Pratica di Shadowing: Complete IELTS Bands 5 6 5 Workbook Mark Harrison - Impara a parlare inglese con i video
Creazione lezione...
1
Complete IELTS, Bands 5 to 6.5,
2
Workbook by Mark Harrison, published by Cambridge University Press.
3
This recording is copyright.
4
Track 2, Unit 1.
5
You will hear an interviewer asking a member of the public for his views on the city.
6
First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 5.
7
You will see that there is an example that has been done for you.
8
On this occasion only, the conversation relating to this will be played first.
9
Uh, hello.
10
We're conducting a survey about what people think of this city.
11
I wonder, would you mind answering a few questions?
12
I'm in a bit of a hurry.
13
Well, it won't take long.
14
Just a couple of minutes of your time.
15
Well, OK.
16
But I haven't been living here for long, so I might not be able to answer some of your questions.
17
That's not a problem.
18
We're looking for views from a range of people.
19
Could I just get a few details first?
20
OK, I guess.
21
Well, first of all, which age group do you fit into?
22
18 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 50?
23
Um, 28.
24
So that's the middle one of those.
25
What was it?
26
25 to 34?
27
Yes.
28
OK, that's me.
29
The man is aged 28 and in the 25 to 34 age group.
30
So 25 to 34 has been written in the space.
31
Now we shall begin.
32
You should answer the questions as you listen, as you will not hear the recording a second time.
33
Uh, hello.
34
We're conducting a survey about what people think of this city.
35
I wonder, would you mind answering a few questions?
36
I'm in a bit of a hurry.
37
Well, it won't take long.
38
Just a couple of minutes of your time.
39
Well, OK.
40
But I haven't been living here for long, so I might not be able to answer some of your questions.
41
That's not a problem.
42
We're looking for views from a range of people.
43
Could I just get a few details first?
44
OK, I guess.
45
Well, first of all, which age group do you fit into?
46
18 to 24?
47
25 to 34?
48
35 to 50?
49
I'm 28, so that's the middle one of those.
50
What was it?
51
25 to 34?
52
Yes.
53
OK, that's me.
54
And how long have you been living in this city?
55
I've only been here for three weeks, and it's my first experience of this country at all.
56
I've come here to work on a six-month contract.
57
Right.
58
So it's all pretty new for you.
59
Yes.
60
I'm still getting used to it.
61
Right.
62
So where did you live previously?
63
I'm from New Zealand.
64
I lived there all my life before I came to Britain.
65
Oh really?
66
I haven't met anybody else from your country before.
67
No?
68
Well, there are a few of us here.
69
OK.
70
Perhaps I'll meet some more while I'm doing this.
71
Now, the next question is occupation.
72
Did you say you came here for work?
73
Yes, that's right.
74
I'm a lawyer.
75
My firm has sent me here to gain some experience of practising law in an international context.
76
So, I'm here to learn, really.
77
Sounds very interesting.
78
Yes, I'm already learning a lot.
79
Things are very different here from back at home.
80
Now, what area of the city are you living in?
81
I'm in an apartment in Waterfall Road, that's in Cowndon.
82
Oh, OK.
83
Let's see.
84
How's that spelt?
85
C-O-U-N-D-O-N.
86
That's right, isn't it?
87
It's O-N at the end, not E-N, isn't it?
88
Yes, that's right.
89
And your postcode, if you can remember it.
90
Just the first part will do.
91
That's CV26.
92
OK, thanks.
93
Now I want to ask you for your views on various aspects of living here.
94
First of all, public transport.
95
Is the public transport system adequate for you?
96
Hmm, well, it's hard to say.
97
When I've used it, it's been fine, but I don't use it all that often.
98
I cycle to work every day, and that's usually how I get around in my free time too,
99
so I'm not sure I can comment really on that particular issue.
100
No improvements to suggest then?
101
No, I don't have enough experience to do that.
102
OK.
103
Now sports facilities.
104
Do you do much sport?
105
Yes, I do.
106
It's my main interest outside work, and I've got no criticisms there.
107
As soon as I arrived, I joined a cricket club.
108
A friend back home who'd lived here for a while told me about it.
109
And I've made lots of friends there already.
110
Apart from that, do you think there are enough facilities?
111
Yes, as far as I can see.
112
I use the public swimming pool regularly.
113
I've found some very good tennis courts and the fitness centre is fine too.
114
I've been able to carry on doing all the sports I'm used to doing at home.
115
What about entertainment?
116
Is this adequately provided or is the city lacking in something?
117
Well, coming from a pretty small town, I've been amazed at what's on offer here.
118
There are so many things to choose from in the evenings and at weekends.
119
I don't think I'll have time to go everywhere I'd like to while I'm here.
120
I've already been to some excellent restaurants.
121
I've been to the cinema a few times.
122
I've been to all sorts of places.
123
There seem to be loads of things to do.
124
What about cleanliness and litter?
125
Do you have any views on that?
126
Well, to be honest, I've been pretty surprised about that.
127
Before I came, for some reason, I'd had the impression that it would be a pretty dirty place, certainly compared with where I'm from.
128
You know, I was expecting a crowded city with litter and rubbish all over the place.
129
And sure, there is some litter and it could all be a bit cleaner, but actually it's not at all bad in that respect.
130
OK.
131
And now, what about crime and the police force?
132
What are your views on that aspect of life in this city?
133
Well, I haven't been here long enough to form much of a view.
134
A colleague at work had her car broken into and some things stolen and she reported it to the police, but there wasn't much they could do about it,
135
apart from give her a crime number so that she could claim on her insurance.
136
I don't know how common that sort of thing is here.
137
Nothing's happened to me so far, that's all I can say.
138
Perhaps I've just been lucky, or perhaps crime isn't a major problem, I don't know.
139
But there's crime everywhere, isn't there?
140
All over the world, and in the countryside, as well as cities.
141
OK.
142
Well, I've got all the information I need for the survey, and I've ticked the right boxes.
143
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions.
144
No problem.
145
Track 3, Unit 2.
146
You will hear a speaker introducing a conference.
147
First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 10.
148
Now listen and answer questions 1 to 10.
149
Hello, and welcome to the conference.
150
As you know, it's called Health and Fitness in the Workplace, and the name speaks for itself.
151
We're here to discuss issues that can affect employees, and of course, therefore, the companies and organisations they work for.
152
In planning the programme for this conference, we've taken into account the answers that you gave us in our questionnaires.
153
Of course, some of the issues we cover will be more relevant to some of you than to others,
154
but we think we've included all the main ones that you indicated are important to you.
155
Now, the whole subject of health and fitness in the workplace is something
156
that didn't get much attention not that many years ago.
157
Companies and organizations focused purely on the jobs that people were doing,
158
and any assessment of them concerned how well they were doing their jobs, and how their work fitted into the overall operations of the organization.
159
Anything that might be regarded as a personal issue wasn't part of the company's relationship with its people.
160
It was none of their business.
161
Well, of course, that's all changed,
162
and companies and organizations have come to realize that its people's health and fitness are very much their business.
163
And that's not just in the obvious ways, such as the number of days off sick that employees have.
164
There are also psychological factors, and there is considerable evidence that a fit
165
and healthy person does their job better than someone who doesn't maintain a good level of health and fitness.
166
If you're emphasizing these things at your workplace,
167
you're creating an atmosphere that enables you to get the very best out of your people.
168
We are very much hoping that our program here at the conference will be both informative and entertaining.
169
The emphasis here is going to be not so much on the theory, but on the practical side.
170
What can you do in your roles to promote health and fitness in your workplace?
171
Now, some of you may think you're already doing as much as you can,
172
but I promise you that you're all going to learn something new.
173
We've got speakers here who are going to tell you things you've never heard before, and you should leave here at the end of the conference
174
with all kinds of ideas for things you can introduce at your workplace.
175
But we're not going to be just talking to you and telling you things.
176
One of the great things about an event like this is that it's a great opportunity to share information,
177
so in every session there will be a slot for people to talk about their own practices and experiences.
178
What initiatives have worked for you, and which ones haven't been so successful?
179
We can all learn from each other, and that's one of the aims of this conference.
180
Okay, now let's move on to some details about the conference, and what will be happening where.
181
Let me just briefly take you through the map that you've all got in your welcome pack.
182
Right.
183
Here on the map, we've marked all the sessions that are taking place this morning,
184
and you've already indicated which ones you'll each be attending.
185
For those of you going to the session on setting up a fitness centre at work,
186
You go out of the main hall here through those doors,
187
turn right at reception, and go along the corridor to the tailor room, which is on your left.
188
You'll get lots of good advice there on the possibilities and costs of a workplace fitness centre.
189
The talk on healthy eating schemes is in the Martin's Suite.
190
For that, you need to go out of this hall the other way, through the doors at that end.
191
And that takes you straight through to the Martin's Suite.
192
If you're keen to introduce healthy eating schemes in your canteens and restaurants, or to improve ones you've already got,
193
you'll get lots of really good ideas from that session.
194
Now, those of you attending the session on transport initiatives, you're in the fender room.
195
To get there, you need to go out of those doors that bring you out opposite reception.
196
Turn left, and left again into a corridor.
197
The fender room is the third door on your right.
198
The session will cover everything from how to encourage people to walk or cycle to work,
199
to car-sharing schemes For those of you who have signed up for the workshop on running sports teams,
200
that will take place in the Gibson suite The whole issue of organising company teams,
201
recruiting people for them, encouraging people to take part in them, whatever their sporting ability, taking part in competitions,
202
all that will get covered in the workshop.
203
You'll find that if you go out of here, turn right at reception, and then right again.
204
The first door you come to on the left is the Gibson Suite.
205
Finally, if you need any more information or have any queries while the conference is going on,
206
you'll find me in the conference coordinator's office.
207
From here, that's to the left of reception, and along the corridor past the entrance hall.
208
If you keep going along the corridor, you'll find my door at the end on your right.
209
Please come and see me if there's anything you want to ask or find out.
210
Okay, let's get started.
211
I hope that you all enjoy...
212
Track 4, Unit 3.
213
You will hear a student talking to her tutor about a piece of work she has done.
214
First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 10.
215
Now listen and answer questions 1 to 10.
216
Right, Beth.
217
Let's have a look at your dissertation.
218
Well, I think it's a pretty good piece of work.
219
Thanks Communication skills in the workplace Good choice of topic Thanks Now,
220
I see that you decided to focus on certain sectors Yes,
221
I felt that jobs involving interaction with the public would be my main area
222
So obviously the retail sector had to be in there Sure, but you didn't just focus on the obvious ones like that, did you?
223
No. I wanted to look at a variety of sectors.
224
I felt, for example, that banking would probably lead to the same sort of results as retail.
225
And what about call centres?
226
Yes.
227
Of course, that seemed like an obvious place to go initially.
228
But I decided to spread the focus away from interactions involving customers and the goods and services they buy.
229
Seems sensible.
230
So, that led you to the idea of tourist guides.
231
Yes, that's a very specific area of communication, dealing with different nationalities.
232
The skills involved in that are very interesting as you describe them.
233
Yes, and that led me to think about the work of translators and interpreters.
234
Well, that might be the starting point for a whole other piece of work.
235
Yes.
236
Now, the research you did for this was generally very impressive Thanks Though,
237
a bit more on the academic research that's been done into this area would have been good Well,
238
I went more for a personal approach here rather than rehashing other people's work
239
or focusing mainly on the theories about how people communicate Yes, and it worked well
240
It would have been good if you could have filmed people in action and then analysed the videos I know,
241
but there were practical issues there So I settled for watching people in action
242
and making notes on what they were doing And of course there were the interviews too Yes, it's very interesting to compare what people think they're doing with
243
the way they're actually communicating I was very struck by that aspect
244
and your analysis from watching people in action was very effective too.
245
I found it fascinating to do that.
246
Yes, that comes across.
247
It would be fascinating to get data on the outcomes of these interactions too, whether the desired outcomes were achieved.
248
I know, and that would be something I'd love to look at if I knew how to go about it.
249
Now, looking at the content of your dissertation, I felt your division into sections was the right one,
250
focusing on specific types of interaction in these contexts Thanks Now,
251
your first section is on dealing with complaints This is an obvious area for something on this subject,
252
but I felt that this section had some really original thinking on your part Yes.
253
I try to ignore the standard points that are usually made and come up with something fresh.
254
And my research led me in those directions.
255
The collaborating with colleagues section made for interesting reading too.
256
But I didn't feel that your conclusions there were really backed up by the research you did.
257
Oh, I felt that they were.
258
I tried to illustrate everything with examples.
259
perhaps some weren't as relevant as others.
260
Yes, I think that's right.
261
You made some pretty strong assertions but I wasn't sure they could be justified by the examples.
262
Oh, OK.
263
But the evidence for my conclusions in the interacting with managers section was pretty powerful, wasn't it?
264
Yes, and most of the research in this general area doesn't focus on this particular issue.
265
I think your conclusions there point to something that causes all sorts of trouble in organisations and companies, but that isn't given enough attention.
266
I agree.
267
It's something that training programmes should be covering, but they don't.
268
Now, the giving instructions section was very well put together, I thought.
269
Yes.
270
This is one where language accuracy and coherence are the main issues.
271
And you came to very clear conclusions on that.
272
This is a really effective section, general points illustrated by lots of examples and a conclusion that made logical sense.
273
Now, finally, let's have a quick look at your overall conclusions.
274
OK.
275
Now, you've included quite a bit in the main body about writing skills,
276
but in fact you see listening skills as being a much bigger issue.
277
Yes.
278
As I say there, people don't pay enough attention to what other people say to them.
279
And this leads to all kinds of communication problems.
280
And the other big issue is grammatical accuracy, isn't it?
281
Well, up to a point.
282
But as I say, there are lots of instances where this is less of an issue than formal language.
283
When people are in situations where this is required, they're often at a loss and end up not making much sense Yes, as you make clear Well,
284
Beth, this is a good piece of work Well done Thanks
285
Track 5 Unit 4 You will hear an expert giving a talk about blogs and blogging First,
286
you have some time to look at questions 1 to 10.
287
Now listen and answer questions 1 to 10.
288
OK.
289
I'm going to talk today about blogs and blogging.
290
Though I'm assuming you're all familiar with what a blog is, let's just start with a definition.
291
Perhaps the simplest definition is
292
that a blog is a type of website in the form of a journal of one sort or another.
293
It consists of posts, new material or entries,
294
that are arranged in chronological order with the most recent post at the top of the page.
295
Now, what are the typical characteristics of a blog?
296
Well, blogs are usually written by one person.
297
They are usually updated regularly, and they are often, though by no means always, about one particular topic.
298
That topic might be the blogger's own life, as many blogs are personal diaries.
299
But there are blogs on just about any topic you could think of.
300
There are political blogs, news blogs, blogs about a particular hobby, etc., etc.
301
Now, most blogs are not monologues
302
because they allow readers to make their own comments on what appears in the blog
303
or to add their own information to it.
304
In this way, people get into contact with each other, learning from each other, sharing ideas,
305
perhaps making friends or even doing business with each other, wherever they are in the world.
306
Although blogs are very much part of modern life, and there are literally millions of blogs on the web, the history of blogging is a pretty short one.
307
There is some disagreement over what the first blog was,
308
but many people reckon it was an online diary started by a student called Justin Hall in 1994.
309
His site was called Justin's Home Page, and he later called it Links from the Underground.
310
At that point, the word blog didn't exist.
311
More websites like his started to spring up, in the form of regularly updated online journals on various subjects,
312
with links to other websites and forums for people to contribute their personal opinions.
313
In 1997, someone called Jorn Barger first used the term weblog to categorize this kind of website
314
when he launched his own website, Robot Wisdom.
315
In 1999, a blogger called Peter Merholtz jokingly broke this word up into we blog and therefore invented the term blog.
316
Pretty soon, everyone called the sites blogs and the people writing them bloggers.
317
Okay, now let's move on to how to run a blog.
318
And what I'm going to do now is to tell you
319
what I think is the best approach to workflow with a blog.
320
First of all, you need to decide on the frequency of your blog posts.
321
Some people do several a day, which is great if you can keep it up Others, one a day
322
Once a week might be enough
323
But the key question is what the readers of your blog expect They need to know
324
when they can expect to see a new post on the blog So whatever schedule you decide on,
325
it's important to stick to it When you're going to do a post,
326
start by reading material to find out what's being discussed in friends' blogs
327
or in other blogs related to the topic of yours.
328
That way, you can take these things into account to ensure that your blog is bang up to date.
329
Then, start composing your blog post.
330
If you're doing one that involves research and links, open a file for storing the sources of your information and the links you're going to put in the post.
331
Also, consider using pictures.
332
These can make your blog much more attractive than one that's just text.
333
If you use photos from the web, make sure you cite the source in your blog.
334
When you've completed the post, add some tags.
335
If you don't have the kind of software that enables you to build them into the post, add them at the bottom.
336
Tags are really important for searchability.
337
They can get you new readers who find your blog via the tags.
338
If you think this is a particularly good post and you're really proud of it, announce it by sending links to it on social networking sites,
339
together with a very brief summary of what it's about.
340
Then check your blog statistics to see how many people are reading and responding to your blog.
341
Find out who's blogged about your post and reply to them.
342
give them a proper reply rather than just saying thanks.
343
After you've done all that, get off your own blog and comment elsewhere.
344
Remember that you're not the only person blogging and putting out new material.
345
There are lots of others doing the same, and you should show them some respect by giving them comments and feedback on their posts where you feel it's appropriate.
346
Well, that's just some advice on being a good blogger.
347
Blogging's obviously a major thing now in the world of electronic media, and it's anybody's guess how it will develop in the future.
348
Track 6.
349
Unit 5.
350
You will hear a man who is interested in doing voluntary work connected with the environment
351
talking to a woman who works for an organisation that runs environmental projects.
352
First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 10.
353
Now listen and answer questions 1 to 10.
354
Hello.
355
How can I help you?
356
Well, I've come in because I want to volunteer for one of your environmental projects.
357
I read something about your organisation in the paper a few days ago, and I thought I'd like to get involved.
358
OK, that sounds good.
359
What's your name?
360
Ryan.
361
OK, Ryan, thanks for coming in.
362
I'm Hannah.
363
Now, let me start by telling you something about our organisation, and then we can have a look at a few projects that might interest you,
364
after I've found out a bit about you.
365
Fine.
366
Right.
367
Well, as you know, we're called the volunteer agency, and that pretty well explains what we do.
368
We recruit people for a wide range of projects.
369
A lot of our work concerns environmental projects,
370
and at the moment we've got 130,000 volunteers working on these projects.
371
What sort of environmental projects are they?
372
Well, for example, if you wanted to go abroad,
373
one of our big projects involves gathering information that is used for the protection of marine and forest environments.
374
Volunteers on that do diving or collect biodiversity data on tropical rainforest species.
375
Sounds exciting.
376
But I think I'd rather stay here, at least to start off with.
377
OK.
378
Well, here in our own country, we've got a big project aimed at clearing up litter in rural areas.
379
The aim of this is to get everyone involved in making sure their local environment is clean and tidy.
380
Yes, I've seen adverts for that.
381
Another project involves looking after the National Cycle Network, keeping the route safe and attractive for cyclists.
382
This is part of a bigger scheme concerned with developing sustainable transport systems all across the country.
383
Interesting.
384
Now, if you want to do something in the city rather than the countryside, within cities we also have the city farms projects,
385
which involve working with people, plants and animals.
386
Oh, what are those?
387
Are they real farms?
388
How do they work?
389
Well, yes.
390
They're real farms and they're an example of a project that relies almost entirely on volunteers.
391
On other projects, you might be working alongside salaried people, but with these, almost everyone is unpaid.
392
In fact, many of our projects have very few, if any, paid staff.
393
Yes, that's what I thought.
394
Well, do any of these things sound particularly appealing to you?
395
Well, as I say, I wasn't thinking of going abroad
396
and I'm not sure that any of those is exactly the sort of thing I'm really looking for.
397
Sorry.
398
That's OK.
399
There are lots more things I can tell you about.
400
I'm sure we'll find a project that's right up your street.
401
Yes, I hope so.
402
OK.
403
Well, let's have a look at a few other possibilities.
404
Right, well one thing that might suit you is a scheme called Wildlife Link.
405
There are 47 branches of this around the country, with over 24,000 active volunteers,
406
and it's involved in all aspects of nature conservation.
407
Its aim is to protect wildlife in all habitats across the country.
408
you can do there include looking after nature reserves, taking part in community gardening and carrying out surveys of wildlife species.
409
Tell me, are you keen to be outdoors?
410
Yes, I am.
411
And that does sound like the sort of thing I might be really interested in.
412
OK.
413
Well, here's another project that you might like the sound of.
414
This one's aimed at young people.
415
Right.
416
Tell me about that one.
417
It's called Wildlife Watch and involves organising groups for young people, getting them to explore and learn about their local environment.
418
There are over 300 groups and around 150,000 members of those groups.
419
As well as running those groups and going out with them, there is a need for volunteers with administrative skills.
420
Is that the sort of thing you might fancy?
421
Maybe, but I think I'd probably prefer to be more hands-on, doing physical work.
422
OK.
423
Well then, the organisation called Action Earth might be the one for you.
424
They've got a total of 908 projects, involving over 18,000 volunteers.
425
They do all sorts of things, from planting trees to constructing fences and walls and collecting litter.
426
their aim being to improve the local environment in all sorts of ways.
427
How does that sound?
428
I might well be interested in that.
429
OK.
430
Look, I'll give you some leaflets and contact information and you can have a think about it all.
431
That sounds like a good idea.
432
Thanks.
433
Track 7.
434
Unit 6.
435
You will hear a manager in a museum talking to the staff about machines
436
that are going to be put into the building.
437
First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 10.
438
Now listen and answer questions 1 to 10.
439
OK.
440
Now, what we need to discuss next is vending machines.
441
Now that the building has been completely refurbished and we're going to be reopening, we should think of what kind of machines we need.
442
These have two functions, of course.
443
They provide services for visitors and they raise money.
444
Every time someone buys something from the machine, we raise a little more money.
445
Well, first of all, a cash machine seems like a good idea, so that people can get some money to spend
446
while they're in the building
447
and this will help to keep down queues in the gift shop if everyone is paying with cards.
448
That can go in the entrance hall.
449
We thought about putting it on the front wall outside the building but decided against that.
450
Now we've also decided to install a ticket machine for the individual exhibitions in the various parts of the building.
451
This will take some pressure off the ticket office
452
and reduce the number of people hanging about in the entrance
453
hall it'll be a simple device you select the exhibition
454
and then pay for it in cash or by card
455
and it'll be right next to the reception desk with a sign above it
456
so that people can clearly see it when they arrive.
457
Now the next machine lots of people might not approve of, a games machine for children to use.
458
I know that this might not seem like the right sort of thing to have in a museum, but a constant complaint we get from visitors is
459
that their visit is spoiled by the sound of bored children running around the corridors and shouting and generally disturbing the atmosphere.
460
If we put a couple of these in the visitor centre, well away from the exhibition halls, it'll keep some of them occupied.
461
Then there's the question of a drinks machine.
462
Well, we want as many people as possible to buy our own food and drink in the cafeteria and restaurant.
463
But at the same time, visitors will want something to drink when they're going round the museum and are not near to either of those places.
464
We thought a good place for this would be by the lifts on the first floor, as people go up and down from one exhibition to another,
465
and of course, that's also right at the top of the stairs.
466
Now, the last thing is the drinks machine that we're putting in the staff room.
467
As you'll be using this brand new state-of-the-art machine pretty frequently, I thought I'd just run through with you how it works
468
so here on the screen i've put up a picture of it
469
and i'll just tell you all how it works well it's pretty big
470
and you may be surprised to hear
471
that it can store as many as 495 drinks products
472
so there'll be plenty to choose from
473
and it won't need refilling too regularly right well it's got a glass front here
474
and behind it all the drinks of course the drinks come in bottles
475
and cans and they're of course refrigerated now this machine has an interesting feature
476
that i'm sure will entertain you all when you've chosen
477
and paid for your drink there's a special rapid pickup mechanism that grabs your drink and places it into the receiver here, which is illuminated.
478
So you can see your drink even if it's dark in here.
479
And that's not all.
480
Through the glass front, you can actually see the mechanism working.
481
There's a visible moving arm that gets and delivers the drink and you can see that happening.
482
Now, that's not just to make the machine interesting to look at while you're buying a drink.
483
it's got a serious advantage too.
484
What it does is to quickly and safely move the drink without it being shaken at all
485
so it won't bubble up or spill when you open it.
486
Now to the business of how you buy a drink.
487
How it works is that you choose the drink you want from the menu here
488
and then type in the code for that drink.
489
You'll see the code in front of each drink.
490
Then the price of the drink will be displayed here and you pay for it.
491
You can do that with coins or by card.
492
And you can order up to 10 products at a time.
493
For example, if you're getting drinks for a group of visitors or colleagues.
494
So, as I say, it's the very latest in drinks machine technology and I hope you'll all be pleased to have it.
495
Right.
496
Next, I'm going to move on to talk about...
497
Track 8, Unit 7.
498
You will hear two students talking about a presentation that one of them is going to give.
499
First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 10.
500
Now listen and answer questions 1 to 10.
501
Hi, Maya.
502
How are you getting on with your presentation?
503
Oh, hi, Jack.
504
It's going really well after a slow start.
505
What's it about again?
506
Well, the general topic area is human relationships and we had to choose a specific area within that.
507
So, what have you chosen?
508
Lifelong friendships.
509
Interesting.
510
What led you to choose that?
511
Well, it occurred to me that there's been a lot of research on how people form friendships
512
and even more on marriage and partnerships.
513
But there's not much on this particular topic.
514
So I thought I could do something a bit different by focusing on this particular aspect.
515
Sounds like a good idea.
516
How have you been doing your research?
517
Well, mainly by personal contact.
518
I realise that my parents have a number of lifelong friends, and of course, I've known them for years.
519
so I thought I'd start off by seeing what they had to say.
520
Sounds reasonable, but that's only a very small sample, isn't it?
521
Yes, but I thought I'd collate the results from that small sample
522
so that I could compare them with more general conclusions from research in the area.
523
Ah, good idea.
524
How did you get on when you tried to get information from your subjects?
525
Well, I started off by giving them a questionnaire.
526
Yeah, I spent quite some time working that out, deciding what aspects of their friendships I wanted them to focus on,
527
and then I handed it out to them. And?
528
Well, it didn't work out too well.
529
I kept asking for them back, and they kept saying they hadn't had time to do them or hadn't quite finished them,
530
and eventually one or two of them admitted that they were having trouble knowing what to put.
531
Oh, why's that?
532
They just couldn't analyse their friendships in that cold way, on paper, in nice, neat little paragraphs or by ticking boxes.
533
I realised then that they all felt that way, so I had to abandon that approach.
534
What did you do instead?
535
Personal interviews.
536
I adapted my questionnaire and sat down with each person and talked to them.
537
I got them to agree to my recording these interviews.
538
That way I could focus on the way the interview went rather than having to write notes all the time.
539
And then I went through the recordings.
540
And that worked out well?
541
Yes.
542
I got all the information I needed.
543
It was a small sample, as I say, but it was possible to get some general conclusions from them about their lifelong friendships.
544
And then you compared this with research data?
545
Yes.
546
There's not a lot of that, but I managed to locate some academic research in the area.
547
And how did that compare with your findings?
548
Remarkably similar, actually.
549
So my sample proved to be pretty representative.
550
There were one or two disparities here and there, but in general, the research I was able to locate pretty much confirmed what I found myself.
551
Hmm.
552
Now, when you do your presentation, how have you organised it?
553
Well, obviously I've given that a lot of thought,
554
and the various stages of the presentation are linked to the aspects I focused on when I was talking to my subjects.
555
So, obviously, I start with how the friendship was first formed.
556
For example, how old the people were, where they met, how they met, that kind of thing.
557
How will you present that?
558
I've created a table with the various headings and the percentages of my subjects whose friendships started in the various ways.
559
OK.
560
What comes next?
561
Well, I've looked at the effects on the friendship of various developments in the friends' lives.
562
The first category I've called change of location, and that deals with what happens in the friendship if one or other of the friends goes to live somewhere else.
563
What about if they don't change the place where they live but go to work or study somewhere else?
564
Well, that's included in my data in that category in a couple of separate tables.
565
What then?
566
OK, well then, I've looked at what happens to the friendship when one or both of the friends get married.
567
I got the subjects to say simply whether marriage meant that friendships got less close, closer or stayed much the same.
568
How have you presented that data?
569
That's a pie chart.
570
Oh, OK.
571
What other aspects of the friendship have you focused on?
572
Well, the next one concerns personality.
573
I asked people to tick boxes for their friend's personality when they first met, and then how they would describe the same person now.
574
How did you compare the answers there?
575
Yeah, that was tricky to work out.
576
I looked for patterns of change.
577
one finding from that was
578
that many people who were described as relaxed at the beginning of the friendship got categorised as stressed right now.
579
So for the presentation, I picked out the most extreme changes that I found.
580
Not every single change.
581
Sounds interesting.
582
Any other categories?
583
Yes, two more.
584
I thought it would be interesting to compare how much people
585
had in common in terms of political opinions as their friendship progressed over the years.
586
Did they both change them?
587
Or did one person change, and if so, did this cause tension or disagreement between them?
588
I've constructed another pie chart for that.
589
And the other category?
590
Yes.
591
I thought another key area concerned what the people have in common and whether they continue to have those things in common.
592
I've categorised this as shared interests, and I've looked at any changes that tend to happen over the years.
593
One thing I found, for example, was that men's shared passion for certain sports doesn't change at all over the years, whereas their musical tastes do.
594
Uh-huh.
595
All sounds great.
596
I'm sure it'll go well when you do the presentation.
597
Thanks.
598
I hope so.
599
Track nine.
600
Unit 8.
601
You will hear part of a lecture about the history of jeans.
602
First, you have some time to look at questions 1 to 10.
603
Now listen and answer questions 1 to 10.
604
Okay, today we're looking at contemporary fashion icons as part of the module on the history and development of fashion.
605
And perhaps the best place to start with this is with a garment
606
that everybody in the world knows about and either wears or has worn, jeans.
607
Now, of course, jeans are often synonymous with the word denim for the material they're made from.
608
Where do both these terms come from?
609
Well, there isn't universal agreement on either of these things, but the story begins in Europe in the 1500s.
610
The general belief is that the word jeans comes from Genoa in Italy, where sailors wore clothes made from a material called jean.
611
The word denim is generally considered to come from France at roughly the same time.
612
It is thought to have evolved from Serge de Nîmes, a kind of material produced in the French town of Nîmes.
613
These two fabrics were different in important ways.
614
Denim was stronger and more expensive than jean, and denim was woven with one coloured thread and one white thread,
615
while jean was woven with two coloured threads.
616
To start with, the cloth for both of them was a mixture of things.
617
By the 18th century, however, it was made completely from cotton and it was dark blue because it was dyed with indigo,
618
which was taken from plants in the Americas and India.
619
Denim and jean remained two very different fabrics, and by the late 19th century,
620
it was denim that had emerged as the most popular and widely worn.
621
Denim was used for workers' clothes, for example, those worn by workers on plantations,
622
because it was very strong and it lasted for a a long time.
623
Gene was used for lighter clothes.
624
Eventually, of course, the word jeans would come to be used for clothes made from denim, but that's much later.
625
A key event in the history of jeans was the 1848 Gold Rush,
626
when gold was found in California and thousands of gold miners rushed there to find it and make their fortunes.
627
They wanted clothes that were strong and didn't tear easily.
628
Enter a man called Strauss.
629
He moved to California from New York and started a business supplying work clothes.
630
His first name was Leob, that's L-E-O-B.
631
Later, he changed it to Levi.
632
Now, the miners in California were experiencing a problem with their work clothes.
633
The pockets tore away from them very easily.
634
They just weren't strong enough or well enough attached.
635
In 1872, a man called Jacob Davis wrote to Strauss about an idea he'd had.
636
This was for metal rivets to hold the pockets and the rest of the garment together.
637
and he offered Strauss a deal to use this idea in the clothes he was supplying.
638
Strauss accepted the offer and started to make work clothes with these metal fasteners made of copper.
639
They weren't called jeans at this time.
640
That term didn't come into being until the 1960s.
641
They were sold as waist overalls and made with denim.
642
In 1886, Strauss added another feature to these clothes, a leather label.
643
To emphasise how strong the garments were, this showed a pair of these trousers being pulled between two horses.
644
The message was that they were so strong that even this could not cause them to tear. by the 1920s
645
because of their reputation for toughness strauss's waist overalls were the
646
most widely used workers trousers in the u.s now up until the 1930s jeans were purely
647
and simply work clothes but hollywood changed all that and they made the journey to being fashion items
648
The roots of this lie in the cowboy movies of the 1930s.
649
Cowboys often wore jeans in these movies, and American men wanted to dress like them in their free time.
650
At this point, jeans are a wholly American thing.
651
The Second World War in the 1940s took them abroad, as American soldiers wore them when they were off duty.
652
This introduced them to the wider world.
653
But their real popularity as a fashion item really starts in the 1950s when they caught on with young people.
654
This was because they became the symbol of the teenage rebel.
655
This completely new type of young person emerged in American films and TV programmes that were enormously popular with teenagers.
656
didn't call the clothes waist overalls they gave them a new name jean pants
657
and pretty soon this got abbreviated to jeans in the 1960s
658
jeans were the standard kind of trousers worn by students in western countries
659
and they were the top fashion item young people adapted them in all sorts of ways,
660
turning them into embroidered jeans by sewing brightly coloured designs onto them, and all sorts of styles emerged,
661
one of the main ones being flared jeans, with bottoms that got wider and wider as they went down.
662
Right.
663
Now I'm going to move on to look at what jeans symbolised,
664
both in Western countries and in non-Western countries at that time.
665
But first of all, does anyone have any questions?
✨ Video consigliato
B22
115 frasi
Complete IELTS Band 5-6.5 - UNIT 1
IELTS PrepCambridge Exam PrepUniversity Students
B22
277 frasi
Cambridge 15 Listening Test 4 With Answers |
IELTS PrepCambridge Exam PrepUniversity Students
B23
79 frasi
The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS unit 6 attitude and opinion
IELTS PrepCambridge Exam PrepUniversity Students
B23
231 frasi
IELTS CAMBRIDGE LISTENING BOOK 18 TEST 3 WITH ANSWERS
IELTS PrepCambridge Exam PrepUniversity Students
B23
132 frasi
Complete IELTS Bands 6.5 - 7.5 Unit 5
IELTS PrepCambridge Exam PrepUniversity Students
B24
113 frasi
Complete IELTS Band 5-6.5 - UNIT 4
IELTS PrepCambridge Exam PrepUniversity Students
B23
290 frasi
IELTS Listening Practice Test 2026 with Answers | 28.08.2026
IELTS PrepCambridge Exam PrepUniversity Students
B21
294 frasi
CAMBRIDGE 1 LISTENING TEST 1 WITH ANSWERS
IELTS PrepCambridge Exam PrepUniversity Students
B21
289 frasi
IELTS LISTENING ACTUAL TEST 6-4
IELTS PrepUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B24
299 frasi
IELTS Listening Test : 5 with answers | Vision Series | British Council | IDP | Latest listening
IELTS PrepCambridge Exam PrepUniversity Students
B22
120 frasi
IELTS Speaking Practice — Topic: Accommodation | Band 9.0 Sample Answers | daily english lessons
IELTS PrepCambridge Exam PrepUniversity Students
B23
174 frasi
Full IELTS Speaking Test band score 7 l 2025
IELTS PrepCambridge Exam PrepHigh School Students
Vocabolario e note di pronuncia per questa lezione
Questo video contiene 665 frasi e 7283 parole da ripetere con lo shadowing. Il parlato dura 53:58. Chi parla mantiene un ritmo costante di circa 135 parole al minuto, comodo per lo shadowing. Il 85% delle parole rientra nelle 3.000 più comuni dell’inglese; conviene studiare le altre prima di iniziare.
Vocaboli chiave di questo video
15 parole del video che vale la pena imparare, con pronuncia e significato:
| Parola | Pronuncia | Significato |
|---|---|---|
| friendship sostantivo | /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/ | amicizia |
| conclusion sostantivo | /kənˈkluːʒən/ | conclusione |
| involve verbo | /ɪnˈvɑlv/ | coinvolgere |
| volunteer sostantivo | /ˌvɑlənˈtɪɹ/ | volontario, volontaria |
| topic sostantivo | /ˈtɑpɪk/ | tema, categoria |
| workplace sostantivo | /ˈwɝkˌpleɪs/ | luogo di lavoro |
| compare verbo | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | paragonare |
| reception sostantivo | /ɹɪˈsɛp.ʃn̩/ | ricevimento |
| litter sostantivo | /ˈlɪt.ɚ/ | lettiera |
| wildlife sostantivo | /ˈwaɪldlaɪf/ | fauna, fauna selvatica |
| interaction sostantivo | /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/ | interazione |
| visitor sostantivo | /ˈvɪzɪtɚ/ | ospite, visitatore |
| corridor sostantivo | /ˈkɒɹɪdɔː/ | corridoio |
| tag sostantivo | /tæɡ/ | etichetta |
| aspect sostantivo | /ˈæspɛkt/ | aspetto |
I phrasal verb che sentirai
| Parola | Pronuncia | Significato |
|---|---|---|
| find out verbo | scoprire | |
| carry out verbo | /ˈkæ.ɹi aʊt/ | compiere, realizzare |
| come across verbo | dare l'impressione, avere l'aria | |
| come up with verbo | ideare, escogitare | |
| end up verbo | andare a finire, finire | |
| get off verbo | scendere | |
| go through verbo | attraversare | |
| go up verbo | salire |
Pronuncia a cui fare attenzione
Chi parla usa 180 contrazioni e forme ridotte, come I've, I'm, you're. Pronunciale nella forma breve, così come le senti.
- I suoni “th”: thread /ˈθɹɛd/, leather /ˈlɛðɚ/, gather /ˈɡæðɚ/
- I suoni “sh” e “zh”: friendship /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/, conclusion /kənˈkluːʒən/, organisation /ˈɔː.ɡə.naɪˌzeɪ.ʃən/, presentation /ˌpɹɛzn̩ˈteɪʃn̩/, reception /ɹɪˈsɛp.ʃn̩/
- Parole lunghe — attenzione all’accento: organisation /ˈɔː.ɡə.naɪˌzeɪ.ʃən/, interaction /ˌɪn.təˈɹæk.ʃən/, exhibition /ɛksɪˈbɪʃən/, initiative /ɪˈnɪʃ.ə.tɪv/, mechanism /ˈmɛk.ə.nɪ.zəm/
Come esercitarsi con questo video
- Ascolta tutto il video una volta senza parlare e annota le parole che non conosci.
- Fai shadowing frase per frase a velocità normale, ripetendo ognuna finché il tuo ritmo coincide con quello di chi parla.
- Registrati e confronta con l’originale, facendo attenzione a parole come friendship, conclusion, involve.
La grammatica di questo video
Le strutture che chi parla usa di più, con le parole esatte del video:
| Struttura | Nel video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — un’azione iniziata prima e ancora in corso | haven't been living |
| Present perfect have/has + participio passato — un’azione passata che conta ancora adesso | has been done · has been written · I've only been |
| Forma passiva be + participio passato — conta ciò che accade, non chi lo fa | has been done · will be played · has been written |
| Frasi relative who / which + frase — un’informazione in più su una persona o una cosa | someone who doesn · room, which is · day, which is |
Cos'è la tecnica dello Shadowing?
Shadowing è una tecnica di apprendimento delle lingue supportata da studi scientifici, originariamente sviluppata per la formazione dei traduttori professionisti e resa popolare dal poliglotta Dr. Alexander Arguelles. Il metodo è semplice ma potente: ascolti un audio in inglese di madrelingua e lo ripeti immediatamente ad alta voce — come un'ombra che segue il parlante con un ritardo di solo 1–2 secondi. A differenza dell'ascolto passivo o degli esercizi di grammatica, lo shadowing costringe il tuo cervello e i muscoli della bocca a elaborare e riprodurre simultaneamente i modelli di discorso reale. La ricerca dimostra che migliora significativamente la precisione della pronuncia, l'intonazione, il ritmo, il discorso connesso, la comprensione dell'ascolto e la fluidità del parlato — rendendolo uno dei metodi più efficaci per la preparazione alla prova di speaking dell'IELTS e per la comunicazione reale in inglese.