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41. I have always been interested in meeting people with different backgrounds and by this I mean not only speakers of other languages but also people who live in geographical locations far from my home country. The best is, of course, when I can go and meet them in their countries. 42. In my opinion, this is a very important issue. I have travelled widely within Europe for the past few years and I could see on several occasions that if you dont speak at least two or three foreign languages you cant be successful either as a tourist or on business. Unfortunately, I only speak my mother-tongue. 43. Yes, I have travelled a lot to all countries in Europe. People probably think that if you travel to many different places there must be both good and bad things which happen to you. You know, problems at the customs, changing your money to foreign currency all the time, and so on. Some of my friends have had really bad experiences. 44. My grandfather didnt even leave his village, never in his long life. My parents on the other hand were globe-trotters when they were younger and they still like visiting other countries. If you see more of the world you also understand more of it and more of the people. Thats marvellous. It may even lead us to a better future. 45. Sure. Money makes the world go round and you can see a lot more on a journey and you can get much further if you are wealthy. However, if you are clever you can organise very good, economical trips abroad, which are also available for most of those who are fond of travelling. Consider all those last minute holidays. Listening comprehension Part 2 Global Warming A one-meter sea level rise would submerge a substantial amount of Bangladesh, Jonathan Gregory, the studys leading author and climate scientist at the University of Reading in England, said in a telephone interview. Scientists have previously calculated that if the annual average temperature in Greenland increases by almost 3 Celsius, its ice sheet will begin to melt. Many experts believe the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will have reached levels around the year 2100 that would cause the temperature to rise that much. Were not saying how long it will take to get to the three degrees or how long it will take to lose the ice sheet, Gregory said. Were saying theres a high likelihood of passing this threshold of viability within the carbon dioxide levels that are currently being considered. The issue of global warming is controversial. Its clear that, since the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased 30 per cent, enhancing the heattrapping capability of the atmosphere. Scientists generally believe that the combustion of fossil fuels to run cars, heat homes, and power factories is the primary source for this increase in carbon dioxide levels. TELC TRANSCRIPT TEST 1.

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In the absence of emission control policies, the United States Environmental Protection Agency says carbon dioxide concentrations will be 30 to 150 per cent higher than the current 370 parts per million found today. Meanwhile, the global surface temperature increased 0.6 Celsius in the last century. Oceans have become warmer, too, expanding while storing heat. This has caused sea levels to rise 10 to 20 centimetres in the last hundred years. While most scientists agree that higher greenhouse gas concentrations, particularly carbon dioxide, are causing global warming, a few scientists argue that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels may not only be to blame, because they have remained relatively steady for the past 30 years. At the present temperatures, about half of the snow that falls on Greenland melts and runs off as water. The rest of it stays and is discharged in the form of icebergs. An increase of 3 Celsius would change that equation, producing an increase in melting that will outweigh the increase in snowfall, according to Gregory. The warmer it gets, the more melting there is, he said. You would also expect more rain or snowfall, but most studies suggest that the increase in melting would be bigger. Beyond that threshold, the ice sheet will likely not be viable and would just get smaller and smaller. The climate models in the study demonstrate that a warming of about 3 Celsius for ongoing melting of the Greenland ice sheet is exceeded by 2100 said John Church, a climate scientist at the Australian government Marine Research centre who was not involved in the sudy. In the most extreme scenario the study predicts temperatures to rise by 8 Celsius by the year 2050. This, in turn, would raise sea levels by 7 metres in a thousand years. This is a high concentration, but it is within the range of scenarios that people have considered, Gregory said. Its not a completely outrageous number. If rising temperatures were to cause melting of Greenlands ice sheet, the process would be gradual. Theres no evidence that the ice sheet would catastrophically disintegrate. Even the worst scenario is unlikely to alter the world map. If you were to raise the sea levels by seven metres and look at a map of the world, you probably wouldnt think it was startlingly different, Gregory said. But of course many of the places where a lot of people live are close to sea level. Many cities and communities along the US Eastern Seaboard are at least partly below this level. Sea level rise has the potential to affect millions of people living in low-lying coastal regions, particularly the inhabitants of mega cities developing on coasts around the world and those living on deltas of major rivers and small island nations, Church said. Gregory and other scientists warn that even if the composition of the atmosphere could be changed back to pre-industrial conditions, the sea level rise could be irreversible. Once its gone the Greenland ice sheet is unlikely to be re-established. Sea level represents one of the longer time scale responses found in the climate system, said Ronald J. Stouffer at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey. It may not be possible to stop or reverse this process once it has been underway for a period of time, even if the climate returns to a relatively cool state, Stouffer said.

Listening comprehension Part 3 56. And here is the weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow. It will start cool in the afternoon with some sunshine and a strong wind coming from the North. This will bring clouds around 6 p.m., which, however, will probably move on so the concert in Kensington Gardens will not be disturbed. By midnight another wave of clouds might bring some showers. Tomorrow morning ... 57. Ladies and Gentlemen, we regret to inform you that there have been delays for the arrival of trains due to technical problems. Passengers travelling to Stamford should wait until further notice. All other passengers should go to platform one. Platform three will be out of order and closed until repairs are done on the line. We apologise for the inconvenience. 58. ... and now the evening programme on MTV. There will be a minor change to the schedule. Instead of the soap opera at 8.30 p.m. you will see a sports programme, a live commentary on the events of the swimming championship. After that you will be able to watch the next episode of the popular comedy series Friends. 59. This is the call centre of the British Museum. Unfortunately, there is nobody at the reception now as the museum is closed for the bank holiday. The exhibitions can be visited on weekdays from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. and at weekends from 10.00 a.m. to 7.30p.m. There are no guided tours to the exhibitions but you can rent a discman with a recorded tour guide in all major European languages. The shop for the museum is open while the exhibitions are open. Thank you for calling. 60. ... and here is an important piece of news. The performance of the popular musical Cats will be cancelled tonight due to the illness of several actors and actresses. As this was to be the last performance this year, you can change your ticket and get a full refund or choose from some other performances later this month.

TELC TRANSCRIPT TEST 1.

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