their cell phones. It’s like telling them not to eat or breathe. Reid feels that the ban is not going to work. Frances Komba is another critic. She’s a former parent association president of Winnipeg College.

She notes that enforcing such a ban will be challenging. According to her, this would lead to the development of a special staff police force to ensure the ban is enforced. In the end, this would waste time, and little work would get done as a result.

There have been some schools and school boards who’ve introduced similar bans throughout the nations recently. However, Manitoba is the only province to do so if the ban takes effect in the fall. According to government sources, it will be up to individual schools and boards to enforce the ban and how to enforce it.

This could include turning in of phones during class times, casual agreements between students and teachers, or other means. Minister Russell said in a press conference that using cell phones distracts students from learning.

The ban is to help students focus on acquiring the necessary skills needed in arithmetic, writing, and reading. Russell’s claim is supported by several studies, including a paper written in 02/2014, which found that student performance can actually increase in a significant manner when cell phones are banned.

However, Reid claims that such findings merely confirm what he suggests as a working assumption. Essentially, it’s an assumption that phones are distracting. He notes that what’s needed is an intensive study to be conducted to determine once and for all the status of cell phone use in the classroom.