You will hear a number of
different recordings and you have to answer questions on what you hear. There
will be time for you to read the instructions and you will have a chance to
check your answers. The recordings will be heard only once. The test is in four
sections. Record all your answers in your test book and at the end of the test
you will be given 10 minutes to transfer your answers to a special answer
sheet.
Now turn to Section 1.
You will hear a guide
introducing tourists to the Red River Festival. First you will have some time
to look at questions 1 to 4. (pause for 30 seconds)
You will see that there has
been an example written for you. On this occasion only the conversation
relating to the example will be played first. (listen to example being played)
The festival is about arts and
music so answer C has been circled.
Now we will begin. You should
answer the questions as you listen, as you will not hear the recording a second
time. Listen to the talk carefully and answer the questions 1 to 4.
Now, as I’m sure you know, the Red River Festival -
that is, the Red River International Music and Arts Festival, to give it
its full name - is on while you are here, and I’m sure I speak for all the
inhabitants of Red River in inviting you most cordially to attend. The festival
takes place over a long weekend - that is, it starts on the Friday afternoon
and runs until Sunday evening. Normally, the festival would take place on 4th
July, the same day as American Independence Day, but this year we have
rescheduled it for the fourth of August.
Now, you can buy tickets for this festival either by
the day or for the whole festival. The second option is cheaper, although of
course not everyone can attend for the whole time. A day’s ticket is $10, and
it’s $25 for the whole festival. That’s very good value. If you want tickets,
you are advised to get them early, because there are always more visitors than
tickets. Space is limited, so buy early! You can get them direct from the
festival organisers’ headquarters, the festival office, and I’ll give
you that address later, or you can get them from any of our three post
offices or one of the many bookshops in the town. Last year we issued them
from tourist advice centres and the Town Hall, but this year it was decided to
limit the number of outlets to cut down on administrative costs.
Before the talk continues you
have some time to read questions 5 to 10. (pause for 20 seconds) Now listen
carefully and answer questions 5 to 10.
The weather is looking good. The forecasters expect it
to be one of the hottest and sunniest weekends of the year, so it’s perfect for
the festival, although I would remind you to cover up and be aware of the
dangers of too much sunshine. If it gets too hot for you, you could always stay
inside for some of the indoor events. And of course you’ll be able to get food
- from sandwiches and snacks to barbecues, as well as ethnic fast food - from
several stands. There will be a bar this year, but after last year we will
only be selling soft drinks, beer and wine. We have decided not to
bother with a spirits licence, there won’t be any whisky on sale.
So, what’s on? Well, I can only give you a flavour of
the many attractions we have coming this year, but if I can name one of my
personal favourites, you must see Petie’s Dozen, a traditional New Orleans
jazz band. They were here last year, and were so popular that we’ve invited
them back. If you like classical music, we’ve got a string quartet from
Poland, appropriately called Strings, playing classical favourites. We’ve also
got rock bands, a blues band from the UK, a group of traditional Bavarian beer
hall singers, and another of my favourites, The Fiddlers, who come from
Ireland. Their special brand of folk music is popular all over the world.
Moving on, then, to other attractions in the Red River area. For children,
there’s lots to do and see, from museums to theme parks … (fade)
That is the end of Section 1.
You will have half a minute to check you answers. (pause for 30 seconds)
Now turn to Section 2.
You will hear a man and a
female bank employee talking about getting a loan. First you have some time to
look at questions 11 to 16. (pause for 30 seconds)
Now listen
carefully to the discussion and answer questions 11 to 16.
(phone rings)
Woman: Good afternoon, County and District Bank Customer Services. Can I
help you?
Man: Hello? I need to speak to someone about getting a loan, an
overdraft.
Woman: Yes, perhaps I can help you. Do you bank with us, sir?
Man: Yes, My name is Mick O’Drew.
Woman: Sorry, sir. Your surname is …
Man: O’Drew, Mick O’Drew but my full name is Michael.
Woman: And can I have your account number, please, Mr O’Drew?
Man: Yes, it’s 3926…1916.
Woman: That’s fine. Now, I just need to confirm some details for security
reasons. What is your address?
Man: It’s 24, Kilverton Drive. That’s Chalvey. That’s
C-H-A-L-V-E-Y. Er ... the postcode is … SA3 9ER.
Woman: And your telephone number?
Man: 0458…88320.
Woman: And can you tell me your date of birth. Mr O’Drew?
Man: Yes. It’s 23rd February 1967.
Woman: Thank you. Now, there are some gaps in your file here. I don’t
seem to have an address for you at work.
Man: No, when I joined your bank I didn’t have a job.
Woman: Ah …
Man: But I do now. I work for Culver Engineering. That’s in
Carbury. The address is 30, Works Yard, Carbury.
Woman: Could you repeat that?
Man: Works Yard. W-O-R-K-S Y-A-R-D. It’s two words.
Woman: Right. Thank you. Do you have a work telephone number where we can
contact you, please?
Man: Yes, it’s … 0912…795…09.
Woman: 7509.
Man: No, it’s 79509.
Woman: Ok, right. Thank you. How long have you been there, Mr O’Drew?
Man: Um…I started in 1997…no, 1998.
Woman: OK, that’s fine. And can you tell me your current salary, please?
Man: Well, I’m not sure exactly, but it’s about, er … 18,000
pounds.
You now have some time to look
at questions 17 to 20 (pause for 20 seconds).
Now listen to the rest of the
discussion and answer questions 17 to 20.
Woman: Now, you would like an overdraft. Do you have any other major
debts?
Man: What do you mean?
Woman: Well, are you paying a mortgage on your house?
Man: Yes…
Woman: How much is that every month?
Man: It’s about 450 pounds.
Woman: I see … And do you have any credits cards or storecards?
Man: Yes, I pay 45 pounds a month in credit card charges. Oh, and
about 19 pounds a month for my storecard - that’s with J.H. Olney, the
clothes shop.
Woman: Do you have any personal loans, or hire purchase agreements?
Man: None whatsoever.
Woman: Right, well, the loan shouldn’t be a problem. I can set it up for
you in the morning. I’ve set your limit at 250 pounds, although you can
raise this to £300 if you’re still having problems. Just give us a ring if you
need to.
Man: Oh, that’s great. Thank you. Goodbye.
Woman: Goodbye, sir.
That’s the end of Section 2.
You will have half a minute to check your answers (pause for 30 seconds)
Now turn to Section 3
You will hear a conversation
between two students, David and Maria, about the candidates for an election for
student officers. First you have some time to look at questions 21 to 23 (pause
for 20 seconds).
Now listen carefully to the
conversation and answer questions 21 to 23.
David: Hi Maria. Have you voted yet?
Maria: Ok, hello, David. Erm, what did you say?
David: Have you voted yet? You know, in the student union elections?
Maria: Well, no… I mean, they’ve only just released the names of the
final candidates. The first round elections were only held last week.
David: But I’ve voted already!
Maria: Yes … but that’s the first round. You know how this works, don’t
you?
David: Well, not exactly. I mean, I thought you just voted …
Maria: It’s pretty simple, but it’s made more complicated because this
university has four colleges, not just one. Each college can have many
candidates for each post. These are reduced to a logical number, then the real
voting takes place.
David: So what did I vote for last week?
Maria: That was the first round, like I said. You voted for the
candidates for Peterborough College, that’s all. There are also candidates from
the other three colleges.
David: Oh, I see.
Maria: Well, there are seven positions to apply for in the union,
although two of those are dealt with later in the year. That’s the
president and the vice-president. Anyway, each college sends one candidate on
to the second round, so that’s four in all for each post - in other words …
David: In other words, it’s 20 candidates. That’s quite a lot!
Maria: It isn’t when you think that there are 14,000 students at this
college!
David: No, I suppose not. Can they all vote?
Maria: Yes. Part-time and full-time students - everyone. But most
don’t. Only about a quarter of those eligible to actually bothered.
You now have some time to look at questions 24 to 30 (pause for
20seconds).
Now listen to the rest of the conversation and answer questions 24 to
30.
David: So who are the candidates from our college?
Maria: There was a leaflet about it this week. Some of the students
stood as candidates for several posts before the final ones were selected. I
think Jenny de Groot is standing for Women’s Officer. She wanted to be Finance
Officer but Law got that post.
David: She seems to be more suited to working for the female students
here.
Maria: Yes, I like her - she’s the best person for the job. I’m
not sure I’d support Michael McCarthy for his post. He’s putting up for
Entertainments Officer.
David: Doesn’t he arrange the Saturday night band for the college? And
the sports events? Surely he’d be ideal - he has so much experience.
Maria: Maybe. I don’t think he chooses the right kind of groups for the
college - he’s too wayout. He’s not my choice.
David: Who’s the candidate to be Overseas Officer?
Maria: A
Chinese student who’s been for just over a year. She’s the president of the
Chinese club and she organises some interesting cultural evenings for them. She
seems to be quite capable.
David: Do you really think so? She’s in my seminar group for
linguistics. Her English is quite poor and she’s so shy she never mixes with
us.
Maria: Oh, there are 30 different nationalities here, so she’d need to
be more sociable. Perhaps Vikram Patel would have been a better choice.
David: Yes, I think so. Who did you say was finance officer? Law?
Charles Law? he does accountancy so he should be able to cope with the post.
He’d be responsible for a lot of money.
Maria: I’ve always thought he was unreliable and didn’t he fail
some of his exams in the first year? Doesn’t sound too competent to me.
David: OK, yes. You’re probably right! Who’s the other person on
the list?
Maria: It’s Brian McKay.
David: Oh, McKay. He’s quite a character. What position is he standing
for?
Maria: He wants to be the Liaison Officer. The person who lets the
teaching staff know about any problems the students might have. He’s such a
sociable person he’d be a great communicator.
David: Yes, he’s articulate and well-organised but he wouldn’t be my
first choice. Anyway they’re only the candidates from Peterborough College
so we’ll have to wait for the results of the real election next week to see who
actually gets each post.
Maria: Yes, we can discuss this again.
That is the end of Section 3.
You now have a half minute to check your answers (pause for 30 seconds).
Now turn to Section 4.
You will hear a lecturer
giving a talk on languages. First you have some time to look at questions 31 to
40 (pause for 40 seconds).
Now listen carefully to the
talk and answer questions 31 to 40.
Thank
you all for coming. All you all here …? Right, well, let’s begin …
This
lecture, as you know, is the third in our course, Introduction to Linguistics.
Today we’ll be looking at a variety of different languages, not any one
specific one, and we’ll be looking especially at languages which can help us
understand how both language and languages evolve. Another issue that we
will be exploring is the way in which languages have changed over time.
These are fairly complex areas, and they have proved to be rather difficult to
grasp. There are many different theories, some of which we’ll look at today.
But
first I want to talk briefly about a few different ways of looking at a language.
Now, the language we all speak - English - is what is called a “natural”
language, like French, German, Greek. What do we mean by that? Well,
it’s a difficult term to define, because most languages have evolved naturally,
except for a very few such as Esperanto, which was invented in the 19th
century. So I suppose that what we mean by “natural” is a language which we
consider stable, fixed, not constantly changing. Now as we know, all
languages are in fact constantly changing, so it’s something of a misnomer, but
let’s put it another way: “natural” languages are considered by us to be
permanent: they didn’t appear suddenly, they grew up out of other things.
Now,
I want to contrast these languages with two other kinds of language, pidgin
languages and creole languages. A pidgin language is a language which is forced
into being by circumstances - usually some sort of situation where two groups
meet and don’t speak each other’s language, and they invent an
intermediary language, usually for the purpose of trade, or sometimes war. An
example is Tok Pisin, which is a pidgin spoken in Papua New Guinea.
A creole
language, on the other hand, develops from a pidgin into a full language.
This happens when the pidgin starts having native speakers - that is, people
whose first language is the pidgin. This happened in the case of the French
creole spoken in New Orleans, for example.
Pidgins
are found all over the world, especially in areas which are or were once
important trade routes. The Caribbean, China, India, the Pacific …
Basically, pidgins can be identified with one or two important characteristics.
They are made up of parts of the two languages spoken by the group that have
met - the trading groups or whatever - and they usually based on a simplified
form of one of those languages. That is, their grammar is a less complicated
version of the grammar in one language. They use vocabulary from both
languages, but there are fewer words, so each word often has more than one
meaning. For example, in Tok Pisin, “gras-bilong-face” means “hair” or
“beard”. The pronunciation is also made simpler, as pidgins lose the complex
vowels of the parent languages.
Creoles,
on the other hand, formed when pidgins are learnt as a first language, are just
as complex as so-called natural languages. They are expanded pidgins. There is
often a considerable element of politicalisation, as the emphasis moves from
communication, which to pidgin speakers is most important, to community, which
is the mark of a creole. That is, a creole is a community who speak a
different, marginalised language. They often have to struggle to get their language
recognised.
As to
where pidgins come from, there are basically two theories. The first claims
that all pidgins are descended from a medieval trading language, what you might
call the first pidgin, called Sabir. This is believed to have based on
Portuguese. It was spread as the Portuguese traders went from place to place.
(fade)
That is the end of Section 4. You
will have half a minute to check your answers. (pause for 30 seconds)
That is the end of the
Listening Test.
You now have 10 minutes to
transfer your answers to the Listening answer sheet. (pause for 10 minutes)
Please stop writing.