Practice Test A - Listening Transcripts - Close

Practice Test A - Listening Transcripts
Voice1:

WOMAN: Hi there. You look a little lost. Can I help you find something?

MAN: Actually, you can. You see, I’m supposed to meet my family at the Jungle Cruise. We’re supposed to meet there for lunch at the Tiki Room.

WOMAN: Oh, that’s a great restaurant. Well, I’m afraid you’re on the other side of the park in Futureland.

MAN: Well, can you tell me how to get to let’s see. What is the name of that area of the park?

WOMAN: It’s Exotic Land, and you take the main path from here. You’ll reach the main square. All you have to do is turn right, and you’ll arrive at Exotic Land.

MAN: So I just have to walk down the main path then.

WOMAN: You could also take the monorail which circles the park or the gondolas that cross overhead.

MAN: Oh, no. I’m afraid I don’t want to take the gondolas. I’m afraid of heights. I’ll just follow your directions then.

WOMAN: Okay. Just remember, it’s a bit of a walk from here to the square, but follow the main path and then turn right. Okay?

MAN: Down the main path and then turn right. Okay. I think I got it. Thank you.

WOMAN: You’re welcome. Enjoy your visit.

Voice2:

WOMAN: Hello again. Were you able to find the place that you were looking for?

MAN: I must have taken a wrong turn. I actually ended up in Storybook Land. There are a lot of rides and things there that I’d like my children to see, but they’re with my wife.

WOMAN: You did take a wrong turn. I told you to turn at the main square.

MAN: The main square? I don’t think I ended up there. I remember turning right, but ended up at the Magic Castle, and I got lost trying to find my way out of that area.

WOMAN: I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t think you were paying attention. You walked past the main square into Storybook Land.

MAN: I did. Well, no wonder I got lost. I’m supposed to meet my family in thirty minutes. Do I still have time to make it?

WOMAN: Sure. If you walk, it’ll take you twenty minutes, but the monorail will take just five minutes to get there. The station is right behind you.

MAN: You mean over there?

WOMAN: Yes. And you’ll want to get off at Safariland Station.

MAN: Safariland Station. Alright. Thanks again.

Voice3:

MAN: Well, I’m back.

WOMAN: Let me guess. You went past the Safariland Station.

MAN: I did. I realized it when I went past Pioneer Land.

WOMAN: So what’s the problem? You seem to be distracted easily.

MAN: Yes. I guess so. It’s my first visit to the park, and well, there are so many things to see and do, and I just wanted to take a look at everything.

WOMAN: Yes. That’s true. I think what you need is a map. I don’t want to take the chance of you getting lost again.

MAN: Perhaps you can escort me there.

WOMAN: It would be my pleasure, but I must stay in this vicinity. But there are always people like me, you know, park attendants, who are always around the main path. If you get lost, ask any of them.

MAN: Okay. Well, I think I’ll try walking to the jungle cruise. But if you point me in the right direction, I’ll certainly follow your instructions.

WOMAN: Okay. But if you are uncertain, do ask an attendant. Okay?

MAN: Alright. I will. You said straight down and turn right at the main square?

WOMAN: Yes. I did. And enjoy your time here at the park.

Voice4:

WOMAN: Hi there, Bruce. It’s good to see you. I see Cliff has recovered from his injury from the last game. I’m glad.

MAN: Hi, Mabel. That he has. He twisted his ankle pretty badly, and this is his first practice since then.

WOMAN: Well, he’s looking good, though he’s moving a bit slow.

MAN: Well, the doctor has given him permission to practice, but only light. He’ll have to sit out the game on Saturday unless a substitute is needed.

WOMAN: I’m sure he’ll recover well. He’s our star forward.

MAN: That he is, but health comes first. So are you planning on sending Tommy to that hockey camp at the end of the season?

WOMAN: Yes. We are. Tommy said he wants to go, and the deal was that if he could keep up his grades, he can go. So far, he’s been averaging mostly a’s in his classes.

MAN: Great job, Cliff. Mary and I talked about the camp with Cliff, but he said he’d like to take a break from hockey for the summer.

WOMAN: Oh, why is that? I mean, he’s got talent.

MAN: Indeed, he does. But he says he’s been into hockey for so long that he would like to try other things. He’s been talking about taking some courses in arts at the community center.

WOMAN: Art? Well, it’s always good to encourage a child’s interests, but why does he want to pursue art?

MAN: I think it has to do with his class teacher. She introduced him to drawing and even some painting. He’s also been watching this painting show on television, and he’s fascinated by the artist Robert Ross. He keeps saying that he wants to paint just like that guy on TV. It’ll be good for him.

WOMAN: Yeah. It’ll give him a chance to expand his horizons. I’ve tried this with Tommy, but all he wants to do is hockey. Hey. It looks like the practice is over. It’s good to talk to you, Bruce.

MAN: You too, Mabel. Say hi to Jeff for me.

Voice5:

WOMAN: Hello, sir. It’s nice to meet you. I never knew that Canada had a space program.

MAN: I’m surprised that not many people know. As an engineer working in the aerospace industry, my work is directly linked with the goals of Canada’s space advisory board.

WOMAN: What is the Canada Space Advisory Board? Something like NASA?

MAN: No. It’s actually a board made up of senior scientists and government officials, which is run by the Ministry of Innovation Science and Economic Development. It establishes government goals and identifies areas of development that come about through space science. For instance, satellite technology is just one small part of it.

WOMAN: I see. So what has Canada’s involvement in space been like?

MAN: Well, Canada’s involvement in outer space occurred sixty years ago when it became the third country in space with its own satellite, Aloette one.

WOMAN: I never knew this. Fascinating. You said that satellite technology is just a part of the work that has been done. What other things have been done?

MAN: Well, since the launch of Aloette one, Canada has emerged as a key international contributor in all areas of space science and technology. For instance, Canada has contributed not only to unmanned spaceflight but also to human spaceflight and exploration. For example, Canadian scientists contributed heavily towards the development of NASA’s space shuttle robotic arms, as well as the one used by the International Space Station.

WOMAN: Is Canadian society benefiting from all of these advances made by the Canadian space scientists?

MAN: Of course. Every aspect of our lives has had some impact from space research, like I mentioned satellite technology. If we consider communications and data technology, there has been much advancement made in this area all by Canadian research. Without it, communications such as Internet calls, wireless transactions, among others, could never have taken place.

WOMAN: Yes. I can see that. What other improvements have there been as a result of Canadian space research?

MAN: There have been many innovations in space research that have found applications on Earth. For instance, new knowledge and treatments in health science and medicine have taken place such as the neuroarm.

WOMAN: The NeuroArm? What is that?

MAN: The NeuroArm has Canadarm two technology and is based on the robotic arms developed for the space shuttle and ISS. Essentially, the neuroarm is an image guided robotic system that assists neurosurgeons engaged in delicate surgery.

WOMAN: I see. Many argue that there is no direct economic benefit from space research. Your example of the neural arm suggests otherwise.

MAN: There are indeed critics of any space research, but actually space research and development holds a significant role in Canada’s economy and contributes $2,300,000,000 to Canada’s gross domestic product. For instance, around 10,000 Canadians are employed, and over 90% of all Canadian space firms are small to medium sized businesses that make nearly 30% of employment.

Voice6:

MAN: It goes to show that when Canadians come together for a good cause, there is no stopping them. Within two weeks, two sisters from Nipigon raised nearly half of their goal of $30,000 in support of pancreatic research and treatment by selling t-shirts.

The two sisters are Beverly and Anita Siegfried, who started the fundraiser, Tees for Treatment, when their uncle Robert, who is also their guardian, was diagnosed with the disease last year. The disease came about after he began treatment at the Thunder Bay Medical Center.

According to both sisters, they wanted to make a difference, not just in their uncle’s life, but also in the lives of others who suffer from pancreatic cancer. The sisters have specifically chosen the Jerry Mathers Cancer Research Center in Thunder Bay for the purpose of researching and improving treatment for all persons afflicted.

According to the sisters, they were devastated to find out about their uncle’s diagnosis and felt called to do more than just supporting him. They wanted to take an active role in his treatment and in finding a cure for uncle Robert and all others.

Surprisingly, Anita and Beverly acted very quickly and began making plans within weeks of their uncle’s diagnosis. According to Anita, they spent two months coming up with ideas and finally settled on the idea of t-shirts with the logo t for t, which stands for tees for treatment along with the cancer ribbon.

The shirts come in different colors and the logos can appear on the front or on the back in various versions. According to the sisters, they sold out all the tees in just over a week.

The response in Nipogeton has been overwhelming and you can likely see many people on the street sporting a t shirt. But the entire phenomenon has spread throughout Ontario along with many orders across the nation.

According to Beverly, they advertised on social media platforms and people have been placing orders like hotcakes. According to uncle Bruce, he’s proud of his nieces and their efforts.

Video:

WOMAN: Alright. Now we have to take care of this. As you know, next week is going to be the big sale. As it stands, all departments will be ordering sales merchandise in bulk. This means we’re going to be swamped for space, so we need to make sure we have space in the warehouse to handle the rush. Any ideas?

MAN1: Well, we need to make room. So how about moving what we can out onto the shelves? That will clear up space.

MAN2: True, Tim. However, we don’t know how much room is already available on the shelves. We usually rely on weekly inventory records from the department heads and then send it out to them.

MAN1: Maybe, Scott. They could double up on space or find some storage space on the floor as well.

WOMAN: It looks like an idea. This will give us a chance to move some of the inventory out of the warehouse, but I don’t think it’s enough.

MAN1: Okay. But we won’t have room for all the new stuff. Maybe we can send it straight off to the department as soon as it has been delivered.

WOMAN: That’s not a bad idea. The departments are supposed to stop the sales inventories on the shelves immediately anyway.

MAN2: That’s true. There’s no sense of sale items sitting in the warehouse. If they aren’t on the shelves, they aren’t going to be sold.

WOMAN: True. But there’s only a limited amount of space on the floors in the store. We can’t be blocking up the aisles and stuff, but we can instruct the department heads to make as much room as possible on the floor and shelves for the sale items.

MAN1: That’s a good idea. We’ll just send the merchandise right out as we have just planned.

MAN2: Yeah. But, Tim, I’m afraid we may still have to store some of that here in the warehouse. I’m just not sure if we’ve got the space.

MAN1: You know, I’m looking around, and I think we do have room. I mean, take a look. We have a lot of items spread out on the warehouse floor. What if we were to start stacking some of it? Depending on what the merchandise is, we could create a lot of room that way.

WOMAN: You know, Tim, I like that idea. Let’s get on with it.

MAN2: Sounds good.

Voice7:

MAN: A healthy democracy requires widespread voting and an informed electorate. But by those standards, many, if not most, democracies are ailing. In Canada, less than 60% of the voting age population turned out to vote in the two thousand fifteen federal elections.

Even so, many voters have little idea of the basics of the Canadian system and fewer than a quarter know who their senators are. In a recent symposium on voting rights, political theorists and academic experts pointed out arguments for and against the idea of mandatory voting.

William Galston, a professor at Brookings Institution, Alberta, contends that going to the polls is a duty every responsible being owes to the society to make the political system work better.

However, his colleague, Julia Doris, opposed mandatory voting saying that this approach overlooks crucial ways in which it might actually make the system worse. She further said that on average, those who choose not to vote are even less well informed about politics and public policy than current voters are.

If they are forced to go to the polls, they will worsen the already severe problem of political ignorance. When relatively ignorant voters go to the polls, they aren’t doing the rest of society a favor. They are instead inflicting harm on us by making poor choices and incentivizing politicians to cater to their ignorance.

Political analyst Brennan Walsh admitted that there are some situations where political ignorance can actually be beneficial, and ignorant voters might make better decisions than more knowledgeable ones, though he warned that such cases are unusual.

Most of the time, the most ignorant potential voters can better serve society by staying home on the day of the election than by voting. As Brennan argues, there are many other ways for citizens to contribute to the public good. He advocated that voting is not only or even the best way for people to do their civic duty.

Doctor Marla Pennington is a professor of psychology, and she believes that mandatory voting would be less dangerous if it could be combined with an effective strategy for increasing political knowledge.

She further revealed that doing so through education and other traditional means has turned out to be extremely difficult. Unconventional strategies such as paying voters to become better informed also have serious pitfalls.

Jeffrey McCain, a senior political adviser, is hopeful though. He feels that mandatory voting would not be a complete catastrophe. However, he added that it would make the political system only modestly worse than it already is.

Enforcement involved in mandatory voting is itself harmful, one that at the very least requires a substantial societal benefit to justify.