Practice Test A - Listening Transcripts - Close

Practice Test A - Listening Transcripts
Voice1:

WOMAN: Hello. Do you work here?

MAN: Yes. How may I help you?

WOMAN: Well, I’m looking for fine art supplies, particularly for oil paints, but I’m not able to find that section.

MAN: Oh, I see. That’s on Aisle 18 in the back.

WOMAN: Really? Oh, good. Can you tell me what you have there?

MAN: Well, what exactly do you need? If I knew, I might be able to assist you better.

WOMAN: Well, I need a set of brushes, oil paints, and thinner. Also, I want to get some canvases.

MAN: We certainly have those products. If you just go to the back in Aisle 18 And 19, you’ll find all our painting supplies there.

WOMAN: Okay. I’ll go check it out. Thanks.

MAN: You’re welcome. Voice2:

MAN: Hello. Did you find everything you need?

WOMAN: Well, no. I’m looking for a particular brand of paint. You don’t seem to have it.

MAN: Well, what brand is it? I know that section pretty well.

WOMAN: Okay. I’m looking for Stevens Bright Oil Paints.

MAN: Oh, I’m afraid that brand is no longer available. The company just recently went out of business.

WOMAN: Oh, no. They are supposed to be the best brand in oil paints. What am I going to do?

MAN: Well, there are other brands we carry which are just as good. Also, they are certainly less expensive.

WOMAN: Expensive. Stevens Bright is expensive.

MAN: Yes. An average price for a seven milliliter tube of paint is around $10. Most of the other brands are much lesser. You might want to take a look at Johnson oils. That is a good brand. I use that myself.

WOMAN: Really? Alright. I’ll take a look at what you have then. Hopefully, I can find some good paints. Voice3:

WOMAN: Okay. I’m back. I decided to purchase a set of Johnson oils.

MAN: Great. They are really nice and smooth. I also see you got brushes, thinner, and a nice big canvas. Were you able to find everything?

WOMAN: Yes. I was. Thank you. I’m ready to pay now.

MAN: Alright. Why don’t you come with me, and we’ll get you settled. Your total is a hundred and $7. How would you like to pay?

WOMAN: Gee. I don’t have any cash. Do you accept checks?

MAN: Yes. We do. I will need to see your identification. Driver’s license, provincial ID, do you have either?

WOMAN: No. I don’t. I don’t drive, so I don’t have a license, and I keep my identification at home.

MAN: Do you have a debit or credit card?

WOMAN: Yes. I do. Here’s my credit card.

MAN: Great. Let me run this through for you. Okay. It went through.

WOMAN: Wonderful. Thank you. I can’t wait to get home and get started. Voice4:

MAN: Hi, Barbara. So nice to see you. It’s been a while. How’s retirement?

WOMAN: Oh, hi, Jeff. I’m good. And retirement? Well, I’m just doing what I can to keep myself busy. It’s difficult at times, especially with having worked most of my life.

MAN: I hear you. It took me about a year to adjust, but the thing I really enjoy is spending time with my grandchildren. I get to spend time with them almost every day. They keep me very busy.

WOMAN: You’re lucky that your kids live nearby. Both my boys live so far away. Chris lives in Vancouver, while Mark lives in Toronto.

MAN: Have you thought about moving to either of those places?

WOMAN: I have, but Red Deer is my home. I’ve lived here all my life, and I don’t want to leave it. All my friends are here. Everything I enjoy is here, and I have no want of anything. I’m perfectly happy here.

MAN: Yes. I can’t imagine ever wanting to leave Red Deer either, especially going hunting and fishing at the lake. I really love spending my time outdoors. I wish Bob were still around.

WOMAN: I know. You and Bob used to go every month. So I heard that you’re planning a trip to visit your brother in The US. When are you going?

MAN: I’ll be leaving in three weeks. You know he’s living in Detroit. I’ll be flying from Calgary there. It will be a good trip. I haven’t seen Ralph in about three years. I’m looking forward to seeing his daughters. They are so old now. Sue has just graduated high school, and Tammy has just started. It will be a good visit.

WOMAN: That sounds good. I hope it’s going to be a good trip. So have you ordered yet?

MAN: Yep. Ordered my usual.

WOMAN: Country breakfast special. Don’t you ever try anything else?

MAN: Sometimes, but I really enjoy my biscuits and gravy. Are you going to have your pancakes?

WOMAN: Yep. I guess I’m just as predictable. Voice5:

MAN: First of all, I want to thank you for sparing some time. I must say after reading your book, I’m fascinated about the history of Chinese restaurants here in Canada.

WOMAN: Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed my book. It was actually inspired by my parents’ story. It wasn’t until I moved back to Victoria where I learned that they actually owned a restaurant before I was born.

MAN: Wow. How interesting. What can you tell me about the restaurant?

WOMAN: Actually, I don’t really know much. My parents don’t like to talk about it. I’m not sure, but it could be because of all the trouble they encountered as new immigrants. They had to face a lot of challenges back then, including racism, economic limitations, and other hardships. However, I learned that my parents were not the only ones owning these restaurants, and this prompted me to travel the country and do some more research.

MAN: And what did you learn?

WOMAN: Well, all this began back in the nineteen hundreds as a result of Chinese men being brought here to work in the gold and other mines or on the railroads throughout the country.

MAN: So they didn’t just come to Canada to open a restaurant then?

WOMAN: No. They came here to work. But as the mines dried up and the railroads were finished, these men faced many barriers. These included laws which prevented them from taking up most professions. This was primarily because there was a fear that they’d take these jobs away from local men.

MAN: So they went ahead and opened these restaurants then?

WOMAN: Actually, no. Not immediately. Often they turned to what was often termed as woman’s work.

MAN: They worked as house servants?

WOMAN: Well, in some cases, yes. However, what was often considered woman’s work was all that was left to them. This is why the Chinese are often associated with laundromats, convenience stores, and even restaurants where they worked as servers, cooks, and dishwashers.

MAN: So how did these restaurants come into being then? Was it a desire to have their own business and such?

WOMAN: To a large part, yes, it was. And it was their way of achieving their success within the greater society, and how they developed these restaurants is nothing like the Chinese restaurants we see today.

MAN: How were they different?

WOMAN: They essentially blended the best of China and Canada because they didn’t have Chinese ingredients or even Chinese customers, and these men were not professional chefs, and they literally built them from nothing. So what they ended up doing was blending their own knowledge of Chinese cooking with local ingredients into the dishes that would be pleasing to their customers. Essentially, they had to be very creative, and it was this ability which made it possible to pull all these things off which made them quite successful. Voice6:

WOMAN: Laval Saint Germain recently completed a bicycle journey from Calgary to Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, covering over 1,200 kilometers in a quest to commemorate his son who died by drowning in the Mackenzie River.

Another reason behind Saint Germain’s journey was to support the development of search and rescue operations in the area. His son Richard, twenty one at the time of his death, worked as a bush pilot in Norman Wells.

He died just three weeks after moving to the area, while he was canoeing on the Mackenzie River after the canoe capsized. Unfortunately, Richard could not be rescued, and this was largely due to the fact that the community did not have the resources to mount quick rescue operations.

As a result, the Satu Search and Rescue Society was formed to facilitate quicker responses to emergency rescues. In support of the society, Saint Germain rode this long distance to personally deliver a check of $5,000 to support the society’s efforts.

While his decision to travel such a long distance by biking might seem over the top just to deliver a donation. Saint Germain states that the biking itself is a form of therapy that helps him feel connected to his son.

According to Saint Germain, as Richard was growing up, the two would often go on very long bicycle trips during which they spent quality time together. He adds that Richard shared his love of adventure, and that once they biked for 900 kilometers to Inuvik.

Video:

WOMAN: So the next thing we need to talk about is the pedestrian safety program, and we need to ensure that children have actually learned. We need to get on this because it will take place next month.

MAN1: Well, why don’t we do what we did last year?

MAN2: Yes. We took the children out into the community to practice safety. I think it went well.

MAN1: I do too. At least that’s what my kids said.

WOMAN: Actually, it didn’t. The children really didn’t learn a thing. That’s because the field trips were largely unorganized. The classroom component went well. I spoke with some of my fellow teachers, and they said that parent volunteers mainly took the children where they wanted to. All they did was have the students follow their example.

MAN1: Well, isn’t that the way it should be done? We set an example, and they follow.

WOMAN: That’s one method, but only effective if combined with other methods. But in no way, the students’ skills were tested. True, we quizzed and drilled them in class, but they weren’t tested on how well they applied the knowledge.

MAN2: So you mean, in other words, last year, the children never truly demonstrated what they learned.

WOMAN: That’s exactly what happened last year. Now the question is, how can we test the children?

MAN1: Well, perhaps we can give parent volunteers specific guidelines to follow and specify to actually test each child’s skills.

MAN2: I do like that idea, but it’s not enough.

WOMAN: What do you suggest?

MAN2: Yeah. Well, let’s keep the classroom component as well as the community outings. We should start with the classroom teaching, and then we can conduct simulations on the playground. We can mark off streets, post signs, and have mock traffic signals. We can test each child’s performance and provide full up teaching. And then the next day, we can do the community outings.

MAN1: That’s great.

WOMAN: I really like that idea. Let’s start.

Voice7:

MAN: One of the growing concerns among Canada’s workforce is the fact that on average, it is aging. This will have major impacts throughout Canada.

However, a more recent report suggests the opposite, particularly in Alberta. According to this report, the working population will actually remain relatively young in the next few decades. Moreover, it will also become highly diverse.

If we consider the cities of Edmonton and Calgary, both among the largest in the province, they feature the highest labor force participation rate in the country as compared to similar large cities.

This is according to the Statistics Canada report. The report defines this rate as the percentage of people working or looking for a job who are aged 15 years or older. For Alberta, the rate is at seventy two percent and is expected to remain constant through 2036. When compared to the national average, the rate is sixty two percent.

But one of the major factors that is contributing to the relative youth of the labor force is immigration. And this will significantly affect Alberta as the report expects immigrants to increasingly choose to settle in Alberta.

The current rate of immigrants working in either Calgary or Edmonton is 31%, but is projected to increase to 43% by 2036. According to the report, large urban areas will experience high rates of immigration of workers as well as younger adults from other provinces, which will offset the effects of aging workers.

Moreover, the ratio of labor force participants to retired workers will be as much as five to one in Calgary and Edmonton. Whereas in other major metropolitan centers like Montreal, it will be much lower.

This is not surprising to Anurag Rao, an economics professor with University of Calgary. According to Rao, most immigrants will settle in Alberta’s cities and this will be the same throughout the country.

This is because immigrants more often like to find better job opportunities and services. When it comes to Alberta, Rao believes that it’s good for the province to receive many immigrants.

However, when it comes to actual jobs, Rao does call into question that the report is unrealistic. He notes that just because more people are participating in the labor force, this doesn’t mean that more people are actually working.

He cautions that care must be taken because if the participation rate goes up and conditions are not suitable for absorbing these workers, then it’s likely that unemployment will increase and this will limit economic benefits for all concerned. He cites the example of people who are looking for jobs.

According to him, if these people can’t find work or end up working part time or earning low wages, This will stifle economic benefits for the province. To better be able to deal with this problem, there is a need to create more jobs.

Thus, the creation of more jobs, particularly full time jobs will be really good for the economy and will also help to integrate immigrants more easily into Canadian society.