MINDSET FOR IELTS PRACTICE TESTS: TEST 1

LIS TE N IN G TRANS CRI P T

PART 1
F: Good
 morning, Social Climbers activity centre, how can I help?
M: Hi, I’m interested in bringing my son along to try out climbing at your centre. I’d just like to
confirm a few details with you about the most suitable time to come.
F: Okay, well, there are different groups at different times, depending on their age. How old is
your son?
M: He’s 8.
F: Right, so he’ll need to join the Rock and Rollers group. Most children in that group are at
least six. However, some 5-year-olds are pretty advanced climbers, so in those cases we Q1
let them join the group. And the maximum age is 10.
M: So he won’t be the youngest.
F: No. There’s a session tomorrow at 4.30, if you’d like to bring him then.
M: Great. I think I read online that it’s £4 per session, isn’t it?
F: That depends as well - it costs four pounds for thirty minutes, or if you want him to do the
full session of fifty minutes it’ll be six pounds. Q2
M: Right. Now, the big question: do I need to climb with him?
F: No, you don’t actually have to be with him at the climbing wall – our team of supervisors
are there to help him climb. But everyone up to the age of 13 does need to have an adult
present somewhere in the centre at all times. And that adult also needs to fill out and sign
a form for each of their children, giving permission. Q3
M: OK, that’s fine with me. And before they start, do you give them a talk about what they are
and aren’t allowed to do?
F: No, but we do take our customers’ safety very seriously indeed, so there’s a video which Q4
everyone has to watch before they’re allowed to go on the climbing walls.
M: That’s good. Oh, and I think it also said on the website that, when the session finishes,
your staff give the children some refreshments? Q5
F: That’s right, they’re included in the price of the ticket. It’s thirsty work going up and down
walls for all that time!
M: Yes, I bet.

[Pause in the recording]

M: N ow, what should my son wear when he comes?
F: Well, most people arrive ready to climb but we do have changing rooms if anyone needs
them. He should dress in the type of clothes that he’d wear for playing sports. Q6
And trainers, obviously, not shoes. Make sure that the soles at the bottom of his trainers
aren’t worn down and smooth, though. It gets really annoying when your feet keep slipping
off the climbing holds on the wall.
M: No problem. Does my son need to bring the helmet he wears when he’s riding his bike? Q7
F: He can either bring it or borrow one from us while he’s here. We also provide the safety
harness to wear around your body and clip onto the rope.
M: Oh, that’s great. Do you charge extra for renting those?
F: No, we give them to you free as well.

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 MINDSET FOR IELTS PRACTICE TESTS: TEST 1

M: F antastic. Now, in terms of getting to the climbing centre, what would you recommend?
Should I drive us there?
F: You could do, yes. We have a few spaces in our car park…the problem is, they’re already
taken, most of the time. If that’s the case when you get here, drive down Hobbs Road
towards the cinema. Don’t go in their car park – it’s really expensive – but turn left down
Bicester Avenue before you get to the cinema and use the one there.
M: How do you spell that, please?
F: B – I – C – E – S – T – E – R. Q8
M: Right, thanks. Great, I think I’ll bring him down tomorrow after school.
F: Which school does he go to?
M: St Mark’s.
F: Oh, I know where that is. Well, you could come on the number 17 bus. There’s one every
fifteen minutes, I think. Just walk down from his school to the library – you can catch it Q9
from there.
M: That’s not far at all. Maybe we’ll do that.
F: Oh, one more thing – we’ve got someone coming tomorrow to take pictures of the climbers
so that we can update our social media channels. But if you don’t want your son to be in
any of them, just let the photographer know when you get here. Q10
M: Oh, no, I’m sure he’ll be happy to be in them, especially if it means he’s going to be on
your website! Anyway, thanks for your help.
F: No problem. We’ll see you tomorrow.

PA R T 2
Hi, everyone, my name’s Gavin and I’m going to be your guide for the next part of your
campus tour. I’m a final-year student here, so feel free to ask any questions along the way.
Before we move on, I’d just like to recommend one or two activities to go to. Or not go to, as
the case may be.
First of all, the union societies fair. There are loads of clubs and societies you can join while
you’re here, and they can really help improve your social life. As I’m sure you’ve already seen,
there are dozens of students around campus today, handing out leaflets to encourage you to
join their clubs. It’s always good to get their opinions of course, but the union societies fair is by
far the best place to decide whether or not you want to commit to joining one or not, so don’t
forget to go there later. Q11
By now, I’m sure you’ll have received dozens of messages and emails advertising the freshers
party the union is running this evening. It’s a big event the university holds for all new students,
and there should be something for everyone over the course of the evening: music, comedy,
DJs, all sorts. Have a look through the programme when you get a moment and see if anything
appeals to you. If not, don’t force yourself to go. There’ll be plenty of other opportunities to go out. Q12
The poster sale will be here again, as it is every year. I’m sure you’re all really keen to brighten
up the bare walls of your new rooms as soon as you can. Bear in mind, though, that pretty
much every student I’ve ever known gets carried away there, spends far more money than they
intended to, and ends up back in their room with too many posters and not enough wall space.
There’s a shop in town where they sell the exact same posters for far less. I’d really advise you
to go there instead. Q13

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 MINDSET FOR IELTS PRACTICE TESTS: TEST 1

Oh, I nearly forgot – the students’ bookshop. We walked past that earlier and you saw how
busy it was – everyone queuing out of the door and around the corner! Well, although it is
amazingly busy this week, if you buy your course material there they’ll give you a booklet of
discount vouchers for loads of local cafés, shops and restaurants. So get in those queues and
wait patiently. Q14

[Pause in the recording]

Okay, let me try and help you get to know this part of the campus a little better. Obviously, at
the moment we’re in the Admissions office. From here, if you follow the path to the left, walk
past the trees and you’ll soon come across three buildings. Arlo’s Café is the furthest away of
the three, and I very much advise you to give it a try – their coffee is amazing. Q15
The big building with the domed roof on the opposite side of campus is the Johnson Library. It’s
an inspiring place to study, but can get really busy, so if you need guaranteed peace and quiet,
head for the smaller Rook library. You can actually see it you look east from the Johnson library
– it’s where the pathway splits into two by Wallace Road. Q16
Student Services are on campus to help you with any day-to-day issues, and their office is
located in the west of this site, looking out over a pond which is home to ducks and swans.
Theirs is the building between the Johnson library and the cycle park. Q17
You’ll probably spend some time in the laundry. Be aware that you can’t actually buy any
washing powder or liquid there, but it’s in the L-shaped building by the pond so it’s easy enough Q18
to walk to the student union and buy some from the shop.
Hopefully you won’t be needing to visit the health centre very often. But if you do go there, you’ll
find it if you take either of the main paths that run northwards in the middle of campus. It’s the
long, narrow building behind the student union. Q19
One more thing – if you want to go into town, you can take a taxi from Wallace Road. There’s
also a bus, which is a lot cheaper than a taxi, although the service can be pretty unreliable. It’s
a really short walk down the road from the taxi rank, in the direction of the Johnson library. Q20

PA R T 3
M: B efore we start planning our assignment, let’s think back over the lectures we’ve had
recently. How have you found them?
F: Okay, overall – some great, some not so great.
M: What did you think of yesterday’s?
F: I thought it was pretty useful. And I liked that the speaker stopped occasionally to give us
time to take notes.
M: To be honest, I could have done without that. I generally record lectures so I can listen
back to them later.
F: Well, at least we understood the content. Remember those lectures at the start of the year
that Professor Turner gave?
M: The ones where he kept using complex terminology that nobody knew?
F: Yeah, it was impossible to even identify what we were supposed to be learning. Q21
M: I know, it’s so difficult to get anything from a lecture when someone does that. I suppose he
did make the effort to show a few graphs and images on the screen.
F: But that’s a total waste of time if no one knows what they’re supposed to represent.

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M: True. I really enjoyed Monday’s lecture, though.

F: What, the one about Michelle Ndibi?
M: Yes. It was fascinating to learn more about her approaches and strategies.
F: And also to focus on those things from an academic perspective, rather than just reading
magazines or blogs.
M: It was slightly odd the lecturer barely mentioned she was only 19 when she made her first
million.
F: I know – it’s arguably the most impressive thing about her. Q22
M: When someone from such a disadvantaged background becomes so successful, so young
– that’s unbelievably inspiring.
F: I wish I could achieve as much as she has!
M: Me too! What about those handouts we got? I found a few useful.
F: Surely not the one with those quotes at the top? “Be true to your vision!” and all that?
M: I think they were there to illustrate that motivational slogans are no substitute for a
successful business strategy.
F: I wasn’t sure why they used a mind map to set out how Michelle Ndibi built her business
empire.
M: No, I’d have used a timeline for that. But the charts certainly helped me to understand how
she grew her year-on-year profits in a range of different markets.
F: Good point. Q23
M: Anyway, let’s start thinking about the assignment. We need to write about the approaches
and practices of four successful women in business.
F: Right, detailing the strategies they’ve used to get where they are today. I suspect it might
take us a while to put this together… I’ve got most of the weekend free, so I’ll aim to get
going on the research then.
M: Same here. Let’s be honest, the real struggle will be narrowing our choices down.
F: Oh, I know. I can already think of at least ten people I’d want to include. Q24

[Pause in the recording]

M: R ight, let’s get a plan together so we can get on with writing a first draft.
F: OK, so once we’ve decided on the scope of the assignment, and who’s doing what, I think
we should start the research off separately.
M: Yeah, I agree. We’ve been given the titles of twenty relevant articles in various publications
– let’s start with those and divide them between us. Q25
F: Right, and we should be aiming to analyse each person’s business approach, and support
our analysis with clear examples.
M: Maybe, for each person, we could draft two accounts of business deals they’ve done which
were particularly successful. Each account should be a detailed, step-by-step breakdown Q26
of what happened from start to finish.
F: It’ll be time-consuming, but we need to do it if we want a top grade for this assignment. On
that subject, we also need to show we can evaluate, not just describe.
M: Right, so, the next thing we should do is try to find connections between them: their
philosophies, or the qualities they share, things like that.
F: Ah, you mean like, “she has a particularly strong sense of self-discipline, and so
does she”.
M: Exactly. Q27
F: After that, let’s get together again in the college library. We can swap details of any
websites or articles that we’ve referred to. Q28

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M: Y es, when we’re talking about them, the other person might ask a question that brings up a
fresh idea.
F: Exactly. At that point, we’ll be able to discuss how we’re getting on, and make sure neither
of us is getting behind. We can also agree on what still needs doing. Q29
M: Yes, I think I’d find that helpful. Okay, the final thing will be to get in touch with one of the
final-year students on the list that the tutor gave us.
F: Being able to run through our initial research with an older student and getting suggestions
for improvement is a great idea. Q30
M: Yeah, it’s really supportive, isn’t it?

PA R T 4
Hello, everyone. In today’s lecture, I’m going to be talking to you about nurdles, the tiny pellets
that form the raw material for all plastic products manufactured around the world. And nurdles
are causing massive problems. Billions of them have found their way into our marine habitats,
causing astonishing amounts of environmental damage.
All the chemicals that are already in our rivers, lakes and oceans are attracted to nurdles, which
pick them up and transport them from one place to another. In a way, given how they so readily
absorb these pollutants, we could perhaps describe nurdles as toxic sponges, albeit on a far Q31
smaller scale than the ones you find in your average bathroom.
Let’s look at an example of nurdles’ negative influence. For many disappointed travellers, it’s
becoming increasingly common for public beaches to be closed. Why might this happen? Well,
if they’re present in the water around a sewage works, often because they’ve been dumped
there, nurdles will take on harmful bacteria and carry them down rivers and on into the sea. Q32
This makes it unsafe to swim in, hence the closure of the beach.
Nurdles are a highly persistent source of micropollutants which, once they find their way
into the ocean currents, can end up circulating there for decades. Each year, an astounding
230,000 tonnes end up in the sea. The only thing that’s more polluting than nurdles is the tyre
dust that washes off the streets into the drainage systems beneath our roads, and then on into Q33
the sea.
There’ve already been a number of accidents where huge containers full of nurdles have fallen
from ships, which can spread throughout the ocean and then be conveyed all the way back to
the shores. When this happens, it doesn’t just cause problems for the fish, dolphins and other
marine ecosystems that live there. It also causes problems with food security, particularly for
those communities living on the coast, whose wages come largely from fishing. Q34
Now let’s look at an example of a damaging maritime disaster. The X-Press Pearl, a huge
container ship, was sailing off the Sri Lankan coast in May 2021 when it caught fire and stayed
afloat, burning for two weeks, before it finally sank. Much of the media focus at the time was on
the fuel oil and hazardous chemicals it was carrying, but the United Nations later confirmed that
it was the nurdles on board that caused the most significant long-term damage to the seas and
coastlines. There was a huge negative impact on tourism in Sri Lanka, while the fishing industry Q35
also suffered immensely. Much of the marine life that would otherwise have been caught in
that area was affected – either killed or forced to leave its habitat – and this absence led to a
huge fall in the protein consumption of millions of Sri Lankans. So it’s not difficult to see how Q36
disasters like this can become both an environmental issue and a public health crisis.

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So what solutions can be found to reduce any potential future damage? Let’s look at off-shore
problems first, in terms of shipping nurdles around the world. Many environmental campaigners
are pushing for nurdles to be stored in container ships below deck, in stronger, more robust
packaging than is currently used, which is usually unsuitable for transporting them long Q37
distances.
Environmental scientists have long argued that the International Maritime Organisation – or
IMO – the United Nations agency which is responsible for international shipping, should take
more focused action. Although the IMO has classified substances like kerosene, diesel, and
petrol as hazardous, it hasn’t yet done the same with nurdles, which has meant that there’s little
to persuade companies to take proper care over the transportation of these goods. The IMO will
also need to enhance the international guidance for the safe handling and storage of nurdles, Q38
so that the relevant authorities around the world can monitor this more closely.
There also needs to be a focus on plastic manufacturers’ on-shore activities to prevent
companies spilling nurdles into rivers, lakes and streams. On the whole, there’s rarely any
punishment for doing this, and so there’s no incentive to stop. Governments, therefore, should
bring in new legislation that forces these companies to publish reports about their polluting on Q39
an annual basis. These would show whether there have been any spills, what action was taken,
and what will be done to ensure that these are not repeated in the future.
Ultimately, though, we can’t rely on manufacturers alone to reduce, let alone prevent, this
large-scale pollution. In fact, the authorities already have access to a number of laws and
regulations that could, in theory, be used to fine or punish the worst-offending companies. But
the problem in many ways comes from a lack of enforcement. Sadly, there simply aren’t enough
staff available to inspect the thousands of facilities that transport, repackage, or make products Q40
out of nurdles, and a recruitment drive is long overdue.
Now, let’s turn to the many ways that nurdles can be manufactured in …

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