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IELTS Listening.

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IELTS Listening.

Now turn to section 1.

You will hear a telephone conversation between a customer and a service representative.

Hello, Superior Home Appliances.

This is Ian here.

Oh, hello, yes.

I have a new fridge and I'm ringing to report a fault with it.

I need you to send someone out to have a look at it.

OK.

I'll fill in a customer complaint form and arrange for one of our repair agents to come out to you.

OK then.

Now, can I just get some contact details from you for the form?

Your name is?

Jessica.

Jessica Brown.

OK.

And if I can just get a contact telephone number?

Our home phone number is 5823-2210.

Got it.

Now, can I get some more details about the fridge?

Well, it's been playing up since yesterday afternoon.

I see.

And is it still under warranty?

Well, I should think so.

It's only a couple of weeks old.

That's fine, then.

Now, I just need to get some more information about the make and model.

Is it a top mount,

a bottom mount, or a side-by-side?

The freezer is on top.

And have you got the model number there?

Yes, it's here on the instructions booklet.

It's S654391X.

OK, so it's silver in colour.

That's right.

I thought it was so much nicer than the usual white ones.

Now, if I could just get a few details from you.

First, when did you buy the fridge?

Well, as I said, it was only a few weeks ago,

but I don't have the receipt in front of me at the moment.

I do know that it was delivered on the 6th of February.

OK, well, I can use that date to search on the computer.

Here it is.

It says here you bought it on January the 12th.

Now, what exactly is wrong with the fridge?

Well, my fridge is fitted with an alarm,

and it started to go off.

It made an awful noise.

So what was wrong?

Well, when I went to check the freezer, it felt pretty warm.

It's ten degrees, and it should be minus eighteen, so everything is melting.

And then the main part of the fridge doesn't seem to be working either.

Mmm, I see.

I've made a note of that on the form and I'll pass it on to the service agent.

When can they come and fix it?

Let's find the closest one to you.

Um, let's see.

That's Ken's Appliances and they've got two centres in your area,

one near the station and another one in the shopping centre.

Well, we're miles away from the shopping centre,

so the station one would be closer.

I'll ring them in a minute,

but I should warn you,

it could take a day or two for them to get to you.

What?

What am I going to do without a fridge?

Look, there's a fridge full of food there and it's all going off.

I'll have to throw it all out, you know.

Yes, I do sympathise.

It's not just that.

This is going to affect my business.

I run a sandwich shop and that's where I keep my stock.

I see.

Look, Jessica, if you tell me how much the stock is worth,

we can send you a check for that amount,

though there is a maximum of $250.

Well, I've just filled it with $180 worth of meat and salad,

so that would be something, I suppose.

But how long is my business expected to survive without a fridge?

It's just not good enough.

Yes, I understand your concerns,

but that's all I can really offer you.

Well, I'd like to speak to someone higher up about this.

I can ask my manager to ring you back by close of business today.

Would that be acceptable?

Yes, thank you.

I do apologise for all the inconvenience.

Is there anything else I can help you with?

Actually, there is one more thing.

The door has a dent in it, on the left-hand side.

It wasn't there in the shop,

so it must have happened when it was delivered.

I'd like that replaced too.

I'll make a note of that too.

You'll be hearing from us very soon.

That is the end of Section 1.

Now turn to Section 2.

You will hear part of a radio programme in which the speaker is talking about a new organisation called Connections.

Hello.

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Listeners to this programme will know that we're very keen to foster links within communities

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and we think we've hit on a winning idea.

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I'm going to tell you about a scheme

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which has been set up as part of our Communities in

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Action programme for those who'd like to be put in touch with people with people from different countries and cultures.

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As the name Connections suggests,

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we're hoping

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that the scheme will introduce people who live in this country

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who will act as hosts to people who've recently arrived here to study or to work for a limited period of time,

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who will be their guests.

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Now, if you've got a spare room in your house or flat,

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you might like to be a host and and have someone stay for a weekend.

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I should point out that no money is involved,

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as all our hosts are unpaid.

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But you should not have too much extra expense other than one more person joining you at mealtimes.

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In the course of their studies or work in this country,

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some people rarely get the opportunity to socialise.

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There may be language problems or feelings of shyness,

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which mean that whatever their age,

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people can become quite lonely or isolated.

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If you are prepared to invite someone into your home,

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you can rely on connections for a personal introduction and the timing of the invitation will be to suit you.

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As I said, the stay is always over a weekend for two or three nights and,

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as the host, the arrangements you make for your visitor will depend on your other commitments.

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If you're listening to this programme and you would like to take advantage of what connections can offer a guest,

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then what I'm going on to say will apply to you.

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So, what will you, the guest,

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get out of a visit?

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You'll gain an insight into the customs and way of life of the country you're staying in.

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And you'll enjoy home-cooked meals and be able to ask questions about things which interest you,

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or perhaps even puzzle you.

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It's early days, but if a weekend stay goes well,

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relationships might develop over time and turn into lasting and genuine friendships.

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This would undoubtedly be of advantage to the whole community,

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as we all become more aware of the ways in which people in different countries live their lives.

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There's also the possibility that when you return to your own country,

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you might one day want to invite your hosts to stay with you.

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Right, I hope I've given you enough information on the scheme and what we're setting out to do.

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I'll now deal with the process for applying if you'd like to be involved from the point of view of a guest.

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So, have a pencil and some paper ready to jot down what you need to do.

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Connections is broken up into various small sections,

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which will deal with your application through the different stages.

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To begin with, we ask you to make a phone call to our vetting people.

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We need to know some basic information about you,

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like how long you're intending to be in this country.

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The minimum time limit is three months.

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Whether you're working or studying,

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we require a reference, which must be from the person in authority who you're working with or studying under.

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This will be used for an identity check.

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Once that's been sent to the authorities and approved,

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we'll email you an application form, which you can download.

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You should complete this and return it with two recent passport-sized photographs of yourself.

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One photo will be held in our records

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and the other will be sent to your host family prior to your first weekend visit.

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Our centre manager will get back to you within a week of receiving your form to let you know

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that we have it and if we think there's a suitable match on our files,

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someone from our interview team will contact you for a face-to-face meeting with a member of staff.

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At that point, you should have some idea of weekend dates when you're free which we can put to the host family.

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However, decisions are not made at the meeting

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but you can expect to hear the result from us in a couple of days.

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Now, the process for those of you interested in welcoming someone...

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That is the end of section two.

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Now turn to section three.

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You will hear two health science students called Elliot and Beth discussing research on climate change and allergies.

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Have you had a chance to look at the information for our project yet, Beth?

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I've had a look at most of the stuff on the relationship between climate change

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and allergies and at the role played by pollen from flowering plants and trees.

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Yeah, me too.

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The main message is that seasonal allergies seem to be getting worse.

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In just the last 20 years,

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the amount of pollen that's produced by the flowers on birch trees has tripled,

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and one in four people suffers from either hay fever or asthma,

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which is triggered by pollen.

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I read something about allergy sufferers being more likely to have a vitamin D deficiency

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because we no longer take cod liver oil as a vitamin supplement,

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like many people used to do in the 1950s in Britain.

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And since then, allergies have quadrupled in most European countries.

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But it was only in Britain that cod liver oil was so popular,

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so that argument doesn't really make sense.

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No, it doesn't seem that relevant.

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What seems to be happening now is

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that an increasing number of people are getting their first attack in their 40s and 50s.

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That must be because of the link with climate change causing rising temperatures.

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but CO2 levels are seriously affecting pollen counts too.

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As much as milder winters?

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Definitely.

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CO2 helps stimulate plant growth and several recent studies have shown that when plants are exposed to more CO2,

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they produce more pollen.

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Really?

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So people might experience more severe allergic symptoms in future?

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That's right.

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And another factor is that the pollen season is changing.

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Yes.

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Scientists are predicting spring will come five weeks earlier by 2130.

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That's in the long term.

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But that doesn't mean that spring will come earlier every year.

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Look at last winter.

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That was really cold until March and the pollen season was delayed.

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Whereas this year spring came earlier and lasted longer.

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Right.

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And another thing we should mention is ragweed.

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As an example of a plant species moving into new areas as a result of climate change?

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Yes.

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In the US, it's already the major allergen,

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affecting millions of people in August and September.

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But we're starting to see it grow in Europe for the first time,

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which is really worrying because it's so allergenic.

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The problem with tree pollen is also worse in cities

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because there are so many hard surfaces around and the pollen doesn't get absorbed so much,

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just stays in the air.

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Yeah.

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Wasn't the pollen shown to be three times higher in one city?

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I think so.

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So because of this, many cities have started to ban the planting of certain types of trees.

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So, shall we look at the different data tables for seasonal changes for pollen in Europe?

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OK, but I think we should just focus on the trees and plants which we have the most data for.

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So, that's oak trees and birch trees and grass.

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Yes, that makes it more manageable.

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Shall we go through the data for each country in detail and pick out anything interesting?

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All right.

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So, starting with Austria.

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Well, here we've only got data for birch pollen.

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I wonder why there's no data for oak or grass.

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Hmm.

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It would be interesting to compare with neighbouring countries.

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True.

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The picture in France is unusual.

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Yes.

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The pollen season starts earlier for both oak and birch,

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but it doesn't start any earlier for grass.

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I wonder why that is.

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In the Netherlands, we've got complete data for all three plants.

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So, what does it show?

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Grass and birch pollen are only starting a few days earlier,

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but oak pollen is starting much earlier.

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Eighteen days, in fact.

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That's unusual.

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There's not such a big difference in other countries.

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No. Switzerland's an interesting case.

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The pollen season starts here earlier than in the past for oak, birch and grass.

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Yeah, from 21 days to 14 days earlier.

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Yeah, the UK shows a different picture again.

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Yeah, here the problem is that wet summers have extended the grass pollen season from five weeks to eight weeks,

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which is bad news for allergy sufferers.

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Right.

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Well, I think we should have another look at...

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That is the end of Section 3.

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Now turn to Section 4.

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You will hear a student who is studying food science giving a presentation on a spice called saffron.

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For my investigation into the history and uses of plant products,

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I have focused on the cultivation and production of saffron,

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an expensive, bright yellow spice made from crocus flowers.

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Unlike most other species of crocus,

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the saffron crocus doesn't flower in February or March,

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but in October, when it produces fragrant lilac-colored flowers,

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which are harvested at that time.

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During the harvest, the flower petals are discarded and only the stigmas,

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the three dark orange or red-colored reproductive parts of the flower, are commercially used.

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One person must pick for almost 400 hours to produce just one kilo of saffron,

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and amazingly, to produce just 50 grams,

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it takes about 14,000 individual stigmas.

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No wonder the spice is so expensive.

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After this painstaking harvesting, and to preserve the intensive taste,

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smell, and color of the product,

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the stigmas are subject to a process of drying,

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by which some 98% of their moisture content is removed.

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This makes it possible to keep saffron on the shelf to be used for many years.

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The highly prized spice is famous for the flavor and aroma it imparts,

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which are often compared to that of honey.

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Saffron is also prized for its rich golden color,

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which makes food look so tempting and indulgent.

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If you want to buy some of this fabled spice,

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you will find that saffron is either sold as whole stigmas or ground up as a powder.

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Today, saffron is used in both Eastern and Western cuisines to add both color and flavor to an enormous range of recipes,

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though cooks would agree that it is most commonly added to recipes for the cooking of rice,

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because somehow it seems to complement such dishes perfectly.

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It is found to varying degrees in Italian,

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Spanish, Indian, and Iranian food.

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Although food preparation is its most common present-day use,

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medical research indicates that saffron may have important applications as a drug in the clinical treatment of a number of eye disorders.

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Patients given saffron in their regular diet seem to show remarkable signs of recovery from serious conditions.

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And although scientists are still unsure of exactly why,

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recent experiments with laboratory rats have shown saffron to be effective in protecting the animals from damage caused

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when they are exposed to potentially harmful lights.

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Now, I'd like to give a few examples of how saffron has been used since ancient times.

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Some of the earliest evidence of saffron cultivation comes from archaeological excavations dating back 4,000 years on the island of Crete,

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where paintings and other artifacts have been found indicating that women wore beautiful saffron-colored clothes.

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This is the earliest evidence of saffron being used as a dye.

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During the Roman Empire, saffron oil was produced,

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which, because of both its color and aroma,

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was used to create cosmetics.

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But only the wealthiest citizens could afford these.

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Another use of saffron was to be found in the public baths.

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There, saffron was used as a perfume to keep the places smelling fresh and aromatic.

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It is even said

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that the streets of Rome were strewn with saffron threads to greet Emperor Nero as an extravagant

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and sweet-smelling gesture when he made a triumphal entrance into the city.

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Other parts of the ancient world used saffron extensively.

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One of the most well-known examples was in Persia,

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which is modern-day Iran, where saffron was a vital part of the process of manufacturing carpets.

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used as a traditional dye along with other natural products like berries and minerals.

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To end my presentation, I'd like to read out a recipe written by a friend of mine.

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That is the end of Part 4.

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You now have one minute to check your answers to Part 4.

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