تدريب Shadowing: Cambridge IELTS 17 Listening Test 4 With answer | - تعلم التحدث بالإنجليزية عبر الفيديو

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Cambridge 17 Listening Test 4.
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You will hear a number of different recordings.
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All the recordings will be played once only.
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The test is in four parts.
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You will have 10 minutes at the end of the test to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
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Now turn to Part 1.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5.
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Listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 5.
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Hello, Easy Life Cleaning Services, Jacinta speaking.
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Oh, hello.
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I'm looking for a cleaning service for my apartment.
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Do you do domestic cleaning?
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Sure.
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Well, it's just a one-bedroom flat.
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Do you have a basic cleaning package?
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Yes.
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For a one-bedroom flat, we're probably looking at about two hours for a clean,
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so we'd do a thorough clean of all surfaces in each room and polish them where necessary.
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Does your apartment have carpets?
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No, I don't have any, but the floor would need cleaning. Of course.
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We'd do that in every room, and we'd do a thorough clean of the kitchen and bathroom.
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Oh, OK.
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Then we have some additional services which you can request if you want.
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So for example, we can clean your oven for you every week.
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Actually, I hardly ever use that, but can you do the fridge?
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Sure.
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Would you like that done every week?
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Yes, definitely.
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And would ironing clothes be an additional service you can do?
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Yes, of course.
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It wouldn't be much, just my shirts for work that week.
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That's fine.
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And we could also clean your microwave if you want.
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No, I wipe that out pretty regularly, so there's no need for that.
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We also offer additional services that you might want a bit less often, say every month.
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So, for example, if the inside of your windows need cleaning, we could do that.
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Yes, that'd be good.
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I'm on the 15th floor, so the outside gets done regularly by specialists, but the inside does get a bit grubby.
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And we could arrange for your curtains to get cleaned if necessary.
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No, they're okay.
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But would you be able to do something about the balcony?
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It's quite small and I don't use it much, but it could do with a wash every month or so.
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Yes, we can get the pressure washer onto that.
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Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 6 to
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Now listen and answer questions 6 to 10.
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Now if you're interested, we do offer some other possibilities to do with general maintenance.
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For example, if you have a problem with water and you need a plumber in a hurry, we can put you in touch with a reliable one who can come out straight away.
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And the same thing if you need an electrician.
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Right, that's good to know.
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I've only just moved here, so I don't have any of those sorts of contacts.
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And I don't know if this is of interest to you, but we also offer a special vacuum cleaning system
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which can improve the indoor air quality of your home by capturing up to 99% of all the dust in the air.
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So if you're troubled by allergies, this can make a big difference.
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Right.
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In fact, I don't have that sort of problem, but I'll bear it in mind.
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Now, can you tell me a bit about your cleaning staff? Of course.
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So all our cleaners are very carefully selected.
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When they apply to us, they have to undergo a security check with the police to make sure they don't have any sort of criminal background.
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And of course, they have to provide references as well.
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Then if we think they might be suitable for the job, we give them training for it.
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That lasts for two weeks, so it's very thorough, and at the end of it they have a test.
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If they pass that, we take them on, but we monitor them very carefully.
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We ask all our clients to complete a review of their performance after every visit and to email it to us, so we can pick up any problems straight away and deal with them.
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OK, well, that all sounds good.
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And will I always have the same cleaner?
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Yes, we do our best to organise it that way, and we usually manage it.
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Good, that's fine.
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Right, so I'd like to go ahead and...
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That is the end of part one.
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You now have half a minute to check your answers.
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Now turn to part two.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 14.
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Now listen and answer questions 11 to 14.
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As many of you here today have worked in the hotel industry for some time,
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I'm sure you have experienced the problem of high staff turnover in your hotels.
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Every hotel relies on having loyal and experienced members of staff who make sure that everything runs smoothly.
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If staff are constantly changing, it can make life difficult for everyone.
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But why do staff leave frequently in many hotels?
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Of course, many hotel jobs, such as cleaning, are low-skilled and are not well paid.
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A lot of managers think it's this and the long hours that are the main causes of high staff turnover.
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But what they don't realise is that it's the lack of training in many hotel jobs which is a huge factor.
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So what kind of problems does a high turnover of staff cause.
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Well, having to recruit new staff all the time can be very time-consuming,
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and managers may have to cover some duties while waiting for new staff to arrive.
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This means they don't have time to think about less immediate problems, such as how to improve their service.
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When staff leave, it can also severely affect the colleagues they leave behind.
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It has a negative effect on remaining staff who may start to feel that they too should be thinking about leaving.
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So what can be done to change this situation?
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Firstly, managers should stop making basic errors which leave their staff feeling upset and resentful.
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When organising shifts, for example, make sure you never give certain staff preferential treatment.
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All staff should be given some choice about when they work, and everyone should have to work some evening and weekend shifts.
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If you treat staff fairly, they'll be more likely to step in and help when extra staff are needed.
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Keeping staff happy has other tangible benefits for the business.
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Take the Dunwich Hotel as an example.
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It had been experiencing a problem with staff complaints, and in order to deal with this,
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invested in staff training and improved staff conditions.
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Not only did the level of complaints fall, but they also noticed a significant increase in the amount each customer spent during their stay.
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They have now introduced a customer loyalty scheme, which is going really well.
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Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 15 to 20.
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Now listen and answer questions 15 to 20.
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Now I'd like to look at some ways you can reduce staff turnover in your hotels.
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And I'll do this by giving some examples of hotels where I've done some training recently.
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The Sun Club received feedback which showed that staff thought managers didn't value their opinions.
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They weren't made to feel they were partners who were contributing to the success of the business as a whole.
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This situation has changed.
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Junior staff, at all levels, are regularly invited to meetings where their ideas are welcomed.
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A year ago, the Portland recognised the need to invest in staff retention.
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Their first step was to introduce a scheme for recognising talent amongst their employees.
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The hope is that organising training for individuals with management potential will encourage them to stay with the business.
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At Blue Water, managers decided to recognise 50 high achievers from across the company's huge hotel chain.
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As a reward, they're sent on an all-expenses-paid trip abroad every year.
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Fun is an important element in the trips, but there's also the opportunity to learn something useful.
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This year's trip included a visit to a brewery, where staff learned about the new beer that would be served in the hotel.
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Pentlow Hotels identified that retention of junior reception staff was an issue.
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In order to encourage them to see that working in a hotel could be worthwhile and rewarding with good prospects,
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they introduced a management programme.
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These staff were given additional responsibilities and a chance to work in various roles in the hotel.
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Green Planet wanted to be seen as a caring employer.
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To make life easier for staff, many of whom had childcare responsibilities,
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the hotel began issuing vouchers to help cover the cost of childcare.
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Louise Marsh at the Amesbury has one of the best staff retention rates in the business.
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Since she joined the company, she's made a huge effort to achieve this by creating a cooperative and supportive environment.
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For her, the staff are part of a large family where everyone is valued.
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Okay, now I'd like to move...
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That is the end of part two.
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You now have half a minute to check your answers.
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Now turn to part three.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24.
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Now listen and answer questions 21 to 24.
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Hi Thomas, how are you enjoying the course so far?
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Yeah, I think it's good.
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Remind me, why did you decide to study sports science?
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Didn't you want to be a professional athlete when you were at school?
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Yeah, that was my goal, and all my classmates assumed I would achieve it.
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They thought I was brilliant.
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That must have been a nice feeling.
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I thought I could win anything.
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There was no one who could run faster than me.
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Exactly.
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So what happened?
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Did your mum and dad want you to be more academic?
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Not at all.
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Perhaps they should have pushed me harder, though.
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What do you mean?
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I think I should have practised more.
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What makes you say that?
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Well, I went out to Kenya for a couple of weeks to train.
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Really?
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I didn't know that.
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I was chosen to go there out of loads of kids
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and run with some of the top teenage athletes in the world.
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and I was so calm about it.
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I just kept thinking how fortunate I was.
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What a great chance this was.
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Everyone back home was so proud of me.
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But once we started competing, I very quickly realised I wasn't good enough.
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That must have been a huge shock.
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I thought, this can't be happening.
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I was used to winning.
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I'm sorry to hear that.
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It's OK.
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I'm over it now and I think it's much better to do a university course.
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And this one has such a variety of sports-related areas.
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It's going to be good.
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Oh, I agree.
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I chose it because of that.
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Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30.
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Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30.
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So, Jian, have you thought of any ideas for the discussion session next week on technology and sport?
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We have to cover more than one sport, don't we?
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Yeah.
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You know, we always think technology is about the future, but we could gather some ideas about past developments in sport.
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Look at early types of equipment, perhaps.
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I remember reading something about table tennis bats once, how they ended up being covered with pimpled rubber.
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Because they were just wooden at first, I'd imagine.
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Yeah.
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In about the 1920s, a factory was making rolls of the rubber in bulk to something like horse harnesses.
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Really?
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Yeah, and someone realised that it would make a perfect covering for the wooden bats.
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So, what about cricket?
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That's had a few innovative changes.
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Maybe the pads they wear on their legs?
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I don't think they've changed much, but I'm just looking on the internet.
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And it says that when the first cricket helmet came in,
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in 1978, the Australian batsman who first wore it was booed and jeered by people watching because it was so ugly.
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Wow!
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Players have to protect themselves from getting hurt.
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I mean, everyone wears one now.
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Hmm, unlike the cycle helmet.
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Well, unless you're a professional.
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But you're right, many ordinary bikers don't wear a helmet.
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Hey, look at these pictures of original helmet designs.
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This one looks like an upside-down bowl.
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Yet the woman's laughing.
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She's so proud to be wearing it.
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It says serious cyclists ended up with wet hair from all the hard exercise.
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I guess that's why they have large air vents in them now, so that their skin can breathe more easily.
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OK, so we've done helmets.
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What about golf balls?
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Or better still, golf clubs?
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They've changed a lot.
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Yeah.
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I remember my great-grandfather telling me that because a club was made entirely of wood, it would easily break and players had to get another.
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There's no wood at all in them now, is there?
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No, they're much more powerful.
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The same must be true of hockey sticks.
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Hmm, I don't think so, because players still use wooden sticks today.
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Hmm, what it does say here, though, is that when the game started, you had to produce a stick yourself.
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I guess they just weren't being manufactured. So, one more, perhaps?
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What about football?
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Well, I know the first balls were made of animal skin.
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Yeah, they covered them with pieces of leather that were stitched together.
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But the balls let in water when it rained.
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Oh, that would have made them much heavier.
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That's right.
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You can imagine the damage to players' necks when the ball was headed.
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Oh, how painful that must have been.
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Yeah.
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Well, I think we can put together some useful ideas...
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That is the end of part three.
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You now have half a minute to check your answers.
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Now turn to part four.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.
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Now listen and answer questions 31 to 40.
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Hello, everyone.
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Today, we're going to look at another natural food product, and that's maple syrup.
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What is this exactly?
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Well, maple syrup looks rather like clear honey, but it's not made by bees.
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It's produced from the plant fluid, or sap, inside the maple tree, and that makes maple syrup a very natural product.
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Maple syrup is a thick, golden, sweet-tasting liquid that can be bought in bottles or jars
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and poured onto foods such as waffles and ice cream or used in the baking of cakes and pastries.
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It contains no preservatives or added ingredients, and it provides a healthy alternative to refined sugar.
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Let's just talk a bit about the maple tree itself, which is where maple syrup comes from.
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So, there are many species of maple tree, and they'll grow without fertilizer in areas where there's plenty of moisture in the soil.
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However, they'll only do this if another important criterion is fulfilled,
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which is that they must have full or partial sun exposure during the day and very cool nights.
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And I'll talk more about that in a minute.
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There are only certain parts of the world that provide all these conditions.
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One is Canada.
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And by that, I mean all parts of Canada.
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And the other is the northeastern states of North America.
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In these areas, the climate suits the trees perfectly.
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In fact, Canada produces over two-thirds of the world's maple syrup,
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which is why the five-pointed maple leaf is a Canadian symbol and has featured on the flag since 1964.
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So, how did maple syrup production begin?
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Well, long before Europeans settled in these parts of the world, the indigenous communities had started producing maple sugar.
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They bored holes in the trunks of maple trees
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and used containers made of tree bark to collect the liquid sap as it poured out.
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As they were unable to keep the liquid for any length of time, they didn't have storage facilities in those days,
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they boiled the liquid by placing pieces of rock that had become scorching hot from the sun into the sap.
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They did this until it turned into sugar, and they were then able to use this to sweeten their food and drinks.
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Since that time, improvements have been made to the process, but it has changed very little overall.
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So, let's look at the production of maple syrup today.
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Clearly, the maple forests are a valuable resource in many Canadian and North American communities.
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The trees have to be well looked after,
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and they cannot be used to make syrup until the trunks reach a diameter of around 25 centimeters.
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This can take anything up to 40 years.
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As I've already mentioned, maple trees need the right conditions to grow and also to produce sap.
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Why is this?
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Well, what happens is that during a cold night,
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the tree absorbs water from the soil and that rises through the tree's vascular system.
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But then in the warmer daytime, the change in temperature causes the water to be pushed back down to the bottom of the tree.
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This continual movement up and down leads to the formation of the sap needed for maple syrup production.
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When the tree is ready, it can be tapped, and this involves drilling a small hole into the trunk
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and inserting a tube into it that ends in a bucket.
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The trees can often take several taps, though the workers take care not to cause any damage to the healthy growth of the tree itself.
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The sap that comes out of the trees consists of 98% water and 2% sugar and other nutrients.
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It has to be boiled so that much of that water evaporates.
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And this process has to take place immediately using what are called evaporators.
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These are basically extremely large pans.
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The sap is poured into these.
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A fire is built, and the pans are then heated until the sap boils.
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As it does this, the water evaporates, and the syrup begins to form.
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The evaporation process creates large quantities of steam, and the sap becomes thicker and denser,
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and at just the right moment when the sap is thick enough to be called maple syrup, the worker removes it from the heat.
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After this process, something called sugar sand has to be filtered out as this builds up during the boiling
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and gives the syrup a cloudy appearance and a slightly gritty taste.
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Once this has been done, the syrup is ready to be packaged so that it can be used for a whole variety of products.
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It takes 40 liters of sap to produce 1 liter of maple syrup, so you can get an idea of how much is needed.
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So that's the basic process.
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In places like Quebec...
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That is the end of part four.
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You now have 10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.

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