Practice Test A - Listening Transcripts - Close

Practice Test A - Listening Transcripts
Voice1:

WOMAN: Pardon me. I’m interested in purchasing a cell phone. I’d like to buy a five g handset, but I don’t know which one I should get. Could you please help me out?

MAN:Certainly. Are there any particular uses you need it for?

WOMAN: Well, besides making phone calls, I want to be able to check my email, keep up with the news, and look things up on the Internet.

MAN: Well, what about other things, such as taking photos and listening to music? There’s a lot you can do with a five g phone nowadays. Would you also be interested in a tablet or a laptop as well?

WOMAN: No. I don’t need those. But as to the phone I need, well, I just don’t know. I have some friends who play games on their phones, but I’m not interested in that. Music might be nice, but I already have an m p three player.

MAN: Okay. It sounds like you wanted to handle more practical tasks like scheduling and finding out information and such. Then you probably don’t need a phone with a lot of memory.

WOMAN: No. I mean, I just need something simple.

MAN: Well, there are several options. Something simpler will cost less. There might be other features too that you might want to consider. These would include size and the screen light. I can give you some brochures on a number of models, and then you can look them over.

WOMAN: I think I may do that and then come back another day.

MAN: Sounds great. We’ll be here for you.

Voice2:

WOMAN: Hi. It’s nice to see you again. You helped me last time. I’ve decided what I want to buy.

MAN: Oh, hi. Welcome back. You were thinking of buying a phone.

WOMAN: Yes. That’s right. I went through the brochures you gave me, and I’d like to buy a Nokia. It looks much simpler than the others. I think I would feel more comfortable using it.

MAN: It certainly is. My wife actually uses that phone, and she’s quite happy with it. Would you like to sign up for an advanced maintenance plan?

WOMAN: What’s the benefit of the plan?

MAN: Well, it’s a yearly plan that covers things which the warranty doesn’t, such as accidental immersion in water. The warranty won’t cover repairs for that.

WOMAN: That might come in handy. Is it free?

MAN: I’m afraid not. It’s for a hundred dollars per year, but it’s useful if something major happens to the phone. My wife’s phone screen broke. She dropped it after the warranty expired, and she had it replaced for free. It’s a good idea as the warranty is only for three years and only has limited coverage.

WOMAN: I think I’ll go ahead with it. It’s expensive. You know, actually, I think I’ll wait and maybe discuss it with my husband. Can I purchase the plan after purchasing the phone? If so, I’ll get the phone now.

MAN: You surely can, ma’am. Why don’t we go to the register and get you all settled?

Voice3:

MAN: That’ll be $510.57. How would you like to pay for the phone?

WOMAN: Oh, I don’t have that much cash. Can I write a check?

MAN: I’m afraid we don’t take checks. Do you have anything else on you to make the payment?

WOMAN: Oh, I was afraid of that. Do you accept debit cards? One second. Here it is.

MAN: Sure. How has your day been going so far?

WOMAN: So far so good. What’s wrong? Why is it taking so long?

MAN: It wasn’t accepted. Let me try again. Sometimes the line is busy.

WOMAN: Oh, don’t tell me it didn’t work again.

MAN: I’m afraid not. Do you have a credit card?

WOMAN: Yes. I do. Here.

MAN: Thank you. And now let’s see. Yes. It’s going through. And, here’s your receipt. If you have any problems with it, just bring it back, and we’ll do all that we can to resolve it. Enjoy your phone.

Voice4:

Speaker 1: So what are your plans for this weekend?

Speaker 2: I don’t know. Do you want to watch a movie?

Speaker 1: That sounds like a good idea. Maybe we should go out to eat beforehand.

Speaker 2: Let’s meet at the pizza house. I’ve not been there for a long time.

Speaker 1: Good idea again. I heard they just came up with a new pizza. It should be good because they always have the best pizza in town.

Speaker 2: Well, the movie is shown at 2PM, four PM, six PM, and 8PM.

Speaker 1: Why don’t we go to the 2PM show? We can meet at the pizza house at noon. That will give us plenty of time to enjoy our pizza. My cousin Karen is in town. Can I bring her along? I hate to leave her home alone.

Speaker 2: Karen’s in town? Yeah. Bring her along. I remember Karen. We met her at your sister Sarah’s high school graduation party two years ago.

Speaker 1: Yes. And she was playing the piano off and on during the party.

Speaker 2: I remember her now. Yes. Do bring her along. She’s such a nice person and funny too.

Speaker 1: She will be happy to meet you again.

Speaker 2:What is she doing these days?

Speaker 1:She graduated last June, and she will start her teaching career next week when the new school term begins. She will teach kindergarten. She loves working with kids, and she always has such a good rapport with them.

Speaker 2:Kindergarten. She must be a very patient person. I always think kindergarten is the most difficult class to teach. Most of the kids have never been to school, and they’ve never been away from mommy for long.

Speaker 1: I think the first few weeks will be tough. However, once the routine is set, it should not be too difficult to teach at kindergarten.

Speaker 2:You’re right. The kids might even look forward to going to school since they have so many friends to play with.

Speaker 1:There are so many new things for them to do at school too. They do a lot of crafts in kindergarten. I’m always amazed by the things kindergarten teachers do.

Speaker 2:Maybe we can ask Karen to show us some of the things that we can do for Halloween. Let’s take her to Michael’s. It’s a good store for crafts. It always carries a variety of things, and you can find almost anything there.

Speaker 1:There’s a Michaels store near the cinema. I believe it is just around the corner on Pioneer Avenue. We can even walk over there.

Speaker 2:So we’ll meet for a pizza at noon, go to the movies at two, and then shop at Michael’s afterwards. Right?

Speaker 1: Yes.

Voice5:

WOMAN: Thank you for being here today. I’ve been researching the history of the Klondike Gold Rush. I’m really fascinated about how it changed Canada’s Yukon Territory.

MAN: Well, the Klondike Gold Rush was phenomenal because like the California Gold Rush, it brought a large number of people into one region. I’ve been researching the history and writing books on the early history of the Yukon Territory.

WOMAN: Wow. Well, let’s start with what the area was like at the beginning. What was going on at that time?

MAN: Well, it didn’t happen until 1898, and the Klondike region was primarily wilderness, populated by indigenous tribes. Most of the tribes were aware that gold was present in the region, but it was not valued by them.

WOMAN: So which tribes lived there before Europeans?

MAN: Let’s see. There were several and included the native Tlingit and Tagish tribes. But in the area of the Gold Rush in the Yukon Valley lived the Han people.

WOMAN: The Han people? What were they like?

MAN: Well, they were semi nomadic people who did hunting and fishing between the Klondike and Yukon Rivers. Interestingly, the Han were not aware of the extent of the gold in the area.

WOMAN: So if the Han were unaware of gold, how was it discovered?

MAN: It wasn’t really until 1883 when gold deposits were found along the Yukon River. 3 Years later, gold was found along the 40 Mile River and this led to the establishment of Forty Mile City. But it’s important to note that the total amount of gold found at that time was not significant enough to spark a rush.

WOMAN: Did anyone make any claims at that time?

MAN: For the deposits along the Klondike, no. No claims were made.

WOMAN: So what was it that sparked the gold rush then?

MAN: It wasn’t until August 1896 when American George Carmack and his party found a huge deposit of gold in the region which led to the stampede of people into the region after they formalized their mining claims. This occurred when the police post which handled the claims announced the discovery.

Voice6:

WOMAN: Recently, a problem was discovered with a fax machine run by the Saskatoon Health Region in Saskatchewan, Canada.

The problem involves the machine not having relayed nearly 1,500 x-rays, CT, and MRI scans, ultrasounds, and other medical imaging test results to doctors. This has likely caused either delays in receiving necessary treatments or misdiagnosis, which has affected many patients.

Moreover, this problem has been found to exist for the past decade. This was revealed during a recent audit, which showed that medical diagnostic tests had been affected by the machine for at least ten years.

The machine is a part of the automated radiology information system. The audit was prompted recently when a doctor called the health region officials seeking follow-up on a patient’s report.

It was discovered that the report was sent from the system. When the staff looked into the matter, the fax machine came out to be the culprit. According to the Saskatoon Health Region spokesperson, the problem is due to a system error only rather than a staff issue.

He points out that the problem does not reflect the standard or quality in which the regional staff perform its duty.

The audit also showed that out of the 2,000,000 diagnostic tests performed, at least 1,380 had not been sent out by the machine.

The health region plans to contact each of the patients and involve their doctors to ensure that the results of the tests have been received and if there was any compromise to the patient’s care. Patients can also contact the health region via a newly set up hotline to make inquiries.

Video:

MAN1: Well, that was a good session, All the 30 members were present. We had a great time discussing the latest book. I can’t believe that we had five groups discussing the book. How did it go for you, Margo?

WOMAN: It went well, but we really need to discuss the upcoming book sale. We need to generate funds for the literacy campaign. However, I did have a lovely time discussing the historical aspects of the book.

MAN1: My group discussed the character development, But like you said, Margo, we need to discuss the book sale. Ted, what are the details?

MAN2: Well, Ron, as you know, we need to raise funds for the literacy campaign. It’s under budget, short of $15,000. The plan is to have a book sale here at the library as well as out in the community. We’re looking for opportunities at the Main Street Fair on August 6.

WOMAN: The Main Street Fair?

MAN2: Yes. That’s the major street fair which celebrates the founding of our city. So, we wanna make a big push, and a booth at the fair would be a great way to raise awareness.

WOMAN: That sounds like a wonderful idea. But the question is what’s needed?

MAN1: Well, first we need book donations. We don’t have many books, nor does the library.

MAN2: So how can we get books? Asking the members wouldn’t be enough?

WOMAN: How about visiting bookstores in town and asking them for donated books?

MAN2: We tried that, but it didn’t work. We’ve had success with book barrels. We’ve placed barrels in various businesses. People donate books more through those, but we haven’t done that lately as we are short of volunteers.

MAN1: Then let’s discuss this with our other members in the next meeting. I’m sure we’ll be able to find a few.

WOMAN: Why not?

Voice7:

MAN: Sustainable development has become the number one goal in the world. Recycling should be common now, but for several reasons, it has not become so popular in Canada.

Recently, there has been a debate over implementing the polluter pays principle endorsed by United Nations members. This policy states polluters should be required to pay the costs of services if they do not recycle.

However, the response of various nationals is varied and has surfaced a substantial discussion.

Anthea Wong, sociology student of Saint Martin’s College, Edmonton, said that one of the greatest issues in the world today is the decline in the availability of resources, destruction of the environment, and depletion of energy supplies.

She added that if everyone picks up the simple habit of recycling, these environmental problems can be reduced. She advocated the importance of recycling but condemned the policy of fining those who do not recycle.

A spokesperson of Teachers Association of Ottawa, Margaret Weber, criticized the idea of imposing fines. She added that one should only be fined when one is causing inconvenience or harming others like over speeding or smoking.

Speeding on the highway is extremely dangerous and smoking causes others to suffer from secondhand smoking.

Although failing to recycle can damage the environment, it is not directly harmful to others. She concluded by questioning the fine for merely wasting resources. Lara Clark, author of Nature’s Testimony, argued that if people who don’t recycle are fined, it would be very difficult to monitor.

There are about 36,700,000 people in Canada, so there would have to be more resources allocated to catch this harmless group.

Recycling should be treated as a bonus, not as a requirement. It promotes the sustainability of our Earth, but it is unjust to fine people for refusing to save the environment.

Environmentalist Peter James Tirado said that a big reason there is global warming is that people are not recycling.

He did not completely agree with the policy of fines, but still, he emphasized that people should do something like cleaning up a park or something that will help the Earth. Also, this practice can keep the environment greener and healthier.

His counterpart, Stella Merkel, put forward her views for the motion. She said that people are often worried about financial issues, but the problem related to the environment is more serious.

Earth deserves to be given proper care and attention. The consequences of pollution are grave, and many animals are getting extinct. She said the fine is acceptable as long as it is reasonable and not taxing people’s pocket.